Starting Out With Medieval Gaming and Figures???

[Dubar]

I thought I would give Medieval side of things a try, I've always been interested in armor and weapons of that period.

Right now I'm trying to wrap my head around gaming using the Fistful Of Lead Rules, mainly weeding out the stuff that doesn't apply to the period and typing up a short set of rules to follow.  I like to do more "squad" level than large armies.

Also, I've 3D-printed about 2 dozen minis in approximately 28mm, from Thingiverse, while modifying them so they're mostly the same scale.

I'm looking to assemble a couple of small groups (no more than 10 per side) to do battle with.  I don't really want to follow any strict historical guidelines, looking to have more of a freelanced feel to the bands of troops.  Instead of having to adhere to historically correct uniforms/garments, I want to give each mini it's own flavor, yet I want something that would tie a 10-man group together.

Would I be good in wanting to put a herald of some type on their shields?  If a figure doesn't have a shield, what other piece of gear or clothing would be a logical place to put a herald, color, or other identifying mark to signify which side they're on?

LOL...I painted one of the knights yesterday, thought it looked good until I took a photo and enlarged it.  Now I see over half dozen spots I need to touch up. 

[Dice Roller]

Only a knight would have a coat of arms.
What designs were on the shields of non-knightly fighters, well...no one really knows.
The very few surviving (non-knightly) shields of the time are just plain colours. I think there's a Spanish one that's just painted black. Illuminated manuscripts also show plain shields.
To be honest, I'm not overly convinced that many non-knightly fighters would carry a shield.
All that said, the wargamer's convention is that shields of the knight's followers carry the same colours (but not coat of arms) as the knight's colours. It sort of 'ties' the unit together.
But there is no historical evidence for that.

Livery badges were often worn on clothing. English soldiers often had a small red cross on the left breast. So you could do something like that. During the later medieval period (14th Century onwards?) it becomes more popular for the knight's surcoat to also feature his arms - but this also happened in the 13th century.

Truth is, there was a lot of homogeneity in the appearance of medieval soldiers. Equipment and dress was pretty similar across all nations. Your models can be a medieval Scot one day, an English yeoman the next, and a French mercenary the next. There were no uniforms.

[Dice Roller]

The big question you have to ask yourself first is, what do you mean by 'medieval'?
It's a broad period and arms and armour, and clothing (fashion?) changes quite a lot.

Looking at the picture of your model I'm guessing you are looking at the 13th century?
If so, the livery and conventions of, say, the 15th century will be irrelevant.
So you need to decide what medieval period it is you are interested in gaming. It's not just 'medieval'.

[Dubar]

Thanks Dice Roller!!!

I need to learn a bit more about the "Medieval" period, instead of simply gazing at the marvelous suits of armor.

My British uncle had a neighbor who collected a few pieces of armor and weapons back in the 50's.  I was only 5 at the time but that's one thing that has always stuck in my mind.

I looked through a pile of HO railroad decals I have and found some stripes I could use to identify who's who on the battlefield.