War of the Roses - the collection so far (Nick)

Day 2 of 2023 and the family photos as promised, rather than any finishes just yet.

Firstly the 100 points of Lord Thomas Stanley's veterans for Never Mind the Billhooks 'Deluxe', including the Ambushing skirmishers:

C-in-C
Veteran Men-at-Arms

Leader I
Veteran Bows
Veteran Bills

Leader II
Veteran Bows
Veteran Bills

Next up the 24pts retinue for Lion Rampant, with the extra bidowers/skirmishers lurking in the background:

Foot Men-at-Arms/ Elite Infantry *with leader
Archers
Archers
Expert Yeomen/Veteran Light Infantry
Expert Yeomen/Veteran Light Infantry

...and now that I've completed more foot knights, the original 'one box' retinue - albeit with a few figures from alternative box sets now:

Foot Men-at-Arms/ Elite Infantry *with leader
Foot Men-at-Arms/ Elite Infantry
Expert/Veteran Archers
Expert/Veteran Archers

Not the excitement of new figures I know, but it was good to get them all out together before putting them away in the cabinet - new figures are happening, and hopefully more finishes on the way soon... dare I hope for that extremely elusive 1-a-day this year??

Never Mind the Billhooks - Men-at-Arms (Nick)

So my second post of the New Year, and back to War of the Roses for Never Mind the Billhooks 'Deluxe' for my final finishes of 2022.

Again Perry Miniatures plastics, and a mix of several 1450-1500 box set components - in fact the last of my War of the Roses collection I already have assembled!

Nothing fancy on these ones, just carefully picked out details and some specific poses - the chap with the white feather was going to be the commander of my original Lion Rampant project, and the pointing leader in charge of a second unit:

These will form a unit of 12 for Never Mind the Billhooks with the last three I finished including the banner bearer, while the first 3 with surcoats form temporary leaders giving me a painted 100 point force + the Ambushing archers - I also get two units of 6 for Lion Rampant as originally planned, even though many of these figures are later additions.

So with these last 9 finishes, that brings the tally for 2022 to 53 finishes - one less than last year but I managed to hit the magic 52+, with 51 of them finished in the last week!!
Hopefully 2023 will see the enthusiasm continue, without such a mad dash to the 'finish line', for a start I need at least one more unit for 130pts at the next Billhooks BASH in April so I best get cracking?

Never Mind the Billhooks - Bowmen (Nick)

Moving on swiftly to the last of my War of the Roses finishes for now with my second unit of bowmen (bows) for Never Mind the Billhooks 'Deluxe' (or Archers for Lion Rampant/LR2), and again plastics from the Perry Miniatures and their Wars of the Roses Infantry set:

Pretty much all the details have been covered in my previous War of the Roses posts, so here is a group shot of them showing the second set of 'bows and bills' in a combined block together:

Well my time away has added 33 finishes in just 3 days, plus another to finish the banner when I got back, bringing the yearly total to 35 instead of the paltry 2 it was this time last week - all good and not nearly so embarrassing, and I'm pushing on like a madman in the last few hours of 2022 to see if I can up the tally still further before the New Year!

These latest figures also mean I can finally field a fully painted 24 point retinue with my War of the Roses project for Lion Rampant with the skirmishing archers as extras - still not quite enough for Never Mind the Billhooks, but I'm working on it... 'family' photo to follow when time and daylight are on my side.

Never Mind the Billhooks - Billmen (Nick)

More War of the Roses from me to head into the finish of 2022 with a flourish, much like 2021.

This time my second unit of twelve billmen (bills) for Never Mind the Billhooks 'Deluxe' (or Expert Yeomen/Veteran Light Infantry for Lion Rampant/LR2), again plastic figures from Perry Miniatures.

Nothing much more to say that hasn't covered in my previous posts, except that these are all built from the War of the Roses Infantry box set and not the conversions of last time - definitely much more robust if rather awkward to rank up:

These twelve bring the yearly total up to 23 finishes, so we're getting there but 52+ seems a long way off still...

Never Mind the Billhooks - Men-at-Arms (Nick)

Next up in the count down to the New Year are another three War of the Roses Men-at-Arms for Never Mind the Billhooks 'Deluxe', or Billux Dillux as it's known.

Again Perry Miniatures plastics, and a mix of several of their War of the Roses sets, further details are covered in the previous Men-at-Arms post with the exception that the banner is one of Pete's Flags excellent examples for Lord Thomas Stanley:

That just puts me into double figures for 2022 finishes and although still only half the required unit of twelve I need for Never Mind the Billhooks, when added to the previous three surcoated men-at-arms is enough for a unit in Lion Rampant.

Never Mind the Billhooks - Skirmishers (Nick)

Now for that end of year push I mentioned... a few days away from home and a specific project on hand means I could finally get those 'should have been finished in February' figures off the work in progress pile, instead of watching endless hours of Christmas TV.

There is a distinct feeling of déjà vu as I go into the last few days of 2022, with more figures for Never Mind the Billhooks from the Perry Miniatures plastic War of the Roses infantry set - although the new book is now available after a 12 month delay so they will now be heading for Never Mind the Billhooks 'Deluxe'!

This time we have a band of skirmishers armed with bows (or bidowers/skirmishers for Lion Rampant/Lion Rampant second edition, which was recently released too!).

There isn't really anything different from the previous War of the Roses figures, although not specifically liveried for Lord Thomas Stanley this time as I see them more as local woodsmen emerging from the undergrowth to harry the enemy before fading back into the shadows - to this end I deliberately selected the least armoured figures I could and chose more muted colours, I also made the bases more fussy to indicate that rough ground/woodland they would occupy much like the bidowers I previously finished for Lion Rampant:

I always wanted this unit for Lion Rampant when that was their original destination, but as if by magic this Special Event card for Never Mind the Billhooks gives them a new purpose ...even if it means they don't see action very often (Burgundian crossbows & handguns being a more solid choice for the main army).

