Sunday, 26 May 2019

The Black Bands of Giovanni


This is my first proper Renaissance unit, representing the pike element of the Bande Nere of Giovanni de' Medici, as they might have appeared in the 1520s, after his death. Uniform details for his "orphans" are scarce, other than they wore predominately black mourning clothes. They are a sombre unit!

The superb black flags, with demons, are from Peter's flags on eBay. The minis are all Perry plastic mercenaries, painted by Shaun McTague, Richard Hampson-Smith and myself. I based them on my favourite wobbly-edged Batbase, the FK&P06, which I designed for the ECW but which turn out to be good for pretty much everything. I can field two of the elements on a 15cm grid, or all three on a 20cm grid.

Below is a shot including a command stand. I am currently raising the Bande Nere arquebusiers- I plan to field at least twice as many as there are pike. I am also sorely tempted to add a fourth rank of pike, and some mounted infantry.


I've no particular idea what I'm going to use them for, yet, but they are too good a unit not to represent!
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18 comments:

  1. David26 May 2019 at 13:25

    Fine additions Simon. Pete's Flags are simply great for the period too.

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  2. Neil Scott26 May 2019 at 13:35

    They look excellent

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  3. Daniel Moreno26 May 2019 at 16:43

    Maravilloso!

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  4. BigRedBat26 May 2019 at 19:06

    Thanks chaps!

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  5. Michal DwarfCrypt27 May 2019 at 04:14

    Beautiful unit!

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  6. Gonsalvo27 May 2019 at 16:07

    Great looking troops; the flags really make them stand out!

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  7. Independentwargamesgroup27 May 2019 at 17:35

    Lovely Simon, Pete's flags set them off beautifully. Personally I would add an extra rank of pike just to give them a hefty look.For my band I stretched things a bit with some mounted arquebusiers. Well done.

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  8. Hendrid27 May 2019 at 21:36

    Bank Band is a great place to start. Nice

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  9. caveadsum147127 May 2019 at 22:24

    Lovely looking unit and of course set off with Pete's splendid flags!
    Best Iain

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  10. BigRedBat27 May 2019 at 22:52

    Thanks again chaps! Yes a 4th rank is almost as inevitable as death and taxes. :-)

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  11. Phil28 May 2019 at 17:16

    Spectacular unit, superb!!

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  12. Ratmaul28 May 2019 at 22:07

    Beautiful :)

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  13. Paul Scrivens-Smith29 May 2019 at 13:57

    Lovely stuff Simon

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  14. BigRedBat29 May 2019 at 14:48

    Thanks chaps- hi Scrivs!

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  15. Friends Of General Haig1 June 2019 at 19:40

    That is a cracking looking unit - they look extra intimidating with all of that armour!

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  16. BigRedBat1 June 2019 at 19:47

    They do look good; I have decided that they need a 4th rank, though! :-)

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  17. Marco Ortalda9 June 2019 at 07:07

    Great miniatures

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  18. Baconfat10 June 2019 at 01:09

    They're the best looking versions of those models I've seen.

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Thanks for commenting. I will post this as soon as I am able to review it.