28mm Medieval

 Now before I get started, I knew what I would be buying, I just wanted to try these resin prints out. Looking as we do on eBay I came across Reconqer Designs 14th centaury bowmen, they do many other of this period, and other ranges I think, they looked great and not expensive. When they arrived, good prompt service, they came as I figured they would still on the resin sprues. From what I hear most manufacturers of resin print items do this as it would cut into their time cutting them off the sprues before sending them on their way and boy can I see why.

These are beautifully animated figures, really nice and lifelike but brother what a chew on cutting the sprues off, you can hardly see the figure inside a web of resin threads, add to this that the resin is very brittle (I replaced the arrows with cut down metal spears) and you can see that however careful I was I still managed to snap off a couple of bows during this process. Now don't ask me the intricacies but my son has a resin 3D printer and the stuff he prints for me isn't brittle at all, you can almost bend it and he knows his stuff.

I'm not here to knock the company, if you can be bothered then you will end up with some very nice figures at a very reasonable price. I won't personally be doing this again but I had to give it a go.

Here's some pics:

I have been working on 6mm Anglo Zulu war stuff so that's next up.

Dave.

28mm archers stakes

 Lots of things to post but little time to do it!

Came across some wooden tooth pick while shopping which prompted me on to hammer in those stakes for the 28mm medieval lads, poor souls have been nervously waiting for those French cavalry to ride over them while I've been dithering.

Tooth pick cut in half, holes drilled into lolly pop sticks, glued onto appropriately shaped card,  bodge filler mixed with wood glue. Painted and flocked, there you go.

Base sizes are for Impetus rules.

Twilight of the Sun King test game next.

Dave.

28mm Medieval.

 Morning folks, again a while since I last posted by hey that's life!

Neal came over for a second go at Days of Knights high 2nd edition medieval rules by Chipco Games. We'd played with his 15mm 100 yrs war figs last week and enjoyed it so are giving it a second go now. The rules themselves are well set out with a good number of photograph examples of play for clarity which are very useful, they have a hint of DBA about them but only a hint and as I can state that I hate DBA but still really like the rule that should tell the reader something.

Without delving deeply into the mechanics, what's best is that the game feels like a medieval set of rules in that, certainly in the early i.e. 1250 to say 1400 period the 'units' or groups of elements your commanders control are very limited in their manoeuvrability other than move forwards, with a bit of drift, and swing onto the unengaged flank of an enemy if the opportunity arises unless the have certain levels of commanders attached. These are the king/general, a marshal or a captain who affect the troops in different ways. without these fellow the lads hunch their shoulders and plod forwards to chop the opposition up! All weapon types are of course accounted for and must be used as they were at the time or you won't get the best results. In all the game feels just right for the period and we are enjoying it immensely.

Photos are from about halfway through this weeks encounter with the English in the foreground and the Scots in the background in the first three pictures, other way round in the rest. Figures are 28mm from my Otterburn collection based on Impetus sized bases.

Note what's left of the Scottish first line with a double disorder marker (the two white rings) and the mounted knights trying to block the gap!

French mounted actually but what the heck.

Scots are screwed here I think.

Yes the English (Neal) most certainly have the upper hand, I will have to take moral tests for all of my elements at the end of my turn as the Scots have reached to 25% casualty status. Neal making up for his crappy dice last week at his place, the sod!!!!

Dave.

Otterburn additions.

 As our club Boarder Reiver Wargames Society is putting on a display game at the Elsdon Fete in Northumberland later this month the collection I had to contribute never had any civilian figures to show in particular the two Scottish camps present during the encounter in 1388, (scroll down from this post for further info on the battle).

So here are a very nice collection of 1st Corps 28mm figures that will do perfectly.

The village is within a few miles of the site of the battle and in itself is worth a visit, very pretty.

Dave.

Crecy period French mounted Knights

 Dug these Old Glory 28mm figures out of the box last week and painted them up. I will add a few foot , crossbows etc at some point. Other than the command figure the Duke of Orleans the rest (unlike my Otterburn Knights) are generic though I did use bought transfers for the shields and painted over them so they must all be somebody!

