28mm Templar Knights

These are from Fireforge Games and part of the boxed sets I picked up from Triples a couple of weeks ago. I managed to finish the paint job on them just after the Bank Holiday. The full mounted set comprises of 12 knights with horses plus lots of extra heads, shields etc. They look slightly intimidating when unboxed and if you hate assembling plastics you're probably advised to avoid them. However I reckon the end result is well worth it.

The undercoat is black with a basecoat on the cloaks etc being Vallejo Medium Sea Grey. I then did a layer of Games Workshop Ulthian Grey (sort of a slightly lighter grey blue) followed by a highlight of Vallejo White. The bases were done with Basetex Sand with some homemade mix of sand and grit sprinkled on top.

I'll credit Jonathan Phillips book "Holy Warriors" with being the main inspiration behind my sudden interest in the Crusades. I bought a copy as my 'Holiday book' to take with me to Italy earlier this month, and found it to be an absolute page turner. I'd highly recommend it to anyone who wants an introduction to the subject.

Sheffield Triples 2014 - The Haul.

I came back from the Triples wargames show with far more than expected. As I mentioned to Simon, when I awoke this morning I didn't own a 28mm Crusader army but within half an hour of attending the show I'd accumulated a fair size one. Basically I went straight to the Buy and Sell hoping to grab a couple of cheap regiments of French Napoleonics, but clocked a guy signing in about 3 huge sports holdalls full of plastics. All of the ones photographed above (apart from the Gripping Beast Arab box) were from him. All  priced at £10 or £12 each, so half price or less. Weirdly enough he even had some Frenchies in there too. There was a line of other blokes behind me slavering like wolves whilst eyeing his GW Lord of the Rings sets and Warlord Games WW2 stuff. Anyway, the bargain was struck and I reckon more than a few of us went home happy.

The other items like Jugular, Perrys Samurai and Deus Vult rules were from Dave Thomas who did me a nice deal. *Note* the Green Stuff was from a company called Northumbrian Tin Soldier http://www.ntseshop.co.uk/index.php who sell it at £4.50 for twice the amount you get in GW packs.

The show itself was nice as always, although not overly busy. Some fantastic display games and a good chance to catch up with friends. With almost all of the traders doing Show deals it's certainly worth the effort to make it along. In fact these days it's better for me to make it to a local show and pick up what I need than pay more extra for postage etc. And as the above example highlights, in the days when it's getting harder to grab secondhand bargains on Ebay the old Bring and Buy can still provide some fantastic surprises.

Lord Grand Prior's Regiment - 1690 Williamite Wars

I bought these figures from Reiver Castings at the York Wargames show and have only just got round to painting them. They're quite chunky and remind me a lot of Front Rank models. The red uniforms took a few layers (about three to four) as I've a habit of using black undercoat. I also took a slight liberty with historical accuracy and gave them some extra white trim in places, just to make them stand out a bit. I also purchased Barry Hilton's rather nice 'Beneath the Lily Banners' ruleset - we've used his Republic to Empire Napoleonic rules at the club for ages and they're quite a favourite. The extra figures I had left over from the Reiver purchase will likely go towards a Donnybrook skirmish game at some point in the future.