The Rebasing Continues....

Following my initial attempt at some new bases with my lighter guns here are the heavier pieces crewed by Landsknechts. Most of these miniatures were painted before I started this blog although some of the Old Citadel figures in among the crew were done more recently as were all various bits of gun paraphernalia on the bases. As with the first guns I am really pleased with how they turned out.The figures lend themselves beautifully to the little vignettes you can make on each base. I am not sure anyone will every top the Landsknecht Figures the Perrys did for Wargames Foundry. I thought about putting Gabions on the bases but decided against this as I would rather be able to add them to the front of the bases but then remove them if I want. I already have some old resin Gabions I bought off ebay but I may do some specific bases that can be added to the front of these in the future.

Landsknecht Gun Battery

"Have a care!"

Aside from the four heavier guns I have also based up a lighter piece by The Assault Group. It's a beautiful miniature, with great attention to detail. The crewman with the linstock is by Old Glory while the other two are by Citadel, sculpted by the Perrys in the early 90s I think. I have to admit I am not so keen on a lot of the Old Glory artillery crew models, I think I will sell most of mine, but a few of them have real character. I especially like this guys large hat!

Smaller Landsknecht field piece

Regarding the guns the last piece I based up is to go with the other 5 guns I showed in my last post. It's an organ gun, by Old Glory I think, with generic early Sixteenth century crew. It's a pretty useful model as the crew could represent Spanish, Italians or French.

Ribauldequin or Organ Gun

I have also rebased a big infantry block, the Reisläufer. I spent ages trying to decide what size bases to use but in the end I went with the system James Roach uses on his blog, http://olicanalad.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/playing-about-with-basing.html, as I think it looks very effective and I like the idea of my pike blocks being in very close order. I wanted the banners to be on command bases surrounded by Halberdiers, Officers, Drummers and Pipers. The photo from above shows these two bases in the centre of the block. These two command bases were quite hard work as I wanted to show these figures off without them being completely covered by the flags. As some of the command figures are in dynamic poses it made putting them all in very close order a complete nightmare!
I still have 24 figures for the very front of the block to rebase. The pikemen were a pain to get off the old bases without all sorts of pike breakages and entanglements. I am not looking forward to redoing my 250 or so Landsknecht pike!

The Swiss with Skirmishing Arquebusiers to the front

The Reisläufer

The Reisläufer from above to give an idea of how they are based up

Below are my first rebased Cavalry, the Men at Arms for the very early 1500s. A mixture of Wargames Foundry and Assault Group figures with all the horses by The Assault Group. This is one of my favourite units in my collection and they were pretty easy to rebase.

Milanese Men at Arms

Milanese Men at Arms

Finally a unit of mounted crossbowmen, Perry Miniatures with a few head swaps. The method of putting horse in looser formation on deeper bases really works well and also allows for a bit more modelling scope on the actual base. Unlike the close order Cavalry and Infantry they are not so crammed on. I am looking forward to putting my Stradiots and Jinetes on these style bases.

Next up I have my Spanish infantry to rebase. I reckon the whole collection could take months, especially as a lot of it is currently stored away, but I am keen to persevere as I really think it enhances the figures no end.

Mounted Crossbowmen

Mounted Crossbowmen

Field Guns

Here are the first 5 guns I have based up and completed. They are a mix of late 15th Century early 16th Century style artillery pieces. The crewmen are from a mix of manufacturers and could serve as Spanish, French or Italian gun crews. I am really pleased with the way they turned out. What surprised me is that when I was basing them it really made me think about how the miniatures work as part of a group on the base, something that I never gave that much thought to before except in terms of ranking up the pike blocks. The tufts off wild grass and various barrels, baskets and piles of shot really help to bring them to life.
I think I need to try an infantry block next to see how different they will look on these larger bases before I can decided whether to redo more figures. Positioning the figures on the bases and adding the final details are quite enjoyable parts of the process but the texturing and painting for the whole collection is still an enormous task so I think I will play it by ear and approach it one group of figures at a time.

A larger field gun

The most "modern" of the pieces here

All five pieces arrayed together

WIP - Rebasing the Artillery

Over the festive season I have continued thinking about where to go with my collection next. Rebasing the entire lot seems a bit of a Herculean challenge, however I thought I would start by rebasing my guns as having all the crew separate was annoying me and the figures definitely lend themselves to little vignettes around each artillery piece. Simply basing the figures is probably a more accurate description than rebasing as the guns themselves never had bases, only the crewmen. The gun crews have all been removed from their bases and the flock has been painted over ready for them to be glued onto larger wooden bases. There are 2 groups, more generic artillerymen, a mix of Perry, The Assault Group and Foundry figures, and the Landsknechts, Foundry, Old Citadel and Old Glory figures. I am currently working on some more crewmen that I painted years ago and have stripped of paint, they were lucky to escape one of my many Ebay purges of the collection!
To accompany the miniatures on the bases I have repainted and newly painted lots of bits and pieces, shown in the first picture below. I really enjoyed this and think they will really help to add to the final look. The guns in the first picture will probably all go with the Landsknechts while the lighter guns in the last picture will go with the more soberly dressed crewmen, who could represent Spanish, Italians or French. There is a strong temptation when reevaluating the collection to start repainting loads of stuff, some of the Light Guns being a case in point, but I am trying to resist otherwise no progress will ever get made.
I will see how these turn out and then consider whether to do more of the old collection. Its made more complicated by the fact that I don't live in the same place that I keep the collection in, so it will require a lot of moving the figures back and forth if I do decide to do a mass rebase. I have some of my favourite sets with me though so may give them a go depending on how the guns look.
In terms of new stuff it's a bit of waiting game at the moment. I am looking forward to the Perrys light cavalry, 1450-1500, and also to the new Wars of Religion Range by Warlord Games: http://www.warlordgames.com/sneak-peek-16th-century-gendarmes-and-arquebusiers/?utm_source=Warlord+Games+Newsletter&utm_campaign=7543cc6c89-Newsletter_17_December_201412_12_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_b7e928b4ed-7543cc6c89-132839365&mc_cid=7543cc6c89&mc_eid=6c98fa8cf8 .
I painted up and sold an Elizabethan Collection on Ebay previously and think I will find it hard to resist the stuff Warlord have on the way. It will also mean that I can use a few of my TAG Tudors, many are too specifically for the 1540s, which is great. I am half way through the TAG mounted Arquebusiers at the moment. These later 16th century figures will all use the new bases.

Various gunners bits and pieces

Artillery Crew c.1500

Landsknecht Artillerymen

Guns c.1500