Old miniatures don't fade..they just get repainted

I found these miniatures in the bowels of my lead pile. With a bit of sprucing up they'll be as good as new.

More Re-enactment photos

Here are some more pics of the re-enactment event which took place at Mont Orgueil Castle back in 2006.

War of the Roses Re-enactment

My brother and I put together a small retinue for the re-opening of Mont Orgueil Castle(Jersey) in 2006. I have managed to get the full set of pictures off my brother and I will be posting a few up here.

The event took place on a Sunday afternoon. We were there from 9am till about 6.30pm. It was a memorable day. Two years prior to the event Jersey celebrated its 800th year anniversary of its 'special' relationship with the British monarchy. Over the course of that weekend the castle saw about 7,500 visitors. On the occasion of the re-opening of the castle 4,500 visitors walked through its gates between 1pm and 5.30pm. There wasn't much time for ale!

Update on the War of the Roses Project

I have been looking through the rules of Medieval Warfare by Terry Gore. I have only played one game so far, and that was awhile ago now. I do like the rules and on reading them again things are clearer.

I have also done a little more painting, but only a little. I might be able to get a day in next week - half term approaches!

Little by little...

Here are some part painted models. I am quite happy with this Man At Arms. I may yet add a little brown ink about his feet and legs, armour never stays that pristine in a fight!

Building the Perry Plastics

I have built the following models from the Bowman and Bills/Mercenaries box sets -

• 3 Men At Arms
• 7 Longbowmen
• 3 Crossbowmen
• 5 Billmen
• 1 Hand Gunner

I have undercoated the batch with grey primer (Army Painter). I have started muddling about with some colour schemes. As you can see from an earlier post the Hand Gunner has the livery of a Burgundian. I have done a few models with a White and Red livery. I intend to paint at least ten models with a white/green livery to represent either Henry Tudor/Earl of Pembroke/Rivers. The others will be painted in blue and murrey(dark red).

Rules, Rules, Rules...

I was looking over my collection of rules for the War of the Roses period and I am really quite unsure which ones I will use. Not that it matters. It will be some time before I can play a game on a grand scale due to my forthcoming travels.

I have Poleaxed by th Lance and Logbow, Bloody Barons from Peter Pig, Warhammer Ancients, A Coat of Steel by those jolly fellows at the Perfect Captain and finally the late Terry Gore's Medieval Warfare.

I know some people rave about Impetus but I have yet to explore this route. I am eagerly awaiting the forthcoming rules from Warlord Games - Hail Caesar. If they are out by the time of Salute I may well get a copy.

War of the Roses Hand Gunner

Well I have managed to do a little more to the Hand Gunner. The Perry models are really easy to paint. I still have a way to go, but I am happy with the progress.

Bills and mercenaries

I have undercoated some billmen, a crosswbowman and the hand gunner. These are my 'test' subjects for this period. I am not sure at this stage whethee I want the models to look as if they have been in the field for a few days or if I want them to look like 'fresh'.

Please excuse the quality of the photography, I wanted to update before the next stage and time is short.

War of the Roses Hand Gunner

The first model up on the painting table is a hand gunner. Not sure how I will paint him, probably with the livery of Burgundy. I have mounted him on a 20mm square base. I intend to base forty or fifty models on 20mm bases for skirmish gaming. The rest will be mounted on larger bases.

More plastic on the painting table...

I succumed to acquiring a a box of the Perry's War of the Roses plastic box sets the other day. Being in Jersey I ordered them over the internet via Warlord Games. Those boys must work nights! I had a really fast turn around to the order.

I have decided to base up the first few on 20mm stands for skirmish gaming. I think that is all I will be able to fit in before I set foot off the island. I have been through my books and have found some liveries I want to use. I will endeavour to post a pic or two as I work through the models.

War of the Roses - a project for the future

Although I am about to embark on a grand adventure across three quarters of the globe I am still painting or reading a little. When I first got myself into the historical period I collected an Essex 15mm WotR army. I bought enough models to paint up two sides. Over the intervening decade or two I have added to the collection with some Peter Pig miniatures.

However my passion for 28mm miniatures has forced my eyes to look beyond the smaller models. Since the Perry brothers have brought out the plastic ranges I am keen to create some armies. Not that it will happen anytime soon but I see it as my next historical project. One that I am keen to finish!

In the meantime I picked up some books to read, the first book is The War of the Roses by Trevor Royle, the second - Lancaster and York by Alison Weir and the third is A Brief History of the War of the Roses by Desmond Seward. I'll let you know how I get on with them.

A New Year and New Adventures

Well it really has been a long time since my last post. This year has some 'big' changes in my life. At the beginning of April (not the 1st, but 2nd) I'll be getting married! And then, off on a journey of a lifetime. I will be travelling overland from London to Darwin - a six month honeymoon before winding up in New Zealand for the Rugby World Cup. I am looking forward to the trip...and the rugby. My fiancee and I will be travelling with Odessey Overland, for anyone who is interested.

I am also looking forward to travelling around New Zealand. I will be using the journey to pick up on my artwork. I trained as an illustrator, graduating from Wolverhampton Uni in 1995 and since then my drawing has been a little sporadic unless I am designing some terrain or paintjob for a unit of lead miniatures.

So my ramblings will take a slightly different thread for the time being. My paint station lies in the basement of my fiancee's house along with my paints and some plastic minis from Warlord Games. Looking forward to the future I will be able to attend Salute 2011 this year in London. The convention is on the day before I leave the UK which is kinda cool. I guess it'll be a fond farewell to wargaming, at least for a little while.