Craft knives and brushes

After a few weeks of not painting, i decided my plastic pile needed a lick of colour so i got cracking on 9 men. But first, a little modelling.

Ok, this idea has already been done before, taking the mounted legs and sticking them on a lesser armoured body, but how about the other way around? I hate wasteing figures, so i decided to make a scourer/prickler and a foot man at arms (without leg armour) that has mounted his nag to pursue the enemy.

I began by cutting away the legs. I managed to save the tassets on the harnessed man, damaging them only slightly. At this point i prayed it would work...

Knight and henchman about to be eaten by the big purple bear

Plenty of glue was applied and i sat them on the horses to see if they would stay...

Oh yeah! It worked!

Here they are, basking in the sun.

The prickler/whatever. I used pike arms, with the pike shortened slightly. Not sure on the left arm, might change the arms to make it look like he's actually holding the reins properly. The legs went on a treat, and didn't require and miliput!

The man at arms. I'm glad the tassets stayed on, helps cover the gap. I also shaved away the horse trappings over the rump, as he's only got a horse for riding to battle. I have added stirups since the picture was taken.

As for painting, i've started properly on the Walker retinue. I chose a stag's head for the badge, and think it came out well on them. The billman has a badge on his plakart and the man at arms has one on both shoulders, but the camera thought it would be funny to run out of battery and tell the spare batteries not the work. It wasn't even April 1st!

I did get some photos of the archers though. The man on the right has had his chain mail trimmed back, turning it into a livery jacket.

You can see the mentioned jacket better here.

Red and blue has been done a lot (on several real retinues in fact) but i like the colours and it helps tie my forces together; all English have either red or green on them, the French are blue and the Flemmings are white.

I have also done the bases, but today the weather is cold and rainy, no good for taking good photos.

There are some Danish handgunners and a couple of mounted men that need pictures taken, so that's for another post.

Finally, this is my final post before my bithday, tomorrow. I'll be a big 19, and any money i might get will go towards an order to the Perrys for some metal figures (light cavalry, more horses to make some wagons and perhaps a box of mercenaries, which will be the last in a while or i'll get obsessive).

First Sharp Practice and some pikemen (two in one!)

First try of Sharp Practice with the 'ol medievals.

As a first go, i can't give you a proper idea, as i forgot several things; reloading times, the bonus cards (might do Silver Whistle's idea) and some other things. I played it a little like Dux Britanniarum at one point! In a way it's similar, but very different. Also i need to revise my force organisation next time. Anyway...

Just a small bash up. Two lords meet in the peaceful English countryside and their aim is to kill or capture their rival. Easy.

Team one, some archers, crossbowmen, billmen and men at arms.

Team 2, men at arms and archers.

Meeting in a little village.

Team 1 (for want of a better name) advances faster and charges first, but the first engagements don't go according to plan...

After a counter attack by the red and black men at arms, Team 1 looses their lord, who is badly injured. I rolled for popularity (to see if his men like him and try to save him) and it turned out he was hated!

So they abandoned the poor devil!

With this i ended the game.

So, next time i will be upping the side (the rules recommends minimum of 30) and adding more Big Men. I guess practice makes perfect, so the more i play the better i'll know.

I also need to think of formations. I might think of creating a knew formation, like a block perhaps, deeper than a line but wider than a column. Not sure though, so i shall play some more and see.

I also decided to make some more pikemen to expand the militia, who shall not re-become Lowlanders. I didn't fancy having shoudlered pikes though, as the pole arm armed chaps are rather more agressive looking. So, i converted them...

That's better! Now they look like they're in a fight, not just wandernig to battle.

They need some militput to cover some gaps, at shoulders and hands.

Most are armoured in jacks and helmets, with a smattering of brigandines, pieces of plate or mail shirts. I will do a couple of heavily armoured men with pikes or poleaxes as Poorters, the richer citizens. I will also do a harnessed leader, with the flag on his helmet to show his rank.

A little WIP to show how i did them. I used the pike arms from the mercenary set.

Cut, trim, slice, glue, curse because it won't hold, then glue again.

Add head of choice:

The New Ordannance

Back at home with my figures now! I'llbe back at lycée Monday so life will return to its normal rythem.

While thinking, i decided i didn't want small, bitty retinues, so i decided to expand my French one. So far i have the figures below:

I plan to turn the crossbowmen and cavalry into Lances and make the infantry into a dizenier, ten men plus the leader. So, i need one archer (to go with the bow armed man), three lesser men at arms (one with a banner) and two gendarmes.

The leader of the French will therefor be a chef de chambre.

I did a few builds since i came back, the two men at arms are slightly converted.

The left hand one has a sort of Iberian helmet, with a wide brimmed helmet and bevor. I thought he might be the Spanish of the band.

The right hand man is in Gothic plate and i cut and turned the arm and hand to make a sort of crouched lance pose.

The lesser man at arms and the foot man are pretty much simple builds, except the arms on the foot man are a mix of padded sleeves and plated lower arms from the mounted men at arms set.

A medieval renaissance

Finished three more militia men.

I think it's all the inspiration, with the discovery of Richard III and Battle Royale III on the Lead Adventure Forum that made me break out the brushes and continue the 28's.

A bill man, the banner bearer and a chain mail armoured soldier (miliput conversion). I might add a buckler later.

Below, the band so far. Only a one man and perhaps 2 archers to make to archer group 6 men.

