Of Men In Tights...

Well, this week has been very very unpleasant.

I managed to get flu after venturing to York last weekend, and have been quite poorly, with today being my best day yet. I'm far from perfect but I am on the mend.

It must have been bad, because I actually contemplated a day off work on Wednesday so ill did I feel.

My good friend Roger gave me some sage advice on Thursday, insisting take a bath with an 80s RPG book. And loom, was he right. 45 minutes with a Twilight 2000 module did me a power of good.

Last night I finally managed to place my order for £870 worth of Connoisseur Italian Wars in the form of a Swiss and a Florentine army, based on the old George Gush lists - because I like them and they are a good 'go to' starting point for the period which at least do try to match historical compositions.

In the end the butchers bill shaped up thus:


Swiss:

1 x 96 pike

2 x 72 pike

2 x 36 shot

2 x 30 halberds and two-handed swords

5 x knights

6 x mounted crossbows


Florentine:

4 x 36 pike

8 x 24 shot

1 x 18 halberd

1 x 5 men at arms

1 x 10 Knights

20 x mounted crossbow and handgun


Hopefully this will give interesting games, with the Swiss storming in against superiors volumes of firepower, cavalry harassment and a few annoying pike blocks on the part of the Florentines.

I'l add a few Perry character pieces in and possibly some artillery for the Florentines rather than the Swiss given the fast advance of the chaps from over the Alps.

I'd toyed with a few manufacturers for the project but as Roger pointed out, Gilder's sculpts look like they're doing the business with the forward lean to the pikemen being notably attractive to the eye.

They will probably end up being gloss varnished too, a la Gilder for a nice old school finish.

I am not anal about basing so the infantry will be all on 60x40 bases with generally 5 figures in 2 ranks rather than 6 to allow for a little more 'movement' which will give a little life to the blocks and, allow a degree of diorama work to be applied.

Lots of flags and command will be in evidence and the Swiss advance pike Kiel will have 16 of the 20 figures in the 3rd and 4th ranks made up from command and colour bearers, with 10 in the other two pike kiels.

The Florentines will feature Giovanni De Medici's 'Black Band' and a couple of Landsknecht styled mercenary units to add texture, with parti-coloured Italians for the majority of the remaining troops.

I am not painting them of course, but my wife has named her terms and price and was awarded the contract by competitive tender.

Now, I just need my 800 15mm ECW from Lancashire Games' painting sheds to arrive and all will be peachy.

Now, if you will excuse me I am going to have a soak in a steaming hot bath.

Until next time...


TTFN

Comments

  1. I wish I could get my wife to paint for me - I might have half a chance of shifting my backlog.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Leave your praise and vitriolic commentary here...

Popular posts from this blog

A Radioactive Wasteland? We Need Another Hero...

How, Over 40 Years Ago, A Guy Called Andy Changed My Life With 5 Words, And Other Reminiscences...

Oh My, This Is A Long One...