Sir Rhys ap Thomas

The other Men-At-Arms stand for Oxford's retinue is Sir Rhys ap Thomas. I hope you enjoy my efforts!

Oxford's Billmen

I have only the one stand of Billmen at the moment. I have three more to paint up. Once I have assembled and painted the other three stands Oxford and his retinue will be completed and I will move onto completing Sir William Stanley's riding retinue.

Oxford's Bowmen

I have finished Oxford's bowmen, although I do need to complete the bases, but as you can see from the previous post I think I have decided on a course of action for completing the bases.

Scurrours

First up on the update are these three scurrours. I have painted them in the colours of Sir William Stanley. I am reasonably pleased with the outcome. As you can see I have started to work on the base. I have used Gale Force 9 medium sand. I have then painted over with the Citadel colour Baneblade Brown. I have then used their brown wash to darken the base and finally drybrushed over the top with Base sand from the Foundry paint scheme. The miniatures are painted using the Foundry paint scheme, although I have used Citadel metallics and washes on the metal armour.

WIP - Oxford's Retinue

I have been busy working on Oxford's retinue. I have completed the Retinue Bowmen and the additional Men at Arms stands. This means I am achieving the target of twenty models a month. I have also completed a stand of scurrours for William Stanley's retinue. I will post pictures tomorrow...hopefully!

John De Vere 13th Earl of Oxford

Well I have finally got something to really post about. It has taken some time to get to this stage, however I would like to present my version of the Earl of Oxford. The models are all plastic bar the Earl himself. I have used a mix of foundry and citadel colours.

The flags are from Freezywater. Originally I was just going to cut them out and stick them onto the models but having seen some other blogger's work I decided to overpaint them to give them a better overall look. I am really pleased with the results.

I know I haven't based the models but I am going to wait until the rest of the retinue is finished before I go through that process.

Painting the Pile

Having finally settled on the games system I intend to use I have organised myself a painting schedule! I am going to try and get twenty models painted a month. Now that may not seem that many but real life gets in the way quite frequently and I have other responsibilities.

I have 272 infantry, 108 cavalry and 3 'gonnes' and crew to paint for refighting the Battle of Bosworth Field, At this rate which to be fair is quite slow, should be ready by the end of the year which means I might be able to get the game in at the Christmas club meet! I am not holding my breath as these types of deadlines usually fall away for various reasons but I remain very hopeful.

In terms of the miniatures I have this represents a fifth of my infantry, virtually all the cavalry and about a quarter of the cannons within my lead and plastic pile.

Currently I am part way through painting William Stanley's retinue and I have started Oxford's too. I hope to have these stands completed by the end of this month.

I am still working on the basing, for now I am using Gale Force 9 'grit'. I will probly leave it at that for now. Once I have painted an entire ward I will paint the bases, apply static grass and some of the silfour grass I purchased from Salute this year.

War of the Roses Library

Well I have just finished reading 'Richard III and the Bosworth Campaign' by Peter Hammond and my initial feeling from reading the book is that Richard really went out in a blaze of glory. It's interesting to think what drives a man when he has lost his wife and child. Not only had he lost his own family but his three brothers and his father as well. I suppose it was a sign of the times and we shouldn't put twenty first century ideas in the minds and bodies of those living and fighting at the end of the fifteenth century. Being a converted Ricardian I feel a sense of 'what if.' I think it was a sad loss for England. Richard had tried to establish so many positive steps in his short reign. His downfall was that he was not his brother, the late King Edward IV.

My next book to read is 'The Red Rose and the White' by John Sadler. The book promises to give a comprehensive account of the campaigns, battles and sieges of the conflict and it also discusses the men involved, the tactics they employed and the weapons used.

Bosworth Orbats - Second Revision

Having played a game of A Coat of Steel I have decided to revise the Orbats for the respective sides. This hasn't adversely affected the size of the units, but it has allowed me to base miniatures according to their quality. MAA/pike - 4 models to a stand Retinue Bowmen/levy billmen/crossbowmen - 3 models to a stand Levy bowmen/hand gunners - 2 models to a base This also means that I'll have more miniatures to go round which means that in time I'll be able to put on the Battle of Towron as a large club game...hopefully! One aspect of A Coat of Steel is that Men At Arms and Retinue Billmen are not discreet units, rather they are combined on a stand. This will allow me to be a little more creative with how I want the models to look on their bases.

