The next major tranche of my early medieval Welsh project was to complete sixty elements of fast warband which, as they are based the same, will also double as the Northern Welsh fast pike option:
The figures are again Forged in Battle. If I'm totally honest these are not my favourite of their figures as there was a bit of flash to tidy up, but once done and painted up I think they are more than passable:
As with most in the Forged in Battle range the packs contain a variety of poses which always helps to keep the motivation going:
I have again stuck to mainly neutral colours with lots of greens, browns and greys:
I was originally going to keep the shields neutral as well, but in the end decided they needed a bit of a lift so purchased some Little Big Man Studios transfers to add a bit of interest. They don't make any for Forged in Battle Welsh so I took a chance on some Carolingian transfers which, because they were made for the FiB Carolingian figures, weren't a perfect fit and required a fair bit of trimming and/or painting to blend them in:
The other thing I have noticed is that LBMS shields used to come ready-punched with the central area for the steel shield boss removed. I never realised this but I believe that Stephen Hales, the talented designer, used to manually punch the holes himself.
Since the collaboration with Victrix, who now distribute his range, they have decided to distribute them unpunched. No matter as I ended up purchasing a set of plier hole punches and it was quite fun, although I am still finding small sticky dots that I have inadvertently deposited around the house:
These figures took me a lot longer than I had originally planned, mainly because I headed off to New Zealand for five days in late June and also because I had to commit a week to grandfather duties. Nevertheless, this does mean another 180 figures (well, 182 actually as I have two spares I am planning to use elsewhere) toward the project and I feel like I am now on the home straight. Next up, some light and auxiliary Welsh infantry.
What a view! You never do anything by half measure, do you? Super looking army. While these may have taken longer than expected, Grandfather duties are important too.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jonathan. This has turned into quite a large army and will be close to six hundred figures when I'm finished. It could have been bigger still if I had allowed for the maximum of each troop type but I have tried to cap it at what I believe I'll realistically need on a regular basis.
DeleteNicely done boyo!
ReplyDeleteThanks Mark. I had the voice of Windsor Davies in my head the whole time to spur me on.
DeleteThat's an impressive horde of Taff's, Lawrence!
ReplyDeleteCheers Keith. They are due for their first game a week on Saturday so I am rushing to get the rest finished.
DeleteHearing about finding clear plastic circles of backing is hitting pretty close to home. I just spotted one slipping into my keyboard keys early this evening. Doh.
ReplyDeleteI have had the vacuum out twice in my painting area and I still keep finding them. A small price to pay as I am a big fan of LBMS decals.
DeleteImpressive, especially considering real world distractions. Having the boss holes cut on LBM transfers was a very handy thing. Sometimes you don’t realise how good something is until you lose it.
ReplyDeleteThanks Norm. I never realised how much work must have gone into shipping a sheet that was already punched. Thankfully the distractions were all good ones, but it was nice to get back to some uninterrupted hobby time.
DeleteWell I think they look brilliant Lawrence, Great use of the greys and browns, with the splash of colour on the sheilds. I don't fancy punching out the boss holes though, that must have taken a long time?
ReplyDeleteCheers Ray. I did approach them with some trepidation, but got the right sized hole punch which made the job quite easy in the end. Not a task I'd want to try with a hangover, though.
DeleteLOL!
DeleteWonderful stuff- very impressive.
ReplyDeleteThanks Codsticker. There were quite a few figures to get through in this batch.
DeleteAwesome collection sir!
ReplyDeleteThanks Michal. They should look quite daunting next to their longbow compatriots.
DeleteWhat a wonderful sight. Does the moniker 'fast' refer to the troops or your painting?!
ReplyDeleteBest wishes, James
Thanks James. Yes, 'fast' in DBMM is a troop type otherwise, due to all the distractions and length of time they took, they would have been labelled slow warband.
DeleteSplendid work, they look great, nicely judged colour combos, shields sound a nightmare, I just tend to paint them to avoid faff!
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
Thanks Iain. I did think about just painting the shields but thought they needed a bit of a lift. The hardest bit was blending in the exposed bits and trying to match colours, but it wasn't that bad once I got into the swing of it.
DeletePassable! I would say that these are a damned sight more than passable... they look great.
ReplyDeleteThanks Richard. I am quite pleased with the way the look en masse and am looking forward to getting them into a game soon alongside the already completed bow.
DeleteQuality and quantity! Great work
ReplyDeleteThanks for the kind words. I have to say that the quantity nearly overwhelmed me.
DeleteThose look amazing Lawrence! I love the painting you have done on them, and you are right about the colour of the shields just bringing them out. They look like a force to be reckoned with! Best wishes, Jason
ReplyDeleteThanks Jason. They have had their first game now and I came away with a win, which is always nice for the initial outing.
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