General Reference
The Marquis of Montrose's Scottish Campaign
Stuart Reid
Whilst entitled Auldearn this member of Osprey's campaign series in fact covers the entire of Montrose's campaigns in Scotland. It includes useful summaries and orders of battle for the major battles and is a good introduction and overview.
The Front Lines of History in Colour Photographs
Ken and Denise Guest
This publication by English Heritage includes mentions of Auldearn, Alford and Kilsyth with some brief background. It has many pictures of re-enactors and some interesting diagrams of the battles set against the current map locations - which will help in locating and giving some understanding of the sites.
C.V. Wedgwood
This was the first book I read about Montrose and which secured my fascination in the man and the period. First published in 1952 by William Collins (mine is the 1998 Sutton Publishing edition), this is an eminently readable account of James Graham and covers his adult life.
Whilst it covers the campaigns and has maps of all the major battles it does not focus on any of them in any detail and so, from a wargaming perspective, it is an excellent introduction but not enough on its own to put together a game.
The Battle of Philiphaugh 1645
Stephen Maggs
This is a recent purchase and as I have yet to read it I can't offer any opinions - other than it looks interesting!
Wargaming Reference
the Battle of Tippermuir, 1st September 1644
Great Battles of History Refought: An English Civil War Series
G.W. Smith
The first of two booklets (the other is higher up the list) in a series from Anschluss Publishing produced in 1986. It is typical of an enthusiast production of the time, in black and white; and it looks as if it was typed on an actual typewriter! The booklet is 38 pages long and provides a useful introduction to Montrose followed by a description of the Battle of Tippermuir (including a series of maps/diagrams showing how it progressed), how to wargame the battle, orders of battle and how to translate these to the table along with initial orders for the players and, finally, a select bibliography.
Overall it's a useful booklet but could seriously benefit from an update of format!
Overall it's a useful booklet but could seriously benefit from an update of format!
Great Battles of History Refought: An English Civil War Series
G.W. Smith
This is the second of the series by G.W. Smith and is very similar in format and content to the first. This booklet is 40 pages long and, after a much briefer introduction to Montrose, covers the period following Tippermuir, the Battle of Justice Mills and its aftermath. As with the first in the series it provides orders of battle and wargaming information including initial orders.
Stuart Reid
This booklet is very similar in presentation to those from G.W. Smith, although it contains more line drawings. It is 31 pages long (if you exclude the advert on the last page) but does not have a contents as the other series do. It provides a brief chronology of the war in Scotland followed by an introduction to Montrose and the opposing armies. It then moves on with a section on reconstructing the battle including some orders of battle before describing the lead up, the battle itself (including a map) and the aftermath. It all rounds up with a page and a half of reference notes and bibliography and further reading.
The Battle of Kilsyth, 1645
Stuart Reid
This booklet, published in 1989 (a year after the one on Aberdeen), is very similar in style and content to the first. It is slightly longer and reverses the order having the wargaming section follow the description of the campaign and the battle itself but otherwise provides a similar level of detail.
English Civil War Gaming Scenarios
Volume 1
Stephen Maggs
In amongst the eleven scenarios contained in this booklet are two which relevant to Montrose - the Battles of Alford and Philiphaugh. These scenarios are designed to work primarily with the Forlorn Hope set of rules but do provide the total numbers for each unit so they can be converted to other sets of rules.
Each scenario provides an introduction to the battle and a map along with the order of battle and some commentary about gaming it and the terrain required.
Fiction
The Montrose Omnibus
The Young Montrose and Montrose, The Captain General
Nigel Tranter
I have only finished the first book in this omnibus edition but enjoyed it enormously and am looking forward to starting the second (as soon as I need inspiration for the next phase of the Project).
I have only finished the first book in this omnibus edition but enjoyed it enormously and am looking forward to starting the second (as soon as I need inspiration for the next phase of the Project).
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