A 'Light' hearted pun

Well, they don't take as long to do as other units, though that could very well be down to the fact that I have other things that need to be done but really aren't as appealing. The picture doesn't show it that well, but I'm quite happy with the paint job on the horses. Once you take away the armour from the horses and have significant amounts of 'horse' to paint, it ain't too bad or tricky. Certainly more fun to paint than the Silver Helms. Lots of cloth on horse and rider.

Got some heavy cavalry lined up next on the painting table, which could be less fun but I'm willing to give them a go. So far the Perrys have provided excellent minis for painting, I still hold to them being perhaps two of the best historical mini sculptors out there. Not sure where to go after that; maybe try some of their Crusader bishop & clergy models for wizards... 

Duellist not the dullest

Chalk another groan up for that title. A unit of duellists armed solely with a hand weapon each just done - they are quite some models, these pilgrims from the Perry bros. Good variety between 'em, nicely detailed without complicating the painting. Certainly my favourites to do so far. Alas, a bit of a distraction during a time of much-needed revision, but I won't complain too much.

I've a couple more stored away in a drawer, possibly for a time when I may be a bit bored of painting armour and complicated weapons. They certainly differ in those respects. Next up I have a couple of cavalrymen from the Perrys' Muslim Crusader range. I've never gotten on well with horses (both IRL and painting-wise) so I largely try to avoid them. Hopefully these models should prove to be an exception, since both rider and horse have very little armour and plenty of cloth. We'll soon see.

Not-so-cross crossbowmen painter

Yep, took a little longer than expected, but that's what happens when you've deadlines of several different assignments due all at the same time. Your priorities get distorted...

No matter, these fellows are done, and quite a joy to paint. I know Dogs of War crossbowmen have no armour to speak of, but these minis are too good to pass by. Should I get to the stage of using some Regiments of Renown, then a couple more of these figures and I'll be able to pass them off as Marksmen of Miragliano and get some Perry Crusading Crossbowmen instead.

I've now got some Crusading Pilgrims lined up to paint as some single hand-weapon armed duellists. Alas, I couldn't find any minis which fitted in with the pikes and crossbows armed with two hand-weapons. Still, they should provide an interesting tactical proposition, being basically nothing but bait. They are also some pretty decent minis, so I'm looking forward to having a go at them.

Piked to the finish

Whaddya know? What lies in the far corner of me hobby cubby hole but some old (and slightly damp) static grass! The basing commences!

And finishes! Add a drop of pikes, and voila!







I now have some crossbowmen lined up to paint once I've purchased a couple more shades of brown and green.

Piked your interest? (geddit?!??!!??)

Well, six weeks later, my lightning speed brush strokes have finally finished the actual pikemen. Much more fun to paint than Napoleonics, though I felt somewhat hampered by a small selection of browns and greens. Need to purchase a couple more, as well as some basing flock of some sort. I'm holding off sticking the pikes on until I've got the messy joys of spreading PVA around miniature feet...

Sidetracked to the main project...

...yep, that title makes sense...

A mere two days after posting my first project and I'm already off onto a tangent, though I intend that this tangent be the main project. I have made a start on me new Dogs of War army! I've had half-hearted ones in the past, but they rarely made it to the 1000pts mark. I aim to be different with this one - it shall continue! I've no other Warhammer armies anymore, they're now dotted around the country in the hands of others now, so this now is my best chance. The Frogs shall just have to sit and gather dust until I can face painting those crossbelts again.

Having been happy with Perry Miniatures' service and model quality, I want to see if I can use them as much as possible for this army. Games-Workshop have gotten just that bit too expensive for me for what I get. With their variety of ranges, I'm sure I can use something for each unit, and get a bit of a theme going. A combination of Hundred Year War Europeans and Crusader Muslims: the armoured and ranked Europeans for the Tilean mainstream infantry and cavalry, and the Muslims as the Arabyan lighter infantry and cavalry.

This is the plan for the moment:

• Generals and Captains - A mix of European and Muslim models. There's a nice command set in the 'Agincourt to Orleans' range (AO14) that would do very nicely, as would MA28 in the Crusader range
• Wizards - Either the Clerics or Clergy in the Crusader range with their insignia removed, depending on how extravagant I want the wizard to be. The Clerics do provide a range of different looking models, which could be used for several lores.
• Paymaster - Perhaps the unhelmeted model in the command set above. Alternatively, I could have him be an Arabyan too. Depends which fancy takes me later, I suppose.

• Pikemen - 'Agincourt to Orleans' pikemen
• Crossbowmen - 'Agincourt to Orleans' crossbowmen or Crusader crossbowmen
• Heavy Cavalry - 'Agincourt to Orleans' mounted sergeants or men-at-arms, depending how heavily armoured I want them to be.
• Duellists - Might have to go outside the box with regards to their equipment. I love the look of the Saljuq soldiers, and would arm the duellists with throwing knives (Count As) and bucklers.
• Light Cavalry - I quite like the Bedouin cavarly, so might grab these if I just arm them with spears.

• Paymaster's Bodyguard - Depends on whether I go for a Tilean or Arabyan paymaster. The dismounted men-at-arms would be fine for a Tilean one. Not sure about any from Araby.
• Dwarfs - Probably the GW ones.
• Norsemen - Not sure about these. I'll probably have to go outside the Perry line to find these.
• Ogres - Probably the GW ones.
• Halflings - Probably the GW ones.

• Cannon - I reckon I'll probably go for an Empire cannon with Agincourt models as crewmen. All of the Perry cannons are far too small and realistic for my Warhammer tastes!
• Halfling Hot Pot - Haven't the foggiest...

I've grabbed a couple of Agincourt pikemen to start with, just to get back into the routine of mottley painting. No more proper uniforms!

Vive le Empereur...

...Or however the daft Frenchies spell it. Yes, I am slowly progressing at my dazzling speed of 3 mpw (models per week) on a good day, and the rich fruits of my exhaustive labour can be seen below. Yes, the bases do look a little bare, for two very good reasons. 1) I want to keep a consistant look, which is best done if everyone is based together at the same time, and 2) I've no materials to base them with. All in good time; for now, they can be happy with the Prince of Wales' badge. I've twenty more to do to finish up the very reasonably priced boxed set from Perry Miniatures. 42 models for £15 is pretty darn good, 'specially for this quality.

At the moment, I'm warming up the painting hand after a long hiatus, so they're all still a bit patchy. I've also discovered that I'm not really cut out to be a uniform painter: it just doesn't hold quite the same fun factor as a ragtag bunch of motley peasants. Just too repetitive, though thankfully the Perrys threw in a number of trenchcoated individuals to break the monotony somewhat.

Once these lads are done, I'll wait for the advent of the British line soldier from the Perrys, a free sample of which was kindly sent in my last order:

I'm just itching to get to work on these two, but I don't want to break my painting run. I know only too well that I'll never get back to the blue uniforms.