From DaveS: Forces of Florence (180 points)

After I finished my French force, I promised an early 16th Century Florence army.  I picked this simply because it had Landsknechts in it.  Then I did some reading, and it turns out that Florence of the time was a very interesting place.  As well as the home of Machiavelli, who instituted considerable military reform, it was also a place where there was much more freedom than was customary for women.  It also turns out that it has a pretty flag.

The first 2 bases that I completed were the heavy cavalry.  These are based on the Perry plastic men at arms, and have a flag that is made in the same way as the ones for the French, using layers of foil.  This time, I used a home printed decal to add the device.

Next, I painted some handgunners, who in this system are a skirmish unit.  These were made from a combination of the Warlord Landsknechts and Perry European mercenaries.

Finally in this batch, we have a unit of the citizen militia.  These were part of the reforms that Machiavelli instituted, and were made of men picked from the populace of each district, and then given harness and either halberd or boar spear.  When I first planned this unit, I expected to have to cut down pikes and attach halberd heards to them.  However, I realised that the Landsknecht Zweihander box from warlord also includes parts to make a dozen polearm armed models.  So using selected bits from that kit, the arms, and again parts from the perry kit, I managed to make the unit without too much cutting and gluing.

 This gives me 10 cavalry and 16 infantry, all in 28mm.  This equals 180 points.

Coming up next, I will hopefully finish this army over the next week or so.  There are also a few bits for 15mm chain of command US that I need to finish.  Because I like to ruminate on my projects before starting them, I am also planning an English Civil War royalist army, which I will hopefully get done in this challenge as well.

A simple and effective colour scheme! I'm impressed at how quickly you pivot from project to project.

Barks