From LeeH: Another Stanley, Sir Peter Leigh and Sir George Holford (75 Points)

These are the last three nobles and their retinues for my Lancastrian/Tudor army for Bosworth. The only extras are a few French and Scottish units that may have taken part but for which I am still hunting down details (and flags!). I’ll leave those till the end of the project…which is considerably closer than it was a few weeks ago.

Sir Humphrey Stanley of Pipe was the 2nd son of Sir John Stanley. He was an indentured retainer of William Lord Hastings by 1974 and the Duke of Buckingham in 1483. He was for a time Sheriff of Staffordshire and after fighting for Henry at Bosworth was Knighted.

Sir Peter Legh of Lyme and Haydock was the eldest grandson of Sir Peter Legh of Bradley and keeper of Rhudlan Castle. The younger Legh was knighted by Edward IV and made a knight banneret by the Duke of Gloucester in the Scottish campaign of 1482. Despite this apparent close connection to Richard III, he fought for Lord Stanley at Bosworth.

Sir Gorge Holford of Holford was knighted in 1482 by Thomas, Lord Stanly, and fought for the Stanleys at Bosworth. His banner was a Sable Greyhound on an Argent (white) background. I couldn’t find a suitable flag so I made this myself from the description of his Arms.

The Array was the peasant levy raised in a time of war and would have been a lot more varied in quality and equipment than retinue troops. Different rules seem to treat them in different ways (and call them different things!) but for my army, I will be referring to them as Array and they represent the lowest grade of infantry on the table. Many of these men would have been peasant farmers and therefore unarmoured, except maybe for a quilted jacket, a helmet, and any armor their parents and grandparents may have handed down. They would have wielded a variety of weapons, mostly farm implements such as billhooks fitted with longer shafts to give them better reach in combat. For most poor rural folk the dynastic civil wars of the 15th century (that became known as the Wars of the Roses) would have had relatively little impact on their day-to-day lives unless, of course, they found themselves recruited into an Array.

Before I work out my points estimate for these I thought I would show a picture of the ‘completed’ Lancastrian Army for Bosworth. There are still a few French and Scottish nobles to represent but I’m going to come back to these later when I have more information on them. So what you see in the picture below are the mounted Knights of Henrt and Jasper Tudor and the main body of troops under the command of the Erl of Oxford. Behind these are the two independent commands of Thomas Stanley and William Stanley.

I'm roughly at the mid-point for this project so next week I begin work on the Yorkist army of Richard III. More Billmen, more Archers, and lots more flags!

Points Estimate:

Sir Humprey Stanley - 24 Retinue Bllmen and 24 Archers - 48x6mm Foot = 24 Points

Sir Peter Leigh - 24 Array/Bllmen and 24 Archers - 48x6mm Foot = 24 Points

Sir George Holford - 24 Array/Bllmen and 24 Archers - 48x6mm Foot = 24 Points

Total = 72 Points

From TeemuL: The army looks great on a table, it must have been a great feeling to see it as a whole group! I'll give you a few extra points for the flags. You are on a good pace with this project and your Challenge target, there is more than half still to go. Let's see how far you get.

LeeH: WotR - Richmond, Pembroke & Oxford [77 points]

This week I have a trio of rebel Earls and their accompanying troops for my Lancastrian army at Bosworth. 

First and foremost, we have Henry Tudor, The Earl of Richmond. Henry had been exiled to France for several years, but now, with the support of the French King, he was making his play for the crown. This was a risky move that would likely see him either crowned King or dead (one way or another). Richard has been modeled with a slightly larger command stand of three mounted figures and bears Henry’s Standard in green and white with a prominent red dragon. He is supported on the battlefield by a company of Mounted Household Knights. This company carries his banner as Earl of Richmond which is also mirrored on the caparison (the cloth covering) on Henry’s mount. 

Next, we have Henry’s Uncle, Jasper Tudor, at one time the Earl of Pembroke. He continued to use this title in exile until it was restored to him by his Nephew Henry upon his ascension to the throne. He is represented here as part of another company of Mounted Household Knights. The banner I have used is very similar to that of the Earl of Richmond.

Finally, I have Sir John de Vere, the Earl of Oxford. He commanded the main portion of the Army and the inexperienced Henry was wise enough to leave command in the hands of the much more experienced soldier. Oxford, as a Battle Commander, has a command base that is slightly smaller than Henry’s. He is accompanied by a company of Foot Household/Men-at-arms, a Company of Retinue/Billmen, and a Company of Archers. 

