Shameless Plug

Time for a bit of self-promotion!

My work on this project is winding down temporarily as I sort out plans for the Irish contingent, and I've started another, more general blog for my other projects, which pertain primarily to the American Civil War, to Middle-earth, and to some local history.  I'd be flattered if you took a look at it.  (If you want to follow it, I'm afraid that, as with this blog, you'll have to add the url manually to your list;  Google won't let me set up the Follow widget unless I use my real name on the blog, which I'm not very eager to do.)

Thanks!

A Year Later...

Well, it's been about a year and about 1,000 views since I started the blog, so as a fitting offering for this "anniversary post" I present the finished German contingent, along with a few shots of the whole army as it stands now.

Compared to what other painters can do in a year, it's not much, but I am very pleased all the same.

WIP

Just a WIP shot of some pikemen.  I tried to push my meager GS skills a bit further and copy some of the helmets and clothing from a few contemporary illustrations.  I have come to find the original Perry mercenary set a bit too generic for my purposes, and I hope these additions will 'Germanize' the look a bit.

Also, finished another crossbowman.  This was of course mainly an excuse to paint another pavise :)

This pavise is inspired by a Bohemian design featuring Venus.   

More to follow soon, I hope.

On Parade

I am pleased to report that the English portion of the army is "finished."

Obligatory Flag Shot

Billmen

Men-at-arms

Archers

Looking ahead, I might (read: will) add some scurrers and a few more skirmishers, but speaking broadly one third of the army is finished.  Now to polish off the Germans (only a few more to go) and then tackle the Irish, most of whom will have to wait until the Perrys release the plastic French set.

A Lincoln! A Lincoln!

At long last, I've finished the commander of the English Yorkists and lead instigator of the rebellion against Henry VII, John de la Pole, earl of Lincoln.  Most of these miniatures were sitting on my desk fully painted, but I just couldn't get myself to finish the flag until yesterday.

Here he is, receiving word of the Royalist advance from Lord Scrope of Masham.  With him are his banner-bearer and a retainer carrying his helm.

It's likely, though not certain, that Lincoln had designs on the throne himself and would have done away with the boy Simnel after a time.  How loyal he would have been to the alleged "rightful King" we'll never know, since he died on the field at Stoke.

You may notice that the heraldry on the surcoat does not quite match the heraldry on the flag.  I'm afraid this is a case of laziness on my part.  I'd already begun painting the banner when I noticed there are some small differences, and I couldn't get myself to start anew.  Sorry!

Bolts from the Blue

Managed to finish the crossbow bases.  These might be my favorite troops yet, probably because of the pavises.

And some close-ups on the pavises.

The image of St. George is taken from a South German/Austrian example.

On the left is a pavise of my own design, inspired by several shields and pavises with crown-of-thorns imagery.

And a few "skirmishers" finished:

More to follow soon, I hope.

May the Schwartz be with You

For the 20th post, I thought something special would be in order, so...

Here he is, Colonel Martin Schwartz.

Readepting

Like Henry VI, I have suddenly returned after a prolonged absence.

It's been a long time since I've posted anything, or indeed done any work on this project.  The summer heat hasn't been conducive to painting, and I've been tied up with various other obligations, but the real reason is simply that I'd run out of enthusiasm.  Well, last night I had trouble getting to sleep, and somehow I found myself staring at a pile of half-emptied Perry sprues and thinking, what am earth am I going to do with these?  Before I realized it, I'd knocked together twenty or so new men.  Needless to say, some of the poses were 2AM discoveries - ideas that don't seem nearly as good the next morning after a bit of shut-eye.  But those who survived this morning's purge are being fine-tuned a bit for your viewing pleasure.  Most of these are 'skirmishers,' who don't have any in-game function and mainly serve as decoration.

Some English men-at-arms.  The one with the buckler is inspired by a Clifford retainer in Graham Turner's painting of the skirmish at Ferrybridge.

Some Germans.

More Germans, who will hover around the pike block. The two swordsmen are using the  Pflug (plow) and Ochs (ox) guards from the Thalhoffer manual.

Between these and the standard-bearers I've got in the PIP section of my table, I'm just about finished with all the non-Irish units in the army list.  The recently released photos of the upcoming Perry French plastic set have gotten the mental cogs turning, and I think they should serve well as Irish bills and Galloglass, supplemented by a few sets from Claymore.

Happy Anniversary!

As those of you will know who looked at the Wikipedia main page today, June 16th is the anniversary of Stoke Field - the 528th, to be exact.  So in honor of the day, I took some quick photographs Lincoln's army as it stands now, in various states of (in)completion.

Looking back on these past months of work, I can say I'm pleased with what I've managed to do so far and somewhat daunted by how much work remains undone.  Even though I've got the larger part of the original army list done, I'm still far from my goal.

