Salute - new Perrys Plastics

Well, big surprise at Salute today. New 3-up masters for a plastics range that Michael Perry's making were to be on show and although the 'hot money' was on Crimea, low and behold it's Wars of the Roses. The first plastics box will be mixed bills and bows from the pics above, and then (if I recall correctly), a box for men at arms and another for mounted troops. Michael also said he plans to add metals, as per their formula for ACW and Napoleonics.

Afraid the photos I took are poor - the masters were well protected in a glass cabinet - but the detail is absolutely fantastic. Am sure Perrys will post some proper pics on their website now the proverbial cat's out.

Looks to me like the figures will be useful for any North European armies from 1450-1490s. Am already trying to decide on either a complete replacement of my ageing Burgundians or a new Wars of Roses armies... an embarrasment of riches and conversion potential awaits... approx 6 months to them being available ... can't wait!

Fortified Watchtower

This is the piece-de-resistance for my medieval collections to date, which has been made to use with both my HYW and Burgundian-Swiss War collections.

The core structure is a Hudson and Allen resin keep, which has been beautifully enhanced by John Boadle of 'Architectual Miniatures'. The brief to John was to 'modernise' and further fortify the casting to represent a structure as it would be in the fifteenth century. So John's exquisite craftmanship has added wooden pallisade around the main tower, breteche over the doorway, extra loopholes for handguns, a wooden boulevard (which is seperate) to protect the rather exposed entrance and the high gothic windowed room at the top of the heightened tower. John also painted the model.

I was frankly stunned when i saw the finished item, after providing him with an outline of what I wanted to achieve; after all the basic H&A casting is a very nice piece as it stands. John's also added on lots of other lovely details. I now have ambitions to enhance the H&A castle gate and walls to the same standard, but that will have to be a 2010 project. More immediately I'm looking forward to making some artillery seigeworks, and perhaps a terrain base with a moat, as well as using the tower as a centrepiece for some gaming scenarios.

French Crossbowmen

Completed half of the planned crossbows. Four bases armed with pavises, caught trying to advance into effective firing range and coming under fire from English longbows.

The figures are Perry, with a couple of Foundry HYW figures added and some of the Perry have had quivers added to employ them as crossbowmen. Pavises are Kingmaker and Front Rank with LBMS transfers; arrows from the Games Workshop plastic Giant. I now have some homemade arrows being cast up in metal, as I want to have most of my French men-at-arms based up advancing under fire.