Some Archers

.. to whet the appetite whilst I sort out a post on the next batch of cuirassiers.

These form part of my project to convert two HYW armies to Hail Caesar rules, which requires the sixteen figure archer units to be bolstered by a further four figures.

Onwards and upwards ...

Valois light horse

A small unit (in Hail Caesar terms) of Valois light horse.

I might add the odd crossbow in time to allow them to be used as mounted crossbowmen.

Perry Minis painted as part of the Constable of France's retinue c.1415 (flag to follow).

Onwards to Agincourt

Some more pieces for my 1415 armies - 28mm Perry metals as usual.

Plantagenet archers:

 Valois MAA:

And a disordered marker:

Hundred Years War Revisited

This weekend I dropped back from the WotR to do some long overdue work on the final units of my Plantagenet and Valois Hundred Years War armies:

The last of the Valois Knights:

And three more Border Horse to allow the nine man unit to work properly under Hail Caesar Rules:

Mostly Medieval - More news on the Perry HYW Plastics

Hot off the press from the Twins: '...first shots of the Men at Arms for the English Army( Agincourt to Orleans) frame back from Renedra.'

Another batch of revolting peasants from me this week, as well as a random Death Guard Apothecary!

Good news for medieval fans!

I've still enough unpainted metal versions to keep me going for a while yet, but this can only help those looking to build a new and quality medieval army at a competitive price. Then there are all the conversion opportunities :-)

Back to 1812 and even further!

The first squadron of my next Chasseur á Cheval Regiment (4th). Again by Elite Miniatures:

And the first batch of ten civilians to live in my medieval village (Perry Miniatures):

Last unit almost done

Okay, have to be quick as I'm meant to be getting ready to go out ;-)

Last formed unit for HYW English force c.1415 (just the flags to finish):

Got to run...

HYW - Lights, Camera, Action!

Unfortunately my camera skills were not up to the task yesterday. So only two images are even close to being worth posting  :'(

The two armies in all their (slightly out of focus) glory

Much needed medical help for the French after the Mounted Knights are dispersed after becoming entangled on stakes and their dismounted colleagues are whittled down and break before they can make it to the English front line.

Victory to Dr.The Viking  :D

Good run out for the draft HYW lists I'd done for CoE with stakes nerfing the Heavy Horse nicely, pavises providing great protection, and the dismounted Men-at-Arms taking a lot of shooting from two large expert archer units before breaking.

Forcing the English to redeploy and getting those pesky archers out from behind their stakes will make all the difference  ;)

John Holland

John Holland (18 Mar 1395 - 5 Aug 1447) was the second son of John Holland, duke of Exeter and earl of Huntingdon. His father had been implicated in the revolt against Henry IV, was executed for treason in 1400 and all his lands and titles were forfeit. John's elder brother, Richard also died in 1400. As a grandson of John of Gaunt, John Holland junior was Henry IV's nephew and, therefore, Henry V's cousin.

Although only twenty years old, John distinguished himself at the siege of Harfleur and the battle of Agincourt leading a retinue of some 20 men-at.-arms and 60 foot archers. As a result, he was restored in blood, regained the earldom of Huntingdon and was made a Knight of the Garter the next year. He was to go on to become one of the English commanders in the latter part of the HYW, being made Lord High Admiral of England in 1435 and regaining the Dukedom of Exeter in 1439, the same year he was made the King's lieutenant in Aquitaine.

On his death, his son Henry became Duke of Exeter, but two of his natural sons (the 'bastards of Exeter') were to be active members of the Lancastrian cause, but are believed to have fallen at Towton (1461). I think they may well make an appearance in my planned WotR army ;-)

How about now...

Some good guesses, but no correct answers so far:

The heraldry should be a giveaway...

and some more

6 more to join their comrades in the butts:

No correct answers as yet.

So first clue:

His surname was not in England...

and more archers...

Red and Blue livery, umm which captain with these archers be fighting under?

more to follow...

Sir Robert de Umfraville

Sir Robert de Umfraville KG, c. 1363 - 27 Jan 1436

Governor of Roxborough castle 1399
Knight of the Garter 1399

Vice Admiral of England 1410 – 1436

Lord of Redesdale 1421 – 1436

Lord of Kyme 1421 – 1436

Son of Thomas de Umfraville, lord of Redesdale and grandson of Robert de Umfraville, earl of Angus, Robert is perhaps the most famous of all the Umfravilles and certainly one of the most vigorous.  His brother, Sir Thomas fought at Otterburn. Sykes claims that Robert was appointed Vice-Admiral of England by Richard II (1377 -1399), but Hedley believes he attained this position in 1410 and seems to have kept the title for the rest of his life.

