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.