Wars of the Roses Project - Retinues for the Lesser Nobles.

Having now completed the retinues of the four main factions for my campaign game set very loosely in the North of England, attention turns to representing some of the lesser nobles in the campaign. I had an extra box of mounted men at arms as well as two boxes of infantry. The final troops of this project.

I have already painted up a box of twelve mounted knights in neutral colours, they where to be used to represent the lesser nobles, with hindsight, I should have created some new colour schemes. Instead I have split this box of twelve into three units of four figures, two additional figures can be added from the aforementioned neutrals to make the unit up to the required six figures.

Keeping the theme of football teams I have chosen the following...

Red and white for Stoke City or Sheffield United if you prefer, I prefer the former as a tribute to my buddy Steve Clay. Photos have been taken in artificial light as it has been so dark and overcast for the last week up here in Yorkshire.

Next up are the black and whites of Newcastle United or Grimsby Town, again for a friend across the Humber, Andrew.

Finally, and because I love the colour combination of green and yellow we have a contingent from Norwich City.

I have continued to work on my campaign map, on a sheet of A4 I now have all the towns, estates, castles, roads, rivers etc. drawn out. With my drawing skills it is certainly no work of art, but it is functional and will serve my purpose well. I can now see the routes nobles and their retinues would have to take to move around from one area to another and also gives me a rough scale for movement purposes.

I now need to get hold of some foam board or similar to create castle/town walls to use in some of the scenarios that will occur during the campaign. I don't intend to model a full castle, just a couple or three wall sections with a tower and a gate to put at one edge of the table as a representation.

So it is onward and upward, I am really enjoying this project and now with enough troops to actually have a decent sized battle, one is currently set up on the table. You can see the troops in the distance in some of the photos. I just wish the weather would play ball and actually give me enough light in the man cave to take decent photographs.

Mounted Men at Arms completed, archers and Bill men on the painting board next.

The four units of mounted men at arms (knights to you and I) are now completed, which means all the boxes of cavalry for the project are now complete. Attention has turned to completing the foot units of which I have one box of foot knights (6 units in Lion Rampant), two boxes of mercenaries, enough to make three units of spear men and one each of crossbows and firearms and finally three boxes in infantry for three Bill men and six archer units. A box of infantry has been chosen for the next job, they will give Lord Benedict Foxe and Sir Walter de Cobham a second unit of archers each, the units of Bill men carry no specific colours and can be used as required.

Four completed six man units of mounted men at arms. The flags/banners may or may not have been used in the War of the Roses, but as they came in the box, and more importantly, the fact I liked them, they have been added.

The front rank occupied by Sir Walter de Cobham's men.

The second rank by men of Sir Godfrey Howard.

The rear two ranks form two units which can be used by lesser lords/barons in the campaign game.

I now have enough completed units to fight out a decent sized battle in Lion Rampant, the remaining boxes currently being worked on will eventually give me enough for battles in Hail Caesar, L'Art de la Guerre and Sword and Spear. All of which will get an airing over the coming weeks/months.

My new Cigar Box Battle Mat arrived yesterday too! It is the multi-textured one without roads, rivers etc. so it will be christened too.

Finally, today was the last day of my working life. I have now retired after 47 years of nose to the grindstone and I am looking forward to the extra time it will give me. The date for my heart by-pass operation has also been confirmed for the 15th January 2016, if successful, it should return my health to good order once the recuperation period of six to ten weeks is over with. So as one phase of my life ends another begins, the heart operation should be a thing of the past as Spring and better weather arrives and I can truly appreciate my retirement. 

Mounted Men at Arms progress report.

On my last blog entry I mentioned I would be starting work on a box of mounted men at arms for the 28mm Wars of the Roses project, in actual fact I have started work on two boxes! My original intention was to paint up the two six man Yorkist units of Sir Godfrey Howard in green and white and also Sir Walter de Cobham in black and amber. I have done so, but also decided to paint up two units in neutral colours, these can be used to represent lesser nobles in the campaign game. As all the foot knights and Bill men are too in neutral colours, it will be easy to allocate forces to both the four main factions and the lesser factions.

I always start with the horses, and have included some photos of the completed mounts for the yet to be painted knights. They will be flocked at the very end, once the riders have been attached.