Here's what's left of the original list:
1 base Anglo-Irish, from the Pale (partially finished)
1 base Galloglass
1 base Kern
3 standards to complete command bases
1 base of Lambert Simnel/Richard Symonds
Vignettes
Pikemen to complete the partially finished German bases

and for the enlarged list (to be used more as a generic mercenary army):
1 base crossbowmen (partially finished)
1 base halbardiers
2 bases light cavalry
2 cannon
1 base mounted command

The weather and my recent vacation have put me out of the 15th-century mood a bit, but thinking about what remains to be done and seeing what's been accomplished so far has given new life to the project.

So, let us remember the boy-king, the White Rose and the Red, and the men whose blood drenched a little field south-east of Newark.

Fun in the Sun

Been rather busy outdoors recently but have managed to finish some miniatures despite the call of the garden.  I also broke the rules and started to deviate from my original army list by starting a base of crossbowmen  (primarily an excuse to paint pavises :) ).

Skirmishers: handgunner, Lovell billman, Scrope archer, and a German officer (tried to sculpt one of the deep German sallets - not sure it's all that great).

     Some crossbowmen.  The drummer is from the AO range.

     The left pavise is inspired by a beautiful example from Bohemia (see here) depicting David's duel with Goliath. On the right is a more speculative representation of the city of Augsburg (similar to the Regensburg pavise surmounted with the Augsburg arms and in Schwartz's colors).

Edit: two more I forgot to add.  Another German standard, converted from one of the Perry Swiss, and the galloglass from a while back.

"That Most Martial Man"

Here is the commander of Margaret's mercenaries, the veteran captain Martin Schwartz.  He had done service both in the Burgundian and Imperial armies and was known as a capable and experienced soldier.

This is actually Schwartz's third incarnation, the first two having been repurposed.  I think he looks very German and very imposing.  To add some variety to what is a basically black figure I painted a band of 'text' on his sallet - we see this in some contemporary artwork and also in the equipment of modern re-enactors. I have to confess that the 'text' is just a collection of black lines, since I didn't trust myself to paint real letters tidily.

More to follow soon.

It is Green

It is...it is green.

Not too much painting recently - been on a green-stuff binge instead.

Here is the lord's gallowglass for the Irish command base.  He is based off an illustration in Osprey's Gallowglass book, a useful if not outstanding text and a good source of contemporary imagery and photographs of equipment.  Being a 'kept man,' he's outfitted quite well and can afford a (by Irish standards) rather flashy and ornate helmet.

He was a lot of work, some of it less than perfect.  The idea is that he's leaning on his sparth, though I'm not sure I've captured the pose.

Also finished are two individually based handgunners; I plan to have two 'free' miniatures for each large base, to act as skirmishers and to give me a chance to convert a bit more.

On the left is a German, wearing the popular fringes on his aketon.  The one on the right is Burgundian; note the rather silly-looking but probably quite useful brais d'acier (or, as I think of them, steel boxers) which we see in some contemporary illustrations.

And two more men from the Pale.

Sir Thomas

Here he is, Sir Thomas Fitzgerald of Laccagh, with his loyal banner-bearer.  

The banner was a pleasant change from the ones I've had to paint recently.  Almost felt like cheating.

And here is WIP number two of the mystery man from the last post.  I imagine it was pretty obvious even in the earlier stages that it would be a gallowglass - what in later English sources might be called a "lord's gallowglass," a bodyguard and way-clearer for anyone who could afford to keep him in beef and drink.  Certain septs, however, were closely bound to certain of the noble families of Ireland, as was the case with the Earls of Kildare and the MacDonnells.  The 8th Earl quartered a large number of Irish soldiers, including a battle of MacDonnells, in the Pale, so I think it is not beyond the realm of possibility that one of them might have served as bodyguard to the Earl's brother.

The mail looks better in this picture than I thought it did when I sculpted it.  It really brings out my weak points with GS: edges and regular or uniform textures.  Fortunately I think the paint will hide the goof-ups pretty well.

Belated St Patrick's Day

Should really have tried to have the first Irish ready for St Patrick's, but hey ho.  It's a rainy and misty day, so the pics are a bit dark.

Here is Sir Thomas Fitzgerald of Laccagh, Lord Chancellor of Ireland, and his standard-bearer.  Both are built off some "Standing Commanders" from the Perry AO range, with modifications to reflect the rather antiquated appearance and condition that seems to have typified Irish armors.  The pointed coifs, old-fashioned armors, and the ubiquitous baldrics can all be seen on tomb effigies from around 1500.  I was really not keen to grind the sword-belt off Fitzgerald's waist and resculpt the armor, but after some 'encouragement' from the nice folks at the Lead Adventure Forum I went through with it.  I have a hard time getting crisp edges with GS, which means, among other things, that the plate around the waist looks a little clumsy.  All in all, though, I'm pleased, and I think I managed to make them look different from the original miniatures.  For the bannerman, I ground off the rolled-down hose around his calves and reshaped his helmet a bit to bring him more in line with fashions of the day.

Here is the first of the Irish troops from the Pale - hence the basically English appearance.  I know the red hair is a little stereotyped, but I love painting red hair!

Sneak peak of a WIP attendant for Fitzgerald.