More mercs and shiny plate

Photos, photos, photos!

Yes, here are my latest bunch of merry warriors, the scandanavian crossbowmen (i say they're Danes, but whatever goes) and a brave leader urging on his men.

 

Here's the brave chap. I really wanted to paint him as i love the pose. The plume and buckler are red and white, not for any livery reason, just i didn't want to do blue.

 

The crossbowmen. I went a bit to town with these, so to say. Being a member on the Lead adventure forum, i often see Captain Blood's excellent work. I have his tutorial he wrote on my computer and he is why i stepped up my painting. So, the other day i was thinking about how to make my figues look better, and i had the idea to do not three, but five (yes, 5) layers of paint.

 

So, first i did a dark undercoat. The second coat was slightly lighter, leaving shadows in the darkest creases. The third was the main coat, with the next being main highlights and the last picking out thje most raised features.

 

Needless to say, it took longer than usual, but i think they look better, especially the man aiming his crossbow. I did the faces in my usual way (dark layer, brown ink, flesh) but i'm going to give them the three or five layer treatment next time. I also experimented with trouser colours, like the man belwo on the right, using GW bubonic brown (i've had that paint in my paint box for years now!).



Group shot. I experimented with painted armour, not sure if red is a great colour. Makes them look a bit like fire fighters. :/

You might notice they all wear brown jackets, but no badge. It is deliberate, as i wanted them to be coherient, but not be associated with and retinue. That way i can use them with English, French and Burgundians (i'm starting to group my mercs together to field a Burgundian force to fight the French).

It's not all paint! At Stratejeux, Diedier had some simple but effective markers for keeping track of casualties. Inspired, i made some cheap shock markers so i don't have to use dice (once i removed the shock and rolled the die accidently). They're circles of cardboard, and i might add some colour but for now they're servicable.