In 1399 Robert was made keeper of Roxburgh castle and created a Knight of the Garter after routing a Scottish raid near Fullhope Law. In 1400, Robert smashed a raiding party of 500 Scots who had come to raid, some 200 of whom were slain outright. Hedley says that on his appointment as Vice Admiral, Robert was given command of 10 ships with which he landed troops and plundered the Firth of Forth for 14 days. Also in 1410 he had sacked Peebles and burned down the market town in the company of his 18 year-old nephew Gilbert. In 1414 he was made receiver of customs at Berwick for life and given Warkworth castle as part of the attainder against the Duke of Northumberland.

Robert fought at the battle of Yeavering on 22 Jul 1415 before sailing to France to join Henry V at the siege of Harfleur. He, of course, took part in the battle of Agincourt - perhaps fighting alongside Gilbert with the vanguard and then right hand battle.

Robert would have inherited Redesdale and Kyme on the death of Gilbert at the battle of Baugé in 1421. Robert was the last of his line to hold Otterburn hall and the last Umfraville Lord of Redesdale. Elsdon Pele tower (which dates from the late 14th century) bears the Umfraville coat of arms and the inscription 'R. Dominus de REDE'. The 'R' probably stands for Robert.

Hedley, W. Percy, Northumberland Families, Vol. I (Newcastle, 1968).
Sykes, J., Northumberland and Durham Local Records, Vol. I (Newcastle, 1833).

Some bits and bobs

In between finishing off the Lancastrian HYW army, I'm working through some other bits and bobs from the 'pending shelf'.

This weekend it was some crossbowmen for my Third Crusade army in the colours of the Lusignans.

and a musician and man-at-arms for the Valois HYW army. Hopefully by squeezing these in between the English, I'll have the French finished off this year summer as well.

I also had a splurge of basing, undercoating and lining up the next several months worth of figures. Here's a glimpse of something for later. You never know James, I might even finish off the Sammies!

As another taster, the Umfraville foot are now done and I'll get some photos done later in the week.

Men-at-Arms and stuff

Having found some batteries for the old camera, here are the results of last weekend's work.

First up are some pavises. I did twelve in total for a unit of crossbowmen in the service of Marshal Boucicault c.1414. I bought these pavises long from Front Rank long before the twins had produced the Mercenary box set.

Next up are a couple of men-at arms to finish off a unit of English foot for the same period. I'd originally planned on an eighteen strong unit, but with the new AoA lists and spare figures (one of which was already painted), I took the unit to 21.

Next some more men-at-arms. This time for a new 21-man unit in the livery of Sir Robert Umfraville. there will be more on Sir Robert in my next post when you will see the unit in all its glory! So this is just a taster:

archers 2!

Finished despite an attempt by some nasty bug to bed me down for the last couple of days:


Along with Gilbert de Umfraville, Sir John Cornwall KG (aka Cornewaille, Cornwayl and Cornouayl) was one of the veteran commanders Henry V trusted with his advance guard and was also one of the most respected chivalric figures of his era. He served King Richard II in Scotland, fought for the Duke of Lancaster in Brittany, as well as for King Henry IV against Owain Glyndŵr during the Welsh Uprising. Henry IV made Sir John Cornewaille a Knight of the Garter in 1409. At the battle of Agincourt, Sir John captured Ghillebert de Lannoy, and Louis de Bourbon, Count of Vendôme, whom he ransomed for large sums for money.

Sir Thomas Wenlock was the only knight to be listed on Sir John's indenture for the 1415 campaign and here he is seen leading his lord's archers. Sir Thomas was a long term member of Sir John's military household and can also be found in the indenture for the 1421 campaign

and ouch, just noticed that I got some of his lip colour on the gorget - since sorted  ;)

Archers!

Task 2 on the Guild group build is a unit of 16 seasoned archers to join Sir John Cornwall's retinue. The deadline is Monday evening - plenty of time [ahem].

All under the dutiful eye of Sir John's trusted subordinate, Sir Thomas Wenlock - now where's hie heraldry gone. I know it's around here somewhere...

Gilbert de Umfraville's scurriers - in a oner!

A small unit of nine light horse with full command. Given that my army is based on the Advance Guard from the march to Calais in 1415, I went for Gilbert de Umfraville's livery (to match a unit of dismounted archers under the good 'earl of Kyme' himself).

One figure type was scupted with a crossbow windless. So that obviously had to go and has been replaced by a longbow - well some brass rod wrapped in paper. Gilbert is listed as having 20 men-at-arms and 90 horsed archers at the start of the campaign. Now arguably this definition was possibly driven by how much they were paid and, as no mounted scouts are listed, I think it's reasonable to argue that some of those mounted archers were actually hobilars or scurriers - especially given some of the Umfraville family estates were up on the Scots borders.

These may well also be facing some of the lovely new Claymore Castings' Scots in due course  ;)

The buildings in the background are from the Grand Manner Dark Ages range, but are fine for rural France c. 1415.

Last of the pricklers

Well, finished off last weekend, but I only got around to taking the phots this am. Command base: