Ser Julien Grimlowe, Lord of Goldmoor

Here is the first completed command stand for my planned A Song of Ice and Fire gaming experiences (mentioned in my previous post) using my now fairly decent sized (c. 650 figures) War of the Roses collection. The characters are representing fictional minor houses who reside in the border region between the Westerlands and the Riverlands.

This is Julien Grimlowe, the young, arrogant and adventurous 'Black Lion' of Goldmoor. House Grimlowe's blazon is a barry-bendy of 8, or and gules, a lion rampant sable. Their words are 'By Tooth and Claw.'

The figures are all Perry plastics, except for the horse, which is a Perry metal (I wanted a more static pose that the plastics, unfortunately do not provide without serious modification), and Ser Julien's head, which is cut from a Foundry slinger from their now defunct line of Franks.

His faithful squire makes sure that the brash Ser Julien does not careen into battle without his helm, as the lord regards him with disdain. I like how this one turned out. I am working on incorporating more motion into my multi-figure bases and attempting to tell a story through their posing. It sort of began with this figure (posted in a previous post), my Edward IV command stand.

Here too are a couple shots of a portion of my War of the Roses figures in action, fighting at the battle of Tewksbury. The wife and I were play-testing a scenario I am working on for Historicon 2015.

The van and main close on each other. Richard is in danger of outflanking if only Somerset could navigate the 'foul laynes and dykes' on his right. Here Hastings and Devon stare at each other from across the field.

Edward's retinue has crushed Wenlock's mainward in the center of the field. Only a single group of levied array troops remains facing the enemy.

I hope you enjoy!

Some WOTR action

I just wanted to quickly post up a couple pictures from a recent battle fought in my living room at our new place in northern Virginia.

The wife and I fought out a hypothetical War of the Roses battle the week before Historicon (I hope to do a more detailed post with pictures from that soon). The set up was based on C. S. Grant's 'Making the best of a bad situation' scenario. The Lancastrians, marching up country, stumble into a smaller encamped Yorkist host presenting significant challenges for both sides: the Lancastrians are all deployed in lines marched halfway across the table, while the Yorkists are outnumbered and in a disorganized clump behind a hill.

A smaller action was fought on a separate table that would eventually lead onto the main table, in which an offshoot of the Lancastrian vanguard has to split off to delay a group of Yorkist reinforcements.

The rules were my own period specific variant of Hostile Realms by Piquet, which I have taken to calling Hostile Roses. I am continuing to develop these and there is still much adjustment to be made. The wife graciously offered to play the Lancastrians (since she knows I despise the usurping dogs!!), while I took command of the Yorkists.

The result was a decisive Yorkist victory. The Lancastrian vanguard  did an excellent job of keeping off the Yorkist reinforcements, but back on the main table the Yorkists crushed the center of the Lancastrain army.

Richard, Duke of Gloucester and his men are hard pressed to relieve the embattled Yorkist main force due to a fierce effort by John, Lord Wenlock's men, including some hired Welsh spearmen (center).

Back on the main table, Edward IV sweeps down the hill to crush the Edmund Beaufort, Duke of Somerset before he is surrounded on his right by the other half of Wenlock's vanguard (temporarily under the command of Edward, Prince of Wales while Wenlock fights his delaying action).

It was an enjoyable afternoon/evening with the wife; much fun was had by all.

Si valetis bene est,
-The Fox

Lancastrian Commanders

Here we feature the commanders of my recently painted Lancastrian forces for the Battle of Tewkesbury. We have already had one re-fight, using a version of Piquet's Hostile Realms which I have modified slightly for period flavor and tactics, and I am tentatively calling 'Hostile Roses.' There will be a short write-up on the action in the days to come when I find the time.

Here are the ward commanders beginning with the vanward and proceeding down the line.

