From LeeH - Wrap Up Post: The Battle of Bosworth Project

As always it has been an honor and a privilege to participate in the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge. It's a credit to everyone involved that it always seems so effortlessly and flawlessly executed. I have been busy painting almost exclusively for my Wars of the Roses/Bosworth project and although there is still work to be done, I have got a large chunk of it completed. It didn't help that a recent trip to Bosworth itself resulted in several more units being added to my initial order of battle. The wrap-up picture shows all the units that I got painted, with blank bases for those units still yet to be done. 

So I have 38 bases yet to be completed, which will keep me busy for a couple of months...especially now the gentle but relentless peer pressure of the Challenge is over! I can't complain, I have managed to hit my points target by a comfortable margin and turned out 123 bases of figures, so I'm well on my way to completing this project. Here's a closer look at the two armies as they stand at the end of the Challenge. 

The partially completed Yorkist army of Richard III

The completed Lancastrian army of Henry Tudor...
...with the Stanley's lagging behind. 

My revised and updated OOB with the unpainted units in yellow.

A Trio of Earls - Henry Tudor, Jasper Tudor, and
Sir John de Vere, Earl of Oxford

Poynings, Guildford, Talbot & Savage

Medieval Town using 2mm buildings

Henry Tudor's army...the French had yet to be completed

Norfolk, Howard, Talbot, and de la Zouch plus 
artillery & skirmishers

The French and Scottish contingent of Henry's army
under the command of de Chande

I even had time to take a weekend out from painting to 
visit the Battlefield of Bosworth in person. 

Henry Tudor and his mounted household

Richard  III and his Knights

I just wanted to end by congratulating everyone that has taken part in this year's Challenge. I have thoroughly enjoyed seeing the incredible quality of entries as they have been posted. The challenge blog has been something of a second home for me over the last 13 weeks, checking in every day to enjoy the dizzying array of incredible talent on display. Well done to everyone, and I look forward to crossing brushes with you all for Challenge XIV !!

From MattW: Directors Chair - Chevalier thunder 70 points

 Chevalier Thunder

My final entry in the studio challenge is my Snow Lords director chair entry, “Chevalier thunder”, where you will see no open helmet on the battlefield, nor wild explosions, or fire arrows. The hope of every medieval fans prayers answered, just knights riding down peasant levy and archers…. These chaps will join my French army for my Mad War - Breton war of independence army. Miniatures are from the Perry plastic WOTR range, based for Impetus. 

Perry Miniatures WOTR knights

28mm x 5 mounted @10 points = 50 points 

Directors chair studio = 20 points 

Cheers 

MattW

____________________________

Lovely work Matt! Your work on their livery and lances is impressive. They definitely look ready to run down filthy peasants and pesky archers. They better get in their screen time before the director decides on a rewrite. Huzzah! 

- Curt

From LeeH: The French: Philibert de Chandee & Bernard Stuart (67 Points)

This isn’t the end. It may well be my last entry to the Painting Challenge, but my quest to paint both sides of the Battle of Bosworth is by no means over. Indeed, after a weekend away visiting the Battlefield (and buying more books) I have added to my OOB and I have even more to paint!! But first, this week's entry is the ‘French’ contingent in Henry's army under the command of Philibert de Chandee.

De Chandee of Brittany was in command of the French mercenaries in Richard's army and played a significant part in the battle. These were experienced soldiers, fighting in a continental style that had not yet been incorporated into the English army of Richard III. Chandee was Knighted by Henry on landing in Milford Haven. It was these experienced troops, many of whom were Pikemen, who turned the fight. In some sources the long pikes of these troops stopped Norfolks Vanguard from moving forward, enabling Oxford to outflank the king's line. Alternatively, it was the bodyguard tactics of the pikes that saved Henry from Richard's final cavalry charge. Whatever the truth, it must have been significant because de Chandee was made Earl of Bath by Henry after the Battle. I have modeled these units with Crossbowmen rather than bowmen and as such, these are skirmish units of fewer men. Chandee himself commands Foot Knights/Men at Arms and Pikemen.

Next, we have Sir Bernard Stuart. As his name suggests he was a scot and in his role as Lord of Aubingy he was an ambassador between Tudor's allies in Scotland and the French court. He commanded Scottish troops who had been based in France and in my OOB he fights in De Chandee’s Battle. He fought many more battles for the King of France and King James IV made him a member of the Order of St Michael. He died in 1508 in his homeland of Scotland, aged fifty-six.

Up to this point, I was within sight of completing both armies. However, I was very aware that the army I had for Richard was not big enough and so I would have to add some extra units to give them the numerical advantage they had over Henry. I have just had a very interesting weekend away visiting the Battlefield of Bosworth, including the excellent visitor center on Ambion Hill. 

Standing in the field where Richard III probably met his end.

St James Church, Dadlington, where many of the dead were
buried after the battle. An annual service of remembrance 
is still held here every year to offer prayers for those killed. 

