Crossing the Yonne

My last planned posting before the Cravant game at Salute. The critical tactical decision of the battle in 1423 was the English attack across the river Yonne, which separated the armies. The English waded through waist high waters, under fire from French crossbows and Scots archers, across a distance of about 50 metres (based on today's river at the likely location of the battle) to the other bank. To represent this I’ve created some river crossing figures – although they may only be on the table for one phase of movement!  

They are mostly cut-down spare Perry figures from the Hundred Years War range, plus some Plastic Perry Wars of the Roses figures for the archers – the latter are slightly anachronistic but much easier the convert; I think I’ve blunted an Xacto saw blade slicing through all the metals. There are a few casualty/drowning figures too.

All are mounted on round clear plastic bases, purchased from Oshiro Model Terrain, using a large blob of epoxy glue to try and recreate the broken river surface around their bodies when it dries. Most have been painted in haste to meet the deadline for the game. These are a sample of those done – I’ll post more close-ups after the game. I’m not sure if they’ll get out onto a wargames table again, unless it’s another refight of Cravant, as I’m unaware of another HYW engagement when troops crossed a river to engage the enemy?

Here's a couple of the cut-down figures as works of progress, pre painting.

Now time to pack everything up. Cravant demo game and the Lance and Longbow stand is on tables GG 14 / GH 14 – please come along if you can on Saturday. For those not attending I plan to put up some pictures here next week.

Bridge on the Yonne

This is the final terrain piece needed for the Cravant game - and to use with my new river sections at other times. The bridge which Lord Willoughby led the Anglo-Burgundian attack over the Yonne river.

There's no specific reference to whether the bridge in 1423 was stone or wood; contemporary medieval illustrations of the fifteenth century show a mix of both types in countryside vistas. I thought a wooden one would be more visually appealing and add another type of material to the terrain boards. Whatever the medieval one was made of, it was replaced by stone in the early 18th century - drawings of the replacement are shown below.

 It's been created by James at Oshiro Model Terrain, using balsa and based on images I found. As no actual wooden medieval bridges still survive, the main reference I used is the contemporary Froissart Chronicle illustration shown below, with a simplified number of supporting pillars and less arched construction. I asked James to add the 'V' shaped passing-points at the middle of the bridge, which copy those seen in English packhorse bridges that are still intact today. Thankfully my measurements were OK for the model to fit the river sections I'd made - a minor 'heart-in-mouth' moment earlier this weekend following the arrival of the parcel! The width of the bridge will accommodate my 60mm wide bases for my other medieval collection. A great nice bit of modelling by James; I'd recommend a look over at his commissioned work and resin castings too.

A tad more pre-Salute stuff to come....

Mill on the Yonne.

I’ve now finished the watermill feature (see previous posts for info on the construction etc). 

The wheel, boardwalk and pillar have been painted and drybrushed a few times to pull out the details. The wheel has some varnish and ripple maker added to try to represent the wheel turning in the river with wet blades. Some ripple maker was brushed onto a plastic tray and when dry peeled off and glued to the wheel to try and denote dripping water (not sure this is convincing, but will do for now). 

‘Monsieur Miller’ has made an appearance and is sorting out his next delivery of flour, clearly ambivalent to the forthcoming battle along the river! 

The River Yonne

Ok, so I know that you prefer to see painted soldiers, but there's a couple of terrain orientated postings coming along!

After painting on three coats of acrylic varnish on the river sections I wasn’t happy with the finish I was getting – it didn’t have sufficient reflective shine to look like substantial flowing water. So I switched to painting on yacht varnish – which is always the recommended option from others who have made terrain. It has been brushed on as a thicker coat; it’s a brighter gloss finish and has darkened the colours a little to add some apparent depth. The trade-off is that it takes much longer to dry. Two coats of this have now been applied. The other unexpected benefit is that the varnish has made the original paint appear darker as well as added a green hue to it, which has enhanced the final colours to my mind.

I’ve also added a layer of Realistic Modelling Services ‘ripple maker’ to create some extra surface texture. I’ve brushed on using a cheap brush with rough bristles (as advised by Keith at RMS), which does leave a transparent but visible texture when it dries. I imagine that this product is similar to those made by ‘Woodland Scenics’ et al for modelling water, although I reckon that RMS one maybe better value. I Then painted over with a final coat of yacht varnish to get a gloss finish. 

The willow trees that are dotted along the edge have been purchased for these boards. They were handmade for me by Wee Tree Kings. The detail and finish is excellent, as was the service from Phil. Phil makes a range of different types of trees to order (which can be seen on his website) and I would strongly recommend, if you require some first-class trees or hedges.

The terrain tiles have been flocked with greenery provided by Realistic Modelling Services, over a thick layer of PVA mixed with a burnt umber acrylic paint to try to avoid any show-through to the basing materials underneath. I've given a light dry brush of Plaka ochre and Vallejo sand paint in uneven some patches to tone down the green and attempt to blend in with my other broads.  Tufts from RMS were finally glued - to both the boards and in the river as reeds - to add some detailing.

I'm happy with the finished tiles - the river consists of 2 double length boards and one single (plus a half size board for possible future games). These will stretch across the width of the Cravant game. A bridge is to come to complete the river Yonne.  

More soon.

Scots Contingent - completed.

Some pics of the completed additional Scots contingent for Cravant game; these have been previously posted as a WIP. They are now based and flagged - using the Flags of War ones produced for the Claymore Castings range (where most of the figures come from). I've used the smaller version flag, cutting off the piece designed to fit over a horizontal flagpole, as the larger versions seem very large and  to me that you'd need immense shoulder muscles to keep them aloft on a windy day.

As I've painted them up, I hope their fate won't be the same as the actual battle. Progress is being made on other pieces and so a modest flurry of completed posts - both figures and terrain - should be coming along in the next 2 weeks before Salute.

Robert, Lord Willoughby

This is a vignette of the English commander, Robert Lord Willoughby, who’s noted in the accounts of Cravant for vigorously leading the successful attack over the bridge, possibly to directly engage the Scots.

Lord Willoughby was from an established landowning family with estates in Lincolnshire and East Anglia and was already an experienced captain in English armies in France by 1423. He can first be found in the Soldier in Later Medieval England database fighting in the Agincourt campaign. In 1417 he was a captain indentured to Humphrey duke of Gloucester’s forces which captured Bayeux and Lisieux and in the same year was made a Knight of the Garter. In 1424 he was at the English victory at Verneuil. He continued for many years to campaign in France and was an integral part of the English occupation, being closely involved in the Lancastrian government. In 1430 he was present at the coronation of Henry VI in Paris and two years later he was appointed King’s Lieutenant in Lower Normandy. His last active campaign appears to be in 1437. He died at the age of sixty seven in 1452.

The figures are Perry AO Range – the Willougby figure is from the French command pack and has had the cast-on heraldry removed. These have been painted by me using my usual layered approach (no short cuts on these). I’ve purposely used washes a little more on these, particularly on the plate armour, inspired by Stuart’s excellent painting guide for his Landsknechts and I’m happy with the results. The flag was purchased from GMB.

The post is homemade and bears the arms of Cravant town, with a declaration for the town to surrender to the French king pinned to it, made from a thin foil tomato paste tube. Fencing is cut down Renedra, bent into a slight curve to match the round base. Original plan was to add this post to the Willoughby base, but then thought that having them separate was a better idea.

If time allows I will make a gaming base for Lord Willoughby, to lead the attack over the bridge… but that’s a “desirable to-do” at this moment in time.