From AndrewG: Wars of the Roses town militia (100 points)

 

Work on my Northampton project continues this week with some more bowmen. Records suggest both sides at the engagement bolstered their main forces with additional call ups from various town militias, so I decided to paint one of Fauconberg’s units to represent these troops. Not much is known about the colours of the liveries worn by them (if any), but some archives indicate red liveries, thus I opted to give the unit a bit of cohesion while still trying to project that these were otherwise just everyday folks whose military kit consisted mainly of a sallet and a bow.

As usual these are all from the Perry plastics Wars of the Roses infantry box, with a few head swaps and some minor kit bashing to give the unit a bit of variety. I stuck a fancy feather helmet on one of the front rank guys so if needed he can be designated as the unit leader. The painted banner in the back rank is simply a repositioned spear arm, green stuff, and some tinfoil, again being militia I imagined them carrying simple identifiers.

And here they are with the other two units I have done so far for this challenge. Just one more to go plus a command stand and Fauconberg's battle will be complete.

For this unit of 20 bowmen we're looking at:

20x 28mm infantry = 100 points

I nice set of militia bowmen Andrew, I am sure that they will provide numbers if not quality.  I like the simple red livery that you used gives the unit coherence.  Your verdant green flocking seems suitable for a rainy summer days in Northants.  The whole deployed battle looks aces. 

From RobertT: 28mm Wars of the Roses 20 figures (104 points)

Perry plastics have a lot to answer for!  I think I had my first bash at making and painting their Wars of the Roses figures when they first came out.  Inspiration and dread combined in equal measure.  I have been gradually reducing my pile of plastic with various degrees of success.  AndrewG's Northampton Project provided the inspiration for another attempt.  I am having a go at painting the livery for the Duke of Norfolk and the Earl of Oxford.  The attempts are not shown here!  One day I will get to Andrew's level.

In the mean time here are some of their well willers / henchmen.  I live a couple of miles away from the village of Paston in Norfolk and have some individually based figures for the various fights Sir John Paston and his wife got themselves into.  His retinue of 10 figures shown with the yellow / white banner is probably the maximum he could afford.  His livery of Yellow and White is interesting as it breaks the most basic rule of heraldry that there should only be one "metal", gold / yellow or silver / white but not both.

The Duke of Norfolk wanted some of the properties that Sir John had "inherited" from Sir John Falstaff so he sent his knights to get them.  In this case I have chosen Sir Thomas Waldegrave with his red / white livery.  I have tried to give the knights brighter steel armour than the rank and file but I am not sure that my photography will pick this out.

The flags are from Freezywater 25mm scale but perfect for 28mm.

They are based on 3mm MDF from Warbases as I find that easier to pick up with 60mm frontage and 50mm deep.  The basing material is a huge bag of crushed coral I got when I was 16 (over 40 years ago now) to do some Wake Island games with my Airfix Marines vs Japanese.  This coral is stuck down with a mixture of brown paint, matt medium and water.  Matt medium works as well as PVA but doesn't shrink or warp. Then grass is stuck on.

The standard bearers are using pike arms from the Perry mercenary set and I had to trim down the pole.  I have just spotted that the spear point on Sir John Paston's flag is not straight.  I am not going to re-do it though.

I am still working on my photography and there is still too much shadow.  Hopefully next year it will be better. 

The grand idea is to be able to play with Never Mind the Billhooks or something like that.  The number of figures on a base doesn't actually matter in my mind as casualties can be counted next to the unit.

By my reckoning that is 20 blokes at 5 points each = 100 points. 

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Sylvain: You beautifully combine history and painting in your post. Your recipe for making bases will also come handy to many challengers, I'm sure. I'm going to add an extra 4 points for the flags. Génial!

From AndrewG: More Wars of the Roses Bill & Bow and Characters (125 points)

 

I'm back working on my Battle of Northampton 1460 project this week, and I wanted to start including some of the other notables that were identified as being present at that engagement. Unlike the main force commanders, for gaming purposes these characters don’t really need their own command stands per se, so I opted instead to either make some mini dioramas for them or insert them amongst the rank and file.