I also visited the Richard III center in Leicester and between them learned a lot of new stuff and came home with an armful of new books. One of these, Nobles and Knights Profiles by Bob Pritchard has been very useful and I have already amended my OOB to beef up the Kings army. I have several more weeks of painting ahead of me, long after the Challenge has ended, but safe in the knowledge that the majority of the work has now been completed.

I have a very busy few days ahead of me and I'm not sure if I'll get anything else completed before the end of the Challenge. If I can, I will, but in case my week goes the way I fully expect it to, I just wanted to say what a blast it has been this year. As always, taking part in the Challenge is an honor and a privilege. I've been constantly amazed at the quality and productivity of my fellow challengers and your efforts have inspired and spurred me on with my own project. As always I must thank Curt, Lady Sarah, the Minions, and everyone else involved in this crazy competition for the three most exciting months of the hobby year. 

Points Estimate
Philibert de Chandee - Command Base 3x6mm Mounted = 3 Points
De Chandee - Foot Knights/MAA, Pikemen, and Crossbowmen - 64x6mm = 32 Points
Stauart - Retinue/Billmen, Pikemen & Crossbowmen - 64x6mm = 32 Ppoints
Total = 67

From TeemuL: I have said it before, but is has been a joy following this project, how you keep focus and provide small extracts of history in your posts. And visiting the actual battlefield, great! I don't know, but I might be painting some WotR minis next year, and if I do, it is almost because of your posts! :) But let's see how the butterfly inside me flies...

From MattW: medieval bits! (49 points)

 Medieval bits 

First up a few buildings from Tabletop World plastic 28mm range to add to my medieval building collection. 

I spackle finish (pre mixed plaster) the gaps between the collombage. I mask the collombage (paint on mask all) then add the plaster, let set a little, go back and then dapple with a tooth brush to give it texture and to hide the tabs that they come with. I then undercoat and paint with artist acrylics , then add washes etc. I have also done some interior work as I can then use them for skirmish gaming. When I complete my castle build later this year they will be put on village bases that slot onto the castle board for instant city scape. 

Farm manor and outbuildings 

Terrain x 3 pieces  14 points 

Main building 4 inches x 4 x 5.5 inches

Stable 3 x 4 x 4 

Outbuilding 3 x 4 x 4 

Then a siege engine, a mix of foundry and mirliton miniatures (foundry crew). This has been sitting around since my last medieval entry as I wanted to add a counterweight for the stone and have my crew reloading it or pulling it as the lever is not really correct to my engineering mind, I eventually just gave up and made the counterweight and added cordage. 

28mm Siege artillery and and two crew 20 points

Finally a mounted and dismounted personality, closer to renaissance than medieval really from the Perry WOTR range.

28mm mounted and dismounted miniatures 15 points

Cheers

Matt

Nice work for your second post of the day, Matt.

I hate to be the bearer of bad tidings, but your points claims are off somewhat. The buildings come out as 150 cubic inches, which is 0.7 terrain cubes, so 14 points. And the siege engine is a crew served weapon, so that's 10 points rather than 15.

Tamsin

From LeeH - Lord Greystoke and Lord Scrope (48 Points)

This week I have two more Yorkists for Bosworth. Sir Ralph Greystoke and Sir John Scrope. Both are part of Norfolks Battle, in my OOB under the sub-command of Brackenbury whom I completed last week.

Sir Ralph de Greystoke, the 5th Lord Greystoke was born sometime before 1414, and lived well into the late seventies. He was a participant throughout the Wars of the Roses. In 1447 he sealed an indenture with Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury, and fought for the Yorkists. However, in 1459 he swore an oath of fealty to the Lancastrians at the Parliament of Devils and may have fought for the king at the Battle of Wakefield the next year, and was also on the victorious Lancastrian side at the Second Battle of St Albans in early 1461. However, he was probably absent from the Battle of Towton two months later, which led to the accession of York's eldest son King Edward IV of England. His Yorkist loyalty was transferred to Richard III and he fought at Bosworth for the King.

Sir John Scrope (Lord Scrope) of Bolton was invested as a knight before 1460 and remained a Yorkist sympathiser throughout his career. He fought for Warwick at Northampton, was injured at Towton, and also fought at Hexham. Edward IV invested him as a Kight of the Garter in 1463 and he fought in France for the crown. He fought for Richard III at Bosworth but was pardoned by Henry VII. That didn’t stop him from supporting the Yorkist pretender Lambert Simnel in 1487 when Scrope fought at the Battle of Stoke Field, the last fight of the Wars of the Roses.

I’m rapidly running out of models to paint. Indeed I placed a final top-up order with Baccus a couple of weeks ago so I can complete the last few units in my OOB. Thankfully though, I have enough figures left to complete the French contingent of Henry's army, so they should be ready for next week. Whether they end up being my final entry will entirely depend on the speed of the UK postal service!

