Favourite troop types

Like, I suspect, a number of people, I have favourite troop types.

As a child, it was French Napoleonic Cuirassiers, inspired by the Airfix set we all no doubt had loads of at one time or other. I like cuirassiers of all sorts in truth, and heavy cavalry in general, but the French heavies are still a big favourite. Moving on through life, along came Spartiates, Sassanid clibanarii, Swiss pikemen, Indian elephants and, the subject of this little feature.....

Janissaries!

What more could any guy want? A horde of well-trained, well-armed, disciplined regular troops fired by that extra-special religious fervour borne of the convert, equally able to shoot you down or hack you to death in the ensuing charge. And they look so cool!!! I want a zerkulah!!!!! (That's the hat, by the way).

The figures are again Old Glory, from pack OXT 8 I think. The 30 figures include 6 command figures, 2 each of musicians, standard bearers and officers, which very nicely provides 3 drilled units for Donnybrook plus enough characters to give some good options to accompany them.

So, here are the first of the Janissaries, with more to follow if you count those in the picture (11 missing from the pack of 30, you see!) I wonder if I will ever get around to the Sassanids and Spartiates......

G

Lots of figure variety again to start with, with heads at different poses, arquebusses at different angles and so on. Add in my usual different sash colours, sash patterns, hair colour, undergarment colours, arquebus colours and patterns and I have my desired variety.

I like different metal and leather colours too. Janissaries could famously choose whatever weapons they wanted from the armoury before leaving for campaign, so variety was a given.

A variety of sash colours and patterns, as well as undershirt colours.

And patterns on weapons to add some detail.

The three command to go with the blue Janissaries. I should probably have gone to town on patterning the officer's robes...

New Project Time!!!

With the success of our Kirkburn Bridge offering at WMMS still fresh in mind, we Wyrley Retinue bods were not keen to rest on our laurels and put our heads together for 2015's excuse for a day out at a show. Inspired as usual by the relevance of the year to some 50th/ 100th anniversary or other, we plumped for.....

Malta, 1565. (450 years ago next year if you can't do the maths after a tough day at work...)

No, we will not be doing the siege, but the game will be an amphibious assault set in that theatre in that time, much like Kirkburn wasn't actually Bannockburn, but that theatre, etc.

I got the figures to do, all 300+ in the eight months or so till December, whilst Nephews N & P are sorting out terrain. We have been trialing "Donnybrook" as a ruleset which, with our house tweaks, we are quite pleased with. Loads still to do, but since I started the figures in the middle of March, I have so far managed a total of 83, the first of which I show for you here.

I had a very slight head start in that I bought a number of bags of Turks for yet another stalled project many years ago at a Partizan show. I also acquired a handful of Border Reivers at the same show, both lots of figures languishing on the slopes of the lead mountain ever since. All 83 painted specimens so far have been mined from the mountain and I have another 50 or so to go before I need more purchases. That is excepting the various conversions I have attempted from Perry Mahdists, some spare plastic musket arms, drawing pin head shields, the odd ACW zouave, etc, which puts me up to around 150 effectives so far.

So, first up are some Old Glory North African Marines.

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All figures for the project will be singly based to allow for maximum flexibility of use in what will be a grand skirmish in effect, but also to allow them to rank up on movement trays for more conventional games.

Two shy Berbers....

These are of the solid and dependable category of wargames figures and highly suitable for such a project IMO.

As is customary in even my most uniform of armies, I like to ring some changes in pose, hair colour and skin colour where appropriate. I think I used five different ways to get skin tone on these 31 figures, each giving something slightly different.

The dentists in Algiers must be good...

"How do you play this £$&%*& thing?"

A little more variation is afforded by simple patterning of clothes and sashes.

Kirkburn Bridge at WMMS, 9th March, 2014

Hi all.

Two posts in two days!!! Things are looking up on the computer availability front!

Pretty much as many pics as I took of the Wyrley Retinue game at the WMMS show last weekend. In between talking, playing, shopping, eating. drinking and generally having a great day out, I probably missed loads of cool picture opportunities, but here i what I do have, warts, dodgy photography and all!!!

