Valois Soldiery 1513

 

The stars of today’s post are the French Artillery. Back then it enjoyed a fierce reputation. The guns and crews you see above are from Minifigs. Note the fine Master Gunner.  Big bases as you see. Something I learned from Barry Hilton. Guns take up a lot of space.

I’m pleased to tell you I bought them at an impressive discount. Basically I paid the retail price for one for all three. 

Should you be in the market for Valois artillery Khurasan also have a lovely set.

The French liked crossbows. Above are some Gascons. Fast moving skirmishers. Well motivated too. Note the Fortuna flag. Fortuna was something all soldiers understood. Figures from QRF, Donnington New Era and Khurasan.

One of the Commanders next. Berault (Bernard) Stuart. A Franco-Scots nobleman. Note his buckle impressa on the surcoat. His banner is carried by a pal. David at Not by Appointment kindly made it for me. Normally Commanders get a single figure base, not this time. Such fellows seldom rode alone in 1513.

Alas this small scale does not do it full justice. The last figure on the base carries a St. Dennis flag. A free one from Lancashire Games.

Some Franc Archers next. Tax exempt boys. There’s motivation for you. The Franc Archers tended to be effective soldiers. Above a strong unit with above average missilery capability. Massed crossbows worked with the front rank firing and the rear loading. This must have been just the ticket because a similar system was advocated for post pike musketry. The flags indicate the unit was raised in Brittany.

 

You have seen these close combat Franc Archers before. This time they are joined by their crossbow armed comrades. De Crequy raised this unit hence the profusion of yellow and red. I have a halberd, and variants, armed Franc Archer unit to do. 

Speaking of things concussive and slicing. Here are some Swiss Halberdiers.

Mainly Minifigs with a couple of Alternative Armies and some Roundway.  Roundway was a real loss.

 

I intend having 3 units of Archer Cavalry. This is the last one, a work in progress. Another 4 figures and it is done. The Bretons again below. The light was tricky this morning. Hopefully the photo's still work for you.

There is much more to do on this one. I estimate I’m two thirds in. The English are getting some Burgundian Gendarmes. They hired them in being short of quality noble heavy cavalry themselves. No shortage of nobles, not enough really big horses apparently. One unit only but they should look nice. I bought some Pete's Flags for them.

I have now commenced work on the French Gendarmes. Demanding stuff.

The Triple Alliance-The Great Paraguayan War

 

I am waiting for the old FK Paraguayans from the Little Corporal webstore. Time to crack on with the opposing Triple Alliance. I aim for a Brigade for each of the Allies. 

This is possible because, unlike the Paraguayans, the Argentines, Brazilians  and Uruguayans are all easily substituted. More or less anyhow. Broadly ACW troops will do the trick.

Easy enough you might think. It isn't, whatever I used had to size match the anticipated QRF Paraguayans. Luckily I was able to buy 7 Battalions worth of second hand unpainted QRF ACW. A load of spares too. More Brazilians below waiting for their flag.

Also, Warrior Miniatures has re entered the lists and I have ordered  3 Battalions worth and some artillery from them. There's a bit of a wait for them due to lots of orders arriving at once.

My final purchase was from Lancashire Games ACW from their Archive. These are very pleasing and we see them on this page.

A Uruguayan Battalion above and top from Lancashire.

Brazilian Cacadores or, if you like, National Volunteers. QRF ACW to a man save the two Peter Pig "shot" fellows.

Brazilian Line Cavalry from Lancashire Games.

The Zuavos da Bahia here.  The Zuavos were Free Men of Colour making a point of doing military service. 

That's a version with precedents. Including in the American Confederacy where Free Men of Colour offered to raise a battalion. It was declined for ideological reasons. The Confederates felt it would undermine the Slave System. The Brazilians had no such reservations. Former slaves filled the ranks. 

Oft in past times slaves have been freed to join the Army. To face the fighting by owners who needed to provide a substitute. That has precedents too. I'm not sure which version best fits the Zuavos.

I have seen illustrations of the Zuavos with light blue cuffs bordered yellow, green cuffs ditto, and only the yellow border. I went with green. The Brazilians liked green, they still do. Sad to say the Zuavos da Bahia only comprised one battalion nor did the formation last long. Lancashire Games supplied the figures.