Points Estimate

Lord Greystoke - Retinue Billmen & Archers - 48 x6mm Infantry = 24 points

Lord Scrope - Retinue Billmen & Archers - 48 x6mm Infantry = 24 points

Total 48 points

So, this Lord Greystoke was swinging between the two royal houses, rather than the trees of the jungle? That's another great pair of contingents, Lee. I'm sure if you send Pete Berry an email, he'll get that order hurried out to you so you can complete a few more contingents before the Challenge ends.

Tamsin

From LeeH - Sir Robert Brackenbury (38 Points)

Sir Robert Brackenbury of Denton was a man on the ascendant. He had grown up not far from Richard III (then the Duke of Gloucester) and had become a close associate and later, Treasurer, to the Duke before his rise to the Throne. 

Brackenbury was made a Knight of the Bath at the Coronation of Richard III and was the Constable of the Tower of London. This means he was in charge when the Princes ‘disappeared’. Richard's young Nephews - the deposed King Edward V aged 12 and his younger brother Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York, aged nine - were never seen again and it is widely held that Richard III had them killed to eliminate a possible threat to his reign. The young princes certainly would have made a good rallying point for Lancastrian opponents of Richard, so it is likely (but not entirely proven) that the King had them eliminated as a threat. If this is true, then Sir Robert Brackenbury, as Constable of the Tower, was either directly involved in their murder, or at best did nothing to prevent their deaths.

Brackenbury was recorded as also being Constable of Tunbridge Castle in 1485 and on news of Henry’s invasion, hurried to the King's side. He commanded Richard III’s Knights of the Body at Bosworth. Like the Duke of Norfolk whom I presented last week, Brackenbury was in the thick of the fighting in the Vanguard and is also recorded as having taken part in the final charge on Henry where he was killed by Sir Walter Hungerford of Farleigh, fighting beside his friend and benefactor Richard III.

Points Estimate
Brackenbury’s Command Stand - 2x6mm Mounted = 2 points
Brackenbury’s Men-at-arms, Retinue Billmen & Archers - 72 x6mm Infantry = 36 points
Total 38 points

From LeeH: Richard III, Sir Robert Percy & Viscount Lovell (35 Points)

Week nine and I have finally reached a point where I can start on King Richard III’s army for the Battle of Bosworth. Richard must have been fairly confident by the time his army met that of Henry Tudor. It was probably close to double the size of the force facing him, odds that would be increased further if the Stanleys could be brought into line. Richard was also a seasoned campaigner and no stranger to combat while Henry was untested in battle (indeed Tudor had given control of his army to the more experienced Oxford for the upcoming fight). Moreover, this was Richard's opportunity to snuff out the only serious opposition that remained to his rule, so this was a fight he was anticipating.

At a crucial moment in the battle, Richard saw that Henry and his mounted retinue were separated from the main force and were therefore vulnerable. The King led his mounted knights in a charge to exploit the moment and smashed into Henry’s group. They cut their way through the Lancastrians, almost reaching Henry, killing his Standard-bearer on the horse next to him. For a moment the future of the English crown hung in the balance. Then the Stanleys finally committed their troops to support Henry. Richard and his band were surrounded and the King was unseated from his horse. A new mount was offered to the King so he could escape, but Richard refused, allegedly swearing to fight or die as the rightful King of England. At some point, he was felled by one or more blows from a billhook and so the last Plantagenet King died and the crown passed to Henry Tudor, now Henry VII. Regardless of your stance on the legitimacy of Richard's reign, even his enemies had to acknowledge he died bravely.

I have modeled Richard on his own base of three figures, with both his Standard and the Royal Banner on display (more is more when it comes to flags!).

Then we have Sir Robert Percy of Scotton. He was killed fighting for Richard III and probably went down in those lost few fateful minutes as the momentum went out of Richard's charge and they became surrounded and bogged down. Like his father before him, he was a staunch Yorkist, and like his father, paid for this loyalty with his life.

Lastly, we have Sir Francis, Viscount Lovell of Minster. He was said to be Richard's best friend and was initially listed as killed in the bitter fighting that took place around the King in the last few moments of the battle. However, he actually survived and continued the Yorkist resistance against Henry VII. It's unclear what happened to him after the final showdown at Stoke Field in 1487 but it's hard to imagine he would have been tolerated to live (or remain at large in the country) by the new King.

Now I have the bulk of the Yorkist army under the control of Norfolk and Brackenbury ahead of me. That will probably take the rest of the Challenge so I will have to work on Northumberland's command and a few other odds and ends in weeks 14, 15 & 16 (ie, after Challenge XIII has wrapped up). Mind you, I have a few days off work penciled in, so I may get more done than I expect. Only time will tell. 

Points Estimate:

33x6mm Cavalry = 33 Points

From TeemuL: It is great to see you focus on your project and plan and stick to them! Nice start of the army and lovely amount of flags. The cavalry looks good, I wonder what you will show us next week. A couple of extra points granted for those banners.

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.