Wednesday 2 March 2016

From JohnSe: Fireforge Medieval Mounted Knights (72 points)



When I started the Analogue Painting Challenge, I had written off some Fireforge Mounted knights stashed towards the bottom of my lead pile. I vacillated on which heraldry to use and was intimidated by trying to hand paint teeny tiny crosses and birds in 28mm. I figured they'd be too tough to deal with during the speed painting of the competition. After painting up my medieval foot though, I was hooked. I took the "challenge" portion of the painting contest to heart and decided to tackle some medieval knights.

When looking for a period to run Lion Rampant I settled on the reign of Edward I. He was mixed up in internal strife with the 2nd Baron's War, a brief stint on crusade and clashes in Wales and Scotland, providing lots of variety from which to pull scenarios. I collected heraldry from knights in his service, cross referenced them against the number of conflicts they engaged in and picked half a dozen knights and earls who appeared in multiple battles so I could paint a figure once and use it in scenarios throughout the later half of the 13th century.

Then I realized nobody I play against will care, so just got started on painting and didn't sweat the details. So here are my guys!

Antony Bek, Bishop of Durham


First up is Antony Bek, the Bishop of Durham. I know it's pretty common among medieval fantasy games (hence the bludgeoning weapon I gave Tony), but I'm fascinated by the idea of a holy man going to war. Antony served Edward on crusade and in his Scottish wars. I gave Antony an attendant with simple cross heraldry (painting that curley cross with ermine pattern was enough the one time).

Thomas de Berkely and his son Maurice


Next up is Thomas de Berkeley, a grizzled veteran of numerous battles. He fought at Evesham, Falkirk, the siege of Caerlaverock, and Bannockburn. His son Maurice (indicated with the extra blue label on his shield) also served in the Scottish wars, and later served Edward II. Those teeny tiny crosses? Such a pain.

Robert de Neville and retainer


Finally it's Robert de Neville and a member of his retinue. Robert de Neville was involved in the 2nd Baron's War and also has a really simple heraldic device. I love you Robert de Neville.



Six mounted knights completed. Painting (and repainting) the heraldry took longer than expected, but I'm happy with how they turned out and I'm looking forward to finishing up the next six mounted figures from the boxed set. I'm still getting my bearing with the period, so if you have any tips or info to help correct any mistakes (either painting or history) I'd be happy for the advice!

A lovely job on these John, I can hear the thunder of hooves. Good to hear you challenged yourself too - and you got a grand result - i have topped you up with extra minion bonus points for the hard work , and the overall effects. That takes you nicely over your challenge target of 400 - with time left for "more please"...


21 comments:

  1. Lovely knights John. Excellent work on the heraldry :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great work on that heraldry and excellent research skills!

    ReplyDelete
  3. These are wonderfully done - I really like the Fireforge stuff

    ReplyDelete
  4. These are really great, fantastically dynamic and you nailed the heraldry

    ReplyDelete
  5. So good to see the Church taking a stand on the issue of Scottish independence...
    ; )
    Clearly, bishops were made of sterner stuff back in those days - lovely work, I might have to grab myself a set of these Fireforge knights!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Totally excellent! I do like Lion Rampant so very much and these will make a good unit!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I haven't played Lion Rampant its brother Dragon Rampant is an excellent game. These guys look great. The hourse with the covering, was that something you moudled or somethging that came with the set? There wasn't anything like that in the Mounted Sargents box.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the compliments Adam! The Fireforge Templar and Teutonic knight sets each come with 12 horses, six covered, six uncovered.

      Delete
  8. Beautiful, great colors and heraldy job!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Excellent work. Heavy cavalry is always the best, and that heraldry is wonderful. Well done.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I like these knights, and well done with the livery!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Pretty good eye-candy, they will surely stand out on any tabletop.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Nice batch of knights! The heraldry came out very well on them too!

    ReplyDelete
  13. It's good seeing the good Bishop out in the fresh air and being entertained. The altar-boys will be safe for at least a few weeks. ;)

    Excellent figures John! The extra time you spent on the heraldry really paid off (and I too appreciate the fellows who had simple designs).

    ReplyDelete
  14. Awesome! All that pain on the heraldry was worth it in my opinion. Excellent result and I agree about skipping the detail a little. Great to see the challenge made you push yourself. It has a tendency to do that sometimes. Cheers mate.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Beautiful work! Makes me want to grab a box of these.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Very striking paint-jobs on these characterful models.

    ReplyDelete
  17. That red-white paint sheme is just fab!

    ReplyDelete