And here's what I've been painting...

The blog has been very quiet over the last month. Mrs T and I went to visit Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, and there's been other things on the go as well, but I have been taking the occasional time out to relax with the paintbrush.

My DBA army collection has spread a little from the Caucasus. I'm looking more at central Europe now, and I ordered a couple of ready made armies from Essex. This was mainly on grounds of cost, once I'd done the sums on what I wanted. The ready made army gave me all the options and was cheaper than picking and choosing. Alas some of the figure choices are a bit eccentric, but we'll get to that with the review of the paintwork.

The army is IV/13b - Medieval German 1151-1439. That's quite a period, with armour types changing and so on. Still, it is what it is, so here goes.

The army is intended to fight in Bohemia, so the paintwork choices are made with that in mind. Sources were the Ospreys on Medieval German Armies to 1500 and the Hussite Wars, WRG Armies of the Middle Ages vols 1&2 and the Funcken Age of Chivalry vols 1 &2.

Starting off with a knight General (3Kn), painted as Sigismund. He has an Imperial Herald with him.

He is joined by three elements of knights (3Kn):

These consist of some real and some made up knights. The one of note is the bloke with the blue & white stripy lance. He's Cardinal Henry Beaufort, and his heraldry is something to behold, if only you could see it in the photo.

Next we have some Teutonic knights, (6Kn). 

These are my first Teutonics in any army, and they've come up okay, once I'd worked out how to get them on the bases. The flag may be a bit over the top. Alas none of the supplied figures had those big winged helmets. 

Instead of the 6Kn you can have some mounted crossbows (Cv) or Hungarian Light Horse.

These are nice enough figures, but the choice of sallets for the crossbows is a bit curious, and one of the LH doesn't look very Hungarian. You can have some more knights (3Kn) if you want too:

In addition to the mounted crossbows (who don't shoot) you can have some actual Cb that do. I like the kettle helmet more than the conical ones.

 After these you get some troop types I haven't painted before either, like the Teutons.

These are Feudal Retainers (7Hd). Retaining obviously means something different in Germany, as I'd call them levy, if they're hordes. Instead of these you can have city militia:

These are from Vienna and Dresden. I hope. My preference would be to take these instead of the hordes.

Next you can have some Brabanter pikemen (4Pk):

I thought red pikes would look nice. I also had a go at the pike heads as cast, flattening them and shaping them into points. These guys are all in kettle helmets. 

Or if you want some variety you can axemen or halberdiers or goedendags (4Bd). 

These are disappointing for several reasons. They don't offer the halberd/goedendag option on either of the bases, and the poses are a bit...dull. They could have had two handed swords too. A missed opportunity. I'd rather put the pikes on the table, but the 4Bd go well with the spears.

Lastly you get some archers (Ps)

Not a lot to say about these. They've got bows and pot helms.

On balance I'm pleased with most of the figures, and they've painted up well, mostly. It's taken me a couple of months of fettling to get them done, and I guess I got a bit bored with them towards the end. 

The pre-packed army gave me all the options for less than I would have paid to just get figures for the elements I'll most likely use. I'll certainly be taking the 6Kn, at least at first, and I'm not a big fan of hordes. Perhaps I can learn to love them. My gut reaction is to take the spears, as mentioned above, but that means taking the 4Bd. So perhaps the 4Pk and 7Hd will look best.

I have another pre-pack army to paint (there are no prizes for guessing what that is), and I don't think I'll have the same reservations about the figure choices.

Going forwards I think I might be less inclined to buy the ready made pack. I'm inclined to think that I might spend the extra tenner and be more selective. Food for thought, anyway.