Blood & Crowns: House of Valois

I’ve more or less finished the Burgundians for Blood & Crowns. The only units left are Feudal Levy, so I’ll need random farmers and unarmored spearmen, which will come later.

The latest units are the Men at Arms and the Knight Banneret/Noble with retinue.

First is the Noble and retinue. Like the English retinue, I based the heraldry on real designs, with the blue/yellow stripes of the Burgundian state. The Noble wears the heraldry proudly, repeated on his shield and his banner.

The standard was drawn in Illustrator and painted before mounting it on the pole. The attendant with the large shield is the Musician. I swapped one of the Medbury Footman’s head with a proper closed helm and he carries a simple horn in his hand. All the other members are from Perry Miniatures.

The Men at Arms have mostly Burgundian specific heraldry, with a few generic members from the English army. They carry poleaxes to give them an edge in combat. The knight with the yellow surcoat got an impressive axe head to really draw the eye.

The last pics are some more Footmen. Most have been posted already, but I’ve finished additional members.

Lastly are some Crossbows, imported from my Saga Crusaders army.

The army as built to 250 points:

-Knight Banneret with 4 retinue and Musician (the banner might get used by swapping some points around, or for larger games)

-Men at Arms with poleaxes x5, with Grizzled Veteran

-Footmen x10, with Grizzled Veteran

-Footmen with polearms x8

-Light Crossbowmen x8, with Vintenar

-Feudal Levy x8

I’ve used this army in a battle recently. I fought a friend’s French force, trying to break through his lines to get units into his deployment zone. The deployment zones were very tight, which is why my force is bunched up so much, while the French were allowed to put units in the objective area to the left to try to enclose my army. The left-most third of the table was irrelevant.

Most of the fight was a huge scrum in a copse of woods in the area between our armies. It involved (at various stages over 6 turns) 4 Footmen units (2 each), both of our Men at Arms units, both retinues, the French Crossbows, and Feudal Levy. My mercenary Crossbows avoided the melee entirely, which allowed them to sneak by into the French line.

Blood & Crowns: Burgundy

My English army for Blood & Crowns is effectively finished. I can field up to 250 points, which is a good sized game. With that in mind I want to work on a second army, for variety and potential demo games.

I’ve been fascinated with the Burgundians for some time. While the ‘modern’ concept army of Charles the Bold is interesting, it isn’t covered for this era of Blood & Crowns. The Burgundians during the Hundred Years War were effectively French, vassals of the crown for most of the conflict. Arguments (and a little murder or two) disrupted this, and they joined up with the English for a time. A French civil war right in the middle of the HYW means I can field the models for the Burgundians using the French list, or have units join my English.

The first units for the Burgundians are Footmen, the core infantry. Like the English, these are Medbury Miniatures, and use mostly the same sculpts.

The Footmen with spear and hand weapons are the basic troops. I used the blue/white color scheme to reinforce the theme, with the red X cross of St. Andrew blazoned on some of them. Some carry shields of their feudal masters, while one carries the Burgundan dukedom’s X heraldry.

The other units carries polearms, the catch-all term for halberds, voulges, guisames, glaives, etc. These were actually sculpts representing pikemen (thus the two-handed grip) but I adapted them and converted polearm heads from axes, blades, and plasticard, or used Fireforge halberds bits.

More to come. I already have the crossbowmen, for use already in Saga, so there are only a few more models to finish for the army. Next up- Men at Arms.

Blood & Crowns: Flying the Colors

I’ve finished my Blood & Crowns English force up to 200 points, and I’ve gotten in a larger 250 point game. With an eye toward further expansion, I’ve been working on more units, and options for other units.

The army leader and his unit is represented by Thomas Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick. He was a field commander during the Battles of Crecy and Poitiers, and Marshal of England (1434-69). This is my version of his arms, with the red/yellow field and gold crosses. The army’s Banner Bearer carries his colors.

The rest of the unit are 3 Men at Arms, the Banner Bearer, and a Musician. The Musician carries a horn and shield bearing the heraldry of Edward. The unit is a mix of the Perry HYW plastic Men at Wars, with the Musician’s arms and shield coming from Fireforge’s Mounted Sergeants.

The second pic is the unit of Men at Arms. They carry poleaxes, a mix of hammer, axes, greatsword, and cut down lance. Their armor is relatively simple compared to the retinue. The center knight with the black surcoat with yellow cross is the unit’s leader, a Grizzled Veteran in the rules.

Next are a few miniatures to add to units. The first are Archers to add to English Archers units, while the center 3 will be fielded as Welsh Archers. They are different sculpts from the Medbury Archers. They’re a little looser on historical accuracy (closer to fantasy) but they look different enough to show the difference between Welsh and English infantry. The Welsh unit will be filled out to 5 men.

I also made an additional banner for the army, a Footman carrying the flag of England. The red cross of St. George shows bright and bold on both banner and shield. Both banners for the army were made with aluminum foil bent to wave dramatically. The thin foil sheets were sandwiched around paper for strength and glued together.

