Lancastrian French mercenaries

After a lengthy hiatus I have managed to finish two more small companies of French mercenaries.

A company of eight crossbow armed men and another of eight hand gunners will join the two French cannon, part of the Lancastrian mercenary contingent.

I have added a few pavises with different sized fleur-de-lis.
I also revisited the Yorkist mercenaries, adding a few more pavises for the Burgundians and the Flemish here, and ground foliage.

The fleur-de-lis and heraldic wolf waterslide transfers are from The Mighty Brush. These are very crisply defined and come in a range of very useful sizes. Everything else is hand painted.

I’ve also made some progress with the long spear (pike) armed companies and command figures. I want to finish these, the Lancastrian ‘butterfly’ limber and cannon vignette, then move on to the first of Clifford’s Flower of Craven.

The Mighty Brush waterslide transfer sheets.

The French company of handguners, a mix of Perry Miniatures and Steel Fist Miniatures figures.

The French crossbow armed company, more Perry Miniatures and Steel Fist Miniatures figures.

French hand culverins – lovely Mark Copplestone miniatures.

Mounted archers

I’m planning to have at least one company of mounted archers, with a matching set of dismounted figures.

I wanted to model a few horses waiting patiently for the masters to finish loosing arrows, so I sought out suitable models from Claymore Castings medieval range.

These are lovely pieces, finely detailed and crisply cast. I bought three sets, six horses in all. The first will be modelled for Clifford’s Flower of Craven.

Patient standing horses.

More from Pete’s Flags, and a project plan

It’s been too hot to paint; my study is on the south side of my house and it’s been scorchio for weeks, so I busied myself with some figure assembly, more reading, and planning.

I reviewed the flags and standards that I have from Pete’s Flags and from the Perry Miniatures’ plastic sets, and made a plan for the various factions.


Lancastrian forces

Queen Margaret of Anjou will take to the field with a force of French mercenaries armed with long spears (pikes), hand gunners, crossbowmen, and artillery.

Edward Prince of Wales, Duke of Lancaster, will lead a small retinue of men-at-arms in full harness.

The main army will comprise:

John Clifford, 9th Baron de Clifford
leading The Flower of Craven, a mounted unit of men-at-arms, spears, and archers.

Edmund Beaufort, 4th Duke of Somerset

Henry Percy, 3rd Earl of Northumberland

John Wenlock, 1st Baron Wenlock

Henry Grey, 4th Baron Grey of Codnor

Sir Robert Baynton

All except Clifford will lead retinues of men-at-arms, archers and bill men.

The alchemist Henry Grey might even conjure mythical beasts!


Yorkist forces

Edward IV, accompanied by his brother Edmund Earl of Rutland, will field a retinue of men-at-arms in full harness, archers, and artillery, the latter commanded by John Judd, Master of The King’s Ordnance.

The main army will comprise:

John Radcliffe, Lord Fitzwalter
leading a mounted unit armed with spears and bows

Sir John Howard, Duke of Norfolk

William Neville, Earl of Kent, Lord Fauconberg

Sir William Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings

John Tuchet, Baron Audley

Retinues will comprise archers, bill men and men-at-arms of various strengths. Since he was one of the wealthiest men in England, Hastings may field more figures in full harness. Fauconberg may lead a unit comprising mainly or exclusively archers.

I’ll need flags for Fitzwalter.

Pete’s Flags for Somerset, Wenlock, and Norfolk.

My first finished figures

It seems to have taken me ages to get to this stage, while I thought about what I was going to model and represent, let alone which personalities and their retinues. I seem to have spent much of the period since my first post reading new books and re-reading books I bought when I first considered a foray into the late medieval period in the early 1990s.

I have finished the bulk of the artillery, with a ‘butterfly’ style limber planned for the Lancastrians at some point in the future. I’ll add some more gabions too.

I am really pleased with the limber for the Front Rank cannon, the first vignette that I finished, where I worked out how I wanted to detail the bases too.

Although Never Mind the Billhooks suggests six miniatures for ‘skirmishers’ (a misnomer, really) like hand gunners and crossbow men, I thought this looked a bit ‘light’, so added two figures. I also elected to base them in pairs.

Finally the Papal mission: Francesco Coppini and a Papal standard bearer. He may get a small Vatican retinue at some point.

As I mentioned in my last post, ready for painting I have two units of mercenary French armed with long spears (pikes), with hand gunners and crossbow men in support, all for the Lancastrian army. Margaret of Anjou, her son Edward Prince of Wales, and Edmund Earl of Rutland, all with standard bearers.

While I am painting these I’ll assemble figures for Clifford’s Flower of Craven.

The Yorkist artillery: Front Rank cannons with a mix of Perry Miniatures and Mark Copplestone figures.

