Robin Hood - new Castle received with photos pg 6

[FifteensAway]

And a wee bit more.  Already listed some of the mounted civilians in posts above but there are four additional mounted females: Yvonne, Sulena, Celine, and Leontina.  Also, the one listed as Torie should be Toric.  For my own benefit, I really need to make 'box' lists for what goes in each of the now eight containers of figures.  Perhaps I will work on that as I put all of the figures into color coordinated boxes - that will help when hunting for items to run a game.

[FifteensAway]

I finally pulled out my old JR Miniatures castle with some additional components that was going to be a 'much bigger' castle but I've decided to reduce it some. 

Here are some images:



An overall view of the components.  No idea where the keep came from, long forgotten if I ever knew.  Same with the white pieces I cut to fit the larger castle but find they work for this arrangement, too.  Might make some minor tweaks.



Just a view from a different angle.

And two closer views of the keep from different angles:





And last image, some additional components which I think I will use to build wing walls out to either side of the castle to 'sort of' enclose the town nearby - will need it to be removable if I don't want to use them.  Idea might not work if I include a moat around the castle which is pretty likely.



Does anyone know of any company that makes Hoardings designed to work with the 15 mm JR Miniature castles?  Or something readily adaptable?  I think it would be cool to include at least some hoardings.  Thanks to anyone who knows of anything? 

[Tom Dulski]

 Those castle pieces are impressive, looking forward to seeing the final product.

[FifteensAway]

Going to spend some time thinking about how I want to base the castle to include a moat.  I will probably use a product from Chooch Enterprises (now owned by Walthers - a model railroad supply company) similar to this:



Maybe not that specifically.  These come in about a 4" x 12" highly flexible foam-like form.  The biggest challenge I foresee is the edging.  I figure to have both sides of the moat lined with this but not the bottom of the moat.  Probably make the moat pretty shallow in reality and let whatever water effect I use represent the depth of the moat.

And I figure it will take three full turns to cross the moat leaving any figures in the process highly vulnerable to the castle garrison - as they should be.

[Basementboy]

Castle looks beautiful so far- love the ruling on the moat too.

[FifteensAway]

Just a photo of eighteen plus one trees which will be the principal trees of my Sherwood Forest (or maybe Sliverwood Forest?).  The eighteen are from JTT, 4-5" Dark, Waterside, and Sunkissed, 6 each.  After pulling these out of their packaging the first thing was to spray them with a flat sealer to reduce loss of greenery over time - and experience says may need a bit more than that, perhaps a spray on adhesive.  The plus one tree is from a model railroad shop I bought for super cheap that will be the druidic center when I want to add that in or maybe sometimes the "ancient oak".  So, the forest "in training".  I do have a bunch of additional deciduous trees, mostly smaller, to round out the forest or make it bigger.  Just these shown here will get some special attention when getting based. 

[FifteensAway]

In keeping with my latest 'thing', I am looking at painting a sub-set of all the above, mostly the 'main characters' on single bases to reduce what needs to get painted to put this collection on the table.  What is left unpainted may still, eventually, get painted, but a smaller total will paint faster and get the game on the table.

While I've always known I was collecting more figures than really needed - and really needed to reduce at some point - it was brought home rather starkly that my excessive collections all need considerable reductions to make them more playable.  And to get them playable sooner than later, paint fewer.  Only collection, so far, that isn't getting reduced is the AWI.

Robin Hood, if all goes well, will make it to the table in 2025, just in much more modest numbers.  Just makes too much sense to do otherwise.

[FifteensAway]

An AWI game to get through this coming Saturday, the 19th, and then Robin and company shall sneak out of storage and to the painting table!  Huzzah! 

Progress will be slow as I also focus on non-miniature priorities, some of fun flavors and others of the necessary variety.

[FifteensAway]

Was looking at the old stone cast JR Miniatures castle shown earlier in this thread and once again I'm worried at both its weight and fragility - and its overall size on the table.  I'm thinking I might, instead, go with these two Forged in Battle models shown above.  One to be Nottingham Castle and the other to be the ancestral home of the Robin Hood lineage, or something like that.

Probably keep the Keep though:



Thoughts?

[Dice Roller]

I suppose it all depends on what you want.
To be honest, none of them look like a castle from the 'Robin Hood period' (I'm assuming late 12th century, since he's often named alongside Richard I).
I suppose that Arthurian stronghold could pass muster as a fortified manor house.

All that said, though, Robin Hood is fictional and so you could use any of them. The deciding factor is whether you are going for setting him in a historical period (in which case none of them are suitable) or whether you prefer a more Hollywood Robin Hood, in which case any of them are a goer.

[FifteensAway]

Thanks Dice Roller.  However, my reading shows that the motte and bailey castle was still common - and still being built, including by him (perhaps pre-King) - at the time of Richard I but they were converting more to stone castles at that time and a pretty rapid conversion after that.  But I think the common conception is that it was mostly stone castles at that time - certainly Hollywood thinks so! 

I did some hunting for a more 'traditional' castle via 3D prints in 15 mm and really didn't find anything that appealed to me. Thus my question here in part because I own both of them (though not yet assembled and painted). 

But welcome further input - and especially any options for a 15 mm castle that is affordable and less fragile than stonecast.

[fred]

I'd go with the lovely pink walls you have already!  It's a bit more Hollywood, but it's immediately recognisable as a medieval castle. Your 'keep' model though looks more wizard's tower to me, most keeps were big boxy structures.

There's not loads left of Nottingham castle, but there are some good reconstruction images, might also be worth looking at Lincoln castle which is just down the road, and was extensively built up in the post Norman era (and later too).

The two you have linked both look too early. I assume the Arthurian one is meant to be a repurposed Roman way fort or similar ?

[FifteensAway]

Those 'pink' walls are nice but also heavy and fragile - and the footprint is quite large comparative to table size.  As stated.  Might still use but definitely exploring options. 

One option might be to use the motte and bailey castle but with some clear construction going on to covert towards a stone castle. 

Another option is to push the legend a bit earlier into the reign of Henry II and the aftermath of civil war (Revolt of 1173) and develop the story of young Robin and young Richard developing a relationship during this time.  Richard can still be in France and John can still be involved as a young and impressionable younger brother - jealous of his elders.  Apparently it was during Henry II's reign that Nottingham converted from motte and bailey to stone.

Or I can push the conversion to stone to a later date and keep it all during Richard's reign.  At least one source has a motte and bailey castle in England in use as late as 1202 at which time it was abandoned. 

Or I can use 'modeler's license' and just go full Hollywood and dispense with history and just go with fun and what I have available!  After all, why go to the expense of building a full new movie set when you can reuse one from a recent production with a few tweaks here and there?  The audience, mostly, doesn't care anyway; they just want a fun tale to entertain them. 

It is just 'a legend' so who can really argue for historical accuracy?   

[FifteensAway]

Found this and working with supplier on adding some extra walls:



And this to go inside (and why the extra walls):



The keep can be used on its own for some scenarios.  And, yes, in 15 mm.  Please ignore the fantasy/sci-fi whatevers in the photo!

Sort of reminds me of the castle, the keep anyway, in the movie Ironclad.  Better options?

[Digits]

I looked at that keep in 28mm.  Good choice.