Monday 1 December 2014

Retinue of Dafydd ap Gruffydd, Fireforge Games

Retinue of Dafydd ap Gruffydd
These plastic Fireforge figures represent the fictional retinue of Dafydd ap Gruffydd. I will eventually create a post (don't hold your breath) about Dafydd himself that will provide more information about this interesting character who was the last native prince of Wales and the younger brother of Llywelyn ap Gruffydd (Llywelyn the Last).

Made to represent a unit of Foot Men-at-Arms (MAA) armed with a variety of hand weapons. These have based individually but arranged in a group of six as stipulated by the Lion Rampant rules. The unit base has been made from 3mm thick MDF to suit this particular group of figures.







A quick search on the internet normally show the arms of Dafydd as being blue and yellow but my brother pointed out a page from the Denbigh Castle guidebook that happened to contain an image, taken from the Lord Marshal's Roll of Arms, that showed a medieval illustration that clearly indicated that the colours were in fact blue and white.


I double checked with the excellent Brian Timms website and his modern illustration shows the arms as being 'Quarterly argent and azure four lions passant gardant counterchanged' which can be found (here). Therefore I decided to paint this group in basic livery colours on a blue and white quartered surcoat. In order to made some variation I painted the shields in different patterns and using another base shade of blue. The idea of having different shields patterns but using the same colours isn't an original one from me, the first time I recall seeing it was on this French blogger's site (Perry's Heroes) and since seen it on numerous sites since then.

I'm currently working on a matching group to represent the retinue of Dafydd's brother Llywelyn ap Gruffydd.
Retinue of Dafydd ap Gruffydd

23 comments:

  1. Excellent brushwork on these fine troops, Matt. Great to see these plastics looking so good - the basing is also very nice.

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    1. Thank you Dean, the Fireforge figures do paint up well - and they're cheap!

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  2. Nice work! I like the blue and white motif. Your light gray highlighting on white (or is it white highlighting on gray?) is very artistic.

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    1. Thanks Jonathan, I normally base paint a mid shade, then shade with a wash and then highlight - in this case, white highlight over light grey.

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  3. Damn fine painting Sir!!! Love the cloaks blowin' in the wind.

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    1. Thanks Ray, that might be caused by their high fibre diet.

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  4. These are lovely Matt, be prepared to have me mimic them inadequately on my own blog!

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    1. Thanks, feel free to borrow/pinch any ideas that take your fancy.

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  5. Superb work on those figures...!
    Which of the fireforge sets are they from...?

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    1. Thanks Mike, they are mainly from the 'Teutonic Infantry' box set but I've added weapons from other sets.

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  6. Excellent painting! The blue/ white combination is striking.

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  7. Gorgeous work Matt. The shading on the lighter shield colour is a really interesting approach and works a treat!

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    1. Thanks Michael, I initially tried a more subtle version of shading but it was too subtle! So I painted over it with white to create a better.

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  8. Very nicely done indeed Matt! Lots of action!

    Christopher

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  9. What a beautiful job!! Great looking minis...

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  10. Greate paint work !!!

    It is really nice to see all the Lion Rampant hoastes that blogers work with, seems like the rules have been a real blast amongst wargamers.

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    1. Thanks for the comment Michael. You're right, it's good to see a set of medieval rules making such a positive impact plus we get to see some great looking knights in armour.

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  11. Extraordinary figures! The subtlety in the shading is really amazing. Congratulations! :)

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