Warlord Games Landsknecht Pikemen - WIP +1

 Stained the figures with Minwax, being careful to blot off excesses from the cuts/slashed on the clothing.

Below, block painted, prior to staining.

Warlord Games Landsknecht Pikemen - WIP

Just a quick update to show you all what I'm working on. Started block-painting the figures using references in old Warhammer Empire books for inspiration. About half are done, so far. They'll get the usual Minwax stain treatment once the initial painting is done. Hopefully, the stain won't overly obscure the details - particularly the cuts and slashes on the clothing. Interestingly, the pikes (and figures for the most part) match up very well with the Perry Mercenary ones. I may someday get a box of each and see if their heads and arms can be interchanged.

Thanks for stopping by and wishing you all the best.

Perry HYW English MAA/Knights

Here are the remaining 12 figures from the box with the earlier bowmen. Nice figures in mostly "alwyte armour", with only a few with jupons. The latter were given simple St. George crosses, or left plain.

Used the St. George and Henry V banners that came with the set. Actually, the banners are scanned so I can keep the originals for future use.

I may use some of them with my WotR figures, as I already have a enough Black Tree Design foot MAA/knights for the period. As you can see in the picture below, the BTD figures a bit larger than the Perrys.

Just wanted to get the Perry figures done as I have a box of Warlord Games Landsknect pikemen to start on. These will be part of an Empire army.

Perry HYW Longbowmen

Finished up the figures today. Didn't add any highlights other than lightly drybrushing their helmets after spraying the figures with a matte coat. I did give give their faces and hands a fleshwash to soften the tone of the skin. The Minwax stain gives them a bit of a dirty, campaign look.

Used the bases that came with the set to mount the stakes and spare arrows. Also, added magnetic sheet to the 60x45mm bases for the figures mounted on metal washers.

Only added a sparse amount of static grass to give the ground a muddy look.

Just a quick project to ensure the HYW foot men at arms and knights have some missile support if, and when, they may go into battle. Speaking of foot men at arms, will work on the ones from this set next.

Perry HYW Longbowmen - WIP

Minwax stained these figures from the English Army 1415-1429 box.  There are also 12 fully armored men at arms in the set which I may use for early Wars of the Roses, as I already have a lot of Black Tree Design men at arms and foot knights for the HYW.

Below, the figures block painted, before the staining. Vallejo Off-White, Bonewhite, and Buff were used for the padded jackets. Muted blue, green, and red were used for the clothing, including the cowls. A very limited palette, but the colors should tie them together. Also, added a few heads from the WotR sets, including the kettle helm, which may not have been the first choice for a bowman, but I liked the look.

Trusty can of Minwax Tudor Satin Stain.

Just a quick project since I needed to have appropriate bowmen for the period. They're based on washers and can be used for skirmish games.

WotR Command Stands - Finished, For Now

Got the box of Perry HYW English foot today - it came with a banner for the Duke of Norfolk, so was able to finish up that stand, along with several others. Below, left to right: Duke of Buckingham; Duke of Norfolk; Earl of Northumberland; and Duke of Somerset. I should add, the Duke of Buckingham stand has a knight wearing the arms of Sir John Say. Not sure if he participated in any of the battles, but I like his arms.

Below, all of the foot command stands, so far. Front row, left to right: Duke of York; Edward IV; Earl of Warwick; and Richard III. Second row, left to right: same as in the first photo, with the Earl of Oxford on the far right.

For my own reference, I listed the battles these can be used for. Duke of York: 1st St Albans, Ludford Bridge, Wakefield (KIA). Edward IV: Northampton, Mortimer's Cross, Towton, Barnet, Tewksbury. Earl of Warwick: 1st St Albans, Ludford Bridge, Northampton, 2nd St Albans, Towton, Barnet (KIA). Richard III: Barnet, Tewksbury, Bosworth (KIA). Duke of Buckingham: 1st St Albans, Ludford Bridge, Northampton (KIA). Duke of Norfolk: Northhampton, 2nd St Albans, Towton, Barnet, Tewksbury, Bosworth (KIA). Earl of Northumberland: 1st St Albans, Northampton, Wakefield, 2nd St Albans, Towton. Duke of Somerset: 1st St Albans, Wakefield, 2nd St Albans, Towton, Hedgely Moor, Hexham (executed after battle). Earl of Oxford: Barnet, Bosworth, Stoke Field. Granted some of the titles were passed to heirs, and flags for Edward IV and Richard III are those after they were crowned. I've games 1st St Albans, Tewkesbury, and Bosworth before, using Lion Rampant, and also Hail Caesar. I plan to game some of the other battles too.

While I was revisitng this project, I went ahead and rebased onto single bases these mounted WotR characters, including Margaret of Anjou.

Taking a break from WotR for now, and will start on the longbowmen from the HYW box. I already have a lot of English knights, but never had the bowmen. Until next time, wishing you all the best.

A Couple of Richard III's

These are all Perry plastics from their Mounted and Foot MAA sets. Heraldry on the tabards are painted for effect (at arms length) rather than accuracy. I used Vallejo Game Color Bronze Fleshtone for the lions and lilies. Richard is said to have used a battle axe after being unhorsed at Bosworth. I used a poleaxe with the handle shortened and shaved down. The axe head is a bit large, but suitably heroic in proportion as Richard is said to have fought bravely in his last battle.