Yorkist cannon emplaced with Empress Miniatures’ Builder’s Yard gabions, and a bit of scratch building.

The gabions are based separately to fit neatly around the front of the cannon’s base.

Yorkist cannon and limber, with some figures in Edward IV’s azure and murrey livery.

Yorkist Burgundian hand culverins; more Copplestone miniatures, with a slight fantasy vibe.

Yorkist Burgundian mercenary crossbow men, a mixture of Perry Miniatures and Steel Fist Miniatures figures.

Yorkist Flemish mercenary hand gunners, also a mixture of Perry Miniatures and Steel Fist Miniatures figures.

Lancastrian cannon with French mercenary crews, a mixture of Perry Miniatures, Mark Copplestone, and Steel Fist Miniatures figures.

Francesco Coppini and Papal standard bearer.

First based miniatures

I have finished basing the cannon and limber, an important milestone because it allowed me to work out how I wanted the bases to look, and which materials and techniques to use.

I wanted a muddy look to the ground, without overwhealming the figures, combined with a mix of earth and grass ground covers.

I made the mud using household filler (from a tube), fine sand and very small stones, all mixed with PVA and a household dark grey emulsion. Once dry I dry-brushed this with chocolate brown and dark grey acrylic.

I flocked the base with Footpath Scenes’ Grass Ground Cover Earth and Grass Blend (from Model Scenery Supplies), and added a few puddles with Vallejo Water Effects Still Water. It’s the first time I have used water effects, and I found that it was best to deposit a very small amount on a plastic palette, and then drip it into place with a small brush, gently spreading it into place. Finally, I added a few tufts.

I have to say that I have impressed myself with this, and I am looking forward to seeing how the various figures and equipment will look when finished.

On the work bench at the moment I have:

to base
– Francesco Coppini and Papal standard bearer
– 4 cannon and crews with associated stores

to finish painting
– 8 Flemish hand gunners
– 8 Burgundian crossbow men

undercoated and ready for painting
– Margaret of Anjou command vignette
– Edward Prince of Wales and standard bearer
– Edmund Earl of Rutland and standard bearer
– 8 French hand gunners
– 8 Breton crossbow men
– 24 French mercenaries armed with long spears

Based Yorkist cannon and limber, comprising a Front Rank cannon, converted Perry Miniatures cart, with Perry Miniatures metal and plastic figures, and a Steel Fist Miniatures dolly.

Yorkist cannon and limber based, and French mercenaries armed with long spears

I was making progress with cannon and crews for both sides, and the Yorkist cannon and limber, when I got distracted by the prolific Saxon Dog’s contingent of French mercenaries armed with long spears, recruited by Margaret of Anjou around the time of Tewkesbury, 4 May 1471.

I had enough figures and ‘pikes’ for 12 marching figures, but thought to add a bit of purposefulness with a further 12 in an offensive or a defensive posture. These are a combination of Steel Fist Miniatures’ L13 Late Medieval Front-Ranker dollies and Perry Miniatures’ Wars of the Roses Infantry, European Infantry, and Foot Knights sets.

I will present these as French to complement the small contingents of French hand gunners and Breton crossbow men.

Meanwhile, the 1459 Papal mission in the shape of Francesco Coppini and a standard bearer are ready for basing, about 20 artillery crew figures nearly ready for varnishing, eight hand gunners and eight crossbow men are in quite an advanced state of painting, with another eight hand gunners and eight crossbow men undercoated.

Yorkist cannon and limber, and two contingents of French mercenaries armed with long spears.

Standards, flags, and livery badges

A bit of excitement on my return from the supermarket this morning – an envelope from Pete’s Flags!

On opening, the contents are neatly packaged in a cellophane envelope with a card backing.

I haven’t seen any comparisons with other flags, so I thought to present one here. I already had the flags which come in the information booklet in Perry Miniatures’ plastic sets, and a couple of Little Big Men Studios sets. (I bought the LBM sets for the livery badge transfers, having always intended to use Pete’s Flags and Perry Miniatures for the standards and flags.)

Pete’s Flags are just as lovely as I expected them to be, and the style is compatible with the Perry Miniatures’ square flags that I plan to use. I bought sets for Edward IV, Lord Hastings, Lord Fauconberg, Herny VI, Earl of Northumberland, and Lord Clifford. My first use will be Henry VI’s standard for my Margaret of Anjou command vignette. I am looking forward to getting on with this.

Nicely presented … Pete’s Flags.

I bought sets for Edward IV, Lord Hastings (the Manticore sporting impressive genitalia and Maunch or lady‘s sleeve), Lord Fauconberg, Herny VI, Earl of Northumberland, and Lord Clifford.

A comparison: Pete’s Flags (at the back), Little Big Men Studios (top right), and Perry Miniatures (bottom).