First we have Edmund Beaufort, 4th Duke of Somerset (and his infamous axe). One of the myths surrounding the Lancastrian collapse on the field is that Somerset, in his rage at John Wenlock over his lack of support for Somerset's (botched) flanking maneuver, caved in the old soldier's skull with his axe--an act which helped precipitate the rout. He was facing Richard, Duke of Gloucester across the field (as Edward IV had his vanward on the left, presumably to match his more skilled younger brother against the slightly more experienced Beaufort, rather than leaving the job to Hastings, who had performed poorly at Barnet in the weeks prior).

'Souvent me souvient!' (Somerset = Perry metal; others = Old Glory 25's) 

In the mainward we have the tough ol' John, Lord Wenlock. Wenlock had once been on the Yorkist side, but that was because he was a devoted follower of the Earl of Warwick. When Warwick betrayed to Margaret of Anjou, he took his seasoned commander with him. For the scenario, I have put Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales with Wenlock in a sort of 'understudy' role and as an objective for the Yorkist forces. Wenlock was pitted against the ever-doughty (and later doughy) Edward IV.

Not even his turtle-like appearance could save him from  Somerset's fury. (Wenlock = Perry metal; others = Old Glory 25's)

The eighteen-year-old needs a little advice from the Hospitaller John Langstrother. (Edward and Langstrother  = Perry metal; others = Old Glory 25's)

Bringing up the rear is John Courtenay, 15th Earl of Devon. Devon was squared off across the field from Lord Hastings. He was not particularly influential in the battle from reports, since it was largely decided on the other side.

All dressed up, nowhere to go. (Devon = Perry metal; others = Old Glory 25's) 

I hope you enjoy the photos! Good gaming to all.

S. V. B. E.
The Fox

Edward IV Mounted and Perry Plastics

I have recently purchased some boxes of Perry Plastics from their Wars of the Roses range. Now, I admit, I have loathed my previous experiences with plastic figures. But I have come to realize that this was likely due to the fact that my original plans with all of the plastics I have previously purchased was to build an entire force with them. After modelling one unit, fatigue sets in as I become sick of dealing with fiddly-bits and wondering why on earth someone would cast a plastic miniature in 12-15 different pieces. Exasperated with the agonizingly slow progress, I give up.

This time, however, I purchased some plastic sets with a new mindset: to use them to build small groups of unique figures, for, say, things like command stands and individual characters. This approach is already paying off. It also helps that the Perry plastics are the first ones that hold sufficient detail for them to not look blobular (Wargames Factory, anyone?) to me. The Perrys have crafted plastic miniatures that look little different than metals when placed side-by-side, and that is a significant achievement.

I have put together a command stand with Edward IV a-horse. This was entirely surplus to force requirements, as I already have a command stand with Edward a-foot in my Yorkist army. The process was a great pleasure--an entirely new experience for me when dealing with plastics--and I think the results turned out well. All of the figures are built from some combination of the three Wars of the Roses sets released by Perry miniatures.

In other news on the Wars of the Roses front, my Lancastrian force has come to 'completion,' reaching the original point that I hoped to get it to when I began the WOTR project a little less than a year ago. This makes me quite happy, and, of course, there will be pictures in days to come. The collection of Wars of the Roses figures now stands at around 400 figures painted. I will continue to work on it (and still am: some levy units are on the painting desk as I write), but am glad to have reached a checkpoint, and able to tick something off of my 'Miniature to-do list.'

Si vales, bene est,
The Fox

The Yorkists Have Landed

I have completed the basing of my Yorkist forces for use with Band of Brothers (2nd) by Piquet. I thought that now they are complete I would share some photos with everyone. This army is going to continue to expand, but I now consider it 'complete enough'--that is, enough to give a good game in the battles for which I am building it. It has ten bill and bow blocks, 2 mercenary units (pikes and hand-gunners), a cavalry unit, and a set of guns (14 total units). The Lancastrians are up next, and I already have two of their units done, out of the seventeen total planned.

With that said, on with the eye candy! Be sure to click through for bigger photos. All figures are from Old Glory 25s, except for the three commanders, who are by Perry.

An overall view 

A close up on Edward IV, leading from the front. 

The cavalry!

Organ guns!

Aerial shot

I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think!