Brazilian infantry Battalions might be majority Black. The cavalry and artillery were almost always White. I will try and reflect this with my Brazilians. 

As you see I have avoided the obvious Brazilian joke beloved of Gamers. I nearly succumbed but held out. Another close shave. 

Today's final offering. These may actually be Paraguayans in full uniform. I simply don't know. They look sort of right.

There we go. A second departure from this year's script. That will teach me. These days I rarely read novels. There are 3 dealing with the Great Paraguayan War. I might try one.

Little Corporal have made the FK Great Paraguayan War figures available along with the Maximillian Range. I'm delighted of course. A hefty (triple figures) order has been placed. We will have a look at what I get in due course.

France 1513

 

Today is is very much a bits and pieces post. Roughly around  Henry Tudor's 1513 Campaign in France. We can see how various manufacturers figures fit together. Pretty well so far. 

Most of what you see I have had for years. Although, happily, some Minifigs bargains recently came my way. Including artillery. You may recall Minifigs house style was to imbue added character into command and artillery sets.

Above we have Landsknect from QRF and Alternative Armies. The latter provided the Crossbow men. Not a bad match at all. I'm wondering about asking AA to produce some French soldiers based on Stuart Mulligan's Army Royal work. Sometimes that works.

Minifigs next in the form of Archer Cavalry. Equipped with crossbows this time.

Stradiots from Minifigs above and QRF below giving me 12 in all. 

They fit with each other and can provide 2 units of 6 cavalry using Lion Rampant. Three figure variants thanks to mix and match.  

The Earl of Suffolk, or Sussex? From Essex. You know what I mean. That is one of Pete's Flags. Note the big lad's plumes in Tudor colours. It paid to play safe.

Much more to come on this one for both English and French.

EFM Border Reivers -A Review

 

As part of my Flodden Project I ordered some packs of 15mm figures from East Front Miniatures. The service was excellent and the figures arrived within days including a 10% Discount offer on a future purchase. EFM also gave me a free mounted Long Bow man figure.

In terms of size these figures sit easily with QRF, Minifigs Essex. They are mounted on ponies as they should be. I count 4 pony variants. Not bad at all.

I present all of them to you painted. You can see them unpainted at EFM.

LS24- Scottish Swordsmen, 8 figures with two variants. Two interesting figures. Both might do service with Cortez or such like. Paint the fellow with targe as having bare legs and he could join a Highland clan array. Consider his Trunk Hose as Cannions. As Borderers they are perfect. 

There is also an English Swordsmen pack of two different figures. Both packs could supply English Targeteers for the Nine Years War in Ireland. Obviously they can be used as dismounted borderers.

LS35- Lancers in Bonnets, 4 figures. 2 Lancers with separate arm that can be glued lance up, lance charged. This is rather good. For Borderers pistoling see the blue cloak figure below. Two horse poses for all 4.

LS33 -The Heidman and the lads, 4 one piece casting figures of The Heidman, a Lancer, a mounted Archer (not shown) bow in quiver and a Borderer firing a pistol or Dag as they used to say.  The Heidman is the star of the show for me. 

Also, the pistoleer, he is wearing an Irish style Brat cloak. Interesting and not an unlikely detail. It is not often recalled that Borderers served on the Irish side in the Nine Years War.

LS31- A pack of 8 hounds and two handlers. Very nice and intended for a Hot Trod on the trail of miscreants. You get 4 big dogs and 4 smaller ones. The big dogs are Bloodhounds the smaller ones Beagles. Useful, the big ones,  as Spanish war dogs in Mexico or Peru.

EFM also offer a pack of English Crossbowmen and ditto Scots. These are going to serve with my Colonial Spanish. They are appropriately equipped and half of them are a perfect size fit with my Khurasan Colonial Spanish and with Grumpy Portuguese. The other half won't being stockier. All of them are good for Border Gaming.

There is also a pack of 8 Civilians, 2 children, 2 women, 4 men all in Tudor clothes. Handy for scenarios.

