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.

John de la Pole

Here he is, the Earl of Lincoln himself.  He might be the most complex bit of freehand I've done yet.