Ordonnance Pikes - WIP

These are pictures of work in progress for the first of two Burgundian Ordonnance pike units. These are figures for the rear three bases, at a painted but not yet varnished and based stage. They are all Perry plastic figures from the Mercenaries box, with just a couple of metal Tudor & Swiss heads added. As these are rear-rankers they've been done as speedily as I can and so do not have the usual final highlight stage painted on. Also for padded jacks I've brushed on Army Painter dip onto a light buff colour and let the dip do the shading work. I plan another set of three bases as front-rankers, which will be a mix of more plastics and some metal Perry figures. Burgundian and Flemish flags will probably be located in the middle rear rank base.

You may notice some wobbly looking pikes - although the castings are fairly sturdy and flexible too, I packed some to take away on holiday in an old GW carrying case lined with foam etc, but despite the extra care taken some still came home with non-straight pikes. A lesson learned. More soon...toodle pip.

What I bought on my holiday...

...were these.

I had originally intended to keep this blog to be related purely to 'things medieval'. However I will break this self-imposed rule, as I want to share some images of these military-related items that I purchased on a market stall in France when recently on holiday.

They are glass slides for an antique light protector, showing various figures from French armies of the Seven Years War and Napoleonic periods. They are about a foot long by 3 and 1/2 inches high and are fairly fragile things. There are six of them, which were sold in a thin wooden case. There's spare room in the case, to suggest that originally there may have been ten or a dozen different slides. The quality and fineness of the painted images done directly on to the glass, are really excellent and each has a description for example 'fusilier' and some have a date for the figure too. I've only done a little digging on the internet and would love to know more on these and to try and date them etc. My guess is that they are late ninteenth century, when such lightboxes were around, either for private use or for public viewings before the advent of cinema. The box has a label on it for Au Nain Bleu, which is a toyshop in Paris, opened in 1837 and still in business, which could be the provenance for them.

If anyone has any more background info, I really love to know more?

What I did on my holidays...

well...not a lot of painting of wargame figures unfortunately. A combination of very warm weather (which I find dries the paints too fast when working 'al fresco') and the distractions of good food, a swimming pool, my books and local attractions meant that much less than planned was done.
On the latter here are some pictures of a visit to Castlenaud which was nearby and is perched on the Dordogne river. Since my first visit to the castle about 15 years ago, the exhibits of arms and armour inside the castle have increased significantly in both quantity and quality. I have no idea where all these items have been acquired from, but if they are genuine, they are most impressive and make the trip there more than just a walk around an old stone building.

You'll hopefully be able to see that the open sallet has the distinctive manufacturing marks of the Missiligia armourers workshop and the collection of crossbows, which are often rare items, is excellent. Another intersting item is the archer's brace, which I assume is a decorative one - as it's beautifully carved from bone - rather than for practical use. Outside are a variety of reconstrcuted trebuchets, which are demonstrated each day in the summer, as well as a bombard and mantlets. The castle itself has been partially restored from semi-derelction since the 1960s, and it has a nice example of one bastion having been 'updated' in the sixteenth century to accommodate bigger artillery. It's strategic position is clear, whcih great vistas up and down the river and guarding a crossing. Consequently in the Hundred Years War it's occupancy changes hands amny times between the English and French.

I'll be back very soon with some figures - to ensure that this blog doesn't become 'castle visits' only content - no more planned for this year!

Longbowmen preview

Here's some longbowmen, including a couple of banner bearers, that have just been painted for me by Rafa at Archiduke Painting Services, who provided me with the photos. They are the Perry metal and plastic castings that I fiddled around with to create some different poses on a previous blog posting. Rafa's done a quite brilliant painting job on them; the detail and the tones look fantastic. I will soon have enough to base and complete two more longbowmen contingents, which I'm planning to be able to do next month - I'll post them up (of course).

"A Chalons! A Bourgoyne!"

A contingent representing Louis Lord Chalons, seigneur of Chateau Guyon, leading his enthusiastic household and retinue of Burgundian dismounted men at arms. Chalons was from the Franche-Comte region and was made a knight of the Golden Fleece in 1468. He commanded the left wing at the battle of Grandson in February 1476, where he was killed. According to an account he was leading an attack to capture the banner of Schwyz canton, but it may have been that he died in the rout of Charles's army at the battle.

The format for the unit has been inspired by Dave Andrews beautiful command stand of Edward IV at the Perrys Tewkesbury game at the Salute show of 2010. It comprises of three bases, all 60mm frontage, but with the middle one for the mounted figures having an 80mm depth to enable it to be used with mounted units when these are done. The mounted figures are Perry WotR range, whist the 'wings' are a mix of Perry plastics and metals from the WotR & EA ranges. Some figures have been slightly enhanced; with the addition of plumes, scarves, a couple of weapon changes and re-positioning of arms, to create a coherent group focussed on their lord as they advance towards the enemy. The flags are all free downloads.

I'm pleased with the overall layout, given the extra time that I've had to put in. On to a more mundane Ordonnance pike bloc next - 36 figures planned so I'll need to speed up the painting process somewhat! Hopefully will get the rear-rankers done in the next few weeks.

Ordonnance Crossbowmen

Either side of my castles sojourn, I started and completed my first Burgundian crossbow unit. My initial plan of a pavise bearing contingent has been put on hold, as I want to see if any future metals could be utilised to create a few more different poses. These are plastics and metals fom Perry range, with some conversions which have been posted earlier. It is likely that the Burgundians did not spilt out troops armed with crossbows and handguns into distinct units and they were most probably mixed on the battlefield as 'sleeves' of shot. However wargame rules have a different approach and so I've fallen into line to be able to use Impetus rules (and others). However I could easily swop in a handgun base for better visual appeal.

More Burgundians in progress on the painting table...

Gruyeres - IV

A final post from my trip. These are images of the medieval castle and walls of the hilltop town. The walls are not complete and do not now encircle the whole town, but there are substantial pieces intact, which include gateways. All the walls are rendered and have protected, covered walkways. All the walls are rendered and the roofs are wooden shingles in the main, which I assume replicates the methods used in the medieval period.

Also, within the castle are a few pieces of armour, from sixteenth century and a couple of vestments, worn by clergy, and dating from the 1470s as part of the booty captured from Charles the Bold. The intricate sewing of Burgundian herladic imagery is impressive and the state of preservation is remarkable given their age. Now how do I paint that on a 28mm figure?!!

Normal service and miniature figures will resume soon...!