Curt's Great Italian Wars Project (Updated Feb 7/18: 'Renaissance Duet')

[levied troop]

Great work, those units look stunning and it's good to see Bolognese sauce saved for future generations 

[LCpl McDoom]

Thank you 

I'm new to this period too, after wanting to do something for many years, so your work is inspiring.

I also use this for reference/inspiration too, and thought I'd share: http://olicanalad.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Italian%20Wars

[Larry R]

Great looking unit and fantastic basing!

[Curt]

Thanks Chaps!

@LCpl McDoom: Excellent catch! James' blog is a great resource for Italian Wars (and other periods). I've added it to the list on the main page.

[Curt]

Hello!

To mix things up from the past infantry posts, here is a unit of Gendarme heavy cavalry.

These are 28mm metal models from Eureka Miniatures. I found them to be very good figures, providing excellent examples of the bewildering variety of martial fashion and armour design found during the late fifteenth and sixteenth century. The figure packs come with a wide assortment of weapons, horses and plumage, so you can mix and match to your heart's content.

I armed this unit with the classic heavy cavalry lance (instead of sword and mace) as it seemed so iconic to the period. The stock lance that comes with the figures is quite nicely modelled, but since they've been cast in soft white metal, they're very prone to bending and so are difficult to keep straight.

So, with this in mind I clipped off the lance shafts, drilled-out the grips and replaced the lot with sharpened steel rods. It was a bit of a hassle, but I think it pays off in the end (and it allows me to petulantly poke my opponents if things don't go my way during a game).   I was planning to paint the lances in the classic 'barber-pole' fashion, but discovered that the painted lances were often reserved for parade events and tournaments, whereas the 'war lances' were typically raw, unfinished wood. This appealed to my sensibilities, as in my mind's eye I think that when one saw these guys arrayed with plain wood lances it would send a message that they weren't there to pick up ladies' hankerchiefs - they were there to get things sorted.

It's easy to think of gendarmes as being a uniquely French formation, but in fact most of the nations involved in the Italian Wars could draw upon heavy cavalry formations arrayed similarly (though the French were reported to have the edge in horses and experience). As such, I wanted to be able to 're-flag' the unit depending on the scenario. I unashamedly stole James Roach's brilliant idea of sleeving the flags so they can be easily swapped in and out. Basically this involves cutting a plastic or brass tube with which to wrap the flag around. Glue a finial on top to complete the ruse de guerre.  The flagstaff itself is left bare at the top so the sleeved banners can simply be socketed on as required.

The banners are from Pete's Flags' excellent Italian Wars range.

As many gendarmes were of noble birth I thought it would be fun to tart up the bases with a pack of hunting hounds to add a bit more visual interest and reinforce the sense movement to the unit. I sourced the wolfhounds from Gripping Beast (I did a bit of reading on the subject of sporting dogs and indeed, there were French wolfhounds bred during the period).

The groundwork is the same autumnal theme that I've been using for my other Italian Wars units. Admittedly it's a bit over the top, but hey, it's Renaissance Italy, it should be a riot of colour. This all being said, I've been going through tufts and shrubs like crazy, so a resupply will be needed very soon...

To close off, here is a shot of some poor Bolognese crossbowmen about to serve as a speed-bump for a unit of papal heavy cavalry. Yeah, that's gonna hurt...

Thanks for dropping by! I hope to be back in a week or so with an update.

 

[DintheDin]

Jawdropping! 
Can't imagine these works of fine art manipulated by a wargamer's fingers!

[Captain Blood]

Very beautiful work Curt 

[olicana]

Curt,

I've just come across this and, that lot are just stunning. I'm very jealous.

Unpronounceable blog name! Unpronounceable. Olly-carna-lads-games. Olicana is the Roman name for Ilkley, where I live.

I'm glad to see someone else has chosen to use the alternate flagging system using small gauge tubing to keep the 'socket' intact over time. It makes sooo much sense to have as much interchangeable stuff as possible in this period of mercenary / un-uniformed units - I had a chat with Pete (of the flags) just the other day discussing how Landsknechts fought under the banners of their employer rather than the Imperial banners most often seen; flags they burnt at the end of a contract to formally end it, apparently.

Best Wishes

James

P.S. (not wishing to high jack this thread) McDoom, thanks for the blog plug. I haven't posted for quite some time due to being snowed under with painting commissions, writing and such. I've just recently finished some Italian Wars stuff of my own - a few pike and guns - and will post some pics soon.

[Sir Rodney Ffing]

I am in awe of your talent, creativity and brushwork

I have periodically been tempted by the Italian wars given the intriguing campaign possibilities as well as the tremendous on-table visual appeal.  However, I suspect your amazing work will be forever seared into my brain, to be remembered whenever I think of taking the plunge.  I know the end result would be so disappointing in comparison that I would probably end up beating my efforts flat with a hammer.  Time to accept I cannot have everything and am better off saving the time and money!

[Anderson Collection]

Fantastic Curt well done

[Stuart]

Excellent work, it's an addictive period with so much variety

[FierceKitty]

Crafty idea, that one with the exchangeable flags.

[Colonel Tubby]

Stunning unit and the hounds really gives some additional visual impact.

Love the the flags idea, wish I'd thought of that a few years ago before painting so many different flag bearers for various periods!

[LCpl McDoom]

Curt - my pleasure, I should dig out some more links I've saved to see if any of them are useful to you. I love the bases - so much so that I'll confess I intend to steal the idea  Everything else I've ever done in 28mm has been single-figure basing, so first time out for some diorama-style basing and this seems the perfect genre to do that.

James (Olicana) - again my pleasure to recommend you, your work and ideas (e.g., flags) have drawn me into this properly now, and I'm still slowly appreciating your HBL rules as well, as I think they really promote the period and will achieve the games I want for this. I look forward to seeing what else you come up with.

[Curt]

Thanks very much for the kind words guys! I'm delighted you like them.

@olicana: Thanks for the great flag idea and for the interesting information on Landsknecht contracts. Nonetheless, one has to make use of all these lovely Landsknecht banners Pete is making! Perhaps I'll make my central banner bearer with a swapable flag for potential contract holders.