Speedy Swiss

After my game of Lion Rampant 2nd Edition on the 22 August, I got all excited and finally painted and flocked the bases on all my Swiss and rationalized some units (short 4 halberdiers for 1 unit, and had 4 extra pikemen! Helllloooo Bits Box!). 

Converting Essex pikemen with Perry halberds 

I also started looking at how many Swiss I had and did I have enough for 3 players for a convention game next month? I dug out my unpainted Swiss, which included 3 dozen Old Glory that I had assembled and base coated maybe 10 years ago and then lost interest.

Also added 4 handgunners to bring them up to 3x 6 figure units of skirmishers 

3 hours to paint this mob!

These were given to me about 15 years ago, and are supposed to be pikemen. I honestly had enough pikemen, and they're in the early 16th century Italian Wars costume (puffy sleeves, slashed doublets, floppy berets, lots of feathers), not the mid to late 15th century Burgundian Wars look that I wanted (sallets, tight doublets and hose), but oh well, they were a gift. I eventually sourced some halberds from Perry Miniatures and got them assembled and primed and base coated, to sit...

...and sit...

...and sit for 10 (+?) years.

But after the game, I decided to get some paint on them and produce three more units of Warriors (Fierce Foot in old money). If I bring in some Wars of the Roses billmen, I should have a 3rd retinue for the upcoming convention game.

Painting was pretty fast and dirty and the costumes are pretty simple. No facings or equipment etc to worry about like with Napoleonics. The blue and white unit I banged out in a 3 hour paint and chat with Mikey and Patrick last week. Historians aren't really clear just how common the bright cantonal colours were worn, and the more irregular scruffy units could be late 15th century revolting peasants anywhere. Trying to vary the colours slowed things down a bit, but I was in a "Don't fuck about, just paint it!" mood so I got 40 figures painted, based and flocked within one week! 

The command figures are from a bag of Old Glory Wars of the Roses foot command and one random Citadel WotR pikemen who was probably cast back in the 80s.

This is how I do flags. A bit awkward but it works for me. 

While I was at it I painted 4 more schutzen to get me three 6 figure skirmisher groups. Plus those schutzen finally got their schutzfahnlein so the commander can stop waving an empty pole around.

Schutzfahnlein 

The Swiss now muster 4x units of pikemen (Veteran Sergeants/Heavy Foot), 7x halberdiers (Warriors/Fierce Foot) and 3x skirmishers. Plus they can borrow some artillery, knights and more halberdiers and crossbowmen if required.

So there's some more knocked off the Leadpile and an army mostly completed. I won't say it's "complete," but I'm not actively seeking more figures for it.

Now if I could only knock out Napoleonic Russians that quickly. 

Never Give Up!

 Way back in 2008, when I was unemployed, and before I had started this blog, I embarked upon The Great Rebasing of my Medieval collection to fix some issues (warped balsa, chipped plaster of Paris, single based pikemen!) and bring it in line with my ideas for a 2nd edition of Blood & Chivalry. Which showed great promise, but got no interest, so I never developed it further.

By November of 2010, I had progressed to having my Burgundians done, and the Swiss started. Which is where the Swiss pike hedgehogs of doom then stalled out for the next 12 years. Never flocked, hardly played with.

Well last Friday the long awaited Lion Rampant 2nd edition arrived in all it's hard covered glory, so Patrick and I had a little game. I went with Swiss vs. Burgundians to try the new pike and handgun rules. A random die roll gave us the "Stampede" scenario; the Attacker drives a herd of cattle into the enemy camp.

I don't have a herd of cattle, so the Swiss were driving a herd of very fierce sheep instead!

Burgundian reinforcements start on table edge

The camp with 2 units. I gave the Burgundians a 4 pt unit of foot to balance out the 4 pts of sheep

My oldest figure leads the Burgundian foot knights

Very fierce sheep drive the Burgundian foot back, but they counterattacked and slaughtered their woolly opponents. 

Swiss advance in their unflocked state.

Close up of the First Figure

Glamour shot of Charles the Bold. I should have taken some cavalry instead to properly test the pike rules

This got me thinking and the following Sunday was rainy and lazy, so I started painting bases and spreading glue and digging out 3 dozen Swiss halberdiers that have been sitting in a box in their brown undercoat for ..... ooooh I hate to think. 6, 7 years?

Maybe these chaps will finally get their banner!

So I've easily got two Swiss retinues. The next 3 dozen figures and borrowing some other figures from my Wars of the Roses troops might bump me up to 3 retinues.

So, it's only taken 12 years, but their bases are done!

Never give up.

Renewed Normans!

The Norman Reinforcements and Renovation project has gone faster and easier than anticipated. I worried that I would fnd myself come mid-November, surrounded by debris and scattered figures, filled with self-loathing and despair as the massive rebasing bogged down.

But since my last post I bashed on, finished the final two batches of cavalry and then started sorting the cavalry into new squadrons, trying to mix shield colours and mixing new figures in with the older figures where I could.

