Well, it's nearly the new year, so I guess this is probably going to be my final post of 2025. I know it's customary to do a yearly round-up of the things I've made, and from a purely painting point of view it's been a very good year, but I can't really be bothered right now. So instead, here are some more Bretonnians. For some reason, I associate knights with Christmas. I think it's because King Arthur met his knights then, as seen in the very weird recent film of The Green Knight.
First up, two more plastic knights from the Battlemasters game. Pretty!
I bought a few more men at arms to round off my unit, including some musicians from the 1996 army book. One model, a halberdier, had a broken weapon that was going to be difficult to mend. I carefully cut away what was left of it and replaced it with a pole, made from the ramrod of an Empire cannon crew. It has a nice bobble at one end.
I'm not really a fan of paper banners. They seem to look very tatty very quickly, and I prefer the sculpted plastic ones that you get with modern boxed sets. So I made this guy a banner out of plasticard and green stuff. It's rather small, but I reckon that (a) men at arms aren't important enough to get big banners; (ii) this guy is tired out and is holding it lower down instead of waving it around; and (3) I want to be able to fit him into my miniatures case.
I also painted some friends for him, including a drummer. They take up the front row of the picture below. And that's the unit finished, painted in the colours of Les Hommes de Renault from White Dwarf 137 all those years ago (May 1991, to be precise). They're a bit grottier-looking than I'd first intended, and I'll need to get a movement tray for them, but overall I'm really pleased with the results.
On to the next models, and the next year! Happy New Year everyone!
EDIT: Wow, my men at arms are on the front of the Oldhammer Facebook group (for now)! Cool!
I do LOVE these, and this is such an understatement. Enjoy these days and have a fantastic 2026!!
ReplyDeleteThanks! I reckon I'm about halfway through the infantry by now. I'm getting there, gradually. I hope you have a really good 2026 as well!
DeleteOnce again, I really like the bright colours on your knights. They really are knights in shining armour, riding out to a tourney. The men-at-arms stand in contrast to that, which is very fitting.
ReplyDeleteCheers - I think the knights look best in bright, simple colours: the less grimdark the better, to be honest. The infantry are a bit grubbier, and I find it hard to shade white without it looking dirty. Anyhow, I'm pleased that you like them!
DeleteI saw these on Facebook. What a superb unit of models. Suitably battered and grubby like all real soldiers are. Such a lovely range of figures by the Perrys. I'm sure I had a few of these in the late '90s and really enjoyed painting all that padded armour. Mine never looked as good as yours those.
ReplyDeleteTop work!
Thanks very much! I'm aiming for degrees of grubbiness depending on social class. The Perry models are brilliant: like Jes Goodwin's eldar they seem much too good for the time they were made. I got these in the 90s too, and my first attempts at painting them were much worse than these!
DeleteThe men at arms are great! Just the right amount of color and dirt.
ReplyDeleteThe pose with the banner held low is really evocative. He looks either really tired or like he is weathering a storm. (of arrows?)
Thanks - I didn't expect them to look quite as grimy as they do, but using a lot of brown in the shading and on the weapons does do that. Besides, the original WD models had no shading at all! Glad you like the banner guy. I think he makes more sense when he's with the others.
DeleteBeautiful conversion and absolutely fantastic-looking infantry unit. It's so cool to bring back the good old days.
ReplyDeleteCheers! I find this very nostalgic. WD 137, which contained the Bretonnian infantry, was about the first White Dwarf that I ever read. Those definitely were the good old days!
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