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.

Henry Plantagenet, Earl of Derby, Duke of Lancaster, KG - Verlinden 120mm English Knight

Finished up the Verlinden 120mm figure. He's on a temporary base until I can find a more suitable one - smaller.

I used Vallejo acrylics for the entire figure, and pretty much painted him up like how I would a smaller figure. Painting the separate parts and then putting them together afterward.

The great helm and cap of maintenance with royal lion crest makes him look a bit top heavy, but that's probably realistic.

As I mentioned in the previous post, the heraldic lions on the jupon had shallow outlines, which assisted in their painting.

Henry was a great-grandson of Henry III and campaigned in Scotland and Flanders. He was at the Battles of Sluys and Crecy, as well as the Siege of Calais. He died of the Black Plague in 1360.

Here he is below alongside a Front Rank 28mm mounted figure painted in the same arms.

That was a nice little project and now I can concentrate on the Bolt Action game I'm hosting this Friday. Thanks for stopping by and wishing you all the best in the hobby!

Rebasing Completed - A Third Post in a Day Ridiculousness

Having not posted stuff in months, here is a third post on the same day! What the...? Anyway, now that this rebasing project is done...which was just to pass the time until the Perry WotR plastics arrived...it's time to get serious. In fact, I washed the 3 boxes of WotR Infantry and plan to start putting them together tomorrow.

On the left: two 6 figure trays holding 12 Early-HRE knights of various makes. On the right four 3 figure trays holding 6 HYW knights (Front Rank and BTD) and 6 yeomen with bows (FireForge). The new  paint rack and paints in the background.

Had to also show off the new Vallejo Paint Rack as well as the 16 new bottles from the Vallejo Intro pack. The older bottles of Flesh and White to their left on the second tier. The top row fits the craft paints I forgot I had. The rack fits about 50 or so Vallejo/Reaper bottles. Don't think I ever had that many, although the empty holes make it tempting to fill. That said, I normally just mixed paints for different shades.

Ich Dien - 120mm Imperial Gallery 14th C. Knight - Finished

Just finished up the figure - the Super Glue is still wet holding the shield to the arm precariously. Ended up painting him as the Prince of Wales with his so-called Shield of Peace. I managed to write "Ich Dien" on the scrolls on the shield with a Micron Pen. This time I first sprayed the painted shield with clear acrylic. This made writing with the pen much easier as the brushed on acrylic tends to clog up the tip of the pen. This is something I couldn't have painted when I bought it about 10 years ago. Painting heraldry in 28mm gave me the courage to attempt it here and glad I did. Guess I can call him alternatively, "Ten Years After."

I added some "shrubbery" around the dowel holding up the horse. Not perfect, but better than the plain dowel.

Purist will note that I did not add the Prince's label over the Arms of England to denote his status as the heir to the throne. As in the previous post I didn't want to obscure the lions where the label would be placed over.

The shield that came with the kit was poorly molded and so thin it cracked apart when I tried to cut it from the excess resin. Heated plasticard worked fine for a replacement. Although as you can see in the photos above and below, I neglected to fabricate the padding and straps in the back of the shield. Chock it up to laziness. Life is too short for these things!

The sword, scabbard, tail of the chapeau, horse stirrups and bits are metal parts. The reins and stirrup straps are cut from left over paper from the Bengal Lancer project.

I kept the surcoat plain without displaying arms, but added an ermine pattern to the lining.

The pose reminds me of the knight crashing through the little boy's bedroom in "Time Bandits" - love the war cry - "Eeeeyaaaah!" Anyway, this is the third large figure I managed to paint this month which otherwise would still be sitting in boxes going on a decade or so. Cheers to all of you!

ADDENDUM:  I should've included an image of him next to 28mm figs for scale - so here he is ready to slay a myriad of them.

Lion Rampant Retinue - Somewhat English HYW

A 24pt Lion Rampant retinue using only 24 figures. I like the compactness of the force, and hopefully the Mounted Yeomen with bows, classed as Expert, will provide enough fire support. The Mounted and Foot MAA's should be quite formidable opponents in Attacks.

Of course a true HYW English force would have a good number of Longbowmen. Anyway, these figures were all painted awhile ago, but I don't think they were pictured as a group before - at least not as a LR retinue.

Final Round of Black Tree Design HYW Foot Knights

Okay, so here are the last six Black Tree Design foot knights that I've had sitting around for a while. They are painted up from left to right (front row): Owain Glyndwyr, Laurence Hastings - Earl of Pembroke, Sir Miles Stapleton; left to right (rear row): Sir Richard Fitzsimon, Sir John Beauchamp, and Sir Roger de Clifford.

Sir Richard carries the Cross of St. George; Sir John the Royal Standard of Edward III; and Sir Roger the banner of the Black Prince. The last two were downloaded from the Danish Figure Games Association site, and the St. George Cross was hand painted. They are based on Gale Force 9 magnetic 25mm rounds.

As I've mentioned before, I find this range from BTD to be particularly nice. Very nicely detailed, and historically accurate, IMO.

Sir Richard Fitzsimon, KG - Battle of Crecy

Here's the last Black Tree Design foot knight from their Early-HYW command pack - painted up as Sir Richard Fitzsimon. Sir Richard is credited with protecting the young Prince of Wales at Crecy when under attack by the Duke of Alencon's forces.

This is the narrative by Froissart: Sir Richard Fitzsimon, the Black Prince’s standard bearer was beside the Prince when he fell and threw the standard down to cover him and then stood on it to both protect him and prevent the standard from being carried off. Sir Richard Fitzsimon then slew the French knight who had knocked over the Black Prince, then killed the Count of Flanders. The Frenchmen eagerly pushed forward to seize a valuable prisoner and the Englishmen were struck down in turn until Fitzsimon was the only one left standing.