In the Orders of Battle presented in Mike Ingram’s book on Northampton 1460, the last name in the list of personalities fighting for the Yorkists is Sir William Chamberlain of East Harling. Born about 1410, he had served with distinction in Normandy under Richard, Duke of York, before returning to England and various offices and appointments. Ordered to raise men in Suffolk in 1460 to resist Neville’s forces, he ultimately sided with them instead. Chamberlain survived the fighting at Northampton and subsequently fought in the battles at Mortimer’s Cross and Towton as well. He died sometime shortly after, but not before he was made a Knight of the Garter for his service.

Step 1 - research. Sir William Chamberlain's personal livery is No.58

Painting liveries freehand is, frankly, a real pain in the butt. And time consuming. And if you’re not careful, you’ll make dumb mistakes like I did and spend yet more time fixing them. Still, I keep subjecting myself to the process because I believe the end result is worth it, at least until I find a better way. Thus, here is Chamberlain inserted in the ranks of a new unit of bill & bow (22 figures total). Being about 50 years old at the time of the battle and having considerable experience and reputation, I imagined him being smart enough to get in amongst the general troops to both keep their morale up as well as guide them accordingly.

I was this far along when I realized that not only had I accidentally painted some static grass into his face, I had the panels on his back the wrong way. All part of the fun.

The finished unit - worth the effort.

The battle of Northampton is also notable for a number of religious observers and influencers that showed up to stir the pot. This little diorama features a mounted Francesco Coppini, the Bishop of Turni (Turin) and Papal Legate, who played an influential role in that he sided with the Yorkists at Northampton and offered them a plenary remission of all sins, while at the same time damning the Lancastrians with the most extraordinary of ex-communications – a mass anathema (formal curse) on them all. The Yorkists did end up winning the battle...

The original concept had them just standing on a road, but I ended up going with more uneven terrain.

Smiting enemies in progress.

"No, no! That one over there!"

I built up a small hill using green stuff for the mounted rider, that way the other figure wouldn't block him visually. It worked out well.

All the bill & bow figures come from the Perry WOTR plastic and metal figure lines, while Coppini and his associate are from the Perry European Armies metal line. The Fauconberg banner is courtesy Pete’s Flags - I like his product line as he has many of the WOTR commanders' banners well designed. All the basing and materials are as per my previous posts.

I’m still working on Fauconberg’s command stand as well as some more bill & bow, but I also need to start thinking about which Lancastrian force he’ll be facing off against soon. More to come!

 

23x 28mm figures = 115pts

1x 28mm mounted figure = 10pts

I am really enjoying this Battle of Northampton project Andrew.  To my mid, having historical context is great driver.  Great work on Chamberlain, though I did get a chuckle out of the grass on his face bit.  Been there, done that!  I have those Perry Cardinals and they are great figures.  Well done sir.

From AndrewG - Wars of the Roses Artillery (50 points)

I got a bit distracted this week painting figures for other games, so my War of the Roses project took a bit of a hit. Nevertheless, I was able to put two artillery pieces together. These Culverins and crews are all metals from the Perry miniatures line. They arrived with quite a bit of flashing on them, and the elevation guides were pretty bent, so they required more cleaning up than I would have otherwise expected from Perry’s. Also, there's no clear up/down or left/right for any of the pieces so I made sure to refer to technical illustrations before cleaning and gluing - I saw a few of these miniatures online where the elevation guides were cut off and/or the barrels had been inverted.

Looking forward to firing ... if the rain would stop!

Let's hope it doesn't blow up this time...

Kept the crew liveries generic so I can use them in different forces

Crew sizes were varied to add some variety

I purposely left the mountings and barrels black, as most paintings and illustrations I could source for the period suggested they weren’t shiny gun metal (if anyone knows otherwise please let me know). I mounted them on 80x80x2mm bases and gave them the usual treatment of Vallejo muds, Noch grass, Tajima tufts, and driveway special gravel blend. Overall, I’m happy with how they turned out. Now to make about ten more…

 

Claiming the following points:

2x 28mm artillery & crews = 20 pts

6x28mm foot figures @ 5 points =30

2x28mm Weapon @10 points =20

Total = 20 50 points.