To recap these figures would work in other conflicts. As themselves in the Tudor  Wars. As colonial Spanish or Portuguese. Not the mounted archer figures of course but the others are quite serviceable.

If you fancy reiving and feuding along the Anglo-Scots Border in 15mm look no further.

Maximillian once more

 

Above the 2nd Infantry Battalion of Imperial Mexico. Not a uniform easily missed.

Two Republican regular battalions. Maybe the 3rd and 4th Regiments but I wouldn't swear to it.

My 2nd and 3rd Battalions of the French Foreign Legion. 

I have seen illustrations of these with white, red(line infantry) or pale blue trousers. 

I chose to go with pale blue (chasseur colour) for one. I suspect in actuality all of those colours were worn.

I'm not really sure who these fellows are supposed to be. Dismounted cavalry for sure. They all carry a picket pin for their horses. I have painted them as Rurales which they may indeed be. They are Minifigs. Luckily I have saddled standing horses to go with them.

I think there will be one more Maximilian post in this phase. Then I will have to wait for Little Corporal to fully list the range.

1513 Valois French

 

Humans repeat behaviour. Consequently it comes as no surprise to find I have two French Renaissance Armies. One is in “heroic” 15mm scale. It has Venexia and Blue Moon figures. It is intended for the Great Italian Wars. Shortly I will turn my attention to it, for Gonzalo!

The other French array is older and smaller. Here we find Minifigs, Essex and QRF. Mostly anyhow. That one is today’s subject. It is intended for 1513'ish, to fight the English. The latter in the form of an augmented version of my English Flodden army. What fun awaits. 

By the way, I took out Ian Heath's Foundry Book on the period. He notes that for pikemen the English relied on Landsknecht pike. Colourful. I have painted a small unit of English arquebusiers too. Mostly they hired in firearms, Spanish and Italians featured.

Back to France. Let’s have a look at what we have.

Stradiots from QRF. Betimes the English hired these fellows too. Stradiots had fought the Turks. Not a drink of water. Maybe they had the edge on the Border Horse? Or, perhaps it was just to deny them to the French? Stradiots were handy with the mace. They liked to stun.

 

Archer Cavalry from Minifigs led by a Gladiator standard bearer. The latter has had his hand successfully drilled. I’m not getting better at drilling. It’s just he has a massive hand that would be hard to snap. He is on an Essex horse. Pleasing enough, I think. The flag is one of the free ones from Lancashire Games.

Archer Cavalry sans bow. That happened. Archer sometimes just meant a soldier. These are from Donnington. 

QRF Landsknechts. These will do for either English or French Armies. 

I need to paint another 4 pike men for this unit. Nice little figures.

QRF Swiss, because I have them. Right period, wrong theatre.

I wanted some Franc Archers pike units. The Franc Archers ratio was usually one third pike, two thirds crossbows. Unlike the Gascons these crossbow men seem to have formed up. I need a couple of units like that.

I thought I might do specific noble's contingents. 

Antoine de Crequy and Bernard/Berault Stuart because I have the flags. Actually Stuart was smiting away in Italy at the time. De Crequy though was about.

I have also got a flag for Blaise Montluc and I might do another unit for him. I enjoy reading Montluc. As with Bernal Diaz he reads like a modern to me. Translations of course. 

Adventuriers from lots of manufacturers. 

Above from Essex.

Arquebusiers above Essex and QRF. Below from Khurasan.

I'll show this Army again when it is finished. Likewise with the English one. 

I should say most of what you see was painted a long time ago. A few additions and re-basing did the trick.

This brings us to Lion Rampant and what I think of as Lion Mulligan. That being Stuart Mulligan's Lion Rampant version for 1513 and there abouts. Between what is on Stuart's Army Royal blog and the magazine article I think I have it. I want to try it out as he seems to get interesting games.

Once I have done that I want to try it again with Montluc's (and other contemporaries) thoughts on arquebus v bow as an adjustment. I'm just curious to see how it might work.

Also my Flodden rules can easily accommodate 1513 in France and I will be doing just that.

A final thought. I had not intended doing this when I listed this year's projects. Yet, here we are. A nice aspect of the hobby. Sometimes we surprise ourselves.