I FINALLY finished up the last
of the options for my (first)
Lion
Rampant retinue. By “options” I essentially mean I have painted FAR
more units for this retinue than would be allowable in the standard 24-point
retinue the game suggests – and far more than I’d ever be able to scrape
together an opponent for… Heck I could make TWO retinues out of this batch!
The force is based around retinue of Baron
Philippe du Lapin - a character I used as the leader of a Brettonian Warhammer Fantasy Battle
army… oh… 25 years ago (and possibly used as a character In Warhammer Fantasy Role-Play)!? (and in many other medieval skirmish games since then!) In fact some of the soldiers in a few of these units
are from that very army – a mix of Citadel and
Wargames Foundry figures that
were all made by the Perrys (and I swear identical figures were marketed by
both GW and the foundry at the same time!).
(Remember: click on the pictures
for a bigger version):
The Entire Retinue – 52-56
points, depending on upgrades taken…
Mounted Men-at-Arms – 6 points
These are the figures I just
finished up this week to finish off the Retinue. The Figures are from
Crusader
Miniatures which I picked up as part of a Lion Rampant Deal from
North Star Figures.
Mounted Sergeants (with Mounted
Crossbow Upgrade) – 4 points
Old Citadel Miniatures (now sold by
Wargames
Foundry) - that I’ve had for over 25 years. They’ve been rebased a
few times and a few were touched up recently…
Foot Men-at-Arms #1 – 6 points
A mix of old figures (mostly
Wargames
Foundry/Citadel MIniatures) I’ve had for 25+ years – all have been
re-based, some have been entirely repainted, some touched up, others… not so
much…
Foot Men-at-Arms #2 – 6 points
More of the
Crusader
Miniatures which I picked up as part of a Lion Rampant Deal from
North Star Figures….
Why the heck did I feel I needed a second unit of Foot Men-at-Arms…!? I didn’t…
They were just to pretty to give over to the opposing force/bad guys… I had to
paint them in red with bunnies…
Foot Sergeants – 4 points
The last of the
Crusader
Miniatures which I picked up as part of a Lion Rampant Deal from
North Star Figures
that I kept for this force (the rest became part of my “opposing force”/Bad Guy
retinue that I’m doing mostly in green and yellow).
Expert Foot Sergeants #1 – 6 points
Expert Foot Sergeants #2 – 6 points
Again, I really (REALLY) didn’t need ANOTHER unit of
“Expert” Foot Sergeants… but I had these guys… and they were really nice
figures (They’re
Front Rank
Figures, I think I got them in a trade a few years back…?)
Bidowers – 2 points
The only units not in red and white – because they’re
sneaky-skirmishy woodsmen! More of the old
Wargames
Foundry figures that I’ve had for decades.
Archers #1 – 4 points (could be upgraded to “expert” for
another 2 points…)
More of the old
Wargames
Foundry I got at the same time as the bidowers above – for the most
part – there are a few home-cast figures hiding in the back that I added to
fill out the ranks!
Archers #2 – 4 points (could also be upgraded to “expert”
for another 2 points…)
As Archers#1 above…
Crossbow – 4 points
I’d like to do a few units of
Serfs and Peasants to possibly field with them (or any other retinue) at some
point…
Of course these could also be
used for any other game that doesn’t have too specific basing requirements – I
have used some of these in
A
Song of Blades and Heroes (and many would be perfect for
Song
of Arthur and Merlin) – which I still love for lower level skirmish
gaming.
I do have stuff for two more
Lion
Rampant retinues. Another Generic Medieval (the “opposing force”) and
a not-so-generic Medieval Irish retinue – with lots of Fierce Foot and Bidowers
and a few hard-hitting Gallowglass!).
I’m quite looking forward to
Dragon
Rampant - perhaps I’ll be able to reorganize a few more of my old
fantasy forces into small units for slightly larger scale actions with this
system.
Also my kids have been working a
couple of )
Lion
Rampant retinues of their own (or WERE working, rather, as they’re
onto other stuff at the moment). I picked up a pile of
Hät
28mm plastic El Cid figures from a store that was blowing them out - originally
for them to make DBA armies, but then are more interested in individually based
figures for skirmishing with… The Boy has a force of Andalusians and The Girl
has a force of Almoravids. I hope someday they get them done!
Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:
One would think having finished
these off I’d get to finishing one of the opposing force retinues… but I
probably won’t as much as I’d like to play Lion Rampant, I need my basement
gaming room cleaned out… and that likely won’t happen until the fall or winter…
just too much other stuff to do… (which is why we’ve been doing a lot of
boardgaming lately and not so much miniature gaming – boardgames can easily be
set up on the kitchen table!)
I’m kind of torn as to what to
work on next. I really should prioritize and make the best of my limited
painting time… probably 40K or fantasy skirmish stuff… seems most likely to be
needed/played with in the not-to-distant future.