Great work on these Perry pieces Andrew.  I have these kits in my Italian Wars Army and they are very nice, but I agree that one needs to pay attention in assembly.  I really like the basing and posing of figures.  These were typically wrought iron weapons, basically made of staves and hoops like a barrel.  As far as I can tell black is the correct colour, think of an old timey fence.  You seriously undervalued yourself on the points as you get to claim the guns and the crews.  I've upped your scores accordingly.

From Andrew G: Wars of the Roses Bill & Bow with Men-at-Arms (110pts)

One of my ongoing big army projects is to build a Yorkist and Lancastrian force to fight the various battles that occurred during the Wars of the Roses. Specifically, I’ve chosen the Battle of Northampton (10 July 1460) as my focal point around which to build my first units.

Why this particular battle? A few reasons. First, I didn’t want to snow base my figures for this project and Northampton was one of the few major engagements of the period to have occurred during the summer months. Second, the battle is notable for being the first in which artillery was used in England – though typical British wet weather that day rendered much of it useless during the fighting. Third, the battle had all the good stuff representative of the period – lopsided forces and formations, bad weather, arrow storms, treachery, etc. – making it a great project for wargaming ‘what ifs?’.

I’m currently leaning towards using the Hail Caesar Wars of the Roses ruleset, so I’ve opted to multi-figure base my troops accordingly. This group represents a unit of (William Neville) Baron Fauconberg’s household with the men-at-arms upgrade. The unit includes both bill and bow, with men-at-arms occupying the billmen’s front rank. The miniatures in this unit are all Perry plastic Wars of the Roses Infantry and Men-at-Arms with a few alterations here and there just to create some variety within the ranks.

Once assembled the figures were primed black and then batch painted with various Vallejo and Army Painter colours and washes. I purposely did not paint Fauconberg’s hook symbol on these figures yet as until I have enough troops painted, I may use them to represent generic forces in other battles.

After letting them dry for a few days, I gave them two coats of matt varnish and then positioned them on their bases. I find that typically I can get six billmen comfortably on a base but only five archers, thus my 4-base units tend to consist of 22 figures vice 24. However, since what matters in Hail Caesar is frontage and not figure count, it doesn’t really matter how many figures occupy the unit’s space. Last, I keep the troop types separate for flexibility as some army lists includes units made up of just one type or the other.

I make my own bases on my FDM 3D printer – these ones are printed in olive drab PLA and measure 40x60x2mm. I find anything thicker tends to make the figures look like they’re standing on a platform and takes away from the terrain aesthetic. The base is then covered using Vallejo European Mud (26.807), a mix of Tajima tufts, and some Noch static grass. Done and ready for the table!

Claiming 22x 28mm figures = 110 points

A fine collection of WoR infantry from those excellent Perry box sets.  Love the clean liveries and your basing really works.  I might suggest To The Strongest as an alternative to HC, we've found that it gives a fun and fast game with reasonably plausible results.  I like your choice of Northampton as you battle, my dad was born in Northamptonshire.  Peter

From GavinB: A Mixed Bag of Goodies For My Final Submission of the AHPC 15... (40 Points)

 This has been a really fun 1st painting challenge for me, and Greg, you have been an excellent minion, and always have such kind, thoughtful things to say about the miniatures that I've painted, thank you. It has been a real pleasure to participate here and show fellow miniature painters my okay paint jobs! As mentioned in the title, I painted like, 4 different genres of miniatures for this post!

First we have an extra unit of perry archers to add to my Salisbury retinue, There is not a whole lot of things to say about these little fellows besides the fact that they were a blast to paint, because in my opinion painting infantry in the wars of the roses is very fun, though many would disagree.

I attempted a new method to painting faces, I'm fairly happy with it!

