Wars of the Roses - Gallowglass - 28mm

Another complete change of period...again!  I don't seem to be able to stick with painting one period for very long.  Too much khaki or field grey leaves me wanting to get the bright colours out and vice versa.

I think the longest I was able to focus on one period for was two years, and that was for my Wars of the Roses collection. This two year period enabled me to go from a collection of zero to having two very playable armies, so it has its advantages if I can summon the focus.  That was a few years ago now and since then I just flit like a butterfly, painting whatever gets my interest.

Well, I'm back to the Wars of the Roses again.  For a good 10 years now I have really wanted to play the Battle of Stoke Field of 1487.  This battle fought near Newark, in Nottinghamshire. I always think of the battle when I have to drive past the battlefield for work, every few months (and I stop to visit Wargames Foundry who reside on the edge of the battlefield too).   It was notable for several things, one being the last serious throw of the dice of the Yorkist cause (if the Perkin Warbeck rebellion is not included). 

A large component of the Yorkist army was a contingent of Irish troops.  These were the well armoured Gallowglass mercenaries and the lighter kerns.

The troops here are from two sets of Gallowglass.  One group by Old Glory and the other by Perry Miniatures.  The command stand here is from the Perry's.  I have kept one piper ready to put on the brigade command stand, lead by Sir Thomas Fitzgerald (yet to be painted).

I used a generic Celtic flag from Little Big Men Studios.  I hope that it has enough character of the original to be passable. I have tried to find a recorded example of an original banner, but alas, this research came to nought.

The figures above and below are all from the Perry's range.  I painted the Old Glory figures last year, but then I discovered that the Perry's had brought out Gallowglass figures (and I do have a liking for their figures).

There is a slight height difference between the Old Glory figures and Perry Miniatures troops.  As the units would probably be fighting closely together, I added a slither of card beneath the bases of the Old Glory figures to bring them up in height.  I then built this up with base texturing until it became invisible. 

This method seemed to work as it completely fooled me.  The first picture at the top of this blog post was supposed to be just of my Perry's figures.  In error, I added a stand of Old Glory troops  to the line and only realised afterwards!

The photos above and below here are all of the Perry Miniatures troops.  As always, they are a joy to paint.  There is quite a lot of static grass on the figures though, which only became apparent when I enlarged the photos. I wish I gave them a quick blow of air before getting the camera out!  Maybe Stoke Field had the grass mowers out on the day of the battle!

The figures below are from the Old Glory range.  I think that the Wars of the Roses range are one of the best that Old Glory produced.  These figure have a lot of character and look quite fearsome.

I hope you are all staying in and keeping safe.  Making the best of a horrible situation, the extra painting time is certainly useful, though I am missing getting out to shoot at the local ranges. One can sit around indoors both working and painting just a little too long!

Wars of the Roses - Light Cavalry

After yet another blogging absence I return but this time with the light cavalry of Edward IV ready to take to the field. These fellows are from the plastic boxed range produced by Perry Miniatures.

 These are again another set that I really enjoyed putting together and looked forward to painting. I opted for the livery of Edward, which necessitated applying a yellow edging which added a good bit of time to the painting process, but really makes the livery jacket stand out.

 I made good use of the Citadel Six livery badges and flag sets. I'm getting used to applying the decals/transfers now and find they give little trouble (as long as decal softener is used as per the instructions).

I was tempted to build them as mounted hobilars with bows but I really wanted troops I could use for Tewkesbury and similar actions where light cavalry could be used decisively. I tend to interpret the 'spears' in the woods at Tewkesbury as mounted light cavalry - it seems more believable for a relatively small force to make such a big impact on the battle if they had some horsepower and mobility.  

I have intentionally lowered some of the lance tips to infantryman level. Combat against foot troops and pursuit of the same probably being the most likely role rather than mixing it with mounted heavies in plate armour.

I really like the colour of this period of history and rather than cut down on my photos, I have included the full number including the close ups of each stand. I couldn't decide which to delete so have included the full set of photos.

Even though I have been absent from blogging, I have made some progress with other projects and got several excellent games in. Summer is always really busy for me with as much time spent outside on the ranges as possible and making black powder smoke with my muskets. I also spent time with my crossbow at the range between painting sessions of these troops - I think I was suitably inspired and with a medieval mind!  Crossbow shooting in good company on a fine summers morning has a lot to recommend for it.  More photos of recent projects to follow in due course!

Wars of the Roses - Irish Kerns

Since the recent Wars of the Roses game, followed by walk of the battlefield of Edgecote (last two posts), the medieval bug has seriously bitten me again (hopefully I won't get the plague from it!).

In my lead mountain was a bag of Old Glory 25mm Irish Kerns for the Wars of the Roses.  Well it had to be done...!  The clothing looked very simple as are the shields, and I thought it might not take too long to finish this unit.  Indeed, two weeks of evenings and they are painted and based.

For a change I used a white undercoat and used lighter tones which I then used washes over before highlighting, lining in and touching up.  I don't know if it was quicker than my usual black undercoat and dark to light 3 shade methods, but the overall effect seemed to work well and it felt quicker.

I think that the Old Glory Wars of the Roses range is one of the best that they ever produced.  Because of that I have not felt the desire to 'modernise'.  I do buy the 28mm Perry Miniatures (because they are irresistable!) but as long as I don't mix them in the same units I find that I can use these two ranges side by side.  The Old Glory figures have lots of character and these fellows are suitable wild!

I had to do some research to find out how the Kerns fought as I really wasn't sure.  As the figures come without weapons I bought some North Star steel spears (these are great!).  I initially thought they would be spear armed and fight as a warband but references seemed to refer to them as light infantry and skirmishing,, advancing then throwing their javelins.  So it seemed like I was mistaken (after I had given them long shafted spears!)  Where I could I cut them down to javelin size, Others I left with spear sized weapons as it seemed to me that these chaps would otherwise be unarmed once they let loose their javelins.

I couldn't help imagining the kerns as fighting more as a tribal grouping where brave acts could be seen by their friends and family, rather than acting as thinly spread skirmishers performing a disciplined screen to hide an army, like in some ancient armies.

With this in mind I changed my basing half way through and used larger bases with the figures looking random but fighting as a loose mass rather than thinly spaced in open order.  This felt much better to me!

I am looking forward to getting some Gallowglass to provide a heavy infantry element to them and using them for the Battle of  Stoke Field.  The main role of the Kerns in that battle seemed to be as unarmoured target practice for Henry VII's longbowmen so perhaps I have over-thought my basing after all!