French Leaders and Mounted Knights

Well, I haven't posted in a while because I've been painting like a maniac, trying to get my French HYW army ready for the Agincourt game at our local convention. Luckily, I've infected a few friends with the "medieval" wargaming bug and their painting efforts have taken some of the pressure off of me.

I do realize that if you don't update blogs regularly, people will stop looking at them. So, here you go.

Here are some pictures of the knights and leaders I've painted for the battle. Unfortunately, I never seem to have time to take pictures in daylight, so the lighting isn't the best.

(ABOVE) Here's a long shot of the French dismounted and mounted knights I've painted since this project began. The dismounted knights are all Old Glory miniatures. The mounted knights and leaders are Perry miniatures.

(ABOVE) Here's a closer shot of a few of the dismounted knights. In the Piquet Band of Brothers game, dismounted knights form 12 figure units. Mounted knights form 8 figure units.

(ABOVE) Here's my unit of Perry mounted knights.

(ABOVE) This is the Comte de Brabant. He was the "commander" of one of the ill-fated mounted wings of the French army.


(ABOVE) Louis, the Count de Vendome. Another heavy hitter who fought at Agincourt. I believe his branch of the Bourbon line eventually succeeded to the throne of France.

(ABOVE) Marshal Boucicaut, one of the French leaders at Agincourt. He was knighted at 16. He was a warrior for 43 years and was considered to be a shining example of French chivalry. Boucicaut was captured at Agincourt and died in captivity in England six years later at the age of 55. His attempts to ransom himself were rebuffed by Henry V who was probably smart enough to realize that letting this old warhorse return to France would only cause him trouble down the line.


(ABOVE) Charles de Albret, Constable of France. Charles was a strong ally of the French Armangac party. He was nominally the overall commander of the French army, but he most likely lost control over the army once the battle began. He wanted to wait out the English, but once the English began firing on the French knights, there was little he could do to stop the attack. He was killed at Agincourt.

(ABOVE) And here is the Constable with his standard bearer. I like how the standard bearer is holding Charles' helmet. He's probably like, "Yeah, Charles, I'd love to hold your freaking helmet for you. Maybe you didn't notice I'm already holding your f$%&%king gigantic banner standard already. No problem." I probably wouldn't have lasted very long in medieval France.

(ABOVE) Count de Fauquembergues. Despite the fact that most of the men-at-arms in the third division of the French army headed for home when they saw the fate of the first two divisions, Fauquembergues led the final charge of the remainder of that third division against the English. And guess what? He died on the battlefield. Very chivalrous.

(ABOVE) Another mounted knight. No one in particular, but he probably fled the battlefield in panic at some point.