Hold On Tight, Lion Rampant

I'm finally managing to get somewhat organised, blog-wise. These are a few doctored images of a game played between gaming chums Derek, George and myself a few weeks ago. The game was based on Scenario E: Hold On Tight (I think). The object was to reach the bridge as quickly as possible and hold it against the enemy. In this particular game this involved Derek and myself taking on George.

You may notice it took an eternity to get my forces into the game with Derek pushing on and reaching, and holding, the bridge first. It didn't help that my deployment decision was terrible, plus I was using my notoriously unlucky dice. Well...any dice I use seem to be unlucky.  

Derek and myself managed to hold of George's forces and gain enough glory points to secure the win. I had to stop myself from celebrating with a small victory dance as winning games is a habit I somehow haven't managed to develop. There's few things more annoying than a bad winner. The game took place at [Asgard Games Uk] in sunny Walsall, West Midlands.

If you want to see far better photos please pop over to George's page [Hrothgars shed blog] and read the proper game review.

Sir William Marshall & retinue, Curteys Miniatures

This group of figures are shown carrying the arms of Sir William Marshall, 1st Earl of Pembroke. The figures are produced by Curteys Miniatures and are taken from various sets within their medieval range. The majority are from the Crossed Lances range which was created to support a medieval tournament game (details here - Crossed Lances) of the same name. The mounted flag bearer is taken from the Curteys Miniatures Feudal Medieval Western range.

Sir William Marshall & retinue.

For detailed information about the life of the Marshall take a look (here)

Taken from the company website about the set:

'Sir William Marshall – Each set contains 1 mounted knight with lance and shield, 1 mounted knight with handweapon and shield, 1 dismounted knight with hand weapon and shield, HDF bases, and water slide transfers for all the figures.'

Code SKU: CLKSet01

Note that this set (£20 at the time of writing) contains two mounted figures and one on foot not the three mounted and two figures on foot shown here in this post. The 'Squire carrying sword & shield' is available separately (currently £2). The figures were original part of the wider Feudal Medieval Western range. Curteys gave the knight a jousting lance and made an all-you-need bundle which even includes the bases. The only thing you need to do is glue and paint the figures. Eagle eyed viewers may have noticed that the bases are not all the same, this is because the bases supplied in the set didn't match the ones I already had. As I intended to make a specific movement tray for this group I wasn't overly concerned. 

Mounted knight with lance and shield.

Also note that the set is supplied with water slide transfers for all the figures. A leaflet explains that the areas where the transfers will be applied have to painted (or sprayed) white. This is because the transfer is actually transparent and reveals the background colour when in place. I would recommend using a decal softener as the transfers will resist conforming to the curves of the horse barding and the surcoats. The shields have a slight curvature but the transfers adhere to the surface without any major problems.

Mounted knight with lance and shield

Mounted knight with lance and shield

The striped lance effect was achieved by initially painting the lance yellow and once dry wrapping a thin piece of masking tape around the lance as I rotated it in my fingers. Then I painted the lance green ensuring that the paint wasn't too fluid as it tends to seep under the tape. Once this layer was dry the tape was peeled away and any areas was touched up where necessary.

Mounted knight with hand weapon and shield

Dismounted knight with hand weapon and shield - front view

Dismounted knight with hand weapon and shield - rear view

As I had a spare shield transfer I applied it the shield being carried by the 'Squire carrying sword & shield' figure (Code SKU: CLH08) that I had purchased a while ago also from Curteys Miniatures.

Squire carrying sword and shield - front view

Squire carrying sword and shield - rear view

Squire carrying sword and shield - side view

Although this set of figures was initially designed for use with Crossed Lances I will of course be using the them for games of Lion Rampant. In order to maintain a similar look of previously completed units I realised I needed extra mounted figure to give me half (three models) of a Mounted Men-at-Arms unit.

Therefore I raided the lead pile and found an appropriate third mounted figure, this one is from the Curteys ME13 Mounted Knights-sergeants 1 set (lance upright, charging unbarded horses, currently £9). details (here) part of the Feudal Medieval Western range.

Marshall's flagbearer

Marshall's flagbearer

The flag was drawn on a CAD system and once glued into position was painted and highlighted with the usual acrylic paints.

Each of Marshall's five sons inherited the title but unfortunately the male line died out as none of his sons had children. The last son, Walter Marshal, 5th Earl of Pembroke, died in 1245. I mention this because the helmet of the knight design is more appropriate for later 13th century whereas the 1st Earl died in 1219.

The figures are easy to paint up with enough detail to warrant the extra time I spent on them. The heraldic transfers are a quick and easy alternative to painting them yourself. I have another similar set to this, depicting a member of the Beauchamp family, which I will attempt to finish before the end of the year. It is my intention to record the making and painting of these models and eventually post the results on YouTube via the Wargaming For Fun site.

