Battle of the Spurs and a few new figures

Last Saturday brought the opportunity to put my Burgundians into the field again; this time masquerading as French, for a refight of Guinegate 1513 (better known as Battle of the Spurs, the only real engagement which involved Henry VIII). The hosts were Alan and Michael Perry and the English were Stuart Mulligan's astounding Tudor army. In addition to creating all the English contingents for the 1513 campaign - including many brilliant conversions - he's had terrain made for the walls of Therouanne (by Dave Marshall of TM Terrain, who also played on the English side).

A game report and pictures are on Perry Miniatures Facebook site. Whist I took some pictures, Michael's are far superior so I've grabbed a few to show here. You get an idea of the size of the forces assembled (including some from the Perry's own collection), about 800 - 1,000 figures on stunning terrain, 14 x 6 feet. I'm pleased to report that the army acquitted itself well, despite going incognito as French, with the men at arms who comprised the left wing finally getting the better of their English opponents and a narrow win for the French was the final result.

In preparation for the game, I managed to complete another group of Coustillers. All my Burgundian men at arms now have a supporting row. These are mix of Perry plastics and metals, with couple of conversions in there. The flags are from Pete's Flags - a new Burgundian sheet he's just done.

I've also made a vignette of hornblowers - based on contemporary images where I've noticed that such musicians are often portrayed together in groups (usually mounted), rather than singularly. I assume that the level of noise required on a battlefield required several chaps creating sounds at the same time. One is metal Perry and the other is plastic who has had some heavy surgery and Green Stuff to get the pose and puffed out cheeks etc. Those ubiquitous hounds have slipped in again too!

Hoping to start to prep the last Burgundian units next - men at arms for Bastard of Burgundy.
all the best, Simon.

Hounds - restock.

I have finally got my act together and received more casting of the hounds. They are nice, crisp castings by Griffin Moulds.

If anyone you're still interested, they are available for purchase and will be:

£4.75 for pack of 4, including UK postage

£6.50 for pack of 4, including EU postage.

I can take Paypal payments h.chick@tesco.net

If another means of payment is required, please feel free to get in contact with me via this email address.

All the best.

Simon.

Blackpowder and silk

I've kept some progress on my Burgundians ticking over, as my focus of time is currently some scenic pieces for my AWI collection.

The wheeled artillery and crew - which Burgundian contemporaries may have referred to as a crappaudeau or veuglaire - is the last one I plan to add to the army. This means I will have six wheeled artillery which feels about right in relation to the overall size of the army.

The gun itself is an old model by an Australian company from many years ago, who are no longer in business. The small range they kicked off were great sculpts and there's loads of detail on this piece, down to the chain holding on the wooden wedge behind the breech. For the crew I wanted a slightly different activity to the other guns and so used a halbardier to be in the process of ramming home the ball and wad. The master gunner is trying to keep the linstock from blowing out - its a pose which the Parrys have done on some recent Napoleonic crew and which i wanted to try and do (I think my chopping of plastic bits just about works, although I considered started reassembling the figure several times when painting him). The other crew are metals with headswops, one being a simple conversion for an Italian style hat.

The other update are more flags - filling awaiting gaps in my Burgundian men at arms and coustillers. Pete's Flags  have added a first sheet of Burgundian flags, all of which are fantastically detailed as usual and all of which are flags which I don't believe have been produced before in 28mm by anyone.  I sent Pete some images from Berne Chronicles which show Burgundians at Morat and coupled with surviving evidence in Swiss collections, he's produced 3 generic flags which are useful with any body of troops. Hopefully they'll be more to come in the near future. Added a couple here to show how great they look (just need to tidy up the white edges).

All the best,
Simon.