We hope to be at Phalanx at St Helen in June if they will have us. Come and say "Hello!" if you can.

Two shots of the table, the Kirkburn itself in the foreground, Hereford crossing via the marshy ground to the left of shot and Gloucester over THE Kirkburn Bridge. Pembroke and Edward are top left and the Scots in an arc top right. My attempt at a backscene top of picture. The whole set up was 10 feet by 6 for this outing.

Moray's command formed the Scottish right, under the guidance of Nephew Paul. The flags of Sutherland, Stewart, Atholl, Moray, Caithness, Ross, Keith, Douglas, the "auld blue blanket" and Randolph, Earl of Moray himself are all visible. It seemed a tactical error to set up in a big column, but, as the game went on, Paul was able to feed in fresh units as the first line was beaten to hold and then beat Pembroke's command.

McDonald held the Scots centre and Carrick the left. Robert Bruce shadows his brother's command on the rise at the back.

Gloucester's troops advance on the English right, eager to come to blows with Carrick (until the dreaded command dice rolls came through!). My brother, Kev, a very infrequent wargamer, did us the honour of commanding Gloucester's troops for the day. We scions of the fair city of Glevum stand together against those northern rebels!

Hereford' command had furthest to go to reach the Scots, so their command rolls were crucial. They never made it into combat........

Pembroke's advance across the far loop of the Kirk Burn went well initially, but then those command rolls came into play again...

Angus Og McDonald's hairies, with Highlanders backed by Islesmen and flanked by rabble archers, the man himself at the back. These fellows played to form and went hell for leather at Pembroke's command.

The Scots left shakes out into line to face Gloucester and Hereford.

A brutak encounter between the Royal Spearmen and the Highlanders was going the way of the hairies until Pembroke launched his knights in to support along with his archers and himself. Though the spearmen were disordered, the hairies could not stand against such numbers and were beaten, but the damage to the Royal Spearmen was irrevocable and crucial to the later stages of the game.

The Gascon crossbowmen did a sterling job of holding the Scottish spears at bay whilst Percy's retinue lined up for a charge and the rest of the command took on McDonald.

Keith and Douglas were keen to enter the fray, but had to wait their chance as the Scottish foot slogged it out.

The kirk of Kirkburn Bridge. I scratch built this one from card, foam board and scribed tile grout for the stonework. I do not normally like making buildings or kits, but enjoyed this little project immensely. The looters and civilians are Foundry figures.

The Scottish left in place quietly waiting for the onslaught of Gloucester and Hereford.

The Scots had flank charged Pembroke's archers, who gamely held, but their own flank was too tempting for Percy, who promptly smashed it and them! Even Edward wanted a go!!! The battle on this wing was very finely balanced.

Gloucester's cavalry is finally ready to get stuck in.

Cressingham gets there first though, but is beaten by the Scottish peasant unit standing uphill to receive their charge across the small stream. Even Gloucester could not sway this fight towards the English.

Just a quick shot of the hall as we went up to eat.

Double prizes!!! As you can probably see, we came away with 3rd Place Display Game and Best Painted Army trophies!!!

Ross and Caithness advance into the ebb and flow of battle with Pembroke' command.

And that is it. Pembroke's command finally broke when the Islesmen, led by McDonald, firstly hit Percy stationary and broke his cavalry and then launched into the flank of the Gascons, breaking them too. Crucially, the Royal Spearmen were unable to charge the flank of the Islesmen first because they failed a command roll!!! Edward was captured so England will be held to ransom for many a generation to come!!! We grudgingly gave the fight to the Scots and headed for Berwick.........but revenge will be sweet. A great day out and a great game had by all.

Thanks to all of you who took the time to come and say "Hello!" It was great to meet Ubique Matt and others who have shown interest in what we are trying to do. Thanks for all the kind comments and feedback.

For those who did not figure it out, the name "Kirkburn Bridge simply derives from the tail elements of Falkirk, Bannockburn and Stirling Bridge. We tried to include elements of each battle, as well as of the wider flavour of Anglo-Scots warfare at this time.