Next On the list we have The knight class from the board game adaptation of the videogame Dark Souls, now, there are three kinds of people, the ones who absolutely love the Dark Souls games, the ones who hate the Dark Souls games, and the people who have no idea what Dark Souls even is! I am really proud of how this knight turned out, I tried a lot of wet blending techniques going from dark up to light shades of metal on all of his armor bits!

Another Knight! I was cleaning up my hobby desk one day when I found this little metal 28mm crusader looking miniature that I had bought a while back and decided to paint him up! I did not paint him to look like one in particular, I just had some fun painting random colours on, I guess he could be a fantasy fellow for D&D or Rangers of Shadow Deep.

And lastly we have Lee from The Walking Dead All Out War Collector's Edition, and probably the best character from all of the walking dead, followed closely by Clementine of course!

And that is everything for my final submission of the year! But looking back at previous challenges It seemed like people all made a wrap-up post showing everything they painted during the challenge after It was over, but I am really not too sure how it all works, so... maybe Ill see you all again one more time before next winter! 

POINTS TOTAL:

8 28mm foot figures for 40 points!

Happy Painting!!

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Hi Gavin - glad I could minion your last entry of your first challenge. Congratulations on getting to the end - many challengers don't make it on their first try!

As a WotR aficionado myself (and there are many others here) I appreciate. One can see your love for the period in that you strung their bows - impressive!!! And yes your new face technique looks good. Amazing what a few cheek, nose and chin highlights will bring out on these lovely sculpts.

I like your other models too, and the Templar Knight looked familiar. I went back through my files and found that I painted the same one back in 2019! Your splashes of colour really bring him to life - may he fight valorously for you on the tabletop!

40points well earned and congrats again on completing your first challenge! :-)

- Paul

From GavinB: Stepping Out of the Comfort Zone of 28mm and Into 1/16th Scale (30 points)

Last week I was lucky enough to find a fair listing on eBay for one of the discontinued models from Miniart, the French Knight. Once I received the model I made a few edits to sallet with green stuff, as it was not in the style that was most common in the wars of the roses, and I was planning on painting this fellow as a retainer of Edward IV. I had never painted a model larger than 30mm so It was a real joy, I had a lot of fun focusing on all the little details and trying some new techniques. In the end I was pretty happy with how he turned out... so lets have a look!

It was a LOT easier to paint the Sun in Splendor on a 1/16th guy rather than a 28mm guy

  
Now, I do not know how many millimeters are in a 1/16th scale figure, I tried searching it up but to no avail, so to help you out in scoring this guy Greg, I have placed a 28mm Perry miniature next to our soldiers legs that way you can get an idea of how many points to award. (really sorry to add another thing to you busy list of to-do's...)

        And that wraps it up for this week, thank you so much for reading!

POINT TOTAL:

1 1/16th scale foot figure for ? points!

Happy Painting!

***

Hi Gavin - thanks for sharing this unusual project with us. I maintain that heraldry is hopelessly confusing  no matter what the size of the model is, and I have a lot of respect for those who attempt it (and understand what they are doing). I have a Hundred Years War project that is utterly frozen as I have zero idea how to approach the heraldry...

But enough about me! You clearly know what's up - right down to messing around with "green stuff" to get the right helmet. Good show!

In terms of scoring, we thankfully have some precedent here. There have been a couple of instances of 1/16 scale figures in Challenges past - they were scored at 30 points, so that's what we'll go with here!

Thanks Gavin, we look forward to what comes next! 1/6 scale perhaps? :) 

GregB

From GavinB- New WoTR Army, Disturbing T28 fellows, and The Walking Dead, Oh My! (145 points)

And I swore to myself that I would not be a wargames butterfly, and yet here we are... 

