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.

Happy New Year

As 2025 begins I am reading Desmond Seward’s The Wars of the Roses, which documents the lives of five people who lived – and in one case died – at the time: William Hastings, John De Vere, Margaret Beaufort, and Jane Shore.

As I finish my screw gun battery transport mules for a later era, I have restarted my attempt to ‘get my eye in’, continuing to paint anything other than an English retinue and its leader. Francesco Coppini, Papal legate to England and Scotland, and his standard bearer, serve here, then on to finish some mercenaries. I am attempting a different painting style for this project, with less use of Army Painter strong and soft tone shading, and more definite use of paint to define light and shade.

I am beginning to form ideas about which characters and their entourages I wish to represent. As noted in a previous post, John Clifford and the Flower of Craven are intended, with Clifford himself already begun. More of this in due course.

Meanwhile, I hope Santa delivered to you all of the toys you wanted, and that during the coming year all of your dice rolls are sixes!

Amidst mercenary artillery crews, hand gunners, and crossbowmen, Francesco Coppini and his Papal standard bearer, with John Clifford sneaking in to view, top right.

More paint

Finally, I have got some more paint on. All the flesh has been applied, shaded, and highlighted, and those figures wearing mail have had it painted.

I have also added two figures for my first vignette, Francesco Coppini’s Papal mission of 1459. The fellow holding a staff topped with a cross will become the Papal standard bearer.

Two units of hand gunners, gun crews and, in yellow, John Clifford, a mix of Perry Miniatures metal and plastic, and Steel Fist Miniatures dollies.

Two units of mercenary crossbow men on the left and Francesco Coppini and a Papal standard bearer on the right.