More Maltese Marinelife

Several years ago at the Derby Show, having spent what I wanted and just checking around to see that I had not missed anything, I happened across a small stall with a few ship models set out on a largely bare tabletop. I have no recollection whatsoever who this trader was and do not recall seeing them since...A few minutes later, I had left the show to drive home, the proud owner of a resin "ship", with masts and cannon, the intention being to add this model to my then newly-painted pirates. This could not have been that long after the release of "Legends of the High Seas", my buccaneering rules set of choice at that time.

Fast forward those several years to me concerning myself with extras for the Wyrley Retinue's forthcoming "Mayhem in the Med., c.1565" game and I unearthed the ship model once more. Nephew Nick had promised to paint his Ainsty Man-'o'-War for the game, but I knew this to be a HUGE model and it was unclear whether Nick would indeed manage this, so I decided I finally had to get my little offering ready and able. A couple of days before the show, I set to with brush in hand and hereby present the sum total of a day or so's graft, the lovely "Maria".

"Why Maria?" I hear you all cry.

Well, as I said at the top of this piece, the ship was bought to provide transport for my pirates and I wanted a name that could be universal in terms of its origin and, therefore, that of its crew. "Santissima Trinidad"? Too Spanish. "Temeraire"? Too French (and famous). "Bismarck"? Too...

You get the picture.

So, "Maria" it became, able to be Spanish, French, Italian, English (if a tad exotic, but plain, old "Mary" would be too much of a giveaway).

I give you "Maria".

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She is quite a plain creature at the moment, but I may well add some rigging from netting material and perhaps an Ainsty ship's wheel. I could not find her cannons when I took these shots, but rest assured there are six of them. Sails are again from calico tied up with "rope" from Gale Force 9.

I have no idea what colour such ships would have been in reality, but yellow seems to have featured quite a lot in sailing ships at different times, so I went with that.

One thing I have noted on ships of this era especially is decoration around the poop deck. This is my attempt to tart her up a little...

Ample room in her ten or so inches of hull length for some derring-do and buckling of swashes!

And I finally found her cannons!

Row, row, row your boat...

Another special built for the "Malta" game is lean, green and, with luck, mean.

How could anyone have pretensions to stage a game on an island in the Med in the 16th Century without having at least one galley in evidence?

So a galley had to be there somewhere.

The hull was carved from Styrofoam, the deck is 3mm MDF, most of the superstructure card, the oars are cocktail sticks, the sea white filler with the blue blended in whilst the filler was still wet, the base is more MDF. The single, centreline cannon is just a length of plastic tube.

This as yet unnamed craft is 15 inches long and the same high, the mast detachable so she can be packed away as flat as possible. Believe it or not, 15 inches is a little short for such a craft against 28mm figures! The furled sail is a triangle of calico, the same material I use for a lot of my flags.

She is not a scale model, just a representation of such craft, but I hope she looks the part. I was going to add rowers from Perry plastic Mahdists and other suitable figures, but decided not to on the grounds of time. I might just be able to squeeze some in at some point. I could also go to town on banners, lanterns, rigging, etc.

On her inaugural voyage at the Wargamer Show, she sat proudly outside the harbour boom whilst the Turks and North Africans tried to take the boom towers, lower the boom and let her into the harbour. With this task eventually accomplished, she rowed her way into port, taking pot shots at one of the sailing ships in the harbour, which she subsequently rammed, delivering her crew of North African marines onto the harbour side, but too late to affect the fight at the nearby wall. I would love the time to make a sister ship...

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A gull's eye view. She looks like she has ventured into the North Sea rather than the Med...

The cannon. True to form, I could not hit a barn door with this at the Wargamer show...

Close up of some of the hand painted decoration. I just went with a few Arab/ Moorish-type images.

The stern, with the large canopy so prominent on the real ships made from a rectangle of calico draped over a frame made from matchsticks. It is surprisingly strong.

Just to show the symmetry of the two sides.

And another gull's eye view. She will hold twenty or so 28mm figures on her deck, so she has a punch in more ways than one.

A musical interlude

Another of the vignettes I did for the "Mayhem in the Med., c.1565" game for the Wargamer Show was a group of musicians to bolster Turkish morale. Music was a big part of their armed forces, with crashing cymbals, banging drums, horns, pipes, "jingling johnnies" and other such paraphernalia all present, the ensuing cacophony designed to both embolden the Turks and demoralise their enemies.

So here is my little Mehterhane group, made up of Old Glory musicians from their Ottoman spearmen and archers packs (you get six assorted command in these packs along with 24 spearmen or archers, or at least, I did!) plus a Gripping Beast Arab.