The two Yorkist faction mounts can be seen in the two front rows and the neutral in the remaining two rows.

The knights themselves are currently impaled on cocktail sticks awaiting arms, heads and a coat of paint. The 'Sword and Spear' rules have also arrived, I have read through them once, and like what I see. Certainly a novel way of working out initiative and activation of units. Once I have properly read and digested the contents I will write a full review.

First trials of Lion Rampant + ACW Project update.

Well after completing 25 Union infantry units in 6mm, I decided to give my old eyes a rest for a couple of days before tackling the Confederates. As you can see in the following photographs, I have decided to give these four units Butternut uniforms, I think the colour is pretty close to the desired colour. It was after doing this that I decided, enough is enough, I am already at the half way point of the challenge I set myself, so a couple of days off to play are in order.

The first of the units in Butternut.

The other only have their hats painted as yet.

Work will  recommence on these boys this evening in the Paint & Chat on Table Top Commanders run on Google +.

As followers of my blog know, I have been painting up units for a War of the Roses campaign using the Lion Rampant rule set. I decided to set up a small battlefield on the table and just use a minimum of units to test out the rules and get used to the feel of them. My units are not individually based, apart from the horse units, but I can still use them easily enough as they are mounted in such a way to make them playable in numerous rule sets. I have based the 12 man units as follows ; 4,3,2,1,1,1, this will allow me to remove casualties as required.

So on to the skirmish:

Ploppy in the Wood is a small hamlet in Yorkshire, nothing of note happens there usually.

The main talking point of the day is the price of milk and wool, come to think of it, it is the only topic of conversation everyday!

The Main err.. only road is once again thronged with its usual amount of carts and pack horses.

However, today will be different, as two bitter rivals and their forces are about to clash in Ploppy Field.

The two forces face each other across Ploppy Field, the only obstruction being a rather large book!

Sir Ralph Lytton with his retinue.

A unit of Spearmen costing 3 points.

Sir Ralph himself leading a unit of Mounted Men at Arms. cost 6 points.

Finally, a unit of Archers costing 4 points. A total force of 13 points.

The retinue of Lord Sir Benedict Foxe.

Consisting of one unit of Bill Men costing 4 points.

Lord Foxe himself with his Mounted Men at Arms costing 6 points.

Finally a unit of Crossbowmen costing 4 points for a grand total of 14 points.

The forces are therefore evenly matched with three units apiece and points values of 13 versus 14. Ploppy Field has been cleared of any obstacles, as I just want to get used to the basic game mechanics in this skirmish using the Lion Rampant Rules.

I will keep a photographic record of the ensuing battle and post to the blog for those interested. Should be fun as this if my first ever battle using this rule set. I may make the odd error or two, but no matter, I should have the rules off pat by the time my campaign is ready to begin.

War of the Roses troop muster and 6mm ACW tented camp.

I decided to muster the troops completed so far on the table top with a couple of buildings and a scenic backdrop, this was really so I could see exactly what each of the four main factions had in their retinue so far and allow me to plan who should get the next two units. The black and amber retinue of Yorkist, Sir Walter de Cobham will receive a unit of spear men, The dark blue and white of Lancastrian, Lord Sir Benedict Foxe will add a unit of crossbowmen.

All the boys together.

The unit of bill men and their command are not designated to any of the four major leaders and will be part of the retinues of the lesser knights in the campaign.

Looking down the line.

The black and amber retinue of Sir Walter de Cobham with just a unit of light cavalry and a firearms unit.

Sir Godfrey Howard (Yorkist) has a crossbowmen and spear men.

Sir Ralph Lytton (Lancastrian) has mounted knights, archers and spear men.

Lord Sir Benedict Foxe (Lancastrian) has mounted knights, light cavalry and archers.

Another view of the retinues formed up.

These resin buildings are from my English Civil War project, but fit nicely into this period. A timber merchant/cooperage.

A plain wattle and daub house, the dry stone walling is from OO Gauge model railway.

 

Some close-ups.

Finally, I have finished some tents that have been sat on my workbench for almost a month, they are for the 6mm ACW project, which I have been neglecting lately in favour of the War of the Roses. I shall have to rectify that.