A Pilgrimage of sorts

Early last month I travelled to the north of England to take in the RWC 2015, watch a couple of the games at St. James' Park and see family I hadn't seen for some time. Amongst all this my wife, Andrea and I were able to travel down to Leicester to see the new Visitor centre and the tomb of Richard III.

The visitor centre is really well laid out, with the ground floor set out with the events leading to King Richard's death at the Battle of Bosworth Field, whilst the first floor presents the remarkable story of the excavation of his bones.

Afterwards we walked across to the Cathedral to see his tomb. I really enjoyed the centre, even though I knew the story and I think it is fitting that King Richard's bones have been interred in Leicester Cathedral.

Surprisingly I didn't take that many pictures as I was engrossed in what I was seeing. However, here are a few of the better photos I took. If you have been to the cathedral and visitor centre it would be good to hear your feedback.

Rally to to the Standards

Part of the pomp and pageantry of a medieval wargame are heraldic flags and standards on display. Whilst I have identified the key protagonists on all sides for the Battle of Exeter I have noticed that there is a lack of heraldic flags.

I have trawled through my reference books, particularly those published by Freezywater Publishing. So far I have identified the following individuals who I almost certainly use to add variety and colour to the battle lines.

Sir Thomas Vaughan (Buckingham)
Sir William Alington (Richard III)
Sir Richard Beauchamp (Buckingham)
Sir John Babington (Buckingham)
Sir Henry de Bodrugan (Richard III)
Sir Thomas Granville (Richard III)
Sir Ralph Greystoke ( Richard III)
Sir Edward Carew (Tudor)
Sir Philip Courtenay (Richard III)
Sir Walter Courtenay (Buckingham)
Sir John Dynham (Richard III)
Sir Richard Corbett (Tudor)
Sir Thomas Kynaston (Tudor)
Sir Giles Talbot (Tudor)
Sir Giles Daubney (Tudor)
Sir John Sayntlo (Buckingham)
Sir James Blount (Buckingham)
Sir Hugh Peshall (Buckingham)
Sir John Brooke (Richard III)
Sir John Risley (Tudor)
Sir James Tyrell (Richard III)
Sir Robert Willoughby (Buckingham)
Sir George Brown (Buckingham)
Sir Nicholas Gaynesford (Buckingham)
Sir John Norbury (Richard III)
Sir Thomas St. Leger (Buckingham)
Sir Thomas Lewknor (Buckingham)

In addition to these heraldic flags I will also include livery banners of the key factions. This will, I hope, create another dynamic to the battle aesthetics and add a little confusion to the players who take part in the game. They'll have to keep their eyes open. More on that in future post.

If anyone out there has any suggestions for other individuals who may have been able to take part in my fictitious battle please let me know and leave a comment, including what their heraldic flag looked like.

Norfolk's Battle

I know it has been a long time, but I have been busy with all sorts of other things unrelated to wargaming of late. Still I have been occasionally able to get out to the 'studio' to do a bit of work.

The picture shows Norfolk's battle for The Battle of Exeter. His Battle, like at Bosworth Field will be the Van.

I do hope that I can keep the posts to at least once a month from now on, but I'm not promising anything!

Back in business!

The last time I picked up a paintbrush that was smaller than half an inch was back in August of last year. A lot has happened in that time, but very little with my War of the Roses project. However today I was able to get hold of some free timber and have constructed a rudimentary bench/table from which to work from in my studio/workshop. It's a bit of a shambles at the moment but I have clear space to work. The lighting of the photograph isn't great as I took the photo this evening (keen as mustard me!).

I now have to meet my deadline of completing 15 miniatures a week which I know is going to be a challenge at times, but hey it's just good to know that I have a permanent place setup to paint my miniatures.

Battle of Exeter Part III

Since the end of August there has been no movement on this project due to house renovations (see previous post!). Now that we are moved in there is still plenty of work to be done...but I also have Salute 2016 in mind. That may seem along time away but I am a methodical man and I need to spread my costs.

Things to consider;

• Painting of 692 miniatures plus any vignettes
• Making a 10' x 6' of wargames terrain
• Making a small part of the city of Exeter, including the bridge

I am looking at having this ready for January next year, which averages out at 16 miniatures a week approximately.

Time I got a shift on then!