ALY MORRISON'S "BUTTERFLY" ADVENTURES IN THE WORLD OF WARGAMES AND TOY SOLDIERS

Tuesday, 26 January 2021

Butterfly Moments... Henry VIII’s Wars.

 Greetings...

I thought that I would start doing the occasional post about my occasional fluttering...

So... Henry VIII’s Wars...

I was looking around for something that would have a similar size and scale as my Lion Rampant Roman project... its been so much fun and has definitely left me with a desire to play games and add more toys.

Now... I have always had a bit of a problem with Pike and Shot armies... I love the various period histories... I love the flags... I love the clothes... and I love the arms and armour... but when I start to paint the toys... I just grind to a halt and my enthusiasm evaporates.

Maybe it’s the long pointy sticks ( It is a thing... the fear of pointy objects... Aichmophobia) or maybe it’s the flashbacks to when I was in the Sealed Knot.

I had been reading about Henry’s 1544 invasion of France and I quite liked the look of the Assault Groups English Tudor range...

https://theassaultgroup.co.uk/product-category/renaissance/english-tudor/

Then I looked at the Landsknechts and French... I am afraid these are the kind of troops I like to see other people painting... The wars against Scotland looked a bit more doable...

Alas... No one appears to do any accurate mid 16th century Scots...(That I liked anyway).

I went ahead and bought a few samples with the idea that I might be able to modify some of the English to Scots... the miniatures are indeed very nice but the Bill/Pikemen are a bit to over armoured for what the Scottish troops would have worn at the likes of Pinkie Cleugh...

I decided to go ahead and paint up a couple of English and convert and paint a Scot based on the Uniformed Billman...


Here’s an Archer painted up as a man from Thomas Caverden’s contingent...


And here we have an English Billman in Tudor livery and the converted Scots Pikeman...

They have indeed come our rather well and I did enjoy painting them... but here is the rub... Quilted Jacks and possibly chains sewn onto the arms don’t make for a quick and easy project... I am not sure how many of these I could alter before I started looking at Landsknechts with kinder eyes...

I have decided to leave this one for a while (Hopefully The Assault Group will make some Tudor Scots) and flutter off to pastures new... 

I expect there will be more Butterfly Moments as I’ve been fluttering about quite a bit this month...


All the best...Flutter Flutter.   Aly






Posted by at
Labels:

40 comments:

  1. Peter Douglas26 January 2021 at 20:43

    Those are really nice Aly. It’s a pity that the Perry’s didn’t extend their ranges north of the border for WoR era.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aly Morrison26 January 2021 at 20:56

      Thank you Peter...
      I shall wait patiently... It’s not like I don’t have anything else to do 😁

      All the best. Aly

      Delete
  2. Steve J.26 January 2021 at 21:30

    Nice work there Aly and an interesting period for sure. I'm not sure if you've seen this Blog, but well worth checking out:

    https://stuartsworkbench.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aly Morrison26 January 2021 at 21:35

      Thank you Steve...

      Stuart is a friend of mine so I have indeed seen his Blog... it is full of wonderful stuff.
      Stuart is one of the people I like to see painting Landsknechts 😁

      All the best. Aly

      Delete
  3. Jonathan Freitag26 January 2021 at 22:10

    These look great, Aly!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Phil Robinson26 January 2021 at 22:18

    I alighted in the same place a few years ago and hit the same wall.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aly Morrison26 January 2021 at 22:21

      It’s frustrating when your butterfly can’t settle on a new flower...
      I would love to have seen what you would have done...
      Maybe a future project we can both work on 😁

      All the best. Aly

      Delete
  5. Stuart26 January 2021 at 22:50

    Excellent effort Aly and I feel your pain.

    They’re very easy to paint but it’s converting pretty much every single one of them that can be tiresome. My own Scots project might not have started had it not been for the time I’ve been afforded these last 12 months.

    You could add French to them as there were a lot of them sent up to support the defence of Scotland.......but done token Scots would still be needed.

    Good luck and all the best mate.

    Stuart

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aly Morrison26 January 2021 at 23:37

      Thank you Stuart...

      Yes I am not wanting to turn a hobby project into work... so I will leave the conversion work up to you...
      It’s an interesting period... so hopefully someone will make some appropriate toys.

      All the best. Aly

      Delete
  6. Jason27 January 2021 at 01:42

    Those are great looking figures Aly, and beautifully painted. It's fun to be a butterfly with these things sometimes. I think I'm about to buy some Egyptians for Ramesses II's army. I really have no idea about his army or how it was organised but just fancy some to see what they look like. Maybe an interest will develop from there. I do love the amount of choice that's out there.
    Best wishes,
    Jason

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aly Morrison28 January 2021 at 09:29

      Thank you Jason...

      We are indeed spoiled for choices... what’s not to like about chariots and bronze weapons...

      All the best. Aly

      Delete
  7. marinergrim27 January 2021 at 06:23

    Of course by doing the early Tudor period allows you to add in a few Wars of the Rose figures and refight the Prayer Book rebellion in Cornwall 1549. Of course you'd need to add a few Landsknechts sooooo maybe not a good idea then.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aly Morrison28 January 2021 at 09:30

      Yup!... It’s the Landsknechts 😁
      I seem to prefer nicely uniformed troops...

