Quite a unique and striking init. Yes, you must do a Florentine army now! Thankfully, many troops are pretty interchangeable between armies in this era.
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Here is my first completed Florentine unit, some unusual-looking Italian swordsmen; I just love the character of these chaps. It's quite uncommon to find infantry equipped with just a sword and no missile weapon, and very little armour. There are very few in the army lists.
This unit has been a slow burner; I bought 16 of these Perry metal minis around two years ago, mostly painted, from a chap in Sweden who had been planning to use them as soldiers from the Free City of Braavos. Chum Shaun McTague painted 8 more and I highlighted and painted the shields, which I based on Florentine heraldry and guild symbols. The flag is from Pete's Flags on eBay. I have based them on my FK&P6 bases; this means I can use them either as three bases on a 20cm grid, for shows, or, dropping a base, two on the 15cm grid we often use for To the Strongest! competitions. The bases came out really well; its hard to see the joins, and the wobbly edges vanish into my gaming cloth.
I suppose that having these (and some Florentine mounted crossbows that will follow) necessarily means that I am building a Florentine army. Machiavelli would be delighted! :-)
13 Comments
Close this window Jump to comment formSUch a splendid and dynamic unit, such a masterpiece!
14 June 2019 at 18:00
Lovely figures Simon :)
Have you read Nic's "Dell'Arte della Guerra"?
14 June 2019 at 19:49
Lovely looking swordsmen! You will of course have to build a Florentine army now,I look forward to it!
Best Iain
15 June 2019 at 00:07
Quite a unique and striking init. Yes, you must do a Florentine army now! Thankfully, many troops are pretty interchangeable between armies in this era.
15 June 2019 at 11:32
Thanks, chaps!
Tamsin, donkey's years ago. Could do with a refresher.
15 June 2019 at 17:03
VERY nice indeed mate!
15 June 2019 at 23:21
Oooo these are very nice Simon!
16 June 2019 at 10:57
Thanks again, chaps!
16 June 2019 at 16:15
A brilliant looking unit. Love the details on shields etc. And those unusual looking helmet ‘cushions ‘! I can imagine they’d go down well in Florence
16 June 2019 at 18:05
They are fabric rolls- alas I can't remember the Italian name for them. :-)
16 June 2019 at 18:14
Very nice work Simon.
18 June 2019 at 14:08
Those fabric rolls are called mazzocchio: https://archive.bridgesmathart.org/2012/bridges2012-433.pdf
I don't think these were as common as depicted in art and on figures in contrast with other forms of turban like cloth worn around helmets.
http://www.nachtanz.org/SReed/histcost.html
25 June 2019 at 03:06
Thanks for those links! Most interesting.
25 June 2019 at 09:32