Update

After I mentioned to my brother that all of the sons of William Marshall had died without issue he asked if anyone one else carried these arms. I assumed that they did because they represented the arms of the Marshall of England. After a short bit of research (i.e. Google & Wikipedia) I found out that these became the:

'Arms of "Bigod Modern": Per pale or and vert, a lion rampant gules, adopted by Roger Bigod, 5th Earl of Norfolk, after 1269 following his inheritance of the office of Marshal of England from the Marshal family, of which these had formerly been the armorials.' (Wikipedia).

Given that the armour, particularly the helmet, is more suitable for the mid to late 13th century this figure is more appropriate to represent Roger Bigot, Earl of Norfolk.

King Edward I, Curteys Miniatures

Seeing as he was born this day in history (in 1239 to be precise) I thought it would be appropriate to post this model which represents English King Edward I. 

Perhaps best known now for being responsible for building a chain of some of the most impressive castles in Britain. Conway, Caernarfon, Harlech and Beaumaris castles still stand and dominate the landscape seven hundred years after their construction. 

I could write several posts about Edward each one detailing his involvement in the Baron Wars, both the Welsh and Scottish Wars, castle building, crusades, treatment of the Jewish population, the Eleanor Crosses. However all this information is available and better written online and in books, a particular good read is "A Great and Terrible King: Edward I and the Forging of Britain." by Marc Morris.

If anyone is curious as to why the surcoat is left plain white it's because I based the model on the illustration of Edward from Christopher Rothero's book, published by Osprey, Scottish and Welsh Wars 1250 - 1400. This image, I believe, is taken from the Great Seals of Edward which shows the king in a plain surcoat.

The model is from the Feudal Medieval - Western Europe range from Curteys Miniatures

The heraldry is from Wargame Transfers by Battle Flag details:

EDI/01 28mm Medieval Mounted Knight King Edward I Transfer Kit and Standard.
The technical description for the King's heraldry is 'Gules three lions passant gardant in pale or.'

Useful online references for Edward I:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_I_of_England

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/edward_i_king.shtml

Hugh (not quite) Poyntz, Crusader Miniatures & Curteys Miniatures

These models were supposed to represent Hugh Poyntz as part of my old 'Shaftsbury' series (if you can't remember, more details can be found here & here). I say supposed because it was whilst browsing through the excellent Brian Timms heraldry website - which you can find (here) I chanced upon the name of a certain Hugh Poyntz. It's such an unusual surname that I recognised it straight away as one of the names featured on the tiles from Shaftsbury abbey. I have already painted, quite a while back now, several knights to match these tiles including the figures shown here.

Unfortunately, well for me at least, is that fact the Timms site also shows colour illustrations of the coat of arms for the knights and said that Poyntz is 'Barry of eight or and gules' or in plain English 'red and yellow horizontal stripes'. 

From the note at Shaftsbury Abbey museum:
Poyntz

Arms: Barry of eight (eight horizontal bars)

The title probably commemorates either Sir Nicholas Poyntz who married Elizabeth, namesake of Dame Elizabeth, the last Abbess, who surrendered the Abbey in 1539; or his son Hugh who served in the Scottish wars and married Margaret Paynel of Brook, Westbury, Wiltshire; or their son Nicholas. There is a family chapel in Sutton Poyntz near Weymouth dating from the 13th century. 

Curteys Miniature

Unfortunately, well for me at least, is that fact the Timms site also shows colour illustrations of the coat of arms for the knights and said that Poyntz is 'Barry of eight or and gules' or in plain English 'red and yellow horizontal stripes'. 

Now some eagle eyed readers may have already noticed a slight discrepancy here. Yep, because I didn't check the accurately of the museum's display I've painted the model the wrong bleedin' colours. Doubts should be been raised as traditionally black cloth was very expensive to produce during the medieval period. However as I've not a complete rivet-countering anorak I'm not overly concerned. These figures are generally used to play skirmish style games loosely set during Second Baron War and the Welsh wars. I'm not limiting myself to characters that took part in these campaigns (which in itself can be quite difficult to research). I often just paint figures that I find interesting and attractive such as Peter of Dreux. Despite the figure looking quite striking I will probably paint another figure to match the historical Poyntz as he seems an interesting character. Plus it's quite similar to the heraldry of the Harcourt family which may add to the confusion (and fun) on the tabletop.

The mounted knight is from Crusader Miniatures and the knight on foot is a from Curteys Miniatures.

Crusader Miniature

Roger de Somery, Baron Dudley, Curteys Miniatures

This figure represents the local (to me at least) Baron of Dudley, Roger de Somery. 

