Almains

     About a quarter of Lincoln's army was composed of mercenaries hired by Margaret, Dowager Duchess of Burgundy.  Most sources refer to them as "Germans," presumably since they were led by Martin Schwartz of Augsburg, but there's no conclusive contemporary description of them.  In all likelihood Schwartz's company also contained Swiss, Burgundians, Flemings, and perhaps even Italians.  I'm trying to give a basically German impression, but there are a few Swiss and Burgundians in the ranks as well.

   Two bases of pike will form the core of Schwartz's contingent.  I like my bases packed with men, and when they're filled out properly they should look good and dense - a fine target for Oxford's archers.  The first base will have a few officers and more of the heavily armored men, as was customary.  Since they'll be deployed together, the standards will sit right in the middle of the block.

     The flags are purely conjectural.  The yellow one I imagine as Schwartz's own banner.  Schwartz was the son of an Augsburg shoe-maker, so I adapted the Wappen of the Shoe-makers' Guild by crossing the (extant) arrow with a sword and adding Schwartz's black-and-white colors.  Guild banners were sometimes carried into battle, so it doesn't seem like too much of a stretch, and it evokes the Bunschuh flags that became notorious three decades after Stoke.  The black standard is meant to signify Margaret of Burdungy's financing of the campaign - her blessing, so to speak, of Schwartz's company.  It features her personal motto, Bien en Aviegne ("may Good come of it"), which appears on a number of her personal commissions with, strangely, some of the 'n's written backward.  The figure near the hoist is Gangulphus, a Burgundian saint venerated by shoe-makers and often shown opening a fountain with his sword.  The standard also contains a variant on her late husband's flint-and-steel emblem.  I don't know whether this is good heraldic form, but it's so neat a design that I couldn't help including it.

     Some handgunners, still awaiting an officer and maybe a musician.  I suspect the man on the left is an Italian.  Not thrilled with the flag, though.

     I bought the Perry Mercenaries kit about 18 months ago but never got past assembling it, and it's only recently that I've knuckled down and painted them.  There are a few somewhat altered Foundry Swiss in there as well.  The next step will be to add some officers and a few metal pikemen to fill in the gaps.