In the game, they were going to give a morale re-roll or similar to troops within a certain range, but we were so keen to get the combat troops into action that we left the band at the back!

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Old Glory drummer figure

The imposter in the group is this Gripping Beast Arab.

And another Old Glory figure, this time with bugle/ trumpet/ similar. I imagine the trio as a sort of jazz combo.

Turkish Command

I have painted numerous command figures for the Turkish/ North African alliance, covering officers, standard bearers and musicians. I decided, however, that I wanted something a little more than battalion/ orta/ mob leaders, so created this mini-vignette to show someone a bit higher up the chain of command.

The figures are all Old Glory, from different packs I cannot now be certain of identifying accurately, with the addition of a flag from one of the "By Fire & Sword" 15mm Ottoman sets (Feudal Spahis I think) and a plastic shield from the Gripping Beast Arab plastic boxed set.

Together, they represent my attempt at a Janissary Aga and a Bey of some sort or other. I hope you like the little group.

In the actual game, I see them making everything within 6" unbreakable or something, or giving a morale re-roll. We will see.

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Cheering on the boys. (I have no idea what the writing on the banner means).

One thing I realised is that I did not really know what Muslim shields of this (or any!!!) era were likely to appear like. This example is based on a pattern from a tile!

I wonder if they are feeling confident of success...

Hero

"Hero" is surely one of the most over-used terms in the English language. I guess the problem is that it means different things to different people.

Scoring the winner in a major final? Saving a child from danger? Charging the guns at a crucial point in a battle? This is just the tip of the iceberg.

But one character I would proffer as a true "Hero" is the guy I have depicted here, painted specifically for the "Mayhem in the Med., c.1565" game we Wyrley Retinuers are taking around a few shows this year, Jean Parisot de la Valette.

Finished just a couple of days before last Sunday's Wargamer show (photos to follow of that event when I can download them!), this small piece of metal alloy is a miniature version of the Grand Master of the Order of the Knights of St John of Jerusalem, who led the Christian defence of Malta when the Turkish attack came. That a chap in his seventies could lead a Military Order was one thing, but he was no shrinking violet or desk-jockey during the siege and assaults, being wounded in combat at one point. This was an old fella with the fire of youth still burning strongly in his bones! When the besieged towns of Birgu and Senglea were rebuilt after the successful defence of the island against the Turks and North Africans, they were renamed Valetta in his honour, and that is the name they still bear to this day, a lasting testimony. He inspired respect in his contemporaries, awe in his enemies and his judgement during the siege was spot on.

And if that is not enough, when his "mini-me" got into combat last Sunday, he took all before him and promptly threw the assault back single-handedly. But that is a story for another time...

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An Old Glory figure from their "Wars of Religion" range, his shield is my interpretation of a drawing in George Gush's "Renaissance Armies" book, published by PSL.

This is the drawing from page 31 of Gush's book that is the inspiration for Valette's shield. I have coloured it how I think, so my interpretation is a little conjectural.



His base is a 40mm Gale Force 9 magnetic one. As he is destined to feature probably solely in the "Malta" game, I am not concerned with him having such a large and non-generic base. The other troops I have for the game are almost all based on 20mm squares, so I can place them together within a movement tray for more conventional games.

 

 

Wargamer Show, 30th November

Hello again.

I have been busy,busy,busy with the finishing touches for the inaugural outing of our Siege of Malta-inspired game ready for the Wargamer Show to be held at Leasowes Sports Centre, Leasowes High School, Halesowen, B62 8PJ. Note the change of venue!

I still have loads to do - I am part way through building a Renaissance galley, have only undercoated the two boats I want to finish, have only undercoated the sailing ship I want to finish, still have the ladders to paint and stick on my siege tower, etc, but their is nothing like a deadline to focus the mind!!!

I have painted all the figures I wanted to do (except Jean Parisot de a Valette, who is, yes, you've guessed it, undercoated!), have varnished them and textured the bases, and am half way through the base dark wash and then set to move onto the drybrushing and grass/ tuft/ foliage application. That is well over 300 figures "done" in about nine months, not to mention an Ottoman army for "By Fire & Sword", so I am quite pleased with that.

Anyway, we have not played the game yet, I have not seen the terrain (being built by Nephews Nick and Paul - it had better be up to scratch fellas, not to mention finished...) and we do not have an official title for our outing, but I am going with "Mayhem in the Med., c.1565" until something better presents itself.......

........who said we are courting trouble?

Anyway, it you are anywhere near Central England, specifcally Halesowen, on 30th November, do come along, spend some money, enjoy a few hours of wargaming atmosphere and banter and, above all, say "Hello!" to our little band. We will be the stressed-looking ones trying to work out why we did not work any of the issues out earlier!

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