Italian Wars Vignette Hints of What is to Come

Sometime ago I contacted Nick Collier and asked if he would be interested in some conversion work for an Italian Wars vignette idea I was planning on working on. Nick and I agreed that I would paint up some Wargames Foundry Medieval miniatures for him in exchange for the putty work; well worth it as my putty work leaves oh so much to be desired! The original miniature of from Warlord Games, Last Rites - Landsknecht Wounded pack (WGP-LS-40). 

Nick also kindly, and without being prompted, knocked together a wounded Landsknecht for me as well to add to one of my pike blocks. I am utterly over the moon with the results on both miniatures.

Swiss Pike at The Battle Fornovo 1495 Livery Quandary/Question?

I've started speed painting up some Swiss Pike for my long overdue Battle of Fornovo 1495 project. Please excuse the gloss varnish in the picture; the miniatures are patiently waiting another six days before they see any matt varnish. I decided to go for a speed painting method as realistically this was the only way they are ever going to get onto the table top before I kick the bucket! It was a simple choice between speed painting leaving the miniatures to languish in the box or clean them up and start painting! The mini's have been painted in the Canton colours of Lucern and Zug. It seems clear that the Swiss did not fight in their traditional Canton liveries at Fornovo (see below) but a few here and there sprinkled in will not look too out of place. 

I will be putting much more effort into painting the command stands and vignettes but the rank and file will have to make do with what they get for the reasons outlines above. It must be nearly a decade since conception of the project and the one vignette so far is really not doing the job of putting on a display game! LOL

These will be representing the Swiss pike hired by Charles VIII during his Invasion of Italy culminating in the battle of Fornovo. The question I have is what sort of liveries would they be wearing? Given the vast wealth of the Kingdom of France it seems only logical that many of the mercenaries would have been given a livery coat or at the very least a least a sash. Or alternatively would at least some of them have fought in the colours of their Canton? They were certainly hired as Mercenary "bands" It is a question that I find some difficulty in answering to my satisfaction. I think I may have to compromise and go for both interpretations. Possibly have a few Canton liveries at the back of the pike square and something more akin to that of the image below taken from The Italian Wars Volume 1, The Expedition of Charles VIII into Italy and the Battle of Fornovo, Massimo Predonzani, Rahelel Tico, Vincenzo Alberici, Helion and Company 

It does seem that the Swiss were given to more lavish, dare I say garish, clothing during the campaign.

At present I have eight painted up, completed in one sitting, in the colours of the Canton of Lucerne. I will be adding to these while I work out how to go about speedily representing the multi coloured hose and sleeves. 

I am also in a bit of a quandary over whether to add in any Canton banners. There is extant evidence that the Swiss fought under banners supplied by Charles VIII as seen below:

From The Italian Wars Volume 1, The Expedition of Charles VIII into Italy and the Battle of Fornovo, Massimo Predonzani, Rahelel Tico, Vincenzo Alberici, Helion and Company:

They bear them in front of the square shaped flag with a rounded fly end displaying a white cross in the middle on a field of azure and gules (blue and red). These colours do not belong to any of the cantons of Switzerland of the time; therefore, the group of soldiers must be part of a free company. One hypothesis could be that the depicted infantry kept the same banner they bore under the French; in fact the Aragonese and Italians sported the red cross to set themselves apart from their enemies beyond the Alps.

"The Battle of Fornovo", preserved in the National Gallery of Art in Washington (see below), is another iconography depicting Swiss flags of the time. This print is interesting because it accurately portrays the battle; the weapons used and the garments.

The infantry square of the Swiss troops in the pay of France is in the meddle of the scene, and exhibits among the pikemen's ranks five flags with a slightly pointed fly end displaying the cross. However, since the etching is on black and white, the field colours of the flags are not visible.

If anyone reading this has any info regarding the clothing, liveries and banners carried by the Swiss at Fornovo I would love to hear from you. There is a contact form on the right panel of my blog if you wish to get in touch.

Perry Miniatures Converted Mounted Infantry for El Teb New Pictures

This post is an updated amalgam of a few posts from 2015 with new pictures. The lighting wasn't great on the last series of pictures so I took the liberty of retaking the shots and added a number of pictures of the single bases for those interested in the detail.

