From NoelW: Cruel and unbearable treatment - Mudry’s Mesa: (50 points)

And now, at last, as we approach Mudry’s Mesa, we’re almost at our goal. I can hear the sound of gulls and smell the acrid tang of salt – I think it’s salt – we must be bare miles from the coast and our waiting ships.

Except it’s not the sound of seagulls, it’s the pitiful cry of a poor bear, entrapped and rearing against its captors.

Around him is a jeering crowd. Some appear terrified, judging by the stains on their hose. Others have cruelly brought up a small cannon loaded with powder to outdo the poor creature’s roar and torment it even more.

The gun goes off.

The bear roars angrily. He’s not afraid. He’s just very, very annoyed with all the petty manikins around him.

With a superbearean flex of his muscles, his chain snaps, and everyone suddenly remembers previous appointments, especially us, though we’re pretty adept at all this fleeing business by now. Moreover, following the debacle with our really fit sergeant at Burch’s Bluff (though it was certainly educational to see how widely he could be distributed) I recently made the very wise decision to promote the fattest man in our party to sergeant…

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These are a couple more of pieces for my Italian Wars project, my response in admiration of Yarkshire Gamer’s excellent army last Challenge: a cannon and a bear vignette.

Apparently Renaissance Swiss took bears to battlefields, though it’s unlikely they tried to use them to fight. I think as a mascot, maybe it’s ok, though I’m not entirely sure about it. The vignette, and the other figures here – gun, crew and hornist - are by the Perry Brothers.

Scoring: 28mm: 1 cannon: 10 pts; 7 men and 1 bear: 40 pts: Total: 50 pts.

(No bonus for location, as this is my second visit here.)

A second post from Noel today and what a great set of figures. I'll forgive the dreadful puns and not deduct any points!

TamsinP