Removing the old bases made from heavy card (I did find one still based on a piece of balsa wood which I haven't done in 30 years I think!) proved easy. So after they were all glued down I started rebasing the infantry. All the infantry. So many infantry....

The mostly Old Glory infantry have the usual weird discordant mix of poses. Fellows swinging two-handed axes in with fellows standing with spears. So I took the opportunity to regroup figures into more active posed units and less active unts. Lion Rampant has an "Expert Foot Sergeant" (or "Offensive Heavy Foot" in Dragon Rampant) upgrade who have a better attack value. So now I can deploy two 12 figure units of chaps swinging axes and hacking with swords who can be easily distinguished as "Expert/Offensive" from the chaps standing around leaning on their spears.

Waking up with a sore throat on Friday, and with new Covid Protocals at work, I called in sick and used my sick day very productively to smash on with The Great Rebasing and got all the bases painted brown and flocked.

I have found myself short a few kite shields to finish one command group and a couple of characters, so that squadron is behind in the rebasing and flocking scheme. But Pasha Dan has investigated his spare parts inventory and has some for me when next he passes this way.

So the final tally is:

• 3x squadrons of unarmoured mounted Yoemen
• 9x squadrons of armoured knights/sergeants
• 6x mounted characters
• 3x 12 figure companies of yoemen
• 6x 12 figure companies of foot sergeants
• 3x 12 figure companies of crossbowmen
• 1x 6 figure unit of Bidowers with crossbows

I also rebased my scruffy, ugly, second hand and highly notorious mercenary unit The Black Company while I was at it. They've been fighting for the Necromancer in Middle Earth a lot lately. But they've been sorted into

• 1x squadron of heavy cavalry
• 2x characters
• 2x 12 figure companies of heavy infantry/sergeants
• 1x 12 figure company of offensive heavy infantry/expert sergeants

They've been looking for some skirmishers for several decades. When they're in Middle Earth they just employ goblins, but that's not really an option in Normandy or Aquitaine is it? I may just need to buy the Gripping Beast Dark Age archer set. My Anglo-Normans and Goths/Rohirrim could do with run of the mill, bog standard archers anyway. Until then my super busy Ral Partha archers will do yoeman service.

While sorting everyone into regular stands I culled out a nice little handful of figures that I might add a few others to as I find them and make a small 12 figure "castle garrison unit" with a mix of knights, sergeants, crossbows and archers.

I think I shall clear off the table reward myself with a battle! Watch this space.

Not So New Normans

The article that side tracked my plan

I was going to get stuck into some terrain after finishing the Middle Earth figures. Maybe some urban ruins for Eastern Front games. But this article in the recent issue of Wargames Soldiers & Strategy got my attention.  I have always  loved the look of Early Medieval armour; conical helmets, kite shields, chain mail and lots of cavalry charging madly around.

Bit of research 

So this got me looking at my Norman/Crusader/11th century stuff, and then mining the lead pile and book shelves. 

Just a few figures

30 figures later I've discovered a tidy little army, and I'll be knocking some 25 year old pieces of the lead pile off. Mostly Old Glory but a few Foundry and I think some old Minifigs.

And there's some crossbows too

I'm also pondering if it will be worth it to replace the heater shields on some of my already painted figures with more kite shields. I've always preferred kite shields and I think the lance pennons are a tad big to be honest. 

I'm also pondering rebasing them all to conform to my other medieval armies: 4× heavy infantry,  3× archers or 2× cavalry to a base. Too many single figures to move around now. 

Current troops. Nice but room for improvements. 

These additional squadrons will bring my Early Medieval cavalry up to 12× 6 figure units. That should divide nicely into 2 feudal hosts. 

Siege Lines

I'd always thought of gabions as being an 18th and 19th century thing. But really, basket weaving is an old skill so I wasn't all that surprised to learn that gabions were used at least as far back as the Middle Ages.

If we found a carving showing Romans using gabions during a siege I wouldn't be surprised either. They were quite familiar with using baskets to move dirt, so it'd be the next logical step to make bigger baskets and stack them up to protect you from enemy arrows.

The wooden bases I got at Michael's a few weeks ago prompted me to finish up the Renedra gabion set I got at Hotlead. So I fixed them to bases, making two gun positions and three sets of wall to set around bigger mantlets. For the gun positions I closed the gap with a rough box made from match sticks and coffee stirrers. The inside of the box got a chunk of foam to fill it and then covered with sand.

The large mantlets are from a children's toy. The  awkward onager was cut off and the dorky shield got covered in more coffee stirrer planks.

Other mantlets are from the old RAFM Siege Equipment line, some resin cast hide pavises that I got from somewhere and more scratch built from popsicle sticks.

RAFM swinging mantlets with RAFM large bombard

RAFM mantlets

Resin pavises

Popsicle stick mantlets

Now I just need a better castle to lay siege too. Nothing too big, since I don't see the siege itself as a game, but all the actions around it; sorties, foraging expeditions, relief attempts etc. which could all be played out with Lion/Dragon Rampant.