28mm Serving Wenches

Last week I hit the dreaded point where I had run out of the figures that I had pre-primed to paint for this year's Challenge.  This post and the next feature minis that I had actually primed for last year's challenge.  But then Brendan the Kiwi lured me over the Renaissance and my first batch of Perry figs arrived before I got to the older less shiny figures.

While most ACW battlefields feature a church in a prominent location, the 1812 battlefields tended to be based around pubs.  This probably says much about our two nations.  But in actuality, the War of 1812 was basically fought by small Napoleonic armies on an old school Wilderness D&D campaign map.  Roads and settlements were few and far between, with the roadhouse often being the first (or only) building at key locations like and crossroads, fords and the like.  The armies fought for the key locations and thus fought around the roadhouse inns.

No slap and tickle of the waitresses lads!

These are two metal Reaper Miniatures from their Townsfolk range.  I have painted them up fairly generically so that they can serve in more than one era.  This poses are nice and the figures well done except that the faces could use better defined features.  Of course, one doesn't always notice the faces of serving wenches, especially after a few pints.

Supper seems to include soup broth and veg, and be accompanied by red wine.

Who's round is it lads?

I am continuing to experiment with basing.  These two lasses got my new standard treatment of acrylic gel, raw sienna and small rocks with a raw umber wash on top.  I chose to go with static grass as I figures that the areas around the pubs might be less rocky and weedy than the wilderness at large.  Comments and suggestions continue to be welcome.

Anaolog Painting Challenge Curtgeld

Please excuse the poor photography and lighting

For each version of the Challenge, Curt asks each participant for a figure as an entry fee.  The figure must meet a broad criteria along the theme of the Challenge for the year.  This year's theme is risk takers.

My Curtgeld is a Condotierro captain and standard bearer, which I have modeled after the character Nicomo Cosca from Joe Abercrombie's First Law world.  The figures are 28mm metals from the Perry European Armies 1450-1500 range, specifically the Italian command pack.

I do like the movement and posing on these figures

This is a risk taking on my part, since I know Curt has the exact same figures and will surely do a much better painting job than I can achieve.  But what the hey, it's all about pushing personal envelopes.  I have left the figures on pennies commemorative copper medallions featuring an image of the queen, rather than basing them.  Curt's instructions said that this was perfectly Kosher, plus he can base them as he sees fit (or not).  Hopefully they can find a home as a command stand with his Italian wars forces.

I seem to get the flag in profile!  However, the shields show up well here.

I don't follow many high fantasy series any more, but Abercrombie is one that I follow eagerly.  He produces books that are great reads, fittingly witty at times and thought provoking at others.  Plus his writing speed seems to match my desired reading  input speed. I really like how the same characters can appear sympathetic in one novel and then be less likable in the next.  A prime case is Cosca, a mercenary who appears in most of the books of his First Law world in various roles.  Initially he is a broken down drunken soldier of fortune forced to take a command in a forgotten garrison, but who finds his courage when the moment comes.  Later he becomes a successful mercenary commander, a schemer in an assassination plot, a duke and lastly a hired thug who meets a well deserved end.  He consistently goes all in and rolls the dice and we see the result of his wins and losses along the way.

Again excuse the poor lighting.

There is a First Law Wiki which has info on Cosca plus pictures of how others imagine him for those who are interested.  It channeled my inner John Lennon "They're just stories man!", but gave me details without reading all 5 of the books in short order.  He likes fancy clothes, the drink and rides a roller coaster of life.  I gave him a slashed crimson tunic, bi-coloured purple and yellow hose and gilded touches to his rather simple armour (mail, breast plate and barbute) plus a rotadella shield with a griffin emblem.   His standard bearer wears similar but less splendid clothes and carries a flag carrying the same griffin emblem.  

I added this close up to show the details better.  The faces have detail but I lack the skill to bring it out in a photo.

The shields are hand painted as I lack either the patience or skill to use transfers.  I am not completely happy with the griffin but in the end went with the "two foot standard".  I am quite happy with the quartered rotadella on the standard bearer, particularly as it was achieved without the requisite glass of red wine.  The flag came from this excellent site.  

Stradiotti

This week I have a unit of 8 Stradiotti for my Italian Wars forces and my Renaissance Men side duel.

These are all Perry figures, mostly metal.  There are 6 riders from the pack of Westernised Stradiotti (which are metal castings) mounted on plastic horses.  (This is how they are sold, six metal riders with instructions to buy two sprues of the plastic horses for mounts. ) The other two figures (with the long coats and top hats) are metal on metal, from the Stradiot command pack.

