Lion Rampant IX

To face the mounted men at arms i completed for Sir Henry Bodrum's retinue I decided to push on and finish a unit for his opposite number Sir Robert de Groucey.  As for the first unit I completed, I went for a mix of Knights and men at arms, all figures are from the Fire forge range.

For Sir Robert i added a couple of shield transfers from the old Bretonnian range, then painted over them as they were white and wanted them in yellow to match his colour scheme.

For the standard bearer I utilised a paint package and some clip art to produce something relevant. I didn't like how the yellow turned out so have given it a rough re paint, which I think looks better. Still not 100% happy with the flag and may change it.

These guys have now finished off the retinue for Sir Robert. I have now turned my attention to completing some more  mounted men at arms for Prince Williams retinue as well as prepping figures for the Fitzwalters

Lion Rampant - Parley and treachery part 1

On Thursday night at the club we managed to start up a second game to follow on from the first. This time there were 4 players but the rules seemed to handle that with no issues.

The scenario sees the Prince William and Sir Henry Bodrum trying to arrange a Parley with Sir Robert de Groucey after their last clash. Sir Robert though has no intention to parley and stalls for time as treachery is afoot. Sir Robert's primary objective is to bring down Sir Henry and thus reduce the number of supporters for the Prince.

The Forces - rebels

Sir Robert de Groucey
Foot Men at arms*
Foot Sergeants
Crossbowmen
Yeoman with mixed weapons

Richard and Malcolm Fitzwalter
Mounted Sergeants*
Mounted Sergeants
Archers
Bidowers

The Forces - Royalists

Prince William
Foot men at Arms*
Expert Foot sergeants
Archers

Sir Henry Bodrum
Mounted Men at arms*
Foot Men at arms
Foot sergeants
Archers

As per the last game we allowed both sides to dice for each unit to move to speed up the game and get down to business.

While Sir Robert and his men advanced towards their enemy, both Sir Henry and Prince William seemed to struggle to get their retinues moving, maybe they sensed the treachery in the air. After much cajoling Sir Henry finally began to advance. His foot men at arms advance through the centre of the town with their mounted counterparts slowly bringing up the rear. Both the archers and sergeants skirted the town to the right.

Just as Sir Henry's archers got into position at the edge of the town they opened fire on the advancing sergeants, killing two and forcing the rest to retreat. On the left the Prince's archers also got into position and loosed a volley at the advancing Yeoman, killing two and forcing them to retreat as well. At this point things were not looking too well for Sir Robert, two of his units were battered and the crossbowmen were refusing to advance.

At this point Sir Roberts' treachery was revealed as the mercenaries Richard and Malcolm Fitzwalter arrived in the rear of the Royalists position. Gearing themselves up a unit of mounted sergeants charged into the rear of Sir Henry and hi mounted men at arms. However the doughty Knight rallied his men for a counter charge, killing 4 for the loss of 3 of his men at arms. He quickly re engaged and felled the last of them but now found himself isolated. The Fitzwalter's then took advantage and charged in with their second unit of mounted sergeants. Despite his valiant efforts Sir Henry was knocked from his horse.

Trying to take advantage of the arrival of the Fitzwalters, Sir Robert quickly advanced into the town at the head of his men at arms. There they were met by Sir Henry's foot men at arms and a bloody melee ensued over a couple of turns with neither side gaining an advantage. Seeing his chance Prince William advanced with his own men at arms to try and cut sir Robert off from the rest of his retinue.

Eventually the rest of Sir Roberts retinue began to advance, obviously inspired by his bravery. This included the crossbowmen who eventually exchanged fir with Sir Henry's archers, forcing them to retreat. Meanwhile the Bidowers and archers belonging to the Fitzwalters slowly moved into position.

As time ran out things are not looking good for Sir Henry's retinue. After taking a bump on the head the rest of his retinue are having a hard time of it. However the Prince's retinue is still largely intact. For Sir Robert things have improved after a shaky start, though casualties are mounting and if it wasn't for the timely arrival of the sell sword  Fitzwalters it could be worse. Next week will be the conclusion

Lion Rampant VIII

Well after making the purchases at the Vapnartak show in York, I thought it was time to put together some mounted men at arms. I've decided to mix the sergeants and Templar's into the same units. This way each unit looks like the Lord and his personal retainers and trusted men at arms. As we know all knights are men at arms, but men at arms are not necessarily knights.

The first unit i have done is to represent Sir Henry Bodrum in my own fantasy game setting. I have to admit I really enjoyed putting these together and even got them 90% complete in one night. Just had to wait for the ink to dry to finish off highlights and such.

I have used a few left over Bretonnian shield transfer to add a little variety to the shields. The flag was put together from a paint package and some clip art. I will go over the green checks again with paint to add a little highlight.

Lion Rampant VII

I've been continuing to add to my retinues by painting up the stock of GW Bretonnian archers i had managed to acquire. First up is 6 archers for Sir Henry Bodrums retinue, bringing them up to full strength of 12 figures (the first 6 were used as Bidowers in the last game)

Archers

I have also made a start on another unit of archers. This time there is no uniform to them. I just went for a mix of greys, browns and greens. This way I can use them as Bidowers for various retinues or combine them into archer units for an outlaw faction. Here are the first 6, the next batch are just awaiting basing.

Archers / bidowers

To help the games run a little smoother I have also begun putting together some unit cards. I hope these will help the games run a little quicker and less referrals back to the book for stat lines.

The rest of them are available here. I will be adding more as I get the various units painted up.

Lion Rampant VI

After Thursdays game I decided to get to work and paint up some more figures for my retinues. First up was a unit of Archers for Prince William. These figures are all the old GW Bretonnian archers, sculpted by the Perries I believe. I went for a basic colour scheme of plain red tunics, no fancy quartering and such like. I wanted them to be professional soldiers in the service of their Prince.

Archers

Archers

I have also completed another 6 archers for Sir Henry's retinue as I will add them to the 6 already completed and field them as an archer unit instead of Bidowers. Once I have finished the bases I will post up some pictures.

Now after our first game the idea came to make some sort of markers to represent units when they become battered. We had used dice but this didn't feel right and often the dice were picked up to roll in following combats. After trawling through the forums I came across this I just had to make my own. I quickly sourced some spare bases and battlefield clutter and set to work.

Basic counters undercoated

A quick paint job later

Basing added

Finished counters

Excluding drying times these took about 10 minutes work each, well worth the effort so I have started on 4 more. I think 10 markers should be enough for most 2 player games.

Today I also had the pleasure top visit York for the Vapnartak show to pick up some more goodies for this project. I bought a box of Teutonic knights and mounted sergeants from the Dave Thomas stand. I also got some unarmoured archers from Curteys that will be useful for my Outlaw faction when I get to it. There were also a couple of pack mules from Irregular which will come in useful for a couple of scenarios I have in mind.

Show loot