The Sunne in Splendour 5

Recently started a Wars of the Roses retinue for Lion Rampant and similar style skirmish games.

Following in the footsteps of the DBA army painted a couple of year back these will have Lancastrian colours and will be under the colours of Roos.

The figures are from Perry Miniatures metal ranges and paint exceptionally well. The detail is clear and crisp with not too much flash if any. 

There are another three figures on the painting table at the moment and these will completed later this week. 

Whilst being painted for skirmish gaming, the use of sabot bases will enable these figures to have a bit more use for larger games as well. 

The next group for this retinue will have a darker approach to the painting of their armour; check out Medieval on Netflixs for ideas. 

Cheers for now.

Back to the Brushes 363

It has been a bitty week on the hobby front whilst contending with the dread lurgy. Not had a cold in nearly two years and you quickly forget the joys that they bring you whilst to do your best to go about everyday life. 

So, when the energy levels have been high enough, silver has been the colour of choice:

The figures are from Perry Miniatures Wars of the Roses metal range and once cleaned up are really great sculpts that are pleasure to paint.

At this moment they are being painted just because they where there, however, they will most likely end up as a part of a Lion Rampant retinue for Lancastrian forces. 

The finished figures will be included in this years AHPC XIII tally.

Will be painting some smaller versions in 15mm shortly to boost the DBA army towards ADLG size, but more on that later. 

Cheers for now

Fury of the North 27

 A quick update on the very slow process being made on the Foundry Norman's as these two are finally based and finished for use. 

Looking forward to completing more in the coming months. 

Originally started for WAB as mercenaries, these will also be used in Lion Rampant and SAGA in a variety of roles. 

Cheers for now.

Back to the Brushes 331

The last of the Moorish Archers are now finished just waiting on being varnished - and correcting the eye on the leftmost figure. 

The figures are from the venerable Gripping Beast range of Moors and still firm favourites here. Will be posting some group pictures of all of this unit shortly whilst looking to arrange a game to send them to the lions as all newly painted figures are bound to go. 

The dark sleeves and turbans were painting in black contrast paint then highlighted as required. The jury is out on these paints at present although the sleeves have worked very well. 

Based on 25mm rounds from Warbases for skirmish gaming in general. 

This takes the tally for this month to:

2 x 15mm Infantry

3 x 28mm Infantry

Still a fair amount to complete for the end of the month and then time will be focussing on a different challenge for the dark nights in the new year. 

Cheers for now

 

Back to the Brushes 326

The next batch of painted Moorish archers are below; figures from Gripping Beast's Moors range. 

The brighter colours used here are to reflect an Andalusian influence whilst the stark contrast below with the black for more of a Moorish feel. Both are purely artistic licence 

A versatile range of figures that will see use in both SAGA: Age of Crusades and Lion Rampant and possibly a few other skirmish styled games as well. 

This takes the tally this month so far to:

6 x 28mm Infantry

Still a fair bit to go but there is a lot in the side lines at present. 

Hope that you found this interesting. 

Cheers for now. 

How far Jerusalem 3

Continuing on from the previous post for the How far Jerusalem thread here are the other Later Crusaders from Gripping Beast during the AHPC XI. 

These figures have been hiding in the lead pile for over a decade now. Purchase as part of a WAB army which has now been split into two Lion Rampant factions and the balance sold on to new Chapter Houses. 

The figures have been painted to represent Knights Hospitaller post the papal bull of 1259  that split the uniforms of Brother Knights and Brother Sergeants to red and black tabards.  It has been said that this decision was unpopular with the Order so there will be some quartered colours on the mounted figures just started to show both red and black tabards. This is purely artistic licence however, it does look good on the table. The decision was over turned and the whole order wore red in combat later in their history and black for higher duties. 

The shields are over painted Little Big Men transfers and when possible crosses will be added to some of the tabards if I can find suitable waterslide decals to do this.

The painted helms are artistic licence and purely to break up the uniformity of the figures. This was also done by using two different triads on the reds although it is hard to see this in these pics. 

The completed twelve knights that will be used as Men at Arms in groups of six in Lion Rampant and Hearth Guards in SAGA.  

Hope you found this interesting

Stay safe

How far Jerusalem 2

Painted this Crusader in the last AHPC XI as an entry for the Chambers of Challenge - the Pit and the Pendulum bonus round. 

Whilst the figure has no relevance to a pit or a pendulum the back swing on that wee sword has a momentum all of its own. It is an impressive chopper!!

For someone who professes to not enjoy painting red, there will be a lot of coming in the future and in a variety of shapes, sizes and timescales.

 Hope that you found this interesting.

Stay safe and cheers for now. 

Back to the Brushes 305

Steady progress on the second group of Gripping Beast 3rd Crusader Knights. Hoping to get these along with a few other partially painted items finished for this weekend coming. Need some more points on the board for the AHPC this year. 