When starting out on the creation of the unit one thing was clear; if I wanted to field the mounted Infantry as mounted then I was going to have to convert them. I bought one pack of SB40 British Camel Corp Rifles on Hips and one SB39 British Camel Corp Command. It was a more or less straight forward job. First file the space between the poor chaps legs so that they would fit neatly onto the horses and adding in the extra puttees as that part of the models had not been sculpted due to the miniatures having to fit on the camels. I also ordered two packs of the 10th Hussars so they would be supplied with mounts. I used Mike Snooks excellent book and guide to the uniforms of the British, Egyptian and Mahdists from the appendix of Go Strong into the Desert  to gather all the information regarding the uniforms of the Mounted Infantry who fought at El Teb. I was just about ready to go.

I plan on doing 12 dismounted Mounted Infantry for the purposes of well, then they need to dismount on the table top! They will probably be next though I think I have another 12 Beja to complete first from a unit that got caught up in the release of the Perry Plastic Afghan Tribesmen!

The Puttee work:

Overall View of the Infantryman Sitting Neatly on the Horse:

The painting process was quite a long  one (but not laborious) as it was new territory for me and I didn't want to get slip up on this project. In the end I think that they're turned out quite nicely and I have to admit to being a little proud of my efforts.

Pics.....

The Single Bases- Base 1:

The Single Bases- Base 2:

The Single Bases- Base 3:

Back to the Crusades; Horse Caparisons

The putty work was started on this particular miniature well over five years ago and was only recently rediscovered after trawling through a pile of stuff in my bits box! How a mini with delicate putty work ended up in my bits box is a mystery to me. Perhaps I was very hasty in my flight from my previous property? ;>) [Joke]

As soon as I caught sight of the half caparisoned horse and the Perry Miniatures First Crusade Knights sitting in the box it all cam flooding back to me! The Hospitallers, unable to take the withering arrow directed at Richard I's lines finally breaking ranks and hurling themselves at their Muslim foes at Battle of Arsuf! That is what has initially inspired to do the conversions. Then came my four or five year hiatus away from wargaming and the project, neglected was put away- not very carefully I might add!

Regular readers of my blog will know that last November I had started an 11th Century Spanish Reconquista project with a view to putting it on Zalaka/Sagrajas at Partizan that year.  The plans like so many of us had, were scuppered by the arrival of Covid. The project was shelved, which was a real shame as my "Rule of Threes" had kept all my projects running, if not quite on target then at the very least with satisfying consistency. I've made the decision to resurrect the Arsuf project as I will be able to use all the Spanish Muslim units. Also with the new Victrix Normans on the near horizon (see bottom of page for the Victrix pictures) it was high time that I pulled out the putty again and started practising again. Granted, with the Perry Horses being metal the going is more difficult; there is quite a lot of filing which needs to be done to make way for the putty, especially on the head but if I can finish a unit of twelve in time for the Victrix releases I will hopefully have garnered enough skill to keep my enthusiasm on par.

The caparison is a little rough and ready but I am not going to let that put me off. Already the lessons passed on to me by John Morris of Mystic Spirals fame vie the Lead Adventure Forum have been reabsorbed. I have finished the modelling for the shoulder, back, loin and docks of the horse and now have to tackle the rather more fiddly head. I think I have achieved a reasonably smooth surface which is half the battle. I've made a couple of rudimentary mistakes, for example, the horses tail should technically be covered by the caparison but overall, I'm happy with my first serious attempts in five years.

Here are the pictures of the Victrix plastics that will be on their way sometime early next year. They do look spectacular. I am looking forward to filing away at the plastic as opposed to the high grade metal the Perry's use.

More Battle of Verneuil Salute 2011 Pictures (From La Journee Blog)

Credit for these pics and the former must go to Joe Dever, Phil Steele and Ray. without the generosity of these gents I wouldn't have anything to show for our efforts and this blog would be a less happy place. Lesson learnt- always check your camera for the battery before you leave for a show!

Thanks again guys- hugely appreciated given that I forgot the battery for my camera on the day lol