Monday 1 March 2021

Captains and Kettle Drums


The eastern European theme continues with a couple of command bases and some mounted musicians, all of which will bring a more Hungarian flavour to the wargames table. The first base, with a captain in full harness and wearing a hairnet is inspired by one of the  Hungarian captains seen in the Weisskunig, shown below.  The figures are a mix of converted Assault Group and Steel Fist miniatures. The Captain has the hairnet head from the Warlord Games Plastic Landsknecht set. With the addition of a moustache he really looks the part. The drummer is a 17th century Polish Haiduk miniature with the, now ubiquitous, long loose sleeves added in green stuff and long hair sculpted on to bring him more into the early 16th century. As with the Hussars for this army, Gyozo Somogyi's "The Army of King Matthias 1458-1526"  https://www.amazon.co.uk/Matthias-1458-1526-Gyozo-Somogyi-2014-05-04/dp/B01FKUVRR4/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=armies+of+king+matthias&qid=1604313164&sr=8-1 has been a great source of inspiration for these bases. The photos below show the first command base added to a couple of my more generic early 16th century pike and crossbow units. 

A Hungarian Infantry command base.

Detail of a Hungarian Captain from Weisskunig c.1516, note the hairnet worn by the captain with the mail and sabre.

A unit of Hungarian pike for the early 16th century.

Hungarian crossbowmen, early 1500s.

The second command base is a mix of old Citadel Miniatures, Assault Group Haiduks and a Wargames Foundry priest. All, apart from the priest, have had some conversion work done on them to make them more suitable as Hungarians for the 1500s. Below are some pics of them leading a heavy infantry unit and some crossbowmen. I am working on specialist infantry for the Hungarians at the moment but I also like the idea of being able to use the generic stuff I already have. These two bases, when put at the forefront of units, help to change the look of them and give them a more eastern European character.

A Hungarian command base with a drummer, piper and priest.

Hungarian Captain, early 16th century.

Hungarian early 16th century infantry.

Hungarian crossbowmen.

German Mounted musicians, Hans Leonhard Schäufelein 1537.

Detail from the "Battle of Orsha" showing mounted musicians in German fashion.

The "Battle of Orsha" painting is still serving as a great source of inspiration. Next up is a mounted band based on the one in the painting and shown in the detail above. This will be a really useful addition to the collection as the Imperialists were also fond of their mounted musicians, as demonstrated by the Hans Leonhard Schäufelein image above from 1537, so these chaps would be great for later Italian Wars games. For my base the two riders are both converted Wargames Foundry figures and the drums are from Essex and covered with green stuff in an attempt to match the red cloth on those in the Orsha image.

The final kettle drummer was inspired by an illustration in Gyozo Somogyi's book. He is a converted Polish drummer from The Assault Group. I have added the cloth covering to the drums and painted on the Hungarian colours to match those in the illustration. The Hungarian "conversion army" is really starting to shape up. Hopefully the specialist infantry to join them will be completed in the next couple of months.

Mounted kettle drummer and trumpeter, with a Hungarian mounted kettle drummer in the background.

Mounted musicians in German fashion.

Mounted Hungarian kettle drummer.

 

21 comments:

  1. Most beautiful figures (I do like the impressive and gorgeous Hungarian pike)...and period!

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    1. Thank you Phil - those Pike have seen action many times already as Venetians, Picards and Scots - with the addition of the command base they have been transformed into Hungarians!

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  2. fantastic, impressive looking army

    cheers
    matt

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    1. Cheers Matt - I am working on a big unit of infantry to join this Hungarian army at the moment.

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  3. Wow really impressive work. Love these. Also great period artwork

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    1. Thank you Peter - I always find a lot of inspiration from the contemporary art work.

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  4. Truly splendid stuff Oli, great mix of manufacturers and great converting, and of course the extra eye candy of the Orsha painting is most welcome.
    I am calling it a day painting figures soon so this is probably my last post to you( more on my blog soon). Thankyou Oli for taking your time to make all your kind comments over the years, you were the most regular and it was very much appreciated.
    I have really enjoyed your Renaissance posts over the years and they have been a great inspiration to me.
    If there is anyway you could send me your address as i would like to send you one of my renaissance German Standard bearers as a gift for your collection. cheers Chris

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    1. Thank you Chris.

      I am very sad to hear that more of your superb brushwork will not be seen, your late 15th and early 16th century collection has been a joy to behold. Your ability to paint heraldry has always left me inspired and envious in equal measure!

      I will email you at your blog email - let me know if it doesn't work.

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    2. Disappointed to hear you calling it a day, you've done some awesome painting!
      Best Iain

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  5. More great looking figs. I was just thinking from looking at all this. That it is a shame that the Black Army had been disbanded at the beginning of this era.

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    1. Thank you. Matthias Corvinus did manage to conquer much of Austria including Vienna at the end of his reign and Maximilian I led the campaign to kick his army back out of Habsburg territory in 1490. Maximilian got to Székesfehérvár before his Landsknecht refused to go any further. I think this could be the basis for some really interesting wargames.

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  6. Bravo...great work backed up with sources, truly epic here!

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    1. Cheers, they were fun projects to work on.

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  7. Quality. I love the kettledrummers, well done.

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    1. Thank you - the drummers will be useful miniatures in the collection as they will add more renaissance flavour to the armies.

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  8. Smart move to do command stands to add to your universal troopers, lovely finish, backed up by great research as always!
    Best Iain

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    1. Cheers Iain, yes the idea was that the command bases would make the standard troops look far more suitable for the Hungarian army.

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  9. Some brilliant conversion work and painting here, Oli!

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    1. Cheers Peter - doing the cloth around the Kettle Drums proved a bit of a challenge but I am pleased with the results.

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