From SidneyR: Don Fernando de Torrescusa, Marques de Girona (49 Points)

I hope you’ve all had a great Christmas, and are enjoying the holidays. I certainly have, although it’s been pretty frantic with visits to relatives, visits from relatives, a late near-Christmas Eve finish to work, spending time with the family… and so on. All events which seem to be planned precisely to prevent any time at all sitting at the painting table! That being said, I didn’t have great ambitions for the Christmas holidays - I’ve been there so many times before - great, elaborate plans and then achieving very little!! So this year, I thought for the Christmas holidays I’d just attempt to make a start, and a small start at that, on my Challenge contribution.

Let me explain a little about the figures below:

In the Autumn of 1688, the Lords of the Free City of Laarden, positioned between Brugge and Antwerpen on the Flemish coast, sent an emissary to the Spanish Court at El Escorial, just outside Madrid. The small party of Laarden plenipotentiaries, drawn from the five great noble houses of Laarden, had been given the task of seeking military support and financial assistance for their city’s expected involvement in a new conflict which almost everyone in the Spanish Netherlands was anticipating would start with the commencement of the 1689 campaigning season. While the Laarden plenipotentiaries were proud of their city’s independence in the turmoils of the frequent wars in the region between France, Spain and The Dutch Republic, they were pragmatic enough to realise that an alliance with the Spain was likely to be critical in securing their city’s survival in any future conflict.

Ever magnanimous, and sensing an opportunity to forge a profitable alliance with an important Flemish city, Count Oropesa, one of the leading advisors to the sickly King Carlos II recommended the immediate despatch of a Spanish military envoy to Laarden. 

Don Fernando de Torrescusa, Marquess de Girona, a veteran of numerous battles against the French, was selected for the mission. Don Fernando, although elderly and recently retired to his Castilian estates, was considered by his beloved Tercios as being a “soldier’s soldier”, as well as being a skilled diplomat. He was therefore a promising choice to negotiate the recruitment of a force of Spanish and Hapsberg allies to complement Laarden’s own militia and other Flemish and Walloon regiments gathering at the city itself during the winter months.

For our purposes, Don Fernando’s greatest legacy is perhaps his journal, which appears to have been written by him between December 1688 and March 1689. Commencing with details of his journey from the heart of the Empire to Laarden, his journal goes on to describe his experiences in Laarden in recruiting troops, skirmishing with outlying French patrols and preparing the Laarden forces in winter quarters for the campaigning season of 1689.

Extracts from Don Fernando’s journal will be irregularly appearing on the Roundwood’s World blog in the next couple of months. But for now, here is Don Fernando, cantering over the Flemish dunes with a small detachment of supporters drawn (perhaps) from one or more of the Flemish or Spanish regiments slowly assembling in Laarden. More optimistically, those with good eyesight can see the commencement (in 2mm) of Don Fernando’s forces, comprising a regiment of caracoling Spanish Horse, a battery of bronze barrelled Spanish artillery, two detachments of trayne guards and a 2mm version of Don Fernando himself and his personal baggage landing on a snow-bound Flemish coastline. 

The 2mm figures are from Irregular Miniatures. The large scale version of Don Fernando and his compatriots are Dixon Miniatures and Wargames Foundry (with a fair bit of conversion), with the reluctant baggage pony being from Midian Miniatures.

(45 points - depending on the 2mm scoring!)

I was wondering if we would see more from your wonderful Free City of Laarden project this Challenge and I'm happy to say that's the case. I just never get tired of looking at your work Sidney and this post is no exception.

The 28mm miniatures are wonderfully painted and as always tell an interesting tale both in terms of the backstory and the palette used. What I really like is the 2mm stands though. So much detail at such a small scale! I'm seriously tempted to try this period at this scale and it's you and Curt who are the chief reasons for that being the case.

By my reckoning that's 49 points to kick off your Challenge. More Laarden please!

Cheers,Millsy