G

Has It Really Been Three Months???

Yes it has indeed!!!

A combination of dodgy computers, limited time and workload has rendered the blog a long way down the "to do" list, but I have not been entirely idle. After our outing with Kirkburn Bridge in December, I have managed one whole game of AK47 Republic but did manage to complete four more units, not to mention some civilians and some terrain upgrades, including a church (for the "Kirk" in Kirkburn) and a backscene.

Well, WMMS is now two days ago and a jolly good time was had by the team. We took photos aplenty which will be posted soon, but first, some overdue shots of some of the newer stuff.

I had to borrow a laptop to even post this, but hope to get up and running soon.....

G

Percy's Retinue - Andrew de Astley far left, the Henry de Percy, William de Grandison, Robert Tregoz, Hugh le Despencer and John de Hastings. The far corner is William Vavassour and the "argent two chevrons gules" is Ralph Grendon.

Astley, Percy and de Grandison in close up.

And ditto for Tregoz, Despencer and Hastings.

Another couple of my calico standards/ banners.

Percy's standard in close up.

As usual, the figures are Fireforge plastic Teutonic Knights and Mounted Sergeants.

Smile Sir Hugh....

And another unit of Scottish spearmen, Annandale/ De La Haye. These are also converted from Fireforge plastics, but with two Old Glory dismounted knights in the front rank. 

The English nobility's view of the opposition.

The Annandale flag to the fore, with De La Haye behind.

Kirkburn Bridge c1314 - Wargamer Show, 01/12/13

Hi all.

Some very yellow pictures for you of last weekend's inaugural outing for Kirkburn Bridge - the lighting is terrible at the venue unfortunately. It was often an afterthought to take a picture or two, so busy were we fielding comments, questions and actually playing the game!!! Thanks to all those who took the time to come and see our little offering. We hope you enjoyed what you saw and heard and that we will see you again soon at another show.

The photos at least show that I do occasionally finish figure bases and I even steered away from my usual protective gloss varnish, to good effect I feel. Now, I must invest in another pot of Basetex, some more tufts and static grass before the next scenic session...

G

Terrible photo, with The Last Valley's sundry boxes in the background, but this was the only shot I got of the sole Scots cavalry unit, Douglas/ Keith.

Quite why Paul deployed them like Napoleonic cavalry is beyond me, but these Scottish spearmen do look good en masse.

The first of the Hairies (with dog). The Sean Pertwee film "Dog Soldiers" is set in Scotland, but the mastiff in this unit is entirely coincidental.

Robert the Bruce chivvying along some peasants.

Gloucester's command ford one of the rivers, headed by his Welsh archers and skirmishers.

But his knights, frustrated by the congestion ahead, turn right along the river bank to find room for some devastating lance action. 

Shropshire spearmen and Hereford.

A very jaundiced view of Hereford's attempt to get his knights across the other river.

The Islesmen and Cressingham's clash, victory going to the Hebrideans after a stern fight. However, subsequently pinned to their flank by the Welsh skirmishers, they fell prey to a shattering charge from Clifford's cavalry who were bringing up the rear of Gloucester's column.

The Highlanders smash into Gloucester's Welsh archers, whose arrows fail to stop them. The results were predictable and the Welsh fled the field. The Scottish centre is in the background as it moves forward to confront Hereford's command.

Clifford' retinue, fresh from slaughtering Islesmen, charges headlong into some Ettrick archers and promptly smashes them too.

De Monthermer's knights from Gloucester's command finally come to blows, but the Highlanders hold.

The Scots centre is in trouble, with open flanks and roaming English knights.

Edward Bruce tries to shore up the Scottish centre and launch the Mar/ Fife spearmen back into the fray......

.....where Hereford's fresh units of foot and cavalry await.

Pembroke's command formed the right of the English forces, trying also to cross the river to confront Moray's command.

Moray's command lie in wait on the Scottish left. (I am not sure if that crack is an earthquake caused by the thundering English knights, a ditch dug for their own protection by the Scots or someone leaning on the boards...)