Dismounted Knights with Shortened Lances

I finished my second bag of Old Glory 28mm French dismounted knights. This bag contained 30 dismounted knights armed with shortened lances. It was nice that I didn't have to fiddle around with shields. I figured they have lances shortened to spear length, so that would be enough for them to carry, right?

I did want some color on the knights so I painted them with colored surcoats. My decals didn't fit on the bodies since they were designed to go on shields. I actually had to hand-paint the coat of arms (coats of arms?) on the little guys. I tried to keep the designs simple, but you can only paint so many V-stripes before you have to tackle the more intricate designs.

I actually had to paint these knights a little brighter because the 4 year old GW black primer I used was a little dusty when it sprayed on. It gave the armor a gritty look I had paint over. It isn't so bad when the units are mixed up and it does give a nice variety to the different knights.

It might be more noticeable if all the new knights were in one unit next to an earlier unit, but I don't intend to field them like that. Welcome to the age of white armor and easier armor painting!

(ABOVE) Here's a front side view of the knights.

(ABOVE) Here's a straight-on front view of the knights. They look like they mean business. "I didn't shorten my best lance and lurch all the way over to here to not get stuck in!"

(ABOVE) Here's a rear view of the knights. This is not the business end of the knights, but after my last play test, it might be the view the Englishmen see most often. It does show the coat of arms nicely so the heralds can easily identify which nobles are fleeing from the fight. "Just going to check on my horse. I'll be right back!"


(ABOVE) Close-ups of two of the knights. One coat of arms is a decal. One is hand-painted. I won't ask you to guess. I'm not that conceited and VVV makes great decals.


(ABOVE) This is the consolidated force of painted French dismounted Men-at Arms. 4 12-man units for Piquet plus a few extras. One more unpainted bag of 30 MAA to paint, then I'll order a bag of dismounted English MAA and a bag of dismounted Scottish MAA.

The knights are mixed into the units because it's not as if the French nobles said, "Okay everybody with shortened lances, go to line A. Polearms, go to Line B. Hand weapons, go to Line C." I'll probably treat them as spear-armed for Piquet and superior to other spears.

(ABOVE) Same subject, different angle.