Family Commitments.

 I've been tied up with family commitments for the last couple of weeks, so my wargaming and more importantly my painting schedule is all to pot. Still I was able to sneak in a bit of work and finished these figures. The two figures with shields are actually Hinchliffe figures that I hadnt seen before, the shields are particularly well done, in fact Ive a sneaking suspicion that Peter Gilder used a metal button for the original master, but I may be wrong. Still they make a nice infantry command base for my Turks. The standard bearer was a damaged painted figure with a new flag.

 Next we have a Spanish pike block, courtesy of a lot of painted spares given to me by Jason Willaims when he was re basing his units bought from the late Mike Ingham of the Wargames Holiday Centre fame. The back ranks also contain some really good figures that John Reidy had painted and gave to me to use. So really a mish mash of figures, that looks pretty good in my eyes.

Akinji and Tartars.

 Well as I promised, I have finished basing more Turkish light cavalry, which are a combination of spare light cavalry from my mate John's collection and some repainted figures I bought from Rahul Sarnak. They have come up really well, and certainly will make a welcome addition to the Turkish cannon fodder, that is the Akinji and Tartar squadrons.

 These chaps are Minifigs with a couple of Garrison figures from Rahul's collection.

A Diamond Geezer!

 I regularly read about various unpleasant persons who seem to take pleasure in attacking [in a verbal sense] other wargamers on the internet. Perhaps I've just been lucky, but the wargamers I have had contact with are enthusiastic people with a love for our hobby.
One such person is a wargamer/collector called Jason Williams, who has been fortunate to collect a lot of the renaissance figures used by Mike Ingham and previously owned by Peter Gilder from the old Wargames Holiday Centre.

 Jason totally out of the blue some months ago sent me some spare figures from the collection. It was like some wonderful dream really. Anyway Jason has come up trumps again and very kindly sent me some spare command figures, he didnt need?
I have now been able to make up a base, adding a Perry standard bearer. I'm afraid the photographs do not do justice to the two mounted figures. But I would again like to thank Jason for his extreme generosity. Now if I can just get John Ray to donate his collection to me.

Colunellas steaming ahead.

 Well I have made some progress with painting my Spanish Colunellas, and have now completed one totally, and I am well on the way with the second one. The completed one is made up mainly of TAG figures which are very accurate representations of the real thing, whilst the second Colunella is made up in the main of Connoisseur figures, which while not as accurate are still very nice figures.

 I am taken with the TAG sword and buckler men, who are heavily armoured chaps.

 I have also been cracking on with the repainting and basing of some Ottoman Turk Akinji and hope to complete them in the next couple of days. I originally obtained these chaps from an old wargames friend, Rahul Sarnak, and they are a mish mash of Garrison, Mini fig, and Hinchliffe figures. I am really pleased with how these have turned out. Hopefully I will have them in a post very soon.

Turks and Spanish.

 I think its fair to say that I like just about every range of wargames figures that have been produced over the last God knows how many years. Some ranges I like more than others. I never particularly like the old Dixon renaissance range which I thought was out of proportion, but even these had a certain charm. But I digress. An old wargaming acquaintance of mine dropped in to see me a few weeks ago, and he brought with him an eclectic selection of Renaissance Turks, most painted. Amongst the figures Rahul brought me was a group of painted Turkish cavalry that appear to be Garrison and Minifig, but Im not that certain. What I did think was that they were full of vigour and would look great, repainted and re based. Anyway I have now finished them.I wasnt disappointed and although they must be well over 40 years old they look okay to me.    

 So 12 more light cavalry to add to the Turkish horde that I am now building. Scale wise they are not heroic 25mm, but the old 25mm size, whatever that means.

 Another great range from the early 1980's was the Connoisseur Renaissance range by the late great Peter Gilder. I managed to get a load at Salute this year for my second Spanish Colunella. I have now completed the second unit of pike, and although there is only a limited option on the figure range, they still look pretty businesslike. I added the odd Perry head, and a couple of figures from my spares box. The flags are by Adolfo Ramos and Pete of Pete's Flags. Next are the sword and buckler men for both pike units.

A few more Spanish.

 One thing about retirement is that as a wargamer I do seem to have some time for painting without causing too much domestic discord. As a consequence I am able to crack on with my projects, so here are the skirmishers for my Colunella, as a cheat I have slipped in a couple of gabions to save using extra figures.

 I also managed to do a couple of generals for the Spanish. I'm afraid my photography sometimes leaves a lot to be desired,but one gets the general idea.All the standards are by Adolfo Ramos, who is very reasonable and does a good range of flags, for several periods.

Spanish Colounella

Well I'm about two thirds through my first Spanish Colounella, and they're a bugger to complete. I forgot just how big the Spanish units could be, bearing in mind these were the forerunners to the later Tercios, which totaled about 4000ish men in a unit. I have to add a sword a nd buckler sub unit, and some skirmishers, which I have actually painted, but not completed basing yet.
 This regiment is made up of in the main TAG figures, definitely not the cheapest, but probably the best researched. I know that the Spanish infantry tended to deck themselves out in as much armour as they could grab, and TAG have tried to detail this.I have thrown in a couple of Foundry figures and a Perry commander for good measure. The flags a mixture of Adolfo Ramos and Pete's flags. Both very good, and great value.
 I have started building my next Colunella, which is made up of the old Connoisseur range. Peter Gilder wrongly decked them out in morions, but whose to say any different, and they are still very good figures although a little samey. So I have to admit I am a little off course by painting some Spanish, but I'm certain if Cesare had survived the death of his father he would have ended up encountering them one way or another. Personally, and with hindsight if Id been Cesare I would have been emphasising my Spanish background and ratting on his French allies asap.

 Colin, one of our group, gave me a TAG Turkish commander, so I had to paint him up as a Janissary officer. I gave him a guard of two of the old Campaign Miniatures Janissary range painted by John back in the 1980's. Still great figures though.