War of the Roses - Bowmen (Nick)

Beware the Ides of March! ...or something like that, although we're nearly into April and alas these are my first finishes of 2023.

I have prepped and assembled quite a few minis so far this year, and at least 'something' every day, but my attempts at painting kept ending in frustration almost like I had forgotten my own techniques - I think maybe some burnout after the frantic end to last year.
In fact these very figures were on the 'naughty step' for a long while until one day some simple base texturing and all was well again.

These metal figures are samples from the c15 Medieval range by Eureka Miniatures on which I decided to try out liveries for my new War of the Roses wards to use in Never Mind the Billhooks Deluxe and make a characterful change from the usual grey plastic from Perry Miniatures:

I have used the same tried and trusted technique as my other War of the Roses figures, using Games Workshop Contrast Paints and some additional highlights over pre-shaded white prime, just substituting alternative colours for the livery to the previous orange and green - by coincidence this will give me four different colourways using eight unique colours.

For those interested, the liveries are (L to R): Sir John Tuchet, Lord John la Zouche & Sir William Hastings all of whom have local connections in one form or another.

So all in all not the start I had hoped for in the New Year, in fact just one figure a month rather than one a day - but hopefully I'm on the road to hobby recovery and more will follow soon.

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?

WAB - Germanic Skirmishers (Nick)

Day 1 of 2023 and here we are with the first post of the year already, ...although as has happened in previous years these are actually 2022 finishes that I didn't have time to post before Big Ben went bong!

We also have a change of tack from the War of the Roses deluge as I was able to quickly get these skirmishers with javelins ready for my Germanic WAB army - back to Wargames Factory plastics again and the usual Games Workshop washes and occasional Contrast paint over a white prime:

As was always the way back in the day I've kept them cheap and cheerful for WAB without any upgrades (and an odd number to play about with the 25% casualties rule).
However other rules sets do equip them as standard with bucklers or shields so I may revisit them in the future to add these, but for now I'm calling them done much in the same way as my javelinmen for Lion Rampant.

In the meantime they may make an appearance in Infamy, Infamy where I only need units of six, so when I finish another nine that will make a healthy 3 units to play with.

With these 9 done that makes 44 finishes for the year but I've been VERY busy in the last 24 hours so...

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.