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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Officers

A few German officers and drummers for Schwartz's company. Some will wind up in the pike block, and others will be sprinkled around here and there.

I should say at this point that the livery colors, like the banners, are entirely conjectural.  Black seemed appropriate for a man named Schwartz, (armorial "punning" was not uncommon in the Middle Ages), and white was a natural choice for the complement.  I haven't yet decided whether the red saltire is Schwartz's own or  the Duchess of Burgundy's, but it looks sharp and matches the arms of the Fitzgeralds, who will make an appearance later on.  As late as 1486, Schwartz was in the service of the Holy Roman Emperor, and the yellow drums are a nod to Schwartz's former employer.

Figures are mainly Perry (both the Mercenary and Foot Knights sets), with two Foundry Swiss, sans tête.  Foundry's sculpts have so much character, but the heads are just too broad and had to be replaced.

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.