Magnetized his head (bareheaded and helmeted with crown). 

Also, magnetized the body onto the horse - White Surrey; and also the right arm with lance.

Added little bit of Tamiya putty to the bottom of his bowl cut to give him a little longer hair - as he's normally depicted.

I may have to add a little flesh color below the left eye - seems the wash got a bit too dark there.

Have a few more command stands to finish - awaiting a banner for the Duke of Norfolk coming in a box of Perry English HYW figs. After that, should be good on the Wars of the Roses.

Great Bargains At Our Local Bring And Buy - And An ACW Sharp Practice Game Afterwards

Longish title, I admit, but knocked out two great events on the same day. The first was a bring and buy less than 5 minutes from my place at Fort Steilacoom. The second was a Sharp Practice game just a couple miles from the fort at my buddy's place down the road. There were a lot of great bargains at the bring and buy, and I ended up picking up a box of Warlord Games Battalia Starter Army and several pre-painted buildings from Black Site Studios. Although I thought I'd never get back to ECW Pike and Shotte after selling off my large collection last year, I just couldn't pass up what this box was going for (less than the normal price of a box of 30 figs!). Plan to go with skirmish games with these, and basing them individually - possibly for Pikeman's Lament or other skirmish rules. The buildings were also bargain basement prices, and the garden walls and outhouse thrown in for free. Plan to use the buildings for a Leipzig game in the future as they appear to have the same architecture I've seen in period illustrations of the battle; mainly for aesthetics more than anything.

Here's what the bring and buy looked like this morning. It was nice seeing all the folks, most of whom I've known for many years.

Here are some pictures from the ACW Sharp Practice game later in the day. The game was based on the Battle of Honey Springs in 1863. I ran a contingent of native troops allied with Union forces, as well as an artillery battery. The scenario had the Confederates trying to reclaim one of their standards left on the field from an earlier engagement. It ended up a slugfest with the Confederates never making it to the flag. It was the first time I've played Sharp Practice in over a decade - and first time with the newer edition. It was a fun game, mainly due to my buddies knowing the rules pretty well - they are big fans of TFL rules.

My unit of 2nd Indian Home Guards in skirmish order screening a unit 1st Kansas Colored Infantry. The battle involved quite a variety of troops. The Confederates should have also had native troops, but my buddy was still painting them :).

Background and map of the battle.

Part of the Confederate battle line in the woods. My battery took out one of their cannon.

The flag too far laying in the kill zone.

Union troops advancing.

Confederates manuevering onto the table.

All in all a great day to spend with like-minded folk, and acquiring some great new projects. Hope you all are doing well!

WotR Command Stands

Working on WotR command stands. Rebased the command figures onto 20mm metal washers to go on 50mm magnetic round bases. The bases originally had some FPW multibased figures, with the bottoms having the magnetic sheets. Removing the magnetic sheets would've torn the plywood bases, so repurposed them for these command stands. Still working on a few more commands, including Richard III. The ones based are from left to right: Edward IV; the Earl of Warwick; Richard, Duke of York; and the Earl of Oxford.

Here's the bases with acrylic caulking with washers holding the spots where the removable figures will go.

Below is how I was able to carefully scrape off the acrylic caulking from the opposite (former top) side where other figures had been attached.

Well, just a quick post to show you all what I've been working on the last few days. Tomorrow, there's a bring and buy at Fort Steilacoom. After that, I'm invited to an ACW Sharp Practice game down the road from the fort. Until the next update, wishing you all the very best!

Perry WotR Infantry and Mercenaries Based

Based the figures up today. Note, most of the pikemen in the red and white livery were already painted, but added four more figures and rebased them four figs per 40mm squares to give them more of a close ordered appearance. As mentioned in the earlier post, besides the red and white liveried pikes, these are Burgundian pikes and crossbows; troops for the Duke of Norfolk; Earl of Oxford; and a few handgunners.

Burgundian pikes and crossbows below. There are already handgunners for them to join.

Burgundian pikes and the earlier painted pike with armored officer and several other pikemen to form them up into a 16-man unit.

Below are troops for the Earl of Norfolk on the left, and troops for the Earl of Oxford on the right. 

The blue stars for the Oxford livery are from an old pack of Citadel decals I've had for a long time. Luckily, they're still holding up well.

Still have a few command figures from the two boxes to work on, but these are the main ones I wanted done. Thanks again for stopping by and checking out the blog!

Perry WotR Infantry and Mercenaries - WIP

 Block painted and stained with Minwax the figures from the two boxes.

Decided to paint up a couple units in livery colors for the Duke of Norfolk - azure and tawny (blue and orange). I not only didn't have units already in these colors, but they were at quite a few battles, to include Tewksbury and Bosworth. Also, units of pikes and crossbows are in Burgundian livery; bows and pole armed guys in tawny to add to the Earl of Oxford's units; a few more pikemen in red and white livery to up the earlier unit to 16 figures, as I plan to have pikes based 4 per 40mm squared to give them a more close order look; and fiinally a small (6-figure) unit of handgunners in generic red.

Above are the figures block painted before staining.

They'll be sprayed with matte and then given highlights before basing. Until next time, thanks for stopping by and wishing you all the best!