So just six more figures finished, but strap yourselves in as the end of year finishes will follow in quick succession now - but can I hit that magic 52+ target again... a tall order indeed!

Never Mind the Billhooks - Bowmen (Nick)

Following on rapidly from my last post I'm sneaking in 'another' twelve finishes before the New Year arrives, and more War of the Roses... I'm sensing a theme here, and maybe even the faint scent of a fully painted retinue on the horizon?

My first unit of bowmen (bows) for Never Mind the Billhooks (or Archers for Lion Rampant) this time, and again plastics from the Perry Miniatures and their Wars of the Roses Infantry set:

These follow exactly the same process as the previous Billmen and Men-at-Arms, although I forgot to mention that the off-white of the padded, cotton armour and sleeves/leggings is just the white primer with Army Painter Strong Tone ink pre-shading and it seems to work quite well!

Here for good measure are a couple of group shots showing the 'bows and bills' in a combined block together and how they will mostly form up on the WotR field of battle:

Well that's it from me this year, although plenty WIP projects ready for the hope of some early finishes in 2022 including plenty more War of the Roses amongst other things.

These 24 finishes now bring the total for 2021 up to 54 figures onto the 'done' pile and that elusive milestone, at least for me, of 1 figure painted per week with a couple of extras for good measure - quite an achievement for me personally and something I hope I can repeat or even better next year... one a day maybe - we'll see!

Never Mind the Billhooks - Billmen (Nick)

More War of the Roses from me to finish of the year with a flourish.

This time my first unit of twelve billmen (bills) for Never Mind the Billhooks (or Expert Yeomen for Lion Rampant), again plastic figures from Perry Miniatures.

Nothing much more to say that wasn't covered in my previous post on the Men-at-Arms really, except this now brings my yearly total to 42 finished and off the pile of shame:

These are actually built from the Mercenaries box rather than the more usual War of the Roses Infantry box, and are converted using the pikemen arms with cutdown pikes and the alternative polearms heads from the command sprue as suggested on the box as an option.
 - I really wanted to do at least one unit like this as a bit of variety from all the others that will be built using the proper billmen arms, however the 1mm joint is very fragile even with liquid poly cement which should fuse the two parts together!

So the New Year is rapidly approaching... but I might not be done just yet?

Never Mind the Billhooks - Men-at-Arms (Nick)

Another week, and 3 more onto the finished pile... again something different, and the first Men-at-Arms from my War of the Roses collection for Never Mind the Billhooks - a freebie ruleset by Andy Callan that came with Wargames Illustrated issue #393 in September 2020.

The start of this collection was my original 'one box' attempt at a retinue for Lion Rampant as previously mentioned, and although most of that minimal force was built and primed only some was part painted.

The figures are all the excellent plastic WotR figures from Perry Miniatures, a mixture of components from the War of the Roses Infantry, Mercenaries and Foot Knights sets - as are all the figures I have built so far.

These are in fact part of a larger 12 man units for 'Billhooks' (or 2x 6 man units in Lion Rampant), but as the only ones so far wearing surcoats/livery they were singled out and painted separately - they were also used as temporary leaders at the inaugural Never Mind the Billhooks event held at Boards and Swords Hobbies in Derby at the beginning of September before they were properly finished.

The Green and Orange livery stems from my 'orange period' about 5 years ago (see my Concord C3 for Antares) when I was looking to paint things orange as a colour I rarely used - wanting, as usual, to keep my historical figures historically accurate were possible I went looking for any WotR livery using orange (especially as orange isn't a heraldic colour used on medieval knights, so I would be substituting yellow there as we have already seen)
Knowing orange and green are great contrasting colours, that is exactly what I researched to find just one Tawney/Orange livery which belonged to Lord Thomas Stanley... later to become the 1st Earl of Derby, and with this added bonus of local history the decision was made for me!

Being a Yorkist at heart we have to gloss over what Lord Stanley may or may not have done at Bosworth in 1485 to seal the fate of Richard III, however I will gladly field his forces as Yorkist much the same as he did himself mostly but with the still historical option of being temporarily Lancastrian if needs must (although I can't vouch how well he will fight on those occasions?)

The figures originally started for Lion Rampant were primed white and pre-shaded with Army Painter Strong Tone ink, before using a suitably muted orange (Macharius Solar Orange) and green (Knarloc Green) from the old Citadel Foundation paints as the main colours - with the intention of using the famed Army Painter Strong Tone 'dip' as a quick, hard wearing solution to create a pleasing finish.

Things have changed quite a bit since then and I certainly wouldn't have had 48hrs for 'dip' to dry in time for the last minute painting needed for that Billhooks 'BASH', fortunately I discovered Citadel Contrast paints (Gryph-Hound Orange & Creed Camo) that were satisfying close enough with the pre-shading muting the finish slightly and adding depth as well for a much faster finish good enough for the event.

This is now me going back to finish them properly, especially with the recent announcement of the next Billhooks 'BASH' in March and the soon to be released NMTB 2nd edition - using the previous Foundation paint colours as improved highlights where the Contrast paints conveniently indicate, in the hope I can reverse the process to blend in the figures previously started in the old paints.

That's now 30 finishes in 2021, just 5 behind Carl I believe but there are plenty more of these WotR figures to finish if nothing else so hopefully I can continue with a strong finish to the year?