      All the best. Aly

      Delete
  8. Matt Crump27 January 2021 at 07:45

    Nice figures and interesting to see how your Butterfly works. Luckily mine doesn’t normally get to figures it stops just before the purchase stage....most of the time 😀

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aly Morrison28 January 2021 at 09:32

      Thank you Matt...
      I think there is a butterfly in all of us... It’s just about keeping it under control...

      All the best. Aly

      Delete
  9. rross27 January 2021 at 08:05

    The timing of this post is pretty Freaky Aly - I have literally come here fresh from posting my first effort at a TAG Border Militia calverman, repurposed to a Scot! I did nothing to covert them (in my excitement to start, I did not even notice that the sculptor had "helpfully" sculpted the bloody cross of St George on the front of the figures jacket!). I have just written about the challenge of using these figures as Scots, and what I intend to do ie look on the Net for images of the troops who fought against 'Enery VIII.....watch this space!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aly Morrison28 January 2021 at 09:35

      I will just have to say that great minds think alike...😁
      The TAG Border Militia make for good Scots... except for the Cross of St George....

      All the best. Aly

      Delete
  10. StuartInsch27 January 2021 at 10:32

    You're on the right track Aly. The tag figures are lovely but as others have said that cross is a pain. Going slightly later does help a wee bit, but you lose some of the best ranges and sculpts.
    Generally speaking clothing was similar across England, Scotland and north west Europe, (Ireland and the Isles being an exception). Some clothing would have followed a local style (hats being a good example) but its precisely because everyone looked alike that they wore patched crosses and field signs.

    Looking forward to seeing where you take this flitter of your wings!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aly Morrison28 January 2021 at 18:24

      It’s a really interesting period Stuart... so I will keep an eye out for suitable Scots figures.

      All the best. Aly

      Delete
  11. The Jolly Broom Man27 January 2021 at 11:59

    I’m convinced there must be a collective war gamers hive mind at work here. I’ve been looking at Tudor wars stuff myself without any prompting from anyone. I’d just settled on Henry VIII’ s navy and his wars with France and Scotland instead of the land conflicts - order to Navwar on its way as we speak. Those minis of yours look delightful.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aly Morrison28 January 2021 at 18:27

      Thank you JBM...

      16th Century naval warfare is something I don’t /didn’t think about...

      All the best. Aly

      Delete
  12. David27 January 2021 at 12:42

    Fluttering well there Aly! Not that I have any room to pass judgement though!! The test figures turned out nicely.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aly Morrison28 January 2021 at 18:28

      Thank you David...
      There is indeed nothing wrong with a little flutter...

      All the best. Aly

      Delete
  13. caveadsum147127 January 2021 at 13:08

    Lovely archer and pair of Scots! I'm figuring on doing Flodden and my Scots pike will be my universal French/Swiss/Italian pike with some blue flags, versus my war of the Roses English, with a light dusting of landsknechts! Come on in, it's a fun period!
    Best Iain

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aly Morrison28 January 2021 at 18:29

      Thank you Iain...

      I look forward to seeing your games.

      All the best. Aly

      Delete
  14. Moiterei_198427 January 2021 at 18:47

    They look most excellent Aly!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Mark Strachan29 January 2021 at 07:47

    That is a nice bit of fluttering Aly.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Ross Mac rmacfa@gmail.com30 January 2021 at 00:58

    Nicely done, if somewhat lonely looking.

    My first full-ish wargame army was built around a few score of Heritage 25mms based on the Almark Flodden book, backed by some Garrison medieval Scots spearmen and highlanders.

    Of course they ended up in a fictional setting beating up Simon's ECW Minifigs but, stout lads. 45 yrs service and they still march to war(game).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aly Morrison30 January 2021 at 16:14

      Thank you Ross...
      45 Years of service...you’ve certainly got your monies worth out of those toys.

      All the best. Aly

      Delete
  17. General Buggeration30 January 2021 at 00:59

    I think you should carry on doing another dozen or so then lose interest and send them up to join my forces and allow you to flutter onto projects new. 😜

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aly Morrison30 January 2021 at 16:15

      It’s a cunning plan David... but alas has zero chance of working 😂

      Glad to see you back on blogger

      All the best. Aly

      Delete
  18. Phil31 January 2021 at 07:35

    Stunning job Aly, most impressive painting and great details, I do like the English Billman in Tudor livery...

    ReplyDelete
  19. rross1 February 2021 at 04:57

    Hey Aly - second comment on this post.....you may already be aware, but Reiver Castings make purpose built Scots for Flodden...just saying!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Pan Janek1 February 2021 at 14:19

    Please stop it! 16C is so tempting!

    Best wishes,
    Jan

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aly Morrison1 February 2021 at 16:17

      No...😂

      The bit I am interested in is the Anglo-Scottish Wars...
      It give you the English and Scots armies but you have the opportunity to at Landsknechts and French if you want...

      All the best. Aly

      Delete
    2. Pan Janek1 February 2021 at 22:39

      For sure will do something at some point....

      Jan

      Delete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)