Ideas for interesting 1450-1500 projects?

[Arlequín]

The jury is out on whether Scales had permission or not to fight for Brittany. Legend has it that Henry VII had ordered that no one in England should get involved, but technically the Isle of Wight was not England then and Scales apparently sensed a nudge and a wink from Henry, which may or may not have been true. Henry subsequently changed his mind, but too late for Scales. I suspect Scales decided he would be lauded if he was successful and would be past caring if not, thanks to his apparent 'follow me chaps' style of leadership.

Wight's population was some few thousand back then and apparently almost an entire generation of young men were lost in Scales's adventure; 400 or so being almost the entire adult male population of fighting age (usually assessed at 17% of population). The myth is that only one lad returned from Brittany and became the subject of a 1908 poem;

Of all that sturdy Island band
Who stern refused to flee;
Knights and squires thirty and ten,
Twenty score of stout yeomen,
There is returned but me.

And would ye know, ye wives of Wight
Of son and sire bereft.
They lie all stark neath St Aubin's wall,
By that fell darkwood where the nightbirds call
And – I alone am left.

- from St. Aubin by Percy Goddard Stone

I couldn't find any more of it, but oddly the numbers given are credited as being quite accurate.  

[Charlie_]

If you don't want to play big battles you can imagine some small skirmishes in Brittany just before or around this battle.

Yes that does sound good, I'll add it to my list for sure!

Have a company standard and then extra standards to show who they are working for that day! 

That's what I'm thinking! I'm sure it will be worth doing one nice big St George's cross flag, though it won't be used for every game!

I think I should have a go at coming up some good heraldry ideas for my captain now. I'll post what I come up with, and you can give me some feedback.

[Dez]

What for all these projects? What conflicts do not have enough?

[Arlequín]

Late 15th Century Wars that involve English soldiers besides the Wars of the Roses.

[Charlie_]

I've been playing around with heraldry, and came up with this for my captain.



It's simple but bold, so should work well. It will only be used for his personal standard bearer, and perhaps on his tabard if he wears one.

But what about the company standard? Do we have any examples of such things for mercenary companies? I'm thinking one big one to go with the captain, and smaller variants to go with each unit. I'm kind of open to anything really, but don't really know where to start.

[Patrice]

I think that a square banner with their own heraldry was only permitted to "banneret knights" - very important noblemen.

But any commander could have a standard with anything he liked on it - and different from his heraldry.

(...not sure about England, but that was a rule in France, in Brittany, etc).

[commissarmoody]

I've been playing around with heraldry, and came up with this for my captain.

did you make this your self? if so what program did you use?

[GamesPoet]

The black sickles remind me of Middle Eastern armies.

[Charlie_]

I think that a square banner with their own heraldry was only permitted to "banneret knights" - very important noblemen.

But any commander could have a standard with anything he liked on it - and different from his heraldry.

Yes, I suppose that's true.... I could use this as their company standard instead I guess, and not have give him any heraldry.

did you make this your self? if so what program did you use?

I used this - http://inkwellideas.com/coat_of_arms/free-version/
Though I did edit it a little in photoshop afterwards though, firstly to get the square shape (it has lots of different shaped shields available, but annoyingly no simple squares), and to add the ripples which I did myself.

[commissarmoody]

Thanks, I will have to give it a look later on tonight

[Patrice]

"Gules, on a bend argent three crescents sable" is that the correct decription in English? Very nice.

The black sickles remind me of Middle Eastern armies.

 Crescents were quite common in western European heraldry too.

Yes, I suppose that's true.... I could use this as their company standard instead I guess, and not have give him any heraldry.

Oooh, I wouldn't want to prevent you from using it if you like it. In my 14th Century campaign one of the players brings a square banner although his character has no right to it; rather than rudely forbiding it, I have all others players characters telling him that he should not do that – but as he plays some sort of mercenary adventurer he just doesn't care.

A company standard would have a different shape anyways (or so I think).

[Charlie_]

A company standard would have a different shape anyways (or so I think).

This is what I'd really like to know more about. Shapes and sizes of flags used by mercenary companies....

What about 'uniforms' too? I've got some models in livery coats I'd really like to re-purpose.... Quite a few in red/blue, and some in both red/white and red/black. Are they any accounts of mercenary companies wearing uniforms?