The red has progressed now to the final highlight, leaving the equipment and shields to do. Simples or so says the Meercats

Stay safe

Cheers for now

 

The Sunne In Splendour

Roughly twenty years ago in a charity shop lay a slightly worn copy of Sharon Penman's The Sunne in Splendour which made its way to the reading pile.

At the time, there were no thoughts of any miniatures, armies, retinues or games relating to the Wars of the Roses; this is a much more recent plan again brought on by another fiction novel - Stormbird and a bargain on evil bay - 2 15mm DBA armies worth of Gladiator Miniatures Wars of the Roses 15mm figures.

So here starts what is likely to be a fairly long series of posts under the title of The Sunne in Splendour. Ironically, the book of the same title is from the Yorkist view point and Richard the Third, yet the subject here will be Lancasterian figures.

The full Battle

DBA army plus an additional Light Infantry base

Buckingham's Command

Oxford's Command

The first Command stand for ADLG

All the King's Horses

There will be more for this period in both 15mm and 28mm in the future. Hope that you find this interesting.

Stay safe.

Cheers for now.

Imperium Sine Fine 21

Some armies are just never finished and the Late Romans would be that one here. 

Below are recently completed Gripping Beast Late Roman archers that will be either used as support elements or as skirmishers depending on the needs of each particular game.

There will be another six of these appearing here shorty to complete the sagittarii for the Late Romans as based on 60mm fronts.

There will be another dozen to be painted across this year based individually on 25mm rounds for use in SAGA and Lion Rampant as Romano Brits.

A new project has just been started on a smaller scale than above; more on this in the coming days with the announcement of the Quarantine Challenge 2020 following on from the completion of the AHPC X.

Cheers for now

Imperium Sine Fine 20

Recently completed and shown in the AHPC X here is a group of Hearthguard for an Arthurian or Romano-British warband.

The figures are from Gripping Beast Wolftail warriors and have been a pleasure to paint.

The colours picked whilst similar to the previous hearth-guard they are not an exact match - Dark Age dyes varied a lot or so I am told.

More finished work to show over the next week.

Cheers for now

Back to the Brushes 258

As the last week of the AHPC X starts the chaos catches up. No border closures here although this may effect future gaming events in the UK.

Last work in progress picture this side of the end of the challenge.

Shown above are Late Roman archers from Gripping Beast, Greek skirmishers from Foundry, a Crusader also from Gripping Beast and bill-men from Gladiator Miniatures.

The skirmishers are done and the archers are next to be finished.

Cheers for now

Fury of the North 24

Recently completed Norman crossbowmen from Gripping Beast.

These have been based on 20mm squares to allow for use in multiple skirmish games such as SAGA, Lion Rampant, Outremer and WAB to name a few.

Although there are newer sculpts available for these troops these are still the favourites.

Cheers for now.

Back to the Brushes 115

A couple of work in progress shots quickly taken this morning.

First up a Foundry Norman that is very near completion and to his left the Foundry Rat Catcher or Risk Taker move closer to the final colours. The far left corner shows four more Gripping Beast Vikings slowly getting coloured in; these will be for SAGA or similar.

With the Ratcatcher figure keeping to muted browns on the material as want to show the rats in blacks and greys. No real reason why it was just how the miniature started to come together.

Above is a Reaper fighter or cleric type that will be used as such in some form of fantasy based skirmish game in the future. Mostly armour on this one so hoping to finish up soon.

More work in progress to come shortly.

Cheers for now.

Fury of the North 17

A couple of finished pictures of a bondi figure from Gripping Beast.

This figure will be part of a warrior group for SAGA and there are another 3 to follow that are in varying stages on undressat present so to speak.

Next up from this period will be a Norman from the Foundry/Citadel range. A great figure to paint with lots of character. Again there are another three to follow.

Cheers for now

Back to the Brushes 114

A few work in progress pictures from the new fantasy warband and a few loose Normans that are being painted as the Battle of Hasting happened 950 years ago this month.

First, a view of the rear of an old Ral Partha cleric which the first layers of the primary colour of the tabard has been painted. Have opted for Foundry ochre and both the A shade and B mid tone have been used here.

Sometimes the fact that the camera never lies can help as it has shown either a flaw in the casting or air bubbles in the undercoat that haven't been noticed. At this stage will most likely just leave them as is as material is prone to wearing and this could be the start of it. When adding the other layers might add some light grey in to the mid tone here and there to "age" the tabard a bit to reflect its age.

Below are the first four of eight Normans from Foundry. Have to say these figures are so easy to paint and considering their age the sculpts are still as crisp as ever. Slightly smaller than some of their contemporaries though.

There is already one of them waiting on basing which at this stage will be for skirmish gaming such as Saga or Lion Rampant although that may change with the release of Basic Impetus in the coming months.

Cheers for now