St Crispins Day

The 595th anniversary of the battle of Agincourt would seem to be sufficient excuse to post some pictures of my English army in it's current near-completed state. The photos were taken in a bit of a rush and had to be done indoors, so never as good with flash as with natural light.

As readers of previous posts will know, nearly all the figures are Perrys AO range, with some Citadel older Brettonian range sneeked in for added variety of poses. When I've lined the figures up like this on my table, for the first time, they don't seem to be as numerous as I'd thought (although I'm more than happy with the quality). If I manage to create a little more spare time, I'm minded to add a couple more men-at-arms bases, using up odd figures that I still have, probably as generic ones that I can use as Norman-raised troops (ie unspecific to any English nobleman). I'm also planning to add some archers on skirmish-type bases, as well as command vignettes, baggage and casualties before this army will be deemed as in a state of completion.

I've just received some of the newly released GMB flags for my French, so this should allow me to start basing up some more already painted troops.

Bombard

A bombard for use with either the English or French armies. Although it's probable that bombards of these huge proportions were not produced until the mid fifteenth century, much of the campaigns for Normandy in the secound quarter of the century were characterised by castles, strongholds and towns falling to either the actual, or the percieved, threat from besiegers who arrived accompanied with a siege train of artillery pieces. I have another smaller bombard casting, the old Citadel one, which I'll paint up and which will be more appropriate for this period.

This is the Perry WotR castings with three of the crew on 'sabot' bases (5 pence coins), so that it can be used by my Burgundians too. Crew are an old Citadel Brettonian, Perry handgunner and the master gunner from the sadly defunct Empire Miniatures of Australia - I've been saving him for an appropriate opportunity and I think this is it, as he fits well into this semi-vignette. The equipment items are from various manufacturers, inc Bicorne, Front rank and Architects of War. The wooden pallisades are Kingmaker Hussite wagons sides, with wooden framework added. The colour tone for the new-cut wood is Foundry Canvas Shade (8A), highligthed with a drybrush and then dipped with Army Paint strong tone, then finished with a matt Dullcote varnish. Thanks to phil Hendry for suggesting this colour - I'll be using it again.

If you want to see the Burgundian version, with mantlet, it's here on my other blog http://je-lay-emprins.blogspot.com/

So -there you have it... two bombard bangs for your buck!!

Impetus markers

More of Oliver's figures, rebased as 'opportunity' markers for Impetus rules or to use as seperate vignettes. As with his other figures, all the heraldry on tabards and flags is handpainted. Figures are (from left), Michael de la Pole earl of Suffolk, John Talbot earl of Shrewsbury and Sir William Glasdale. They are mounted on large 'penny' washers, which have a relatively thin profile and add stability with their weight.

I will be doing more of these markers for both English and French, as well as some casualty markers too.

French Crossbows (III)

The last contingent of French crossbowmen, supplemented by some handgunners, are completed.

These are nearly all Oliver's paintwork, I've just added two casualty figures of my own to make them upto four bases, the same as the others I've already done. These can be used as they are or in conjunction with urban pavisers. The close-ups are as detailed as I can get with my camera, but I've tried to show Oliver's fine paintwork on these figures (as with all the others).

Now considering how to create some opportunity and casualty markers for use with Impetus rules, having just received a copy for their new army lists for the fifteenth century.

Two commanders for Verneuil

These are vignettes of leaders for the battle of Verneuil 1424; John, duke of Bedford for the Anglo-Normans and Jean d'Harcourt, count of Aumale for the Armagnac French.

I have already completed a fighting base that includes the duke of Bedford, wearing his combined English and French livery coat, however the acquisition of Oliver's figures meant I have another exquisite model that I couldn't leave sidelined. The figures on the Bedford base are Olivers, including the handpainted flag and some conversion work on one of his own castings. My only contribution has been to paint the musician and re-base them.

The count of Aumale was one of the senior commanders of the French in their campaign of 1424 to regain territory in Normandy. He had led a French victory at La Gravelle in 1423 against the English,which included French cavalry leading the attack (the tactics that were continued at Verneuil). His figure is one from the Perry AO range French command pack with the cast-on heraldry carefully removed with knife and needle file, so he can be repainted. The crossbowman is an old Citadel Brettonian figure, the flag a free web download and pavise transfer if LBMS.

I plan to do a few other vignettes for Verneuil, to hang around behind the battle lines.

Lombardy men at arms

As part of completing my French forces, I've added two more bases of men at arms mounted on armoured horses, who can be used as Lombards for the battle of Vernuil.

For the 1424 campaign, Charles VII had raised a large contingent of Lombard mercenaries, contracted to a Milanese captain called 'Le Borgne Caqueran'. The rationale for the armoured horsemen was to counter and break the English defensive positions and longbows, as they had apparently achieved in 1423 against a Burgundian force at La Buissiere.

At Vernuil the French may have had at least 500 and possibly upto 2,000 such mounted troops. Although there is debate about whether they were positioned on the wings or in the centre of the French army, their initial charge successfully broke the English line (although not win the day). More figures may therefore be needed for any refight of the battle; but I do have more castings and already have some similar ones completed.

The man at arms on the grey horse is a part-painted figure from Oliver James, which I've finished off and the others are done by me - all Perrys AO range.

La Journee

Just a quick post to promote Darrell Hindley's new blog.
http://lajourney-bedford.blogspot.com/

Darrell and I are planning to put on a demo game in 2011, for the battle of Verneuil, Bedford's victory of 1424 using some of the figures that I've been posting here and Darrell's started a blog covering both the historical side as well as showing his great figures that he's painting for the game.
The title of the blog relates to the arranged battle site and date that was agreed between Bedford's Anglo-Norman forces and Alencon's Armagnacs. I'm sure he'll explain more on that in subsequent posts.

It promises to be great blog to follow.