A Coat of Steel - First Play

I had the opportunity to get a first play of the rules today at my local war games club. I kept it simple and my opponent was most helpful with the interpretation of the rules.I must say that they were easy to follow and they play really well. I was using my 15mm miniatures based on 30mm square stands. The game flowed really well. Shooting and close combat were resolved easily. I even used the Black Shield cards rather than dice. The game lasted around 3 hours with a narrow Yorkist victory. We did make a few mistakes but that's to be expected. I look forward to the next game. The rules are ideal for a club set and I am keen to get the rest of my 15mm minis finished. I think I will base the levy troops according to how the rules suggest, 2 levy bowmen to a base. I'll have to check on the levy billmen.

Earl of Oxford's Retinue

Well I have finally got the project under way! I have now built the the retinue for the Earl of Oxford but as yet it is only undercoated. I'll post a picture to accompany the post tomorrow. The retinue consists of four stands of 4 archers, two stands of 4 billmen and two stands of 2 M-A-A. This includes Oxfords stand.

As of yet I haven't decided how I will finish the bases, so I'll keep pondering. If anyone has any bright ideas feel free to comment.

Revised Orbats for Bosworth Field

I have spent the last few nights reviewing the Poleaxed orbats by Lance and Longbow and the orbats from Medieval Warfare. what I like about the Poleaxed rules is that they give a breakdown of the contingent commanders who took the field, not just the lord who commanded the battle. So with that in mind I have kept the contingent commanders and adapted the orbats to use the Hail Caesar ruleset.

I am basing the models on 40mm x 40mm for infantry and 75mm x 50mm for cavalry. So they are usable for 'A Crown of Steel' and Medieval Warfare. Reading the Hail Caesar message board on the Yahoo Group page Rick Priestly played a game a while ago where they used mixed formations of Billmen and Bowmen. To this end I put together standard sized contingents. Anyhow, here are the orbats in a revised form for Hail Caesar;

The Tudor Host

Henry Tudor - 4 x Mtd M-A-A (4 stands)

Jasper Tudor - 1 x Dismtd M-A-A, 3 x Billmen, 4 x Bowmen (8 stands)

John De Vere - 2 x Dismtd M-A-A, 2 x Billmen, 4 x Bowmen (8 stands)

Rhys ap Thomas - 1 x Dismtd M-A-A, 3 x Billmen, 4 x Bowmen (8 stands)

Viscount Welles - 1 x Dismtd M-A-A, 3 x Billmen, 4 x Bowmen (8 stands)

Poynings - 8 x Pike, 4 x Hand Gunners (12 stands)

Guildford - 8 x Pike, 4 x Hand Gunners (12 stands)

 

Savage - 2 x Scurrours (2 stands)

Talbot - 2 x Scurrours (2 stands)

The Yorkist Host

Richard III - 2 x Mtd M-A-A (2 stands)

Robert Percy - 2 x Mtd M-A-A (2 stands)

Duke of Norfolk/Earl of Shrewsbury - 4 x Dismtd M-A-A, 4 Bowmen (8 stands)

Zouch - 4 x Bowmen, 4 x Hand Gunners (8 stands)

Surrey - 2 Mtd M-A-A (2 stands)

Brackenbury/Scrope - 4 x Dismtd M-A-A, 4 Bowmen (8 stands)

Greystoke - 1 x Dismtd M-A-A, 1 x Billmen, 3 x Bowmen (5 stands)

Devereux - 1 x Dismtd M-A-A, 1 x Billmen, 3 x Bowmen (5 stands)

 

Northumberland - 2 x Dismtd M-A-A, 2 x Billmen, 4 x Bowmen (8 stands)

 

Pudsey - 2 x Mtd M-A-A (2 stands)

Manners - 2 x Mtd M-A-A (2 stands)

 

The Treacherous Stanleys

 

Lord Thomas Stanley/Peshall - 2 x Dismtd M-A-A, 2 x Billmen, 4 x Bowmen (8 stands)

Digby - 1 Dismtd M-A-A, 1 x Billmen, 3 x Bowmen (5 stands)

 

Sir William Stanley - 2 x Mtd M-A-A (2 stands)

Legh - 2 x Scurrours (2 stands)

Holford - 2 x Scurrours (2 stands)

 

Depending on how I am set I may up the size of the cavalry regiments. I can only hope that Michael and Alan Perry can get their plastic late medieval knights miniatures out on general release soon.