Shield of arms for Sir Roger de Somery:
Or two lions passant azure.

Usefully, due to the lack of imagination when it came to thinking up original Christian names, this chap can represent a Roger de Somery throughout the 13th century. There are three barons named Roger de Somery, all associated with Dudley Castle. The cycle was finally broken by John who was apparently a Robber Baron (or a "bad 'un" as my nan would have said). At his death the Dudley estates passed, through marriage, to the Sutton family.

• Roger de Somery I (d.1225),
• Roger de Somery II (d.1272),
• Roger de Somery III (c.1254-1291),
• John de Somery (1280-1322).

Whoever controlled Dudley Castle were referred to as being King's Men, in the sense that they generally remained loyal to the king (although there are a few notable exceptions). 

In this short post I'm going to try briefly focus on the two later Rogers of the family. It was Roger de Somery II who supported King Henry III during the Barons' revolt, fought (and was captured) along side the King at the Battle of Lewis in 1264. As a reward to his loyalty he was granted permission to castellate his mansion (i.e. turn it into a castle).

Both the second and third Somery's took part in Edward I's campaign against the Welsh Prince Llwelyn ap Gruffudd and his brother Dafydd. After their deaths, another (one of the many during the late 13th century) revolt flared up this time lead by Rhys ap Maredudd of the Welsh royal house of Deheubarth in 1287-88. The English response was led by Earl Edmund of Cornwall as his brother, King Edward I, was overseas at the time. There were several notable sieges including that of Dryswlyn and Newcastle Emlyn castles with de Somery serving under the command of Roger Lestrange.

I have to admit I find it quite difficult keeping track of the Welsh princes and their actions. Not only because I find the names are difficult to pronounce but also because when the Welsh weren't fighting the English (and also fighting with the English), they were fighting amongst themselves.

I will hopefully go into more detail of this small slice of history in the future as I want to make it the basis of a gaming campaign using the forthcoming Lion Rampant rules from Osprey Publishing. So Rhys ap Maredudd may rise again and change the course of history.

The figure itself is from Curteys Miniatures from their 'Feudal Medieval - Western Europe' range.

The heraldry is hand painted and may initially look a bit odd particularly the lions. However it is based directly on the stained glass shaped heraldic medallion John de Somery which can be seen (Here). This glass is probably from the chapel, the remains of which can still be seen at Dudley Castle.

If you fancy your own piece of miniature family history, please feel free to entry my special give-away competition, details of which can be found (Here).

As today is the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings I'd like to dedicate this post to my granddad Perks who died before I ever got a chance to really know him.

Like a great number of other veterans he never talked about the war to his family, including my dad obviously, even when asked. Funnily enough my dad said the only thing his dad mentioned about the war was that he spilt boiling water down his leg in an attempt to dodge taking part in the landings, the punch line being that he was sent anyway. I now believe this was his light-hearted attempt at avoiding talking about his own experiences because I know for a fact he served as a gunner on 25-pounders with the Royal Artillery. He fought all through Normandy, Belgium and eventually was part of the occupying forces in Germany. He always had a family reputation for being some what of a rogue so I suspect he told that story with his usual mischievous look in his eyes, which I can still picture. Anyway, rest in peace Granddad Perks.

Peres de Corbet, Curtey's Miniatures

This colourful little chap represents Peres de Corbet. The model is my first attempt at using a transfer on a medieval figure, which feels like a gift from the heavens after attempting to paint even relatively simply heraldry. I started with him simply because I often visit Moreton Corbet church and castle in Shropshire where you can still see similar heraldry of the local Corbet family. 

Peter Corbet, according to the excellent Brian Timms website, succeeded his father in 1300 fought at the Battle of Falkirk in 1298 and may have been at Bannockburn, 1314. He may have also been present at the Battle of Boroughbridge, 1322 dying the same year. This model isn't quite 'right' in the terms of that he needs more plate armour on his legs and arms, although he may have been a slightly less off. It's probably more appropriate to represent his father (Thomas?).

The figure itself is from Curteys Miniatures from their 'Feudal Medieval - Western Europe' range. 

The transfer for this figure is from Battle Flag (Wargame Transfers) : 'EDI/07 28mm Medieval Mounted Knight Peres de Corbet Transfer Kit and Standard Waterslide transfer kit for Barding, Shield and figure detail plus archival quality paper flag.' 

This particular model was painted well over a year ago but I will be painting another similar figure soon'ish which I plan to video and will hopefully go online to support Ade's website and YouTube channel. 

If your name is Corbet then you may want to enter my special give-away competition to win a personalised model, details can be (Here). Don't worry even if your name isn't Corbet as I will be painting a model to suit the winner's surname.