Boar Spears

 

I need to model some spear heads for the bulk of my Italian infantry. These will be plastic Perrys, and I could probably fit spearheads onto the spear-shafts they come with. But from whence can I source the spearheads? They are an unusual shape and rather large - I'd estimate at least 8 or 9mm long - and I believe they are a sort of boar spear, without the cross bar. Any suggestions would be much appreciated! Plastic would be perfect since they could be glued in place, but I could drill and glue metal. 

Venetian spearmen

 

Recently, I've been busy modelling things but failing to post pictures, so here is an image of a unit of Venetian spearmen that I'm currently working on. I'm retouching and expanding my old 17-man unit to a 25 man unit on a 19cm frontage for the 20cm grid. All the minis are Perry plastics, with a few light conversions. The shields are pavises* decorated with Venetian lion transfers designed by my talented chum Ian Notter. I made up rather too many of these, and plan to use up the spares on a unit of crossbowmen. The background colour is "Venetian Red", which is pretty much a brown, in my books!

*If I was starting afresh, I'd give the unit oval shields like the one carried by the halberdier.

Italian knights take #2

  

I've discovered (courtesy of some research, confirmed by asking Simon Chick) that all my Italian knights are on the wrong hosses, at least the wrong hosses for the late c. 15th. Apparently the pesky Italians almost invariably rode leather-armoured hosses, not at all like the metal ones that my current Italians ride. Also the pesky riders wore a distinctive sort of tabard called a giornea; who knew?

Essentially, I find that I need to convert 80 or so knights to form an entirely new army, and convert the existing 50 or so knights to become a different army of an early c. 16th nature. Such is the hard life of a mildly OCD gamer.

The upside is that the leather horse armour was richly decorated with heraldry and I can give them great big plumes. Simply ginormous plumes, in fact, from Mirliton in Italy. Onwards and upwards!

Coustilliers II

Last night, I couldn't resist starting to base most of the finished coustilliers up with their knights. Here are a couple of quickly snatched photos. In the front are two units of 18 Venetian knights/coustillers, each, and, at the back is the front rank of a unit of Florentine knights, as yet lacking supports.  Hopefully, when I add my Milanese, I'll eventually be able to form seven units of 18 knights, and four units of light cavalry.

I'm mounting most of the minis for these armies on the FK&P6 base (my personal favourite). I can fit all 15 bases into a single 7L Really Useful Box.

Coustilliers

I've not been painting much, recently, but am just getting back in the saddle. Here are some minis painted my chum Shaun McTague for me, that I've just done a wee bit of additional highlighting, and inked. Most will serve as the coustilliers (rear ranks) of my Venetian knights, and the rump will be join my projected Florentine army. They are mostly Perry WOTR light cavalry; superb little models. The mounted crossbows are Perry metals on plastic horses; they work better than the plastic crossbowmen, I think, because the plastic crossbows look too large for mounted use.

In other news.... the Midsummer Madness online tournament is going from strength to strength! So far we've played over 40 games, and will likely have played over 60 by the 24th, when it ends with a Grand Final. It's probably the only big battle tournament running in the World, just now.

Here's a shot from the end of my last battle with Simon Purchon, which I narrowly won when my brave Anglo-Saxons braved the Welsh arrow-storm to chop up his Combrogi with their Dane-axes. It's been a lot of fun, and a great success- so I very much hope we'll run another tournament, later in the summer.

Knights of Terra Firma

Here are some more minis for my Italian Wars; these are Venetian men-at-arms. Unusually, I painted these myself (well, I partially repainted some older minis and added some new ones) so they are a little rough around the edges, but acceptable. I decided to give them a Venetian red theme with some golden yellow details. For some reason, the bases came out particularly well.

At the moment, I'm pushing hard to finish the many elephants and scythed chariots for a huge Salute game. Post Salute, when I have more free time, I plan to add a second rank of coustilliers to complete a unit of 18 figures, and, later, I will add a second unit of 18. I also need several more Venetian infantry units.