Probably should have done more with the basing, it looks a little bare.

Dave.

28mm English mounted knights, cir 1388

These fellows were it has to be said a bit of a struggle. work is busy at the moment so my time is short but I do find painting these types of individual figures much more difficult than say a battalion of Napoleonic troops which can be done as a production style, one colour after another. Add to this the bane of any medieval figure painter, heraldry then slowly does it as they say! Never mind they're done and fairly pleased I am too.

I did decide to only do the command stand plus one unit of English mounted as these chaps tended to fight on foot, not always of course, but mostly. The other twelve still to do will start off my French contingent for Crecy. All the figures here are from knights/esquires present at Otterburn 1388, but will do for other encounters as I'm not that fussy.

Sir Henry Percy (Hotspur). All heraldry is hand painted, as you can see I'm not great with any animals, geometric shapes fine but nothing 'living' as it were!

Left to right: Sir Rauf de Euar, Sir William Hilton, Sir Robert Umfraville, Nicholas Reymes esquire, Sir Ralf Percy, Sir Mathew Redman.

I'm seriously thinking of bulking out both sides of these forces, but not just yet. Maybe 10mm ECW next.

Dave.

Otterburn 1388 mounted knights.

 As stated in the last post I have begun to paint up mounted equivalents of the dismounted knights present at the battle of Otterburn 1388 up here in sunny (ha) Northumberland. If you wish to see pictures of the other figures and a refight of the battle see HERE and scroll down through the various pages.

As will be noticed if you folks have any knowledge of the encounter though both sides were mounted or had their horses available the English and the Scots chose as was the fashion of the time to fight it out on foot hence me not representing the knights esquires etc of either side in the original armies that I produced way back when. This is not of course to say that encounters on horseback did not occur, just not so frequently as this time period went on towards the late medieval era.

I still had 22 Old Glory mounted figures to hand so I decided to replicate the same guys mounted that I had originally done on foot. Why you may say do the same figures twice, a very sensible question, but if you know anything about medieval heraldry you will realise that knights (I will continue to use this term for convenience) heraldic devices often changed at some considerable pace, Lord Fob married Lady Muck and he therefore incorporated her heraldic device into his thereby buggering up your representation of that particular character that you have painted up for one battle which had occurred two years previously! I originally fancied portraying both Percy and Douglas for the battle of Shrewsbury 1403 but of course Hotspurs device had changed by then and it obviously wasn't the same Douglas as James went and got himself somewhat chopped up at Otterburn!

So the Scots, one command stand of Archibald and James Douglas, and one mounted knights/squires of left to right, Sir John Swinton, Sir John Lindsey, Sir John Montgomery, Sir Malcom Drummond, Simon Glendinning and Sir Alexander Fleming. A fairly comprehensive list of all of the knights/squires etc present at the encounter is given in the previous posts under 'medieval' if you go back enough pages. This was done with help from Charlie Wesencraft a great number of years ago. Hope your well Charlie.

Now to get started with Hotspur and his men.

Dave.

Medieval Scottish re-base

As promised here are the Scottish stands re-based, again Lords, knights etc from the Scottish/English border circa 1388.

Scottish force.

James, second Earl of Douglas:

Sir John Swinton:

Sir John Lindsay, Sir James Lindsay:

L to R, Sir John Towers, Sir Walter Sinclair:

L to R, Sir Alexander Frazer, Sir David Fleming:

L to R, Sir Malcom Drummond, Sir William Ruthven:

L to R, George, Earl of Dunbar and March, Sir William Gledstone:

L to R, Sir William Dalzell, Sir Alexander Lindsay:

L to R, Sir David Graham, Sir William Wardlaw:

L to R, Sir John de Haga, Sir John Haliburton:

L to R, Sir John Maxwell, Sir John Montgomery:

L to R, Simon Glendinning,Sir Robert Lauder:

L to R, John Wedderburn, Archibald Douglas:

Scots archers, yes they had longbowmen, just not as many and possibly not as proficient:

That will do for now,
Dave.