Arthur, Vikings, or the 100 years war ? Opinions

[NickNascati]

I think The hundred Years War is more interesting and flexible.  Watch themovie "Timeline", and you will get an assortment of scenario ideas.

[levied troop]

I think The hundred Years War is more interesting and flexible.

I'd definitely agree, reading Jonathan Sumption's books on the 100YW has sparked me off on all sorts of smaller campaigns outside of the main battles.

If you are coming from a fantasy background and the players in your area are mainly involved in that, then the Arthurian and 'Dark Age' periods probably hold more crossover appeal.  However there's also the perfectly reasonable approach of mixing fantasy and historical armies for the 100YW, the medieval mind certainly conceived of an army of the undead (one recent archaeological find in Yorkshire suggests dead bodies were deliberately mutilated to prevent them attacking the living) and I've cheerfully used my medieval French against skeletons.

[katie]

"there were loads of cavalry so I'd have to paint loads of horses. "

There's not that many in the battles -- lot of people dismounted to fight.

Also, horses aren't that bad to paint with a bit of prep; I've got a selection of colours -- many of them from the CDA "Horse Tones" range. Paint the horse with them. Paint with the base colour + white picking out the muscles and then a second pass of that. Paint all the hair black and the hooves. Then paint foot and face markings in white. Horse complete.

Painting dun and tan and spotty ones can take *ages*, but your basic chestnut/light brown/dark brown/grey-brown fighting horses don't need to be outrageously time consuming.

[whiskey priest]

Have you considered Dux Britanarium by too fat lardies? It's set in the post roman/saxon invasion period and has a great campaign system which will allow you to build up your war bands gradually. If you start with a saxon war band you need 34 figures as a starting point which is a lot less than WaB would have you paint.

[grubman]

Have you considered Dux Britanarium by too fat lardies? It's set in the post roman/saxon invasion period and has a great campaign system which will allow you to build up your war bands gradually. If you start with a saxon war band you need 34 figures as a starting point which is a lot less than WaB would have you paint.

I've researched the game.  It did look good...but I already decided on a rule system.

[Charlie_]

Sounds like a bit of dilemma, I'd encourage to go for the HYW as I am more into late medieval than early medieval / dark ages, but I admit a dark ages project will be easier and more flexible.

Here's my summary of how I see things....

Dark Ages
- flexible, most troops are 'generic' and can be used for loads of different armies
- can be quick and easy to paint, with bright colours reserved for simple shield designs
- could potentially be a bit boring in terms of variety of troop types (mostly just shieldwall infantry for everybody).
- you won't have your hands tied much if going for historical accuracy
- well suited for small-scale skirmishes.
- there are three good (if somewhat bland) plastic kits from Gripping Beast that could be used for the bulk of your forces

Hundred Years War
- more restricted in scope, but still could be used for most western European nations of the late medieval period
- perhaps more variety of troop types available - various sorts of infantry (longbowmen, crossbowmen, handgunners, dismounted men-at-arms, billmen/spearmen/pikemen) and cavalry (mostly mounted men at arms ie heavy cavalry) and artillery (early cannons, wheeled light cannons being around by the last few years of the war).
- potential for a variety of scenarios including pitched battles, skirmishes, ambushes, raids, town assaults and sieges.
- if you care about getting things historically accurate, there could be a few more headaches involved.
- HERALDRY! This will either be a chance for painting up some really bright, colourful armies, or it will be a nightmare.
- if you got for the 'Agincourt period' (1415-1429) then Perry Miniatures has it sorted - brilliant plastic box sets for English and French infantry which can be mixed up and combined, plus loads of really good metal sets to accompany them, apparently there is a plastic cavalry box on the way too (but don't hold your breath).
- the earlier period (14th century, Crecy and Poitiers) isn't so well served with modern, good quality miniatures, both there are various companies offering (perhaps somewhat dated) sculpts.
- the end of the HYW could also be considered - 1440s-1450s - which basically saw the French finally kick the English back home... The Perry Wars Of The Roses and European Armies ranges roughly cover the 1450-1500 period, and would be perfect for the last few years of the HYW (could also be handy if you want to avoid painting heraldry, as shields had mostly been abandoned and knights didn't always wear their heraldry over their armour).