The middle flag is one of Pete's excellent flags from eBay, and the left flag is an image I found on the 'net. 

These were painted a month or so back, and saw action at the Godendag and Chalgrove To the Strongest! events, where they performed well. This is the first time I've had a chance to photograph and post them. 

Nobody expects...

... Perry 28mm Italian clergy, painted by Shaun Watson. These are lovely minis and he has really done them justice! The dismounted versions have already seen To the Strongest! action in Cardiff and Chalgrove, where their divine intercessions saved more than one game...

Venetians to Godendag!

Here's my slightly revised Condottieri army for Godendag in Cardiff, tomorrow, and, later, for Chalgrove. I'll take proper pictures next week. It's a lethal 50/50 blend of extra heavy knights and light troops. The similar army I took around the tournaments, last year, did very well and I have a lot of confidence in this one! It's 90% plastic, so mercifully light, which is just as well as I'm getting the train.

If you are in South Wales and at a loose end tomorrow, pop in to Firestorm and say hello!

Florentine knights

As well as the new guns, I've also been putting some more knights together for the Italian Wars. Above are some Florentines; I put them on unarmoured horses, like to ones depicted in the "Rout of San Romano". The excellent Florentine flag is one of Pete's flags, from eBay.

Below are more plastic Perry knights, this time in charging poses. Most of these were painted by chum Lionel in France, who paints a mean barber's shop lance. :-)

The extra knights give me more options for fielding either more units for the 15cm grid, or larger units for the 20cm To the Strongest! grid. I'm also currently putting a second Renaissance army together for eventual play-testing purposes.

Florentine Mounted Crossbows

These are the mounted crossbows who will accompany the recently-posted Florentine swordsmen. Some people think that Italian chaps such as these might well have ridden to the battlefield but dismounted to fight, which means that these minis are somewhat redundant. Others claim that they are a valid mounted troop type, equipped with a lighter crossbow. I'm conflicted; I need to do more reading to establish how both they, and the equally tricky mounted arquebusiers, will work in the Renaissance rules.

At the moment, pending eventual rule/list changes, these guys perform a vital role, screening the advance of my Milanese knights and skirmishing on the flanks, and generally looking rather dashing!

You will be able to see them in action if you sign up for the To the Strongest! "Knight Fever" tournament in the London Games Tourney on September 15th. So far we have 13 TtS!ers signed up for this massive gaming event- the largest in the world, I believe, with getting on for 1K entrants.  It'll be the familiar 130 point 28mm army format, drawn from any of the three Medieval army list booklets. You could field plucky Normans, for example, or steel-encased Italian later knights, or even an army of Mongols- all of these were at the last tournament. Teutonic knights are very popular. Many different Medieval armies are available in plastic and I reckon quite a few different armies could be built for under £100. I will have some spare units that I can lend out, and will provide terrain if necessary. There will be four games in the day, with modest prizes and great glory for the victors!

Details are at  Knight Fever Details, and you can book your place at Knight Fever Bookings. This will be a terrific event and mustn't be missed!

Machiavellian Swordsmen

Here is my first completed Florentine unit, some unusual-looking Italian swordsmen; I just love the character of these chaps. It's quite uncommon to find infantry equipped with just a sword and no missile weapon, and very little armour. There are very few in the army lists.

This unit has been a slow burner; I bought 16 of these Perry metal minis around two years ago, mostly painted, from a chap in Sweden who had been planning to use them as soldiers from the Free City of Braavos. Chum Shaun McTague painted 8 more and I highlighted and painted the shields, which I based on Florentine heraldry and guild symbols. The flag is from Pete's Flags on eBay. I have based them on my FK&P6 bases; this means I can use them either as three bases on a 20cm grid, for shows, or, dropping a base, two on the 15cm grid we often use for To the Strongest! competitions. The bases came out really well; its hard to see the joins, and the wobbly edges vanish into my gaming cloth.

I suppose that having these (and some Florentine mounted crossbows that will follow) necessarily means that I am building a Florentine army. Machiavelli would be delighted! :-) 

Knights to Chalgrove!