 

 

A Rather Daunting prospect!

Having finally got back home from my travels I have been sorting through the collection. Here are the plastic boxes in all their glory. I had forgotten just how many boxes I had purchased for this project.

I have also photographed the metal miniatures in their boxes. The picture isn't too clear, however I 'll be opening them up quite soon to starting building the contingents. First up will be John de Vere, the Earl of Oxford and his retainers.

Hudsen and Allen Medieval Buildings

Now that I have returned to the sunny island of Jersey I have been able to take stock of my War of the Roses collection. When I bought the Perry miniatures I bought some Hudsen and Allen buildings at the same time. I must say I am very impressed with the casts. I bought them through Ebob Miniatures. You can find a link to the site on this page.

The Battle of Bosworth Field - Orbats

Well here is the first post of 2012! I have been sifting through some of my info and have found the Poleaxed orbats for Bosworth Field. Poleaxed is a cheap set of rules published by those fellows at the Lance and Longbow Society.

I have also provided some information as to the abbreviations in the orbats.
AC (Army Commander), BC (Battle commander), CC (Contingent Commander), FHC (Fully Harnessed Cavalry), Ac (Armoured cavalry), FHI (Fully Harnessed Infantry), PHI (Partially Harnessed Infantry), AI (Armoured Infantry), AI LBOW (Armoured Infantry with Longbow), UI LBOW (Unarmoured Infantry with Longbow), AI Pike (Armoured Infantry with Pike), HG (Hand Gunners)

Tudor Army
AC - Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond (6 FHC)
CC - Jasper Tudor, Earl of Pembroke (8 PHI, 16 AI, 16 AI LBOW, 6 FHC)

BC - John de Vere, Earl of Oxford (8 FHI, 8 AI, 16 LBOW)
CC - Rhys ap Thomas (8 PHI, 8 AI, 16 LBOW)
CC - Viscount Welles (8 PHI, 8 AI, 16 LBOW)
CC - Poynings (16 AI Pike, 8 HG)
CC - Guildford (16 AI Pike, 8 HG)

CC - Savage (6 Ac)
CC - Talbot (6 Ac)

Yorkist Army
AC - Richard III (6 FHC)
CC - Robert Percy (12 FHC)

BC - Duke of Norfolk (8 FHI)
CC - Earl of Shrewsbury ( 8 PHI, 16 AI LBOW)
CC - Zouch (16 AI LBOW, 8 HG)
CC - Surrey (6 FHC)

BC - Robert Brackenbury (8 FHI)
CC - John, Lord Scrope (8 FHI, 16 AI LBOW)
CC - Lord Greystoke (8 PHI, 16 AI LBOW)
CC - Baron Devereux (8 PHI, 16 AI LBOW)

BC - Northumberland ( 8 FHI)
CC - Henry Percy ( 6 FHC)
CC - Widdrington (8 AI, 16 UI LBOW)

CC - Pudsey (12 FHC)
CC - Manners (12 FHC)

The Stanleys

BC - Thomas, Lord Stanley (8 FHI)
CC - Peshall (8 PHI, 16 AI LBOW)
CC - Digby (8AI, 16 AI LBOW)

BC - Sir William Stanley (6 FHC)
CC - Stanley (6 FHC, 6 Ac)
CC - Legh (12 Ac)
CC - Holford (12 Ac)

Although I have these orbats they do slightly change with the orbats for the wargame rules Medieval Warfare. I think that I will lean heavily on these orbats when making up the minatures.

All I have to do now is to decide which army I am going to start with. My plan is to paint a contingent at a time, that way I can keep a clear track of how I am getting on.

Rules and more rules.

