Robin Hood and the Sheriff of Nottingham in WA plastics-mostly

 

The crafty Robin ambushes the Sheriff and his pack train of ill gotten wealth

I have been enjoying the latest release from WA plastics and I found them to be perfect to represent the famous Outlaw’s band of Merry Men and also an excellent fit for his evil enemy’s soldiers

While the Sheriff is the cause of Robin’s discomfort; Robin’s main foe is the implacable Sir Guy of Gisborne. I was really pleased with this figure.

I am not sure where the cloak came from, I think it may be GB either Saxon or Welsh “dark ages” Th cloak is painted with Citadel Mephiston Red, highlighted with Evil Suns Scarlet, Wild Rider and washed and glazed with Berserker Bloodshade

Dicken Malbeth is a horrid character from the 1938 film the Adventures of Robin Hood, a real thug

His shield bears the arms of Sir Guy

Bannerman! The standard is made from newspaper, I describe the process here https://wilgut.blogspot.com/2021/09/normal-0-false-false-false-en-gb-x-none.html 

Guy has his foot Knights to protect him. These are all made from WA Serjeants and foot knights-I used the legs from the Serjeants

The Crossbows!  As is proper for an Evil Retinue, no noble longbows here!

Each of them bearing their lord’s logo

The Spears! 

the Spears rears

the whole shebang! This would be a little large for a normal Ruckus Retinue, but Legendary Retinues can be quite a bit larger and all from WA plastics

The Main Man. Rob of the Hood, his Hoodness, the Hooder, Rob'n'the Gang

This figure is from Sally 4^th and he’s a beaut! I have not used any figures from this company before and I have to say they are rather special. They are from the very talented sculptor Iain Lovecraft.

I used the same recipe greens as I did for the Outlaws, see previous blog on WA peasant levy

Will Scarlet also from Sally 4^th, another great sculpt, although I had to take a razor saw to the distinctively 17^th century sword hilt to stop him looking like one of the three musketeers!

His jacket is done with the Citadel Khorne Red trio, his hat is Mephiston Red trio as is his cloak although mixed with hefty doses of orange.

Little John is an Oathmark Human Light Infantry metal figure.

  There is nothing in any of the stories about a stinking great mallet but he wanted to bring it along and I wasn’t about to argue with him

Friar Tuck is from Grenadier I think… I have had him for a long time so it's hard to be sure. His robe is also citadel, the Mournfang Brown trio. I have a lot of Citadel paints, and they are good, the washes are exceptional …but the names! I shall be happy when I have used them all up and I have replaced them all with AP fanatics!

another Sally 4^th, this figure is listed a poacher number 3! I love this one, I think he will be