Knights by Marcel Vergeylen and Fusilier Miniatures

 Hot on the heals of the London Toy Soldier Show came the Sandown Park Toy Fair, it's much more of a General toy collectors show but there are always figures to be found and I can never resist rummaging around in the junk boxes, I came away with forty pieces for an outlay of £30, here are some of them:

The two knights on the outside above with dark green bases were made in France by Marcel Vergeylen (1948-2015) and have the name of the character portrayed written under their base, the one on the left is Sir John Lydevusers and on the right is Englebert de Harze.  The Childhood Knights website tells us that Vergeylen was a keen painter of heraldry and figure converter who went on to create his own range, and amongst his work are several examples based on Roy Selwyn-Smith's "Knights of Agincourt".

The knight in the centre is unfinished and is engraved "F MIN" under the base for Fusilier Miniatures, one of the brands offered by Mark and Paul Turner who are well known dealers and manufacturers of figures on the toy soldier circuit, their other ranges are Tommy Atkins (started by their father John) and Hussar Military Miniatures.

They'll need a bit of work to finish them off so it's a good job I picked up those spare shields and weapons packs from White Tower  Miniatures the previous week

Medieval Wargamer Video

During the recent exceptionally hot weather I have been spending an inordinate amount of time basking in the cooler climes of social media, where I came across the Medieval Wargamer YouTube Channel and thought I might share it with you dear reader:

I don't know who runs the channel but it showcases all aspects of Medieval wargaming with lots of spectacular videos, the one above features still pics of 1,000 miniatures resplendent in their heraldry and is accompanied by a narration from Bernard Cornwell's novel Harlequin.  A word of warning it runs for 26 minutes which may cause a bit of sensory overload but you can always take a break and come back to it.

Here is the official introduction to this video:

"This cinematic showcase features scenes from my large Hundred Years’ War collection, assembled and deployed for visual and atmospheric purposes rather than representing one specific historical battle. The goal was to capture the feeling, scale, and character of medieval warfare through a series of still images and cinematic moments.

Featured throughout are warriors, banners, and formations inspired by the Hundred Years’ War period, accompanied by audiobook narration from Harlequin by Bernard Cornwell, including passages describing the combat and atmosphere surrounding the Battle of Crécy.

Sit back and enjoy this visual journey into the world of medieval warfare.

A big thank you to Steven Comunale for editing this videos cover photo and creating such a beautiful battle ground image."