Henry Norbury's Command

The final commander I needed to build was Henry Norbury. He was the commander of the garrison of the Norman town of Vire and led this force to support the English army at Formigny, where he was taken prisoner. 

Norbury himself was built with a standard torso and head from the foot knights set but with arms from the Agincourt mounted Knights box. I like this combination as it creates a fairly dynamic pose. I attempted to do the bull's head heraldry on his surcoat, though I think it possibly looks a bit more like a goat.. his armour also looks a little bit dark to me but I think this is largely because of the black surcoat.

I've also included two men at arms in slightly earlier/transitional armour. The first, at the front, is made up of a French Agincourt infantry body with a great bascinet visor, and arms from the foot knights box. 

The other, at the back, is an Agincourt man at arms modified with green stuff. I've turned his one part cuirass into a two part one and added some tassets.

Next up I'm planning on doing some archers but using the bows from the Agincourt frame. These look much larger and more accurate than the ones from the WOTR frame. Bit of a labour of love but after seeing Charlie's thread on the Lead Adventure forum where he's done the same thing I'm convinced it's worthwhile.

Resurrection! Robert Vere's command stand

My last post on this blog was April 2013 over seven years ago! In that time quite a lot has changed: I’ve bought a house, got married, had a child and have another one on the way early next year. One thing that hasn’t changed however is my great interest in history and the enjoyment I get out of painting and modelling. With the recent release of the ‘Never Mind the Billhooks’ rules I found myself motivated to do some sort of 15th C. project and then suddenly realised that I actually already had one I’d started and not finished. As a result I thought I’d resurrect the Formigny blog and carry on with it. 

I’ve thought a bit more about the direction I’d like to take it and ultimately want to try and produce an army that can be used for the late Hundred Years War and early Wars of the Roses. This shouldn’t be too difficult as there are only five years between Formigny in 1450 and the First Battle of St Albans in 1455 but I may try and tailor some stands in units with either slightly earlier armour styles or more Cross of St George jackets that can be added or removed depending on the context.

The next stand I've been working on is one of the other English commanders at Formigny, Robert Vere. He was one of the younger sons of the Earl of Oxford and around the time of the battle was the Captain of Caen. He brought troops to reinforce Thomas Kyriell's army at Formigny.

All the models are just made up of plastic parts from the various sets, mainly the foot knights box but I've attempted to also represent men at arms in slightly earlier armour styles, as not everyone in 1450 would have had top of the range and cutting edge harness. Part of my inspiration for this was this illustration from Tobias Capwell's 'Armour of the English Knight, 1400-1450'

In order to try and portray this I've used some parts and bodies from the Agincourt box and modified them slightly. For example I've tried to give them a two part cuirass and tassets along with a great bascinet. In a couple of cases I've combined the torsos from the Agincourt mounted knights set with legs from the foot knights box.

One of these features on this command base and I've used a pair of arms from the mercenaries command sprue.

Hopefully this at least gives the impression of a transitional set of armour. 

Next up will be my final command stand - that of Henry Norbury.