Soon be Christmas…

That’s a cheery thought isn’t it. 

If you’re British it’d be best to get the sprouts on about now I reckon.

June’s HYW painting progress has been glacial, though an actual glacier would be very welcome around here at the moment, cos It’s….soooooo…ruddy…hot.

Okay these chaps are Perry 28mm French levy spearmen the front rank of which I’ve equipped with pavises in order to give them a vague stab at survival. 

When it came to a design for the front of the pavis I was a bit stumped until I found inspiration in my local towns 14th century defences. 

This is the Zizim tower in Bourganeuf. Built to house a captive prince, (like you do). It’s the right period too as it happens (the lovely cone shaped roof is a late 15th century addition). 

I get the feeling that progress will be modest on the HYW project given the weather, the number of units I hope to field and the current empty status of my wallet. What’s really needed while this ticks along in the background is a smaller scale skirmish type game that I can use with Mr Lambshead’s dice less rules. You know the sort of thing. 8 - 12 figures per side, bit of character development, ongoing semi campaign etc etc. 

No.

Stop it.

No!

Must stay focussed on the HYW stuff.

Okay we’re sticking to the HYW. Debate over. Good. 

With that settled I guess it wouldn’t hurt to just browse the internet a little bit, would it? 

I mean what’s the worst that could happen? I am, after all, renowned for my iron will…my ability to resist temptation…my erm…

Oh bugger. 

No one’s going to notice if a bit of cash leaks out of the household bills account, are they? Where’s the harm. I’m only stealing from myself when you think about it - and they do say your a long time dead. I mean, I could’ be knocked down by a bus tomorrow never having done 1930’s AVBCW. 

Oh the horror.

Toodleooh mes amis. 

New arrivals and a home front update.

The recent loss of two of my garden friends (Bancroft and Mable) to a Stone Marten has come as quite a nasty shock but in the spirit of “getting back on the horse” and all that I recently acquired these two little bantams to build the flock back up to four. 

Edna and Elsie have expressed an interest in editing the blog. I may take them on as interns and see how they shake out.

The white fluffy one is called Edna, and the mottled grey one is called Elsie. She immediately put me in mind of the Ostrich that Bernie Clifton used to ride in his “variety” act but it turns out that I was another innocent victim of black and white childhood TV and the damned thing was apparently orange.

Black and White Bernie Clifton circa 1970. Funny what passed for entertainment back then. He’d be jailed for that these days.

Painting progress has been slowed by the inexorable growth of l’herbe but I’ve still managed to knock out six Perry men at arms which I present here for your scorn and ridicule. 

I’ve kept the heraldry somewhat light since much of it would be beyond my capability painting wise.

I was of course intending to post another Indian Mutiny battle report instead of this blether but I’ve had a bit of a problem with terrain (needed a none European 28mm compatible bridge and some river sections too) so that’ll have to be later in the month. 

Okay right then I’d best be offski, I can see the grass in the north 40 is over 5cm high again. Sigh. 

Toodleooh.

We few…we happy few.

Well it’s been three years but I’m doing English archers again, (though admittedly in 28mm this time rather than 15mm). What goes around comes around, eh.

Lovely thing about the 100yrs war is that only one side used a lot of cavalry and that should speed up painting progress. I hope. 

Here’s a few pictures of ‘em so you can see where I’m at. They’re Perry’s of course and lovely sculpts to boot but darned fiddly to glue together with my fat fingers and clumsy hands of death.

I probably should have titled the post “look ma no flock” since as you will observe… there’s nary a whisker of the stuff to be seen.

Once again digital photography proves it is not your friend. They look okay from a distance I promise.

 

And here’s the back of them, which is probably the view most opponents will have since I hope to command the French…and lose every encounter with panache. They’re in the colours of John Mowbray by the way, which you probably already knew. 

Lack of flock is heresy I know, but while these lads are intended for Billhooks - they may get a few runs out in Boathooks and I suspect they’ll look a bit daft on board ship with a small garden plot around their feet. I’ve gone with the Kenneth Branagh Agincourt “grubby as fuck” look for the peasantry on the basis that it’s hard as hell to look squeaky clean when you’ve got dysentery and been sleeping under a hedge for several weeks. We’ve all been there…am I right!?

What? Only me?

Cripes!

The blog title obviously refers to the words Shakespeare stuffed into Henry V’s mouth from his play of the same name but it’s also an acknowledgment that after several years of steady posting I’ve finally achieved the magic number of 40 blog followers. Wow. Slightly chastening to think that one of those is my granddaughter (hi Ella) whose only really interest is in finding out what her barmy grandpa is up to and another follower is manifestly dead (R.I.P Graham) ((though I guess he could still be following?)).

Seems like I emotionally invested in the Betamax of content platforms when the world had already moved on to the VHS of Facebook. The wife keeps telling me that size doesn’t matter…and it’s kind of her to reassure me that the number of blog followers isn’t an issue… but still. Too much France? Too much crazy? Too many flights of fancy into new genre’s? Let me know, on the reinstated comments section if you can be arsed. 

Toodleooh