Scots (II)

The remainder of the Scots, that I began posting in December last year ; these being archers and men at arms. As previously notes it appears that larger numbers of bowmen were deliberately hired among the Scottish levies recruited in the 1420s to counter the English successes.

The figures are a mix of Perrys and Citadel Brettonians, which go together quite well (as they are from the same designers). The Citadel figures are based on the armour and attire of an earlier phase of the HYW, however I've used them on an assumption (completely unfounded in any records) that the Scottish captains raised troops for the wars in France, from among the less-affluent tiers of society, who could not afford the latest in arms and armour (..works for me anyway!). Also I've purposely used a high proportion of figures weilding axes and two-handed swords for the men at arms, based on the entirely anachronistic visual reference to Celtic Gallowglass and highlanders.

Figures are painted by Jim Bowen, Oliver James and myself, flags from Freezywater. The heraldry, either on flags or surcoats, includes Thomas Blair, Edward Lennox, William Stewart and the earl of Angus.

A holiday-induced hiatus will now follow...

...oops, have realised that couple of pics are a tad blurry - sorry (will re-shoot after hols)

WIPs - a little variety

After a hiatus, I'm now resolved to get my English and French armies to a position whereby I have all the key arms needed, in sufficient numbers, to have a small scale game. This will not prevent further longer term additions, such as Burgundian allies, but also mean that I can put them aside 'completed' with a clear mind, for when the next Perry WotR plastics arrive.

To get to this stage it looks like I need to do the following. For the English; a couple more longbow and dismounted men-at-arms bases, some command vignettes (inc Henry V), baggage & waggons and plenty more stakes.

For the French I have some completed Scots archers and men-at-arms to base up, several more men-at-arms bases, command groups and I want to have mounted coustillers as a second-rank to support the mounted French men-at-arms. If time permits some armed peasants/brigands would be useful, perhaps using a mix of designers (as the Perry ones appear to be permanently stuck on the workbench!).

So plenty to do.

Picture above is the starting point to fill in these gaps. Thought I'd see if I could get a little more variety by utilising plastic spares from the WotR's box. This range does not seem to lend itself to easy conversions, (the type that I can achieve!) but I'll keep thinking if there are others to do. The advancing longbowman pose came from a conversion that Oliver James has done on one of his figures, so credit goes to him.

These will be primed and then painted next month when I'm away on hols.

Lifesize inspiration

About time that this blog was kicked back into life and as I'm busy on t'other blog recently, thought I'd show some pics taken at Warwick Castle event at Easter weekend.

It's only an hour away from my home, so my daughter and I dodged the rain storms to mingle with some acquaitances from the duke of Buckingham's retinue living history group and visited the excellent 'Kingmaker' display. The pics are some of the life-size figures in the castle, displaying the earl's retinue making preparations for the ill-fated Barnet campaign of 1471. All the clothing and equipment is spot-on for the period and taken from reliable contemporary pictorial evidence. I'm also planning some encampments, so also took some pics of camp life for future reference too.

If you've not been before, I recommend the castle and the quality of the Kingmaker galleries is (almost) worth the steep entry price alone.

More HYW figures (probably the remaining Scots) will be coming here soonish...

Armagnacs (part une)

In attempting to get close to a point of partial completion with my HYW armies at the end of this year (which I have failed to do) I realised that I'd overlooked the fact that earlier in the year I'd finished about fifty-odd French figures, a mix of men at arms and retainers, which I found carefully tucked away in a box. So these are the first group of six bases. Until now I'd hesitated basing them, as I want to use as many pre-printed flags as possible, due to their high quality, and to align flagbearers to respective knights where I've painted specific heraldry on surcoats. So these figures are those who have generic French flags (from Adolfos Ramos, LBMS, et moi). Future basing now appears to be held hostage to a future date when new HYW flags are available - so anyone who can influence Grahame Black or Steve Hales to release some more, will have my eternal gratitude! Figures are Perrys with a couple of Citadel Miniatures interlopers, all brushwork is mine.

This will probably be the last blog on here for a short while, as I switch my attention to my Burgundians and things plastic on t'other blog. However I have made a 2010 resolution to complete these armies.

Scots

Between 1418 and 1436, the Armagnac faction of the Dauphin Charles, sought to renew ‘the auld alliance’ and recruit Scots to bolster the fighting against the English and Burgundians. This was despite the fact that James I of Scotland was still captive in England, as he had been since 1406. Around 5,000 Scots were involved in campaigns, contributing to the French success at Bauge, but suffering heavy casualties at Cravant in 1423 and Verneuil the following year, after which their numbers and importance don’t appear to have recovered.
This first contingent are spearmen, continuing the tradition of the Scots ‘schiltron’. However in the first quarter of the fifteenth century they had a mix of arms. It appears that higher numbers of archers were recruited, presumably to deliberately counter the English longbows.
These Perrys have been painted by Jim Bowen (with 3 added by me, as I realised when basing up that I’d miscalculated how many I needed!), many of them bear the Scottish ‘saltire’ badge, although I decided to have them fighting under a French flag.
Scots archers and men at arms to follow.

Sustenance

Just a quick post, with a vignette that I did a few weeks ago. A man at arms, usable for any army, taking on fluids (probably wine not water) after the battle. The camp follower is a Foundry figure from their Swiss wars range. The useful wayside cross in the background is Bicorne from their ECW range (I think). More anon.

Speedos

Four bases of English 'scurrors' painted allegro, using the Army Painter dip. Having read avidly Dave Imrie's Saxon Dog blog over the last few weeks and having been impressed by the quantity and quality he's acheived by brushing on the dip, I thought I'd succumb and give it a go in the hope of increasing production levels, without compromising too much on detail. Also these figures are not 'core' to the English army and may see action on the table only on rare occassions, so I felt I had little to lose.
I'm pretty pleased with the results. I undercoated the figures with a light grey enamel and then just blocked in the colours, using much paler tones that I would normally use - all those Foundry highlight shades look like they may get used after all. This approach felt very odd and distinctly uncomfortable having painted figures with a shade and highlight style for more than 30 years. However just when I was thinking it may have been a bad idea, came the 'eureka' moment when the dip is applied (by brush) and all the figure's details are picked out and some decent shading applied. When dry I then picked out some highlights, with the same colour as the base, on some cloths and on the faces. I chose the 'Dark Tone' dip, on the basis that it would have greater impact on the plate and mail armour. The dip finish is gloss, so figures were matted down with a spray of 'Coat d'arms' matt varnish.
Horses were traditionally done but I will test dip on some soon.
Overall results are a 7/10 for quality (but only if you study the figures close up) and a 11/10 on time saved - doing these 'nomally' would have taken me probably 3 times longer.
Figures are Perry and pennon from LBMS banner sheet. Basework to be completed and photo'd in artifical light - not great pics I'm afraid.