Last night, I finally managed to finish the basing of my army for Chalgrove, the To The Strongest! World Championship, on Saturday. I've photographed all eleven units.

Above are the Famiglia Ducale Elmeti, the household of the Duke of Milan. All minis are Perrys, the above were by painted myself and Lionel Béchara, with the flags from Pete's flags on eBay. N.b. all photos will enlarge if clicked.

Here are some Italian later knights, again by Lionel, who did superb barber-shop lances.All the bases are my famous magnetic wobbly-edged BatBases.

More later knights, again from Lionel. I gave these deeper bases to protect the lances.

Above, yet more later knights, painted by Richard Hampson-Smith. The standards are for the Bande Nere; I suspect that there may not have been many (or even any) such knights, but the standards are too good not to use.

Here is Giovanni delle Bande Nere, himself, with the last (fifth) unit of later knights. Interestingly it appears that the famous black bands may only have been so-named after his untimely, cannon ball-related demise.

Mounted crossbowmen ex Richard. The various lights will likely screen the advance of the knights.

More mounted crossbowmen, ex Richard.

Even more mounted crossbowmen, ex Richard.

Metal light infantry crossbowmen, from a chap in Sweden. 

Plastic crossbowmen, ex-Richard.

Formed crossbowmen; again re-touched and re-based minis, originally painted by Richard. I'm not quite sure what I'll do with these, yet; possibly a refused flank for the knights.

My favourite unit- Venetian spearmen painted by Richard Hampson-Smith, Shaun McTague and myself. These are raw, and likely to be used to garrison the camp. I'm aware that I need to separate the tails on the flag.

Above is the army list; it's not an especially subtle army but should do well-enough in a dead-on clash. As the army is entirely newly-painted, and I've not had time to play a game since November, I am not especially optimistic about my own prospects, but I aim to have fun!

Finally, here's a bonus unit, of Bande Nere pikemen. Unfortunately I didn't have enough points to use them, this time, but I plan to add supporting arquebusiers, post-Salute. I love the grim look of them.

So there we are, all done!

Can I take this opportunity to wish safe journeys to all forty-odd players who are attending the tournament, especially the brave Belgians and Howard who is coming down from the Scottish Isles! May none of your cards be Aces (except when playing me, that is.  ;-)  ).

Flocking day!

With the Worlds on Saturday, I am making the final push on finishing my army. Here it is, pre flocking; I decided to lighten the base tone before covering most of it with flock (go figure!!). This morning I am sitting in a sunny dining room, with Lynyrd Skynyrd blasting in my ear, applying flock. Life is good!

Condotta rearguard

There's a mandatory unit of spearmen on the Condotta list, and I've managed (with Shaun McTague's help, and some minis from Richard Hampson-Smith) to field a unit that to replace the pikemen that were originally going to proxy for it.

Unfortunately Perry don't do an Italian spearman, so I have had to cut down pikes and use pavises in place of shields, but they do the job. The colours are Venetian. Again the flag is from Pete's Flags, on eBay.

These will be raw spearmen and, at Chalgrove, I do not expect very much of them! I might leave them to guard the camp. I need to get started on flocking...

Italian Condotta

Here are my Italian Condotta for Chalgrove. Last night I grouted the bases, and now just need to flock and tuft them. I am tempted to replace the pikemen with some spearmen that Shaun McT is painting, and add some tents for a camp, but other than that they are mostly done, which is just as well since I'm a little behind with my Salute preparations! The bases are currently raw umber which seems like an appropriate base colour. :-)

These are on FK&P5 and FK&P6 bases; I really like these because they are a good fit for both 15cm (2 bases)  and 20cm (3 bases) grids.

Happy New Year!

Last night, twixt haggis, mulled wine and spectacular London fireworks, I finished and added flags to the final element of my Chalgrove army. These Perry later knights have the banners and colours of the house of Sforza of Milan, from the excellent Pete's flags, which I cannot comment too highly. 