I also made some more Danes, with one conversion inspired by the gun commander below (taken from je-lay-emprins blog, a very nice blog and a must for medieval lovers). The commander has a plakart over his doublet, which i copied. 

My result, a Dane crossbow leader. He is accompanied by some mercenary handgunners and, with the leader in the crossbow group and one man with the handgunners, will give me all the Danes i need. That's 10 men in total.

Speaking of Battle Royale on the Lead Adventure forum, i wondered if i could have a force that big. A quick count up revealed i have 240 foot and 36 cavalry, either painted, plastic or waiting on sprues. So when i'm finally done i will almost have BOTH forces! But that's in a long time yet.

Would you like to live here?

Felt inspired and started a new building.

 

It might not be 100% historically correct, but i saw it in a game and wanted to make it. It would work for Runissia perfectly.

 

It will be timber framed, like my other medieval buildings.

 

I also made some conversions; two Runissians, using ideas posted yesterday, and two others. The two men with shields are Runissians. The man holding the flag (which is from the trumpet) will perhaps join the Hanbury retinue, or a new retinue. The man at arms might go with the flag bearer. He wears a gauntlet on his left hand, taken from the mounted men at arms box.

I will perhaps be buying some new figures soon, some for Runissia, but also some English for another retinue. I want to try out Jim's Lord of Battles campaign with plenty of longbows and mercs!

Ideas, ideas

Ah, some sun at last! I took advantage of the weather to get out the paints and continue my crossbowmen. They're still not finished, but slowly does it. The cloths are all done, just leather (it's a bigger part than you might think!), weapons and other bits, bolt quivers, crannequins, etc.

 

I've also been wondering on he subject of figures for my fantasy world. I've really wanted to make some of these, but i didn't want to start making some, then lose intrest and have half a dozen useless figures lying around. Years of daubling with periods and having a smatering of figures for each force has taught me to focus a bit.

But, after drawing and writing so much, i just want to try and make some in plastic. I thought about making only some command figures, and proxy the other men so i can play games, but i would really like to have a full army of Runissians one day.

 

I have already made some Runissians and Kaliads, such as this one here:

 

You might notice he has no thumb! By the time i had done all the chain mail, doing one thumb was just too much.

Needless to say, it took an age to poke the chain mail, and it would be a shame if all this work went to waste.

No shield so you can see the left arm.

As not to loose steam, i decided to note down some ideas, using the Perry bodies so i can actually make them afterwards. I plan to buy a box of Perrys and use them just for conversions to see what i come up with. Christmas is coming up so...

Anyway, on to the plans. I have included a small image of each body for those not familiar with these figures.

 

The first idea i had after painting the crossbow men; a brasir (freeman) levy carrying a spear on his shoulder. The arms are pike arms, and i shall glue a shield onto the left arm, a wargames factory round one.

This one is basically a Saxon or Viking with a breastplate. I thought it might look cool.



At first, there were no faulds (the groin armour) in Runissia, but i guess there is now!

This one will be a commander or unit leader. I think he will be menacing with a full face helm, as long as i don't mess it up.

 

An easy one, i just want to try and make him aim his polearm down, rather than 45 degrees like the Perry arms.

 

 

Bashing with shield, a sutibly dynamic pose if it works. If not, i shall have him lunging with a spear or halberd.

No really a conversion, but an idea for the body. Might make a long padded tunic for him, as to change him a little.

I also found something nice in my bits box. The wargames factory kite shields are too small for early medieval, but perfect for tear drop Kaliad shields! Just round off the bottom, and Bob's your uncle!

 

Maybe a WIP Runissia sometime soon?

To arms! To arms!

Quick post while the internet's free of use.

I have been planning to expand my forces to use with Jim's Dux Burgundium lists, as i wanted to give more troops a go. All i need it to assemble and paint them.

First up, some French crossbowmen WIP. Still lots to do, but so far so good. I've changed my skin painting method, using drybrushed layers, much easier than washing with brown.

 

These were to be a band of franc archers, but seeing as the French need more missile troops, these are now Lowland militia. These will come from a small, imagined town that shall be the centre of a future campaign.

To make them look different, i've decided to go for white jackets instead of the usual blue and white with red cross. I did this as my Germans are already in blue and white, and i wanted them to look similar but not the same. These men are going to be from the weaver's guild of the town, and i guess the commander fancied having white jackets (maybe he had lots in stock?) and with the weaver's badge, a red diamond.

Readers might recognise these chaps from earlier. They will now join the ranks of the Lowlands. The swordsman might get a buckler, or an Italian style shield.

The commander of the weavers. I wanted a poorer look to my militia, so little armour, even for leaders. The leader (on the right) was going to recieve a kettle hat but i thought he deserved a better sallet. The banner bearer has more armour, being a veteran perhaps.

I don't know if men used pavises as shields at this date. i've seen Perry metals for Agincourt carrying them, so i thought why not. I like the pose anyway.

The milita men, armed with spear and bill to fight the French invaders. I'm going to make some more pike men some time, boosting the militia to 3 or 4 Groups (18-24 men). Since the militia are the largest part of the list, i need plenty!

Some missile armed militia, who shall serve as harassing troops. I need one mreo man of course, or i could make three more and use them as missile troops if the German handgunners take their place. The militia archers will have a mix of weapons, reflecting their ad hoc nature.

 

 

Here's the banner i drew up for them using paint. The triangle, although maybe not historical, will be a change from squares. hey, they're militia, not regulars so any thing goes, right?