WOTRs: Yorkist Mercenaries

When Edward IV re-crossed the Channel  in 1471 in a bid to reclaim his throne, (recall that the alliance of Warwick and Queen Margaret had driven him into exile in Burgundy,) he brought with him mercenaries from the Low Countries and Germany. In my building of forces for the battles of Barnet and Tewkesbury to play with BoB2, I felt it necessary to paint up a little something to reflect the presence of these forces. And from a wargaming perspective, it opens the game up a little bit when you can include varied troop types (particularly in the WOTR period, wherein the board is covered in large part with various grades of bill and bow blocks).

I have a unit (certainly there would not have been enough men to constitute a whole pike 'block') of mercenary pikes, painted up to resemble a mishmash of Low-Countries fighting men. Here are some photos, and as usual, I apologize for not having their bases finished. (I hate basing so much that I avoid it as long as possible, and do it in large batches.) I also plan on adding a couple of flags to the pikes when I get around to it.

All figures are from Old Glory 25s. These are not from their War of the Roses pikemen, but rather the heavy pikemen from their Swiss and Italian Wars range. I thought the sculpts on these looked a little nicer.

We know that Edward was given a group of handgunners from the Duke of Burgundy as well, so I have painted some of those up too. They are done up in Burgundian livery, though how likely it is they would have worn it on the field while under Edward's command, I am not certain. I just really like the color combinations, and also, they can be used in a Low Countries army of the same period, should I choose to build it.

These too are Old Glory 25s, and from their Wars of the Roses range.

I hope you enjoy the pictures, and I hope to post later in the week with my recently painted command stands, featuring Richard of Gloucester, and William, Lord Hastings.

S. V. B. E.
-The Fox