‘They stood as upon the eaves of an house for steepness, but as unmovable as a rock’ (Richard Atkyns, Grenville’s at Lansdown, 5th July 1643 )

A week away (grrr), well nine days to be exact Nine wasted days, well not exactly. However days that I have been unable to work on this project, so it's just as well that I managed to finish the regiment the evening before we left.

Pictures of the completed Sir Bevil Grenville’s regiment of Foote, ready to ‘bring rebellious western subjects to heel’.

I’ve added the extra stand of pikes simply to please the eye (my eye), it has no bearing on combat, the rules being based on a three, 60x60mm, stand system. I’m also considering changes to musketeer stands in order to make them more adaptable, two 30x60 stands replacing the single 60x60 suggested in the rules. The rules has ‘commanded shot’ as a separate formation, personally I would rather have them as being ‘drawn off’ from the regiments on the field and replacing two 60x60 stands with four 30x60 would, I hope, allow for this.

I also completed my first command base, Sir Bevil Grenville and a drummer.

The next foot regiment I am constructing is a Parliamentary one – Col William Strode’s Regiment of Foote. They probably never existed, but what the heck! Waller’s force in the west country is said to have contained several unknown regiments, so I have taken the liberty of creating a regiment for Somerset dignitary and well known supporter of the Parliamentary cause. A William Strode (MP?), not to be confused with the poet, lived in what was then the small Somerset village of ‘Streete’, he and Hopton had crossed paths before during the attempted reading of the ‘Commission of Array’ at Shepton Mallet in August 1642 (a full description of the ‘altercation’ can be found in Hopton’s own journal, published by the Somerset Historical Society). He is described, therein, as a ‘great stickler for the other party’, so it is quite likely that he would have been involved in the raising of local troops for Waller’s Western Association, and politician or simple local big-wig his behaviour that day in Shepton Mallet would have probably ensured his position with regard to local regimental command.

I have chosen to clothe this regiment in green, why? Simple, I like green.