The all metal figure are on the left of each stand.

Backside of the same figures.  I love the poses here.

Stradiotti were Balkan light cavalry, manly Albanian., and were armed with a mix of bows and light lances.  They served first with the Venetian army and famously looted Charles VIII's baggage at Fornovo, including Charles' diary detailing his amorous conquest during his time in Naples.  Charles was so impressed that the French soon hired Stradiotti as did others including Henry VIII.  I painted this unit in less vibrant colours than my Italian units but I think that the figures has lots of colour themselves.

The shield design reminds me of ones I painted for my Hellenistic armies.

Shields are hand painted based on Osprey type illustrations and the flag came off the Internet, but got trimmed down once printed.  On one horse I included a severed head, the must have fashion accessory for Balkan auxiliaries since Cyrus the Great invaded Thrace.

Other entrants have commented that they hate painting horses, but I find it a lot of fun and very rewarding.  My mother (a former Bengal Lancer) was horsey and in my younger days I spent many a weekend being the dutiful son at her dressage and other events.  This gave me the chance to note various horse colour combinations.

The Perry horses are wonderful, especially the plastic set.   A single sprue comes with enough bits for 3 horses with 6 half bodies plus 4 heads, all interchangeable.  This gives you 24 different horses in the basic set, plus more with the armoured heads that come with the Knights.  I've yet to find a losing combination and you get a sense of a unit galloping at the same speed but with different positioning of legs and heads and differing horse furniture.

I am continuing my experimentation on basing and again looking for critiques.  The ground is a mix of Acrylic Gel with Raw Sienna plus fine ballast.  I then washed the bases with Raw Umber and am quite pleased with the colour effect.  I think I've hit the right combinations of Italian dirt colours.  Foliage is a few tufts from the Evil Empire.

I am looking forward to fielding these ruffians in an Italian Wars game soon.  Keep you dirty books well under wraps Campbell!

More Italians With Pole Arms

A small post this week, as January is what passes for my busy time of the year work wise. Still nothing like when I was a pension consultant but I tend to slow down in many ways this time of year.

These are another 8 Italians to "complete" the unit I had posted part of last week.  They now stand as a block of 16, but will I will likely increase my pike and halberd blocks to 24 at some point.  Pictures are below, including the full set of 16 and close ups of the new group of 8.  These are all Perry's. A pack of 6 Italian Heavy Infantry, a Plastic Foot Knight and a drummer from the Italian command set.  I have based them to match the first set of 8, but I'll try different combinations for the next unit.

These guys, along with the rest of my Italian Wars collection and Curt's troops say action last night. A full AAR will appear on the Single Handed Admiral later but two shots featuring these guys. Curt's fire disordered them in the advance so they fell behind the rest of their Battalia. You can see their flag in the background.

Speaking of seeing action, here's a group of four guys who aren't likely to modelling the latest in tinfoil hat designs.

Challenge entrants: PeterD, CurtC, Sylvain and JeremyM (left to right)

Pike and Shoote AAR

Last week we met at Curt's place for a game of Pike and Shotte using Italian Wars Figures from my collection and Curt's.  The scenario was based on the "Reinforcements on the Table" scenario  by C. S. Grant with forces taken from the scenario in One Hour Wargames which Neil Thomas based on the Grant scenario.

Curt took a mostly French force with crossbowmen, Swiss halbardiers and a heavy gun on the hill.  His reinforcements included two pike units, plus single crossbow, Gendarme, "Archers" (heavy cavalry) units and a light gun.  Sylvain and Jeremy took an Italian force of 2 swordsmen, 2 arquebusier, halberdier, crossbows, Gendarmes and Mounted Crossbows and two medium guns. 

The key to this scenario is getting the balance right between the distance the attackers need to cross versus the distance the reinforcements need to cross.  I went with Grant's suggest 2:3 ratio, but the P&S variable moves could set that on it's ear.

Curt's reinforcements en route.

Painting Challenge fans may recognize many of the figures.  And yes that does appear to be a tin foil hat in the background.

The Attackers enroute.

As it turned out, Curt rolled up and led his Cavalry in a bold counter offensive.  In the process he took the risk of leaving his infantry to toddle on behind the horse boys.  Meanwhile, Sylvain and Jeremy had universally poor die rolls and their attack took ages to get going.  Fire from the hill disordered several of Jeremy's units causing further delays.