Also, horses aren't that bad to paint with a bit of prep; I've got a selection of colours -- many of them from the CDA "Horse Tones" range. Paint the horse with them. Paint with the base colour + white picking out the muscles and then a second pass of that. Paint all the hair black and the hooves. Then paint foot and face markings in white. Horse complete.

Painting dun and tan and spotty ones can take *ages*, but your basic chestnut/light brown/dark brown/grey-brown fighting horses don't need to be outrageously time consuming.

Ahh but then you've got to paint all the tack/harness/saddle etc ; )

But yeah I agree that horses don't have to be a headache. I've recently just started painting lots of cavalry and am settling into a good method. I'm using washes. One base coat (a variety of browns to choose from), followed by a wash (a few to choose from, my favourite being army painter strong tone wash (not the same as the dip)), and sometimes re-highlighting back in the base colour, but usually not. Lower legs and muzzle given a few coats of dark / black wash. Main, tails and hooves just painted black. A few metal details just get painted silver and a black wash. I do all the harness in the same colour, usually red, sometimes green, blue or some shade of brown - base coat, one highlight, and one wash. I don't paint all the metal studs on the Perry WOTR horses, which would be a real headache - I leave them the same colour as the harness, looks fine. Finally any white face and leg markings.

[Arlequín]

First-off, I've never been in this situation myself. Anything I've gamed has always drawn me straight off, so this cold a, b, or c, choice is quite alien to me. I've dabbled with all three options in the past myself though, but ultimately gravitated to the last quarter of the 15th Century.

As a Warhammer player you will be quite familiar with it, strip away the magic and 'Middle Earth' races and what is left of the Warhammer world is a jumble of Late 15th and Early 16th Century Europe in the main. Okay Bretonnia has a more 'High Medieval' thing going on, while Norsca and Albion are stuck in the Dark Ages, but it holds true for everyone else.

For each WFB Imperial troop type there is a historical counterpart. For each vampire count, city state, or other entity, there is also a real world origin; Marienburg is Antwerp for example and its outlying 'dead cities' are Bruge and Ghent. GW played fast and loose with time over a century or so, but it's all there. I've no doubt they plundered story arcs and scenarios too, so what holds for a WFB campaign holds for a Late Medieval one.  

For example, in the 'Empire' you have individual cities, or federations of cities, going to war with 'Raubritten' - robber barons and warlords, so feuds, skirmishes, raids, small battles, river piracy and sieges galore; with guns. You've opted for familiar territory for rules, so I imagine you'll find this familiar territory for your armies too.

The Perrys produce a good range of completely customisable and interchangeable plastics for the last half of the 15th Century, backed by some metals. TAG - The Assault Group, have a fair range to go beyond 1500 if that's where the fancy leads you.    

I've been tempted by the two 'dark ages' options myself, but if you dig beneath the longbows and Swiss pikes, Medieval is where it's at.  

[mcfonz]

What Arlequin said really.

I have nearly always preferred ealier to mid dark ages - anything up to an including 1066 than anything later. Mainly because I come from more of a fantasy gaming background initially and also because the ancients up to then were something my father was always keen to talk to me about as a kid.

I think it is because the period is steeped in myth and folklore / fairytales. The sagas, the likes of Beowolf and other such mystical beasts etc.

By the time you get to the 100 years war, most of Europe is Christian, many of those myths put to bed or re-written to suit the period, such as King Arthur.

Whilst it is true many forces were very similar, they could also be very different. I think it really depends upon your aesthetic tastes.

I've always liked my fantasy a steeped in the "dark ages" which is probably why I like LotR. Things like the woods having spirits dwelling in them, dark marshes stealing souls etc.