Below you can see the completed (but not fully based) army. In an ideal world I'd love to have more Milanese units, replace the pikemen with spearmen, and the crossbowmen with pavise-less crossbows, but I'm really pleased to have these ready for basing, as I urgently need to embark upon my Salute project. I think this is the first time I've managed to produce an army specifically for Chalgrove. I have lots of other minis ready for basing and plan to return to the Medieval/Renaissance periods after Salute.

If you are coming to Chalgrove on Feb 23rd, please get your army list over to Tim ASAP so that he can check it- he's very good- he spotted two minor errors in my submission. For your interest, I'll publish my own army list, tomorrow or Thursday.

Can I take this opportunity to wish everyone a Very Happy 2019! At first glance, prospects for the year ahead appear challenging, but I am confident that we can rise above them. I have ambitious plans for various gaming and publishing projects...

Last knights

Some more Perry knights have arrived from chum Lionel in Paris. I've decided that I want these to be in the livery of Milan (yellow and white, mostly) so am changing the plumes and painting three more to join them (on the left). When these are finished, I'll have all the troops I need for Chalgrove in February. I have some lovely "Pet's Flags" banners to go on these... Hopefully I'll have them on bases for New Year, since other projects beckon!

Yesterday Andrew Brentnall drew my attention to this excellent podcast review of For King and Parliament. It is most entertaining; the authors really seem to have "got" what we were trying to achieve. :-) ` https://hobbyknockout.podbean.com/e/episode-9-for-king-and-parliament/``

On the ninth day of Christmas...

...it's a Christmas miracle! Two more units on bases. Above are a unit of Bande Nere pikemen- mostly minis from Richard Hampson-Smith. Below are some formed crossbowmen. In both cases I've re-based, because I like a high density of miniatures and wanted to use my wobbly bases. I highlighted and washed the minis with a matt acrylic varnish. I am still loving Pete's flags- these ones, again, feature demons. I'll take proper pictures of the units next year, when the basing is complete.

At Chalgrove, the above two units will have to proxy other troop types. The tough-looking pikemen will represent raw spearmen, and the crossbowmen will represent pavise-less crossbowmen.

And here is the army. The final, missing, unit is a bit of a problem- I am awaiting reinforcements and probably won't have them until late January. 

I'm delighted how quick it was to finish and re-base the units- just over one evening per unit. 

Tomorrow I'll finish and publish my army list (here) and send it to Tim Thompson. Could those coming to Chalgrove please send their lists to Tim, if complete, I want to get as many in as possible before the holidays.

I'm really taken with these Perry minis. I think there's the makings of a really great campaign in this era, with players representing city states and condottieri.

On the eighth day of Christmas

....OK I hear you say "It's three days since his last post", but who's counting? Yuletide preparations have taken precedence. That said, last night I managed to finish two more units of knights, The first (above) is Giovanni de Medici, and the second, below, are some knights for the Bande Nere, the Black Bands of Giovanni, which confusingly appear to have post-dated his unfortunate encounter with a cannon ball.

Both units are plastic Perry minis from the small army I recently bought from Richard Hampson-Smith, highlighted and inked. All the flags are from Pete's flags- and rather lovely! You can find them on eBay. The stands of knights with banners will be the command stands.

You'll see I have only three units to go; one more lot of knights, some scruffy spearmen and some formed crossbows. I don't have any of these minis, exactly, but I have others that can proxy for them and I'll see if I can get some more on bases before Christmas!

On the seventh day of Christmas...

...six more barber-shop knights a'lancing. The six new ones at the rear were painted by Parisian chum Lionel and I merely did a little inking and highlighting.  I haven't stuck them down, because I might want to add some "socks" to a few of the horses.

Seven down, five to go. Tomorrow, instead of painting, I shall try to publish the army list. The remaining units look likely to take a couple of days each to finish, so I probably won't finish by Christmas; but you never know!

If you are coming to Chalgrove, please get your army list over to Tim Thompson by Christmas, if at all possible. If you aren't booked in, but would like to come on February 23rd, please drop me a line!