Friday, 11 January 2019

Celtic Shields III


It may not look especially different to the last image, but I've painted in the edges on all the shields- it took me three paint sessions- well worthwhile I think. Lots of careful colour matching. 

Next I need to paint some of the shield ribs (I'll leave most white) and after that the 130-odd shield bosses. Then there's inking, varnishing and the shield backs- perhaps another four sessions, in all. I suppose including cutting and preparation there will be around 15 evenings work to produce 150 shields - it'd take a lot longer if I was doing one pack at a time.

Monday, 7 January 2019

Celtic Shields II


Here are the shields from the last post with the LBMS transfers applied- I love LBMS transfers! I've found I can apply around 20 an hour, whilst watching TV.

A couple of learning points that people might find useful:

  • All sculpted metal shields are asymmetrical, to some extent, so take plenty of time checking that the transfer is the right way round. There is always a right way and a wrong way!
  • A clay-shaper is a really useful tool for gently pushing the transfer into contact with the shield around the boss.

Next I need to paint the edges and backs of the shields, the ribs and the bosses- perhaps a week's work. These should be sufficient for the expansion to my Celtic army for Salute, which will be a theme on this blog for the next three months. 

Saturday, 5 January 2019

New Year- new project.


I prepped these over Christmas for my Salute project (filing, priming, spray white, gloss varnish). Celtic transfers can be quite time-consuming to apply, what with the fiddly boss and ribs to be cut out, and the edges and rim matched. I am hoping that by doing a big lot together, there will be economies of scale. My favourite shields are the above, from A&A, and I'll be using the excellent LBMS transfers. I'll come back later with more details of what I'm up to.

For Millsy, here's my army list for the To the Strongest! Worlds at Chalgrove. I've not played with knights since play-testing, some 5 years ago, and am really looking forward to using them. I am guaranteed to have plenty of spare time between games, one way or the other!


I'm trying to get as many of the Chalgrove lists in as possible, as soon as people have them ready, because it spreads the load for Tim (who is kindly checking them) and helps us to know the number of attendees. So if you are coming, and have a list ready, please fire it over to Tim!

Tuesday, 1 January 2019

Happy New Year!


Last night, twixt haggis, mulled wine and spectacular London fireworks, I finished and added flags to the final element of my Chalgrove army. These Perry later knights have the banners and colours of the house of Sforza of Milan, from the excellent Pete's flags, which I cannot comment too highly. 

Below you can see the completed (but not fully based) army. In an ideal world I'd love to have more Milanese units, replace the pikemen with spearmen, and the crossbowmen with pavise-less crossbows, but I'm really pleased to have these ready for basing, as I urgently need to embark upon my Salute project. I think this is the first time I've managed to produce an army specifically for Chalgrove. I have lots of other minis ready for basing and plan to return to the Medieval/Renaissance periods after Salute.


If you are coming to Chalgrove on Feb 23rd, please get your army list over to Tim ASAP so that he can check it- he's very good- he spotted two minor errors in my submission. For your interest, I'll publish my own army list, tomorrow or Thursday.

Can I take this opportunity to wish everyone a Very Happy 2019! At first glance, prospects for the year ahead appear challenging, but I am confident that we can rise above them. I have ambitious plans for various gaming and publishing projects...

Sunday, 30 December 2018

Last knights


Some more Perry knights have arrived from chum Lionel in Paris. I've decided that I want these to be in the livery of Milan (yellow and white, mostly) so am changing the plumes and painting three more to join them (on the left). When these are finished, I'll have all the troops I need for Chalgrove in February. I have some lovely "Pet's Flags" banners to go on these... Hopefully I'll have them on bases for New Year, since other projects beckon!

Yesterday Andrew Brentnall drew my attention to this excellent podcast review of For King and Parliament. It is most entertaining; the authors really seem to have "got" what we were trying to achieve. :-) ` https://hobbyknockout.podbean.com/e/episode-9-for-king-and-parliament/``

Friday, 21 December 2018

On the ninth day of Christmas...


...it's a Christmas miracle! Two more units on bases. Above are a unit of Bande Nere pikemen- mostly minis from Richard Hampson-Smith. Below are some formed crossbowmen. In both cases I've re-based, because I like a high density of miniatures and wanted to use my wobbly bases. I highlighted and washed the minis with a matt acrylic varnish. I am still loving Pete's flags- these ones, again, feature demons. I'll take proper pictures of the units next year, when the basing is complete.


At Chalgrove, the above two units will have to proxy other troop types. The tough-looking pikemen will represent raw spearmen, and the crossbowmen will represent pavise-less crossbowmen.

And here is the army. The final, missing, unit is a bit of a problem- I am awaiting reinforcements and probably won't have them until late January. 


I'm delighted how quick it was to finish and re-base the units- just over one evening per unit. 

Tomorrow I'll finish and publish my army list (here) and send it to Tim Thompson. Could those coming to Chalgrove please send their lists to Tim, if complete, I want to get as many in as possible before the holidays.

I'm really taken with these Perry minis. I think there's the makings of a really great campaign in this era, with players representing city states and condottieri.

Wednesday, 19 December 2018

On the eighth day of Christmas


....OK I hear you say "It's three days since his last post", but who's counting? Yuletide preparations have taken precedence. That said, last night I managed to finish two more units of knights, The first (above) is Giovanni de Medici, and the second, below, are some knights for the Bande Nere, the Black Bands of Giovanni, which confusingly appear to have post-dated his unfortunate encounter with a cannon ball.


Both units are plastic Perry minis from the small army I recently bought from Richard Hampson-Smith, highlighted and inked. All the flags are from Pete's flags- and rather lovely! You can find them on eBay. The stands of knights with banners will be the command stands.


You'll see I have only three units to go; one more lot of knights, some scruffy spearmen and some formed crossbows. I don't have any of these minis, exactly, but I have others that can proxy for them and I'll see if I can get some more on bases before Christmas!