Sir Thomas, Part II

     Here's Fitzgerald of Laccagh done and based with his attendants.  Another base that'd been sitting on my shelf for years without being completed.  I originally planned the base to look quite different, with more "wild Irish," but in the end I settled for a more civilized grouping that probably better represents an Irish magnate's retinue, a mix of current, old-fashioned, and distinctly Irish dress and armor.

Some of you may notice that the banner bearer has been switched for another, who I think fits the Irish look at this time a bit better.  The trumpet comes from the Agincourt archers sprue.

A Return

It's been more than a year since I posted the last time.  That's not to say, however, that I've been totally idle.

The "command" stand of the army, at least in name: the so-called Earl of Warwick (not pictured), with his standard, a Burgundian retainer, and a piper to keep him amused.

A German man-at-arms, with a pavise inspired by this example.  I'm not certain how common it was for men-at-arms to use pavises in combat, but hey-ho.

A de la Pole banner and an archer with a less common Yorkist badge.  These will likely go on the main Irish base, to represent the bows-and-bills character of troops raised in the Pale and show the ties between Dublin (and Ireland generally) and the House of York.

Waiting now for more miniatures, for the Irish and also for Simnel.

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.

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!

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.

"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.

Nocked Up

Been rather busy of late, and on top of it I haven't felt much like painting.  So instead I assembled more figures for the English bases.

Here are the archers.  Seconds before taking the photo I bumped the table, so some aren't in the right position/orientation.

A couple of command figures for various bases.  The aristocratic fellow in the middle is none other than John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln.  He will of course eventually get one of those circular "command bases," which will permit a kind of vignette.  I picture him stepping forward in alarm as he's given some not very encouraging news by a (still unmade) lieutenant, moments before entering the fray himself to swing the balance of battle in his favor.

These men, and the billmen in the previous post, await extensive greenstuffing, and some of them will probably be altered considerably before I get to painting them.  I have a habit of assembling the contents of a new box in a rush and then being displeased by how unoriginal the poses are, so the next step will be to fiddle with them a bit.  I also hope to get a hold of the new standard bearers and some more musicians, but that will have to wait until I've painted most of these plastics.