Cavalry melee in process.  In the background blackpowder weapons at work.

C'mon lads, you wanna live forever?

Getting to the crunch time on the ridge

The Swiss are looking outnumbered, but what is going on the background?

Epic Fail Charles le Temeraire

My Epic Fail is Charles the Bold aka Charles le Temeraire aka Chuck the idiot, last of the Valois Dukes of Burgundy.  The figure is Perry Charles the Bold figure that comes with their Burgundian Cavalry Wing army deal, which was my birthday present last year from my wife.  He has been kicking around in my lead pile since then, because I was loathe to paint up such a complete doofus.  However, Epic Fail seems to about cover it.

In picking a subject for this theme I was reminded of the scene in the film the "Producers" where Zero Mostel discards the idea of a broadway musical based on Kafka's Metamorphosis as being "not weird enough".  OK let's cover off the Epicness of Charles' Fail, to see if it's epic enough.

1. Charles inherited the third most powerful European country, the Duchy of Burgundy.  It was a patchwork quilt of fiefs from the Upper Rhine to the Low Countries, and it was fabulously wealthy.
2. He put together what is considered the first Renaissance Army using a combination of shot, shock and foot and hiring the best mercenaries from across Europe.
3. This army as WRG puts it, remains popular with warmers despite losing 100% of it battles.  Yes that right it's an 0-fer army.
4. He picked a territorial battle with the Swiss, who roughed every other power up badly.
5. The way he failed on the field of battle.  Battle reports speak of poor reconnaissance, overly complex battle plans and failing to consider what happens is the enemy does something different that you expect.
6. His cavalry strong army got surprised by massed pike columns three times in a row.
7. He died in the final battle.
8. For extra points he left no heir but an infant daughter.  Now in Scottish history this is a regular rite of passage, but the Scots have a national identify where us the Duchy of Burgundy had none.
9. As a result the third most powerful European country simply ceased to exist.  Yep, the French got the actual Duchy of Burgundy and the Empire got the Netherlands and "poof" it was gone.

So let's sum this up.  Builds the "killer" army, designs the "can't fail battle plan" and then goes about losing every fight badly by failing to get the basics right.  Yep he was a wargamer and we've all seen him on the table, or possibly been him on the table.

Ok back to the mini.  Charles is a Perry specialty metal, his standard bearer is a combo of a Plastic Knight and the Plastic "light" cavalry set.  I wanted to avoid the standard "Blue and white with red cross" look that screams "Burgundian Ordinance" so that I could use the figure as a French commander in the Italian Wars.  Swiss illustrations show Charles in Gilded Armour with Red surcoat so I went with that.

And I found a livery for Burgundian Guardsmen that was 1/2 black and purple with a white cross for his standard bearer.  The flag is paper, printed at home and a standard Burgundian banner.

Painting Challenge Italians With Polearms

A small post this week.  I've got two projects half way along, but got slowed down by Epic Fail, initial resource gathering for Defensive Terrain and .... well life.

These are 8 Italian men at arms with pole arms (a mix of pole axes and Lucerne hammers) from the Perry Renaissance range.  There are 6 from a the pack labelled Italian Heavy Infantry, a standard bearer from the Italian command pack and a plastic dismounted knight. 

The standard reference for these guys is of course Renaissance art and there is a background figure in Carpaccio's Legend of St Ursula (this period gets the best reference links) that shows up in Ospreys and the like.

The dude with the Lucerne hammer and the red pants by the water.  Note that he is left handed apparently - how sinister.

The heavies figures come with the lovely oval shields that appear in artwork, but it's not clear that you could use an oval shield and poleaxe so I have left them off.  My wife (a fabric junkie) questioned the bright scarlet and yellow hose, but I went with them on the basis of "that's the colour set Raphael used".  I think that she is right, but I want my figs to have the same pop as a Mantegna or a Bellini.

Nicely illustrating the colour palette, that stairclimbers were not needed in the 15th century and why I won't be joining a reenactment group any time soon.

The big change for me is the basing.  I have taken the group's advice and used a Liquidtex Gel medium.   The mix used was the medium, plus small "rocks" plus Raw Umber (which is after all coloured after Renaissance Italian mud).  The Umber looked dark so I dry brushed it with Burnt Sienna (more Italian mud).

The tufts are GW Mordheim turf which looks like dried out grass and weeds to me, and thus suitable for a hot Tuscan summer.

Favourable feedback on my basing is always welcome, constructive criticism will initially be met by curling up in a fetal position and whimpering and then be welcome.