Salute 2016 and the return of the Black Bande.

Well Ive posted my 'bit' about Salute on my main blog, and I think I have said enough about the show, however I didnt record what I actually purchased at the show!
 I try not to record how much I have spent on my hobby, because, a] it scares the crap out of me and b] my wife would scare the crap out of me too.However I am pleased that I bought the following, and after a lot of pleading and badgering I managed to buy my long suffering wargames partner's French Black Bande.

 When John Reidy and I were wargaming in the 1980's we both had renaissance armies in 25/28mm. John who has always been a great painter decided to sell the whole collection about 1987 and move into 6mm. I followed a year later, before naturally returning to 28mm a few years ago.
 I always wanted to recover John's collection as it was so damned good, the majority was lost never to be recovered, but Jim Sweeney somehow managed to buy the French Black Bande from E Bay some years ago. Anyway Jim finally and very kindly agreed to sell the Bande to me at I finally got my hands on it at Salute. Jim also generously gave me the small number of mounted arquebusiers that John had also painted back then. Who says all Yorkshire men are mean eh. I have put the correct standards on the unit , so now the Black Bande is ready to face their Spanish enemies. It is a wonderful unit, and will have a small complement of mounted arquebusiers to go with it soon. I reckon the unit is about 30 plus years old, and I still enjoy looking at the great paint job that John did on the unit. Happy days.

It was only supposed to be a contingent.

 At the request of a poster, Iain, I have took some quick snaps of my Swiss contingent of the French army. Its only when you put them on a table as a whole do you realise that maybe one has painted too many. It was meant to be a contingent, but probably could be used as an army in its own right.

 I have 'found' a unit of unpainted Swiss halberdiers, that I think I should complete, as the Swiss were renowned for their murderous use of the weapon. I also have some spare crossbowmen, which if painted up could reflect the earlier Swiss army. Oh and not forgetting the Duke of Lorraine and his small unit of knights.

My Final Swiss.

 It would seem that I have finally completed the Swiss contingent for the Italian Wars, as I only have a few crossbowmen left to paint. I dont normally plan out my armies, and instead just buy figures and paint them until I am sick. These chaps were from an order I had placed when Foundry were reorganising and were offered at a cheaper price.

              Not Perry sculpts, but still nice, and actually easier to paint.

 There's not a lot one can say about them apart from they are carrying Pete's Flags, and look very jaunty.

Its my party.

 Last Saturday was my birthday, and unfortunately not just any birthday, it was my 60th one.Anyway, I got some wonderful presents and a surprise party with band. So it was a very good day and very late night. Amongst the surprises I received were these three wonderfully painted figures, courtesy of Dave Jarvis, painter to the stars. I must admit I was very touched by this wonderful gift. Dave needs to paint to eat, and painting these figures as a present means he had less time to do paid work. So I would again like to say thank you to Dave for this wonderful present. Now if I can just get him to paint a few cavalry regiments buck free.                                                                

Some new goodies.

 Due to the lingering lurgy, I have been confined to barracks, and so have been able to crack on with some painting. Firstly a unit of Eureka French Archers, to support my Eureka Gendarmes.

 The figures are quite small but perfectly adequate.

Secondly I would like to say a thank you the the Last Nazgul E Bay shop, for very kindly giving me three more part painted Vulcan gendarmes, free gratis. This was a very kind gesture, and means that I am only one short of a dozen Vulcan gendarmes. At the moment I am filling in with a Gamezone standard bearer.

 I know they are clumsy to put together, but I have always found the Vulcan gendarmes very charming.Anyway, thanks again to the Last Nazgul E Bay shop, for the figures.

The project continues.

 In between bouts of Bronchitis, etc I have still managed to get some painting done. In this case it is my Spanish heavy cavalry. The Spanish cavalry was not as heavily armoured as their French counterparts, and tended not to use bards. As a consequence I've used unbarded horses to emphasize this. Clearly I was in a Red/Yellow mood during their painting but it helps identify their Spanish connections. Standards are in the main by Adolfos Ramos, with a couple of Pete's Flags thrown in.

 All my pike blocks have their own sub unit of missile troops, this is the latest completed unit for my Swiss. I checked just how many Swiss I had, and I realise that I do have a large number, ie 4 blocks of pike plus lights, which is quite enough really. At least I thought so until I found! a box of unpainted Swiss pike. So it would be churlish not to paint them as well, they can always be the lesser effective Grison Swiss.  

My second Swiss pike block, done!

Due to the current Armageddon type weather I have managed to get on with some painting instead of venturing outside. What I try to do is flit between projects and periods, I find this keeps my interest pretty high. I also try to slip in a command base or interest base to also keep me, well,  interested. Anyway, I have now completed my second Swiss regiment with bear. I know it seems daft to have two bears in my regiments, but they are just too nice not to be included.
 I find that painting Perry figures is a doddle really, as they are so well designed. Granted the castings do need a bit clean up, but I especially enjoy the facial detail on their ranges.
 The little interest base is an old plastic Warhammer chap that was too nice to discard.

    My two Swiss regiments, with added Bear mascots. Flags as usual from Pete, of Pete's Flags.