He bears the Cross of St. George. Sir Richard was another founding member of the Order of the Garter - no surprise considering his prowess at Crecy.

His arms are three red (gules) shields (escutcheons) on a white (argent) field. Quite simple, yet probably visually stunning on the battlefield.

Sir John Beauchamp, KG

Here is another Black Tree Design HYW knight from their command pack. He is painted up as Sir John Beauchamp, who was the younger brother of Thomas, Earl of Warwick. Sir John was Edward III's Royal Standard bearer at Crecy. He was also present at the Battle of Sluys, and the Siege of Calais. Sir John was one of the founding members of the Knights Garter.

The lovely standard was another free download from the excellent Danish Figure Games Association site; the flags themselves created by one Rune Kramer - quite a talented and resourceful bloke.

His shield bears the Beauchamp coat of arms with a black (sable) star in the center field to indicate his status as a younger brother of the family head.

One more figure remains from the command pack, and he is planned to bear the St. George's Cross flag.

Sir Laurence Hastings, Earl of Pembroke

Getting back to brushwork - here is another Black Tree Design HYW foot knight. He is painted up as Sir Laurence Hastings who served under Edward III in Flanders and Scotland. He also participated in the Duke of Lancaster's campaign in Aquitaine and Gascony in 1345. He was at the Siege of Calais in 1346. He died in 1348 at the age of 29.

His coat of arms are those of Hastings and Valence quartered. The arms of Hastings being a woman's sleeve and that of Valence being bars argent (white) and azure (blue) with red (gules) martlets. Quite a catchy set of arms.

His armor is typical of the early 14th century consisting of plate limb armor supplementing mail. He wears an open faced bascinet with mail aventail.

Black Tree Design makes some of best figures for the period - Crecy to Poitiers - in my opinion.

The figures are on the larger side of 28mm, which makes a nice foil for heraldry.

Sir Roger de Clifford - Battle of Poitiers

Here is another Black Tree Design HYW knight in late-14th C. armor. He's painted up as Sir Roger de Clifford who had long and successful careers in both politics and the military. He saw extensive service in France and Scotland.

Here he is bearing the standard of the Black Prince. There is no evidence that Sir Clifford actually carried these colors at Poitiers or elsewhere, but I liked the combination of his arms and the prince's standard.

The standard was downloaded from the excellent Danish Figure Games Association website.

This is the last of the late-HYW figures from Black Tree Design. There are three more figures from their early-HYW range to be painted.

Oops - I see that I forgot to paint the leather strap and vervelles that hold the aventail to the bascinet.

Sir Miles Stapleton

Here is another Black Tree Design HYW foot knight - this time painted up as Sir Miles Stapleton of Bedale. He was a founding member of the Order of the Garter. He was present at the Seige of Tournai in 1340, following the Battle of Sluys. He fought in the War of Breton Succession and was gravely wounded at the Battle of Auray in 1364.

Sir Miles' armor is of the interesting type with studs on his brigandine as well as his cuisses. His lower leg armor being splinted and studded. His arms are argent, a lion rampant sable.

Sir Miles died in December 1364 succumbing to wounds suffered at the Battle of Auray.

Black Tree Design HYW Knights - 2nd Round

Here are some group shots of the six BTD knights recently painted - just enough for another foot MAA unit in Lion Rampant. In the photo below they are from left to right, front row: Günther von Schwarzburg, King of the Germans; Sir William de Aldeburg; Sir William de Bohun, 1st Earl of Northampton, KG; rear row: Sir Thomas Erpingham, KG; Thomas de Beauchamp, 12th Earl of Warwick, KG; Pietro Farnese - Captain General of the Papal and Florentine Armies.

 They are all on 25mm magnetic round bases from GF9; the horde tray is from Litko.

Except for the Schwarzburg figure who's from the Early-HYW foot command pack, they are all from the Late-HYW packs. Still deciding on who the six remaining unpainted knights will be.

Pietro Farnese - Captain General of the Papal and Florentine Armies

Another one of the Black Tree Design Late-HYW foot knights. This time painted up as the 14th C. Italian condottiere Pietro Farnese.

In 1345 he was appointed commander of a communal army which besieged the fortified city Castiglion Fiorentino.

He participated in the Papal wars of the times and eventually became Captain General of the Papal Army in 1355. In 1362, he was appointed Captain General of the Florentine Army in a war against Pisa. Pietro was a successful commander in both armies, but eventually died of the plague in 1363.

The Farnese family became very powerful in the years after Pietro, surviving until the 18th Century when no further males heirs remained.

Günther von Schwarzburg, King of the Germans

Here is a Black Tree Design Early-HYW knight, painted up as Günther von Schwarzburg. He was elected King of Germans in 1349, but renounced his kingship the same year to Charles of Luxemburg. Günther died soon after this, at the age of about 45. Interestingly, Edward III was offered the crown first, due to his wife Philippa of Hainault's bloodline, but was turned down by Edward.

I've always wanted to paint this guy up as the splinted and studded limb armor, popular in Germany, looks pretty cool.

Putty was used fill out the splinted armor on his forearms, as well as to cover the laminated shoulder pieces to replicate sleeves for the short surcoat. A piece of plastic sprue was fashioned for the hanging nasal guard.

The heraldic lions on the surcoat are positioned diagonally which is how it is painted on Von Schwarburg's memorial.

Below are images of the actual effigy of Von Schwarzburg at the Imperial Cathedral in Frankfurt.

Although there are a few more BTD knights in the paint queue, I've been thinking about Napoleonics using a simplified version of Black Power. More to follow.