Hello everyone, sorry its been a while! For my birthday I received the Wars of the roses supplement for Hail Caesar 2nd edition and decided to start a new division. (Ill take any excuse I can get to paint more WoTR Figures) This time I choose to make Richard Neville, 5th earl of Salisbury, and I figured I'd try a new basing system too, because I'm not very pleased with the way I did them in the previous division 

Anyway I made two test bases of troops, one of bill and the other of bow, and I was pretty happy with the results. When I start a new project I always get exited about making the command base, So as soon I finished the test figures, I pulled some Green Stuff, multiple boxes of perry plastics, and a 100mm base and got to building. At first I planned on using the metal Perry miniature of the earl of Salisbury on foot, but it just didn't feel right, I wanted him on a horse, so I built a new Salisbury from the mounted men at arms set and sculpted a bevor onto his face that way it resembled the metal foot version of him. After the other fellows were built I smashed some  modeling compound onto the base making it appear as if he and his his men were charging down onto a road. And In the end I was very pleased with how it came out!

17 x 28mm foot figures (Including both the unit bases and command base) for 85 points

2 mounted figures for 20 points

Totaling 105 points

This man at arms really adds some personality to the base!

I bit of string always make archers look a lot better!

And The Command Base:

CHARGE!!!

A close up of Richard

My attempt at hand painting a flag...

Turnip28... On my last post I had made a unit of Fodder for the Parsnip Pustules 91st. Well now its time to give those guys a toady to command them and who better to lead the Fodder into battle than  Peeves! (Or "Little P" as his men call him) But with Peeves's little stubby legs he cannot maneuver about the battlefield quickly to keep up with his men, and with the size he is, he would end up getting lost under the legs of the soldiers and no one would be able to hear his commands. So this is when his handy "assistant" Jim comes in, Peeves rides on Jim's shoulders which kills two birds with one stone, now he sits up above everyone else and Jim's lanky legs let him travel with speed that Peeves alone could never accomplish.

Peeves was built entirely out of green stuff (aside from his hands and pan on his belt) and Jim was just a zombie miniature that I had kicking about with a basinet plate glued onto his face and I did some repositioning of his back and arms. I'm not really sure how much points these two are worth because Peeves is kind of small so I will just not score him and say:

1 28mm figure for 5 points

Oh Jim How did you get yourself tangled up in that barbed wire 

I have one last quick T28 figure and then it will be onto the walking dead. In turnip 28 a lot of people represent battered units with teeth tokens which I will probably switch back to, but I just wanted to try something different so I made a poor guy bleeding out in the mud to represent the battered units. I used a lot of greenstuff to change the position he was in and to make that classic T28 style helmet. Then I caked on a lot of mud and blood!

1 x 28mm Foot figure for 5 points

Ouch!!

Does someone need a hand?

Okay sorry about how long this is, but we are at the final section don't you worry! The Walking Dead All Out War! and this weekend I really got the itching to paint up these wonderful miniatures. So I primed a batch of walkers and Clementine, who is obviously one of the best characters in the walking dead, along side Lee Everett. To your relief there is not a whole lot to say about this bunch so...

5 x 28mm Foot figures for 25 points!

I do not want to be that deer !

And Clementine:

Thanks for reading my post, sorry it was a long winded one, I know that you have a lot better things to do than listen to a strange person talk about what he's been painting. And I also apologize for the lighting inconsistencies, I got a special lighting box for taking pictures and I am still figuring it out.

POINT TOTALS:

24 28mm figures for 120 points

2 Mounted figures for 20 points

The total points of all of the miniatures is 140 (If my math is right!)

Happy Painting!

Gavin

***

Well done Gavin! As you indicate in your headline, this is quite the assortment of painting to take in - and it is all of very high quality. I am always tickled to see some Turnip28 stuff - and "Peeves" looks like he will fit right in with his lot. And we all enjoy seeing more Zombie, and Zombie-adjacent content. 

But I truly tip my hat to your WOTR stuff. I am totally captured by the idea of that period, but the banners/livery is so intimidating to me that I chicken out every time before I try it, and I have a lot of respect for those willing to tackle it. You have done fine work on the fellow who was "the Kingmaker" - at least, I think he was? Anyway, it looks tremendous. I am tossing in a few bonus points for the hand-painted flag - bravo, and thanks for sharing all of these photos and the thoughts which accompany them!

GregB