An Englishman's tower is his home

No pictures of the knights, no camera :(

I do have some pictures of my latest finished terrain piece, a medieval tower. Based on a Norman keep, i read that wooden castles were used lots in the 14th century so i'm sure some would still be around in the 15th.

It's made up of two pieces, a lower section and the roof section. The figure is shown for scale (it's about 8 inches/20 cm high).



It is made from a shell of thick cardboard, which i covered in scrunched up newspaper and slapped on with the aid of wall paper paste. The beams are thin card.

I then painted it white, then the beams and floor boards brown, using darker paint on the beams and thinned down lighter paint for the floor boards. For a weekend's work, it's not too bad (and it's cheap).

Inside the hall. It will be filled with tables, tapestries, weapon racks and other stuff, all loose so it can be used elsewhere. In the top right corner of the photo is the trap hole to the ground floor where the stores are kept. The room is about 7''x6'' (18x15 cm), i tried to keep it about the right size of a castle in Italy, the name i can't remember but it's in one of our many books.

And now for the upper section. When put together the door is accesable by a ladder, but when used alone the top part makes a convincing strong house. I painted studs on the door, easier to do. There is another hatch on the top floor that leads to the chambers (this is what there would be in real life, on the model it's just an empty space).

In the backdround you can see the laptop for pictures and music, and the oblicatry tea mug! No man should be without tea at work! It's probably why I tire early at lycée...

By next week I will have some pictures of the famous knights, and i will do another AAR report, perhaps centred around the stronghouse. I do have a scenario in mind, but that's for another post.

Finally!

Woke up today and thought the world was really against me; i expected my figures to arrive, but the roads were flooded. FLOODED, in May in the south of France! So, as i waded through water to get back from lycée this afternoon, i really thought i would have to wait longer...
However, i doubted the courage of the brave post lady, who fearlessly delivered the parcel (give her a medal!) and i was happy :)
Needless to say, i got straight to work, snipping and trimming and cutting (both the plastic and my finger), so far have done 4 horse, including a converted scout and 2 armoured foot, photos either this evening (unlikely) or later this week. Right, i'm off to make more men!

Weekend update

Haven't painted much recently so i did a man at arms. I decided to do a bit more detailing and highlighting than usual and painted the eyes.

Click on the images for a bigger view. 

 Some of you might notice he is a bit different. That's because i swapped his legs with the body armoured in a breast plate. Now that body is standing and this chap is walking, sword ready and helmet pushed up.

Still need to do the base, but that can wait.

I have also been planning what i will build with the mounted men, and settled on creating some French lances, about 6 in total which adds up to 24 men. Each lance had a Gen d'arms, a lesser man at arms or squire, and two mounted archers or crossbowmen. I will build up the boxes in lances, coverting mounted archers or using foot ones from the foot box i have. Let's hope they arrive soon!

The rescue, AAR

England. The land is in turmoil and civil war. Lords settle feud through arms and Englishman fights Englishman for power, gold, and just for a scrap.

We are in northern Staffordshire (or there abouts) and a band of men wearing Warwick's badge are marching through the land. They have taken two men captive and locked them in one of the houses, why is uncertain but whatever they reveal could ruin Lancastrian plans in the Midlands. A band of men, under the captain John Brooke set out to save them.

The prisoners are being held in a hamlet, far from any towns as not to attract suspicion...

John Brooke and his men dash up, covered by some archers who keep the Yorkists down.

'You men, charge that way!' Yorkist arrows greet the Stafford men, but they fail to find their mark. 

The bill men storm the fence and John leads another man into the courtyard, but what's that in the distance? 

Yorkist reinforcments start to arrive! 

As John charges in, the archers turn their fire to the Yorkist reinforments (to the right). 

A man reaches the first cottage; empty.

Fighting continues in the courtguard, with the Lancastrians coming off worse because of numbers. 

The Yorkist archers let loose arrows, few hitting but convicing John Brooke that the game's up. He calls a retreat and leads his remaining men into the woods.

I would have included more pictures but they refused to load -.-
The terrain is scratch made and now i finally have a 4' by 4' table! (before it was 4 by 3). And my shop has finally got some Perry knights in, so i'll be getting them pronto. Be here monday perhaps, but i can wait a few more days. Lots of conversion ideas in mind :D

The rescue, preview

A teaser of my AAR to come soon. Stay connected...

A peaceful hamlet in the English countryside, and a band of Yorkist men guarding the prisoners...

The Lancastrians, from Staffordshire, leap from the woods and attack.

John Brooke, the Lancastrian captain, gets ready to dash to the farm...

Incoming supplies

Alright, i am flly stocked up on hobby suppies: glue, paint, and dowel for a pallisade and ship's mast. Been converting some WOTR foot, swapping a pair of legs, but i have no camera! Pictures will have to wait.
I feel that some thatching shall be done this weekend, as well as finishing a special terrain piece... More news upon completion. I still don't have my perry knights, i'm being very patient but seeing others do such amazing conversions and paint jobs make me impatient. Next week, i hope.
So ends a (very) short post, hope to put some pictures up second half of next week. Happy gaming!

Ships and halls, and little men

End of holidays and back to lycée this week, so i will be posting less recently than during the holidays. Never the less i will try and do at least one post a week. And so, i present you with the fruits of this weeks labour.

I have been waiting patiently for my store to get some Perry knights in, but alas they do not have them yet. I've got loads of conversion ideas and i'm itching to do them, but i will have to wait a little longer.

First up are some 6mm figures i made last week and painted up on wednesday. Yes, i made them for no real reason, just an experiment really with the miliput. I might make a small force to use with Impetus or DBA, as they are easy to make and easier to paint. So far, i've made 12 generic combat armed men, some wearing some plate armour (the ones not carrying shields)

This weekend however, i did not feel like making little men, so i decided to start on a long boat. I had drawn up some plans a while ago and decided to make something today. Besides, whats a viking without a boat. Here i have a WIP pic of a smaller trading vessel; a proper longship is in the pipe line but i thought to make a more modest model first.

Planking done a drying, now the inside to do and the mast.

I have also put together some tables and benches for my dark age hall, as well as a wall to seperate the chief's room. This is another project that i've been meaning to do for some time. A lick of paint later and they'll be ready (by my standards at least!).



Right, back to my ship!