From SimonG: HYW Hobilars plus some terrain (and an ambush!)

For what will no doubt be my final posting I have to offer only one stand of four Perry plastic English mounted bowmen/hobilars. I have to say that these are not the greatest sculpts, being somewhat soft in detail and lacking in facial character. I always love the horses however -- now they are some characterful beasts!

Accompanying are two more 12x12 terrain pieces using the Terra-Formers system from Sally 4th. I made one up as a small forested area and made the centre of it a pull out so a stand could be placed within the wood. Lots of fiddling to make it fit but I think it came out OK in the end. Only 20 more of these pieces to do to make a 6'x4' gaming area!

Riding by ...

... avoid the forest ...

... because there's an ambush!

Anyway it's been great fun participating in all of this and I cannot wait for AHPC XI later this year! Keep safe everyone!

From SimonG: "The English Are Coming!" HYW Longbowmen

For my first couple of stands in the English army it had of course to be longbowmen. These are Front Rank miniatures with more of their great facial expressions and crisp detail.

Bow strings and arrows were added by me, you quickly realise that the sculptors haven't always located the bows in anything like realistic positions (especially those with bow held loosely at the side) and the draw is all over the place -- I'll try to remember to fix that on the next lot, of course this is something you can do with metal miniatures but not with plastic where you're stuck with the fixed draw in the original design.

Given we've only got a couple of weeks left I'm not sure what to do next -- I think it would be nice to return to terrain and finish off the remaining two squares I have, then perhaps one stand of mounted archers to round things off -- onwards and upwards!

From SimonG: HYW Nobles plus the full Army!

My last posting for the French HYW army -- a final stand of mounted noble men at arms -- in this case Raoul de Gaucourt, Captain of Orleans. There is also a final banner bearer with the standard of Orleans flown at the battle of Patay -- he can be added to a command stand with the Bd of Orleans that I completed earlier.

The figures are all Perry (a mix of plastic and metal). de Gaucort himself is actually repurposed from the Comte de Brabant from the Agincourt French mounted set.

And here's what it all looks like at once -- five months painting, 37 stands and 202 figures in total -- now on to Les Anglais!

From SimonG: Latest HYW Men At Arms

Continuing to wrap up my French 1420s army here are two stands of Front Rank men at arms.

These are well cast, chunky, characterful and attractive miniatures but a restricted range of poses. You cannot mix them on the same stand as Perrys (which are much slighter in build) but alongside them on the table they are fine.

The heraldry is all fantasy but freehand (so these are not meant to be any specific individuals). The dolphin 🐬 (if that's what it is) is my favourite!

I've got one more stand of mounted MAA plus a lone banner bearer and then the French are done and it's on to the English. For the latter with all their white armour I think I'll go a little lighter on the grimy wash -- all of the French have ended up rather mucky looking (as one would after a few hours fighting in a muddy field!) so it will be nice to emphasise the contrast. On the English side the archers will all be dirty and rough!

From SimonG: HYW Billmen

Next up and close to finishing my French 1420s HYW army are a couple of stands of city Billmen representing Orleans (in black) and Angers (blue and red).

The figures are all Perry metals - actually two of the same set with a couple of additions from other Perry sets.

I especially liked the guy dealing with the arrow (just a flesh wound I'm sure!)

Ouch!

Messing around with fancy patterns :-)

Oops - googly eyes!

Steady lads!

Don't you hate those mould lines that you thought you'd got rid of!

To finish I have a couple of stands of Front Rank men at arms and one more stand of mounted nobles and then on to the English!

I also couldn't resist posting a link to this -- a print of which is on order to adorn my walls!

From SimonG: More HYW Knights with a Herb Twist

While this one took a bit longer than anticipated - maybe I'm getting a bit ambitious in what I'm trying to take on now, it'll be good when I can switch on to masses of single colour English archers!

Anyway this stand (again in Impetus basing) is for Teodoro da Valperga and his companions. de Valperga was an Italian independent Captain who was present at Orleans and Patay. Most interesting is his coat of arms which comprises a hemp plant!

The knights are all Perry plastics as are three of the horses. The last horses (with the caparison) is from Front Rank.

I'm quite pleased with how these came out including the Croix de Lorraine on the guy in Blue and experimenting with an edging pen to outline details like the white cross on the guy in red.

One more stand of French knights to go but before then I have a couple of stands of billmen to complete and with that and a couple of stands of men at arms my French army will be finished.