Over the last few years I have collected a variety of different rules publications. I had used Warhammer Ancients as the staple for quite some time having spent long afternoons and evenings playing the fantasy variant. I have copies of Poleaxed (Lance & Longbow), Bloody Barons (Peter Pig), Warhammer Ancients (Games Workshop), Medieval Warfare (Terry Gore), and finally I picked up a copy of Hail Caesar at Salute earlier this year.

I am currently basing my orbats for the Battle of Bosworth Field on the Medieval Warfare Supplement although with some slight modifications they'll fit nicely into Poleaxed. Of course it will be some time before I have a chance to play them.

The Lead/Plastic Pile

I have listed below the miniatures I have bought for this new project. Virtually all of the miniatures are from the Perry Miniatures war of the Roses range.

24 x WR1 Plastic Wars of the Roses Infantry (bows and bills)   

1 x WR2 Lancastrian mounted high command ( Henry VI, Margret of Anjou, Duke of Buckingham)  

1 x WR3 Yorkist mounted high command ( Edward IV, Lord Fauconberg, Lord Hastings)        
1 x WR4 Lancastrian mounted high command ( Henry VII, Sir William Brandon standard bearer, herald)

1 x WR5 Yorkist mounted high command ( Richard III, Sir Percival Thirwall standard bearer, herald)

4 x WR6 Breach loading field piece, single arc, plus 4 crew firing

4 x WR7 Breach loading field piece, double arc, plus 4 crew loading   

1 x WR8 Mounted high command (Warwick "The Kingmaker", Richard, Duke of York and Salisbury)       

1 x WR9 Mounted Lancastrian command (Somerset, Wenlock and The Prince of Wales)       
2 x WR10 Mounted pages  

23 x WR11 Mounted standard bearers/lance armed Men at Arms  

1 x WR12 Lancastrian command on foot (Henry VI, Prince of Wales, Somerset, Oxford, Buckingham and Longstrother)

1 x WR13 Yorkist command and Warwick on foot (Edward IV, Warwick, Fauconberg, Hastings, Gloucester and Salisbury)       

2 x WR14 Men at Arms/Knights standing with polearms         

2 x WR15 Men at Arms/ Knights attacking with polearms         

2 x WR16 Bombard (includes bombard, mantlet and 6 crew)  

7 x WR17 Scurrers command        

7 x WR18 Scurrers, lance upright            

6 x WR19 Scurrers scouting          

4 x WR20 Plastic 'Mercenaries', European Infantry 1450-1500

2 x Ribaulquin - Redoubt Enterprises

8 x gunners - Front Rank Miniatures

Coming Full Circle

I would like to begin this blog with a piece of text from Shakespeare's Richard III. It is a reminder that history is written by the victor.

    But I, that am not shaped for sportive tricks,
    Nor made to court an amorous looking-glass;
    I, that am rudely stamp'd, and want love's majesty
    To strut before a wanton ambling nymph;
    I, that am curtail'd of this fair proportion,
    Cheated of feature by dissembling nature,
    Deformed, unfinish'd, sent before my time
    Into this breathing world, scarce half made up,
    And that so lamely and unfashionable
    That dogs bark at me as I halt by them; 

The purpose of this site is to blog my War of the Roses project and to post interesting links about the War of the Roses and Richard III, a much misaligned king and the last English king to die in battle.

 

I have been fascinated by that period we know as the War of the Roses for much of my wargaming life. As a teenager I got involved in a 15mm medieval  wargame using the old WRG 6th ed. It was entertaining and good fun to play as I remember it. I even went out and bought some Essex 15mm War of the Roses armies. I didn't get very far with the painting. No surprises there. Time moved on. Over the years I involved myself with other periods and scales. 

A couple of years ago I dug out my old 15mm miniatures and began painting them in an attempt to finish the armies. I added to the collection with some of Peter Pig's miniatures. Having doubled what I started with I set about building a Tudor and Yorkist army for the Battle of Bosworth Field. That was until I had a chat with an old wargaming friend. He explained to me that those talented Perry Brothers were going to be producing plastic late medieval models. I managed to resist the urge to buy some of these models as y lead/plastic pile was big enough...and besides I had a growing collection of late medieval models in 15mm. Of course, that all changed.

I am a fan of 28mm miniatures and succumbing to that collector's curse (Oh they look good, I must get those) I have purchased a small mountain of lead and plastic from the Perry Brothers!