S. V. B. E.
-The Fox

WOTRs: Yorkist Commanders

Accompanying Edward (who can be seen in this previous post) in his bid to retake the throne of England were his two steadfast companions, Richard, Duke of Gloucester and William, Lord Hastings, who had both been his companions in exile. The then eighteen-year-old Gloucester's first battlefield command was on the foggy field of Barnet, where he acquitted himself rather well; he would go on to earn a reputation as a sound warrior and skilled commander. As for Hastings, the overlapping flank of the Earl of Oxford (the fog had skewed the positioning of the troops, causing the battle to be fought in a sort of pinwheel shape) made quick work of his men who fled into the town. Fortuitously, the failure of Hastings to hold his men (to his defense, in admittedly perilous circumstances), however, did not win the day for the Lancastrians, as the Earl of Oxford's men did not capitalize; they instead set about pillaging and looting. The performance of Hastings at Barnet is the suspected reason for Edward IV's decision to reverse the deployment of his battles at Tewkesbury: he preferred to have the capable Gloucester facing the more experienced Duke of Somerset. Hastings did not go unrewarded for his loyalty, of course, as he was granted the lieutenancy of Calais once Edward had retaken his throne.

Here are some pictures (bases unfinished--par for the course). The commander figures are from Perry, while the others are all Old Glory 25s.

Richard, Duke of Gloucester

William, Lord Hastings

Enjoy!

S. V. B. E.
-The Fox

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

Edward IV retinue

For the past week or so I have been at work painting my Old Glory 25's War of the Roses figures up to use with Piquet's Band of Brothers rules.  The strategy I am using to tackle the project is to paint individual nobles' retinues for the Battles of Barnet and Tewksbury (both rather small engagements, compared to others), which, once they have reached playable proportions, will be added to gradually with militia troops, mercenaries, and artillery.

I have finished Edward's retinue troops and thought I would share a few pictures.  All the figures are from Old Glory 25's (except for Edward himself, which is a Perry), and I must say, that Old Glory can be hit and miss, but the War of Roses range has impressed me so far (though some of the casts have been poor--par for the course).  It is definitely one of their better ranges from what I have seen, and they paint up easily.  They are detailed enough, but not overwrought--just my style.

On with the eye candy! (Click through for larger photos.)

The retinue assembled.

Side view with some archers.

Ol' Ned himself, taking time out from wenching to kill some Lancastrians.

I hope you enjoy!

Si Vales, bene est!

A finished ogre, a WIP, and promises, promises, promises...

I thought I would pop up a quick post with a picture of an ogre that I just finished.  It was largely painted for the hell of it, and purchased for $2 from a bargain bin at Historicon, so I thought I would have a little fun with it.  It will probably get used in the fantasy skirmishes I play with my son (I'm fiddling with adapting concepts from Hostile Realms for skirmish level games, since I can't get enough of card driven movement and adjustable die types), or may eventually wind up in a Hostile Realms army that looms somewhere on the horizon.  Without further ado:

An Ogre by Reaper (Bob Olley)

I also wanted to share a picture from the workbench of a WIP.  I am starting work on a War of the Roses Yorkist army, and though my bulk of figures from Old Glory is still on the way, I have obtained a set of Perry's exquisitely sculpted Yorkist command figures. I decided I would pass the time waiting paiting up a couple of those, though I usually like to use command stands for last, or use them as a 'treat' in between painting the rank and file.  Here is a picture of the ever-dashing, ever-heroic Edward IV Plantagenet in his storied gilt armor (be it true or no, I wanted a hero figure like Edward to stand out on the table).  It is not finished yet, I still have to do some washes and a little highlighting, but I think I will like the way he turns out, especially when grouped with a standard bearer holding his banner aloft.  More pics to come in future.

Edward IV on foot by Perry Miniatures (WIP)

In Piquet related news, the wife and I played Archon II on this Sunday last, and I hope to get a battle report of the encounter up at some point in the next week or so, if I can find the time.  Expect some pictures and a German ambush.

The Romans better watch that forest to their left...