Gonzalo Rides Again

 

Last year I noted that my Italian Wars Game "Gonzalo" was completed two years previous. That's 3 years in all, and counting. Gross neglect, and tardy of me to be sure.

Now my Italian Wars interest is back and so is Gonzalo.

David at Not By Appointment made me some flags for the famous Captains of the day. We are going to see them below, and one from Stuart at Army Royal. The command stands each comprise of two Venexia Gendarmes (Big 15s) and a Blue Moon trumpeter. Let me introduce them to you.

Pierre Terrail, Seigneur de Bayard. Universally acknowledged to be without peer or reproach. Incredibly he paid the peasantry for provisions rather than plundering them. A true paladin and popular with everyone. 

As you can see Venexia and Blue Moon work well enough together.

Louis de Tremouille, top of the page and above. You can see the cross of St. Denis replacing impressa on the French Commanders surcoats.

John La Palais, as above, so below as the Occultists used to say. Stuart Mulligan made the flag.

The last of the French today.

Two pic's of Berault Stuart.

All French so far of course. Well Berault was a Franco-Scot. He was also one of those Stuarts and therefore if I recall right, of Breton descent. So going back far enough, a Dumnonian.

To catch up I have more Spanish Commanders to do.  

The first is Diego Mendoza. His impressa was Fortuna’s Wheel.  The Spanish heavy cavalry could not match the numbers of the French gendarmes. Interestingly they seem to have trained to fight as both impact lancers and skirmishing jinetes. Even de Cordoba might fight as a jinete if he thought it called for.

Note the two versions of Fortuna's Wheel below. Favoured by Louis de Tremouille and the Spanish Commander Diego Mendoza. 

Being a fighting noble was chancy. Capture by a fellow noble mostly meant ransom. No such surety pertained if the commonality got their hands on you. A nod to Fortuna must have seemed a prudent precaution. 

The Spanish Colonela combining targeteers, pikes and shot.

I intend 3 of these. Not all of the same size because that varied.

Note above front a Gladiator Arquebusier wearing a feathered beret matches nicely with the otherwise all Venexia formation.

Next, we have some Imperial Landsknects from Venexia. The flags are from Pete's Flags. In Gonzalo I differentiated the fighting style of these German pikemen from that of the Swiss.

There we go, back with a bang. While we are on the Italian Wars let me commend the Helion series to you. Refreshingly good.

England's Allies and Mercenaries in 1513

 

Here we are at last. The Valois French are complete. Likewise, the host of the King of Scots. Now we turn to the English. Or nearly so.

First let us see the  Allies/ Mercenaries. Those being the Burgundians and the Irish and various bits of the Emperor’s Army. The Emperor’s men were genuine allies. The Burgundians and Irish had to be contracted and paid. Top of the page and below Burgundians.

The Burgundian Gendarmes above.

A Burgundian Lance. We see the front rank of Gendarmes and the second supporting rank of mounted crossbow men. This was the favoured Burgundian formation. Note the smaller horses in the second rank.

Burgundian mounted Crossbows who could deploy separately.

 Imperial or Burgundian skirmishing shot.

The splendid Burgundian flags are from Pete's Flags.

Cardinal Wolsey wanted to hire 1000 Irish cavalry for the 1513 Campaign. Wolsey looked after the important stuff for Henry. Diplomacy, Finance, Legislation that sort of thing. Doubtless he was a sharp lad. 

The horsemen he was looking for came from Ireland’s Warrior Clans. A 1000 of them wouldn’t leave many left in Ireland. Let me explain. An Irish Warrior Clan was an agnatic Mercenary Company. It owned no land and made its living by hiring out for wages and grazing in Ireland’s regular small wars.

Had Wolsey succeeded in hiring them he would have gained some excellent light cavalry and have removed a significant military group from Ireland. Smart work. 

In the event it seems he failed. Probably over money. In another negotiation Wolsey haggled about the number of servants each Kern expected  to take to France.

Some Kern did go to France so a deal was done. Here are some above and below.

Wolsey might have got some Irish Cavalry.  They are not, as far as I know, attested in the record. 

All the same, if you want to use some think Stradiots as far as capability goes. "The finest Scourrers on Christian ground." as the man said about them. I wouldn't go with more than one unit of Irish cavalry in 1513 France.

One though, adds to the fun.

Before we go, have a gander at the pic' above.  It is Henry King of England in 1513. Gold armour is hard to miss. I wonder if he wore it in the field? My version will.

Next time in 1513 we will see the English cavalry. Pete's Flags above with Essex Miniatures.

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.

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.

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.