Retinue of William Heron, Baron of Hadstone

Just put the finishing touches to a second retinue for Barons War, William Heron. This is my second Northumbrian Baron as this is the area of focus for our games. All that was needed was a few more serjeants, both on foot and mounted. This is a smaller retinue than the first I completed as the intention is to use them as allies to expand into larger games.

The figures used for this force are a mix of Wargames Atlantic, Fireforge, Conquest and Footsore miniatures. They all mix well together. The only other thing I've painted up is a set of 3d printed Chevaux de frise supplied by Thom. These will be perfect for one of the games this coming weekend for a siege layout.

In all sixteen pieces provided which should be more than enough,

Retinue expands

Over the weekend I managed to add a few more troops to my second retinue. I added a unit of six archers and a couple of extra crossbowmen. The archers are a mix of bodies from Fireforge with arms from the Wargames Atlantic serjeants sprue. Once again I kept to the uniformed colours of the rest of the retinue.

For this retinue I already had knights with two handed weapons, so I wanted to add the option to field them with sword and shield. I also took the opportunity to create a figure to use as a Bishop, this is one of the upgrades for a command group. The three knights are all from Wargames Atlantic. The Bishop is from the Fireforge Templars boxed set.

The shields were all done by hand using the acrylic pens. These are such a boon and I picked up a good selection of colours for future use. 

Looking at this retinue as a whole I have six more serjeants to paint up to bring the two units I have up to eight figures. I also received the horses I needed to build up 3 more mounted serjeants to complete that unit. 

A second retinue

As I'm really enjoying painting these figures, I decided to build up a second full retinue. This time for William Heron, Baron of Hadstone. Thankfully there is no known heraldry for him, so I went for a cream/white background and a simple light blue stripe. I think it looks quite effective.

Earlier in the week I completed 2 serjeants from Wargames Atlantic, a mounted serjeant from Conquest miniatures and 2 knights from Footsore as part of a command retinue.

The next batch of figures I completed had their bases finished today. These included William Heron himself, a banner man and a third knight for the command retinue. I also added a few crossbowmen and a couple more serjeants with spears.

The retinue so far

The only other thing I managed to complete was some additional wattle fences. These are 3d resin prints provided by Mitch. I just added craft sticks for bases to make them a bit sturdier

Looking at the painting table I have 3 more knights and a Priest to complete for the command retinue. I also have a unit of 6 bowmen and some extra serjeants to round out the other units. I still have a few plastic figures left but I'm undecided on what to do with them.

Retinue Completed...I think

I finally got the last 2 units completed for my Baron's war retinue, the slingers and mounted serjeants. The slingers are the plastic peasants from Wargames Atlantic These are lovely figures and so easy to paint up.

The mounted serjeants are from Conquest miniatures. I really like these mounted figures as they are easy to put together and paint up. In keeping with the rest of the retinue I kept the shields to the dark red and cream combination.

After these were done I decided I wanted to add another small retinue. I will not need any peasants as I should have enough to cover a couple of retinues. I just need a few options on the serjeants and knights. I also decided to keep the shields uniform for this retinue. My idea being they can be a retinue of a Lord who is a loyal retainer of my Baron. So I'm thinking only around 300 points of troops. These can be combined with my Barons troops for larger games.

The first group of serjeants are done. The shield design is a simple cream with a pale blue stripe. A nice contrast to my Baron. The figures are a mix of Wargames Atlantic and Fireforge.

I did try to add some chips and worn marks to the shields, to highlight these troops are seasoned fighters. Think they turned out okay. The only other item I painted up was the cart I picked up from Iron gate scenery. Quick and easy to paint up.

I've also picked up a few more pieces of wattle fencing off Mitch which I'll need to get painted up in readiness for the games on the 18th.

The Retinue nears completion

As I gear up towards a club weekend gaming the Barons War, I made a bit more progress on my own retinue. I had already added a couple of crossbowmen and serjeants to round the units out. This time I added a few more peasants and some serjeants with spears and large shields.

I'm pretty happy with the retinue. I have quite a few options which will give me some flexibility in designing forces. I still have a unit of slingers to add as well as some mounted serjeants. Then I may start on a second smaller retinue.

The beauty of the peasants is that they can be used in any retinue or even as a stand alone force as outlaws, hmmm maybe a Robin Hood force? The other thing I did was create some morale tokens with spare shields and dice holders. The first 8 I did were in my Baron's colours.

On Thursday night I actually got to play a game instead of umpiring. It didn't go well as Sean's peasants ran off with the prized goose we were fighting over. A few photos from the game.

Expanding the retinue

So after completing my Baron, William de Vesci and his banner man, I decided to expand his retinue. I also made the decision to use a themed colour scheme. I went with a dark red and cream to match my Baron. My thinking is that these troops will all be retainers from his estates. For more professional troops like veteran serjeants I will use figures already in my collection.

The first additions are 2 groups of serjeants. The first carry the bill and the others are armed with the falchion. I have one of these earmarked as a serjeant at arms when the retinue expands further. I already have 2 serjeants with bills in this colour scheme so that is handy.

Serjeants with bill

Serjeants with falchion

I've got another 2 serjeants with falchion on the painting table as well as a group armed with spears and larger shields. For some ranged firepower I completed a group of Crossbowmen and archers. The crossbowmen are a mix of Fireforge and metal figures from Footsore. For the archers I wanted them in some armour as the rest in my collection are all unarmoured. For these I used spare bodies from Fireforge with the bows from Wargames Atlantic peasant levy.

Crossbowmen

Archers

So that is 22 figures added to the retinue. I've another 7 figures which are being based up and another 9 in various stages of being painted. 

I've ordered another sprue of peasants as I want to equip them with slings, this will allow me to cover all the options. There is also another sprue of mounted serjeants from Conquest miniatures on its way to add some mobility to the force. Now I need to cut up some teddy bear fur in various shapes for fields.

Border Reiver 2025

On Sunday the club put on a Chain of Command game for the Border Reiver show. Sean did a superb job and managed to get through 2 games on the day, with the Americans and Germans taking a victory each.

Sean's new Chateau was a superb centre piece to the game. The game did seem well received with plenty of visitors. I though, took the opportunity to have a mooch around the show and pick up some loot, mainly around my latest project of the Barons War.

I picked up a 3d printed cart and trade goods from Iron gate scenery, walls from Last Valley, bases from Pendraken as well as some grass tufts, dice tray, paints and weathering powders. I also picked up a box of Fireforge serjeants as I obviously needed more of them.

Back at the club I ran another learning game of Barons War. Same terrain, different scenario and the battle fought in a different area of the table. It was also the first use of mounted troops on both sides, they didn't last long.

Now I await some dry weather to get some figures painted.