The last pic are the start of a Footmen unit with polearms (halberds, hooks, etc.). These are painted as Burgundians, for use in armies during the later war. The red X Cross of St. Andrew replaces the Cross of St. George. These models are from Medbury, like the other Footmen and Archers. The first halberd comes from Fireforge, while the others were converted from pikes, axe heads, and plastic card. This unit will eventually expand to 8 men.

Blood & Crowns: Crecy

My English force for Blood & Crowns continues. I’ve been building to 200 points, with an eye towards expansion to 300+ at some point.

Knight Banneret, with 4 Retinue Men at Arms

5x Men at Arms w/ Poleaxes

6x Archers w/ a Vintenar

6x Footmen

6x Footmen

This list has served me fine so far, with enough units to cover a wide area and better force combats on my terms.

I’ve finished 3 of the Men at Arms from the Poleaxe unit. The armor was done to look properly battle-worn, but not too shabby. These are nobility after all. The odd colored scabbard for their arming swords adds some needed color. The center member is wearing a tabard, with his personal heraldry. All the Men at Arms for the army come from Perry Miniatures plastic sets.

The Archers I posted previously were made up of the GW 4th ed Bretonnian bowmen, but these models are all from Medbury. The details are very nice, and they paint up well. The Vintenar stands in the center. The small base with the arrow bundles in the ground represent the ‘ammo’ counter for the unit for use in game.

Last up are the humble Footmen. I can field them in groups of 6 or as a solid 12-man unit. So far I’ve enjoyed the flexibility of the smaller units, but they do suffer when the fighting gets fierce. If I add a Veteran member to the unit at some point, the member with his sword held aloft will get promoted.

All but two models are Medbury, another nice group of sculpts. They show a variety of wealth, with some bearing a lord’s heraldry, while others carry simple target shields or bucklers.

More to come. An advantage to Blood & Crowns is the relatively small armies, so I should finish the rest of the army soon enough.

Blood & Crowns

So my painting desk has taken a bit of a digression… with the arrival of the Blood & Crowns rules, I’ve started on an English army for the Hundred Years War, circa 1346, the Battle of Crecy. This was early in the war, but the battle was the prototypical encounter seen again in Poitiers and Agincourt.

I’ve already done an army on this theme, a 15mm force for Field of Glory. I can fall back on my old research for this 28mm version.

These pics represent the start of the force. I’m building 200 points, but that’s just the beginning.

First are some of the infamous Archers. I’ll be collecting more miniatures, but for now the men of the unit are from GW’s 5th ed Bretonnians. They serve well, and mixed with other companies’ sculpts will look fine. I swapped one Archer’s head to add more variety, and gave him a proper sword.

The leader, a Vintenar, however, is a 3D print from ProxyWars Miniatures. I neede him to really be obvious on the table. I love his ‘V’ sign, a nice taunt to the Frenchies.

The second pic are some the stout Footmen, a unit of spears. The majority of the spearmen will be Medbury Miniatures, but I snuck in a Foot Sergeant from Fireforge (the footman with the blue striped shield).

Looking forward to the rest of the force. I’ve got some armored Men at Arms and more Footmen on the way.

Edit: Here’s a pic of my Archers during a recent game. The background is from a book of painted scenes, Jon Hodgson Backdrops. Check them out. The pic is a bit awkward, but with proper staging and lighting it will be great. This will be quite useful in the future for photographing my miniatures.

Field of Glory: Battle!

A pal and I are getting back into Field of Glory! With the interest in the new Wars of The Roses armies I’ve been working on, another player returned to his Medieval French army.  These are pics from our latest battle.

 

The English line.

Down the English line.

English Men-at-Arms and the Black Prince.

The French!

French Knights.

French Knights, detail on the flags.

The armies were the starter armies from Storm of Arrows lists, at ~600 points. We’ll get larger games later on.

The English had an inspired CiC, 2 Troop commanders, 2×8 Archers with stakes, 6×2 Archers with stakes, and 3×4 Dismounted Men-at-Arms.

The French were 3 Troop commanders, 3×4 Knights, 3×6 Crossbow, 6 Genoese Crossbow, 8 Peasant Mob, and 8 Voulgiers. They’re not done yet, but painting up fast. The pics don’t do the French justice- they’re amazing in the flesh.

 

Start, English on the left, French on the right.

Lines converging.

Thundering hooves bearing down on the longbows.

Getting close on the left flank.

The lines spread out pretty evenly, favoring the left French flank. We rolled most of the terrain to the edges where it wasn’t any help to the English, leaving the center wide open for all those Knights.

Early on the right French flank with Crossbows and Peasant Mobs met English Archers and Men-at-Arms, They came out of it poorly, breaking and running for the hills. The Men-at-Arms turned the flank, eventually breaking another unit of Crossbows. Unfortunately, that was the only real English success…

 

Flank turned, can they press the advantage?

Getting closer…

Crunch!

Going poorly.

In the center and right English flank, the French Knights impacted with the English line. It went badly immediately. The English couldn’t roll out of a paper bag, while the French were rolling like rock stars, wearing down the English morale and killing stands.

 

Mid-battle.

Getting worse!

The center breaks, and the flanks fold.

Retreat!

The Knights barreled over the English line, killing Archers and Men-at-Arms left and right. The center with the English C-in-C broke, cascading into breaking nearby units, while the rest of the line was near breaking or just dying. I called a retreat, since most of my army was either broken or fragmented. Curse you Frenchy!

 

 

Field of Glory: The Lions of England

King Edward III

Edward Prince of Wales

William de Bohun

English Camp

It’s been quite a long time since I’ve gotten some painting in for my Hundred Years’ War English 15mm army for Field of Glory. The army has been long in the making, started years ago. I had nearly finished it before my gaming group at the time stopped playing FoG, leaving me with little motivation to finish it.  All that was left were the commanders and the camp.

But now I return. I’ve added the commanders and the camp, bringing the army to a close. While I could add some bases for variety (say unmounted versions of the knights or some more archers and barricades), the army is done.

The army is based off the force that was present at the Battle of Crecy (1346) during the Hundred Years War. I tried to follow the actual units and heraldry of the lords that fought there. The bases for the commanders get a simple roman numeral on the front and back and stars to help differentiate them from the mass of troop bases.

The first commander, the army’s Commander in Chief, is King Edward III himself. He sits on his finely armored warhorse, flanked by the flag of England and his personal banner. Like the other banners in the army, I hand-painted the banners based on reference pics. I could have used printed banners, but decided to attempt the painting myself.

Next up is Edward III’s son, the Prince of Wales. While only 16 years old at the time of Crecy, Edward still commanded the 1st Battle, right wing of the army and proved himself in combat. The name of the Black Prince came later. The miniature here is accompanied by a banner man, flying the flag of England, festooned with the ribbon of the eldest son (also seen on the prince’s shield and horse armor). I added an archer to link him to Wales.

The last commander is William de Bohun, the Earl of Northhampton. He commanded the left wing of the army. While he has an elaborate decoration on his armor and horse, I decided to give him a simple pennant with the St. George’s Cross. Along with him I added Richard Fitzalan, the Earl of Arundel (or at least a liege knight).

The final pic is the English camp. All armies in Field of Glory are required to have a counter representing their rear camp, supplies, reserves, etc. I wanted it to look a little busy, the ground churned with activity, with plenty of soldiers moving about. The base has a grouping of tents, along with various guards and servants. I used extra models from the army (English billmen, mounted crossbowman, Welsh spearman, etc.). Since the French were shadowing the English and were blocking their way at Crecy, I figured the camp was set up with some haste; guards stand ready to defend just in case.

Field of Glory: Armored Might

With a renewed interest in Field Of Glory at my FLGS, I’ve returned to my Hundred Years War English force. It’s fun to get back to 15mm and all the heraldry for the army. Old posts feature the rest of the army; these battlegroups constitute the final units for the army, except for the camp and commanders. Like almost all of the rest of the army, they are from Old Glory 15’s miniature line.

The English force is designed to represent the army that fought the French at Crecy in 1346. The commanders will be Edward III, King of England; Edward of Woodstock, the Black Prince; and Thomas de Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick. Those will follow soon.

These pics are the English Knights and the dismounted Men-at-Arms.

The Knights were fun to do, following the heraldry of the lords who actually fought at Crecy. A good mix of color, though the English seemed to favor red, white, black, blue, and yellow. They of course fly a banner of St. George. Doing checkers on 15mm models was not easy, but they came out pretty nice.

The dismounted Men-at-Arms are similarly armored and marked. All the 4-base battlegroups have a standard, including the standard of Edward III, The Black Prince, St. George, and the one here, the banner of Thomas de Beauchamp, the army’s Marshal at Crecy. This gives the army more color and variety, plus makes it easier to tell battlegroups apart on the table.

The Black Prince’s Battle

Another selection from my Hundred Years War English army for Field of Glory. This grouping includes the battle of Edward of Woodstock, aka the Black Prince. His flag is the flag of his father, Edward III, with the combined arms of England and France, with the white label at the top signifying him as heir-apparent. The Prince himself is not part of the group, and will be featured separately later.

Next to his battle is another grouping of men-at-arms, this time under the St. George’s Cross of England. All the heraldry and colors in both groups are as accurate as I could get, based off sources.

The final picture is a pair of light guns, a little bit of artillery in the medieval army at Crecy.

English Men-at-Arms

Here is a grouping of English dismounted Men-at-Arms for my Hundred Years War army for Field of  Glory. I’ve presented views from the right, front, and left, with an extra shot of the second ranks.

The stands represent armored and heavily armored knights, squires, and assorted sergeants and lesser knights in the battle of King Edward III. The heraldry is as accurate as I could get. I’ve found resources that allow me to place the heraldry in the right groups, accompanying the correct lords.

The standard represents John Lord Beauchamp of Warwick, carrying the banner of Edward III. I’m adding banners and command miniatures to each battle group, in order to help differentiate them and to add character to the stands.