As before I have made all the standards and banners myself using artwork scanned from various sources, mostly the excellent Heraldic Banners guides by the Lance and Longbow Society. I hadn’t quite anticipated how much extra work is required to make flags this small. Painting the white edges and ensuring they are varnished properly before adding to the bases seems to be taking ages, but hopefully, I’ll be able to pick up the pace a little with practice. Despite the extra work I’m more convinced than ever that its worth it for the final touch on a base of figures. 

Next on my desk will be more contingents from Oxford’s command which I want to complete before moving on to the Stanley’s and their armies. Having completed the first few companies I am more convinced than ever that I’m not going to complete the whole project by Challenge end. Thus far, the painting portion of making these bases is only half the job, in terms of time commitment. I don’t want to skimp on this element and I would rather take my time and do the best job I can on these than rush just to get stuff completed. I still estimate that I will have about two-thirds or more of the project completed by the end of the challenge and hopefully the momentum I have built up by that stage will see the project ‘completed’ by summer... I hope! Otherwise, this may have to be a double-challenge project!! 

(72x6mm Foot plus 35x6mm Cavalry - Total 61 Points)

___________________________

Lovely! Another WotR post today - I truly feel spoiled!

Really wonderful work here, Lee. Again, I love all the care and attention you've put into each one of these units. From the banners and the livery, it all looks quite magnificent, and very much worth the extra effort you've been putting in. I look forward to seeing the rest of Oxford's command coming up!

- Curt

PS: Your point estimate was a smidge off, but, to your favour, the Spreadsheet of Doom caught it. Also, I've added a few more for your work on the banners. :)

From Paul O'G: War of the Roses Lancastrian force (265 points)

The start of a new but long awaited project: War of the Roses. Stage 1 is a Lancastrian force to oppose Alan's lovely Yorkists that he painted a few years ago.  Ironic that I should be doing Lancastrians though, as I served aboard the Destroyer HMS York for more than a year... Anyway, this initial burst of 48 figures includes Foot Knights, Billmen and Retinue Archers for Lion Rampant. In the wings are lots more of the same plus Mounted Knights, Prickers and artillery, as well as European mercenary Pike, crossbows and hand gunners.

I was experimenting with the Scale 75 metallics for the armour - very nice products, and I'm really happy how they have come out and contrast with the snow. This is also my first real foray into snow basing so that they match Alan's army; going for a patchy, early winter look. They came out a bit heavier than expected but I'm happy with them overall.

Foot Knights advance under a Percy House Banner

Well armoured Retinue Billmen move into the attack

Fun fact: Snow basing really soaks up any rum and coke that you might inadvertently spill over your entire army. REALLY well like a sponge. Like, scrape it all off and start again the night before your submission is due. Still, the models now have a nice smell and a fellow Challenger (who dwells in very close proximity) observed "You're really putting something of yourself into this project". I figure the spirits will keep the lads warm in the snow...

Unarmoured Billmen, led by a Man at Arms

Alan has convinced me with his zealous promotion of the 3-2-1 basing schema for the foot troops, but I kept the archers in more refined lines on rectangle bases. I think it shows a more formed and static line up, while the foot sloggers are a bit more ragged in the advance.

Stout Englishmen and their yew bows ready to deliver an arrow storm

Quadrant wise, I am chalking these stout fellows to the Plant of Vogsphere - the egotistical twists and treacheries of the War of the Roses while the nation suffered can only be described as a Black Comedy (as can this justification effort). 

That's 48 figs and a planet bonus for 260 points - as much of a bomb as I'll ever drop! And the two banners are hand painted of course.

From Millsy:

You say "ironic" that you're doing Lancastrians, I say "right minded" or "well adjusted". Despite your latent Yorkist sympathies these are bloody awesome Paul and have put me in mind I really need to dive in here (again) at some point too.

The palette you've chosen goes really well with the winter basing (or is that just me loving the fact you're also painting red and black?). Top work on the banners too mate, kudos for turning your hand to them when it is so easy to pick up paper ones now.

260 points is a decent bomb by anyone's standards and there's an extra 5 for the banners. Cracking work all round!

PS. We won't mention you can't hold your grog despite the burning irony of a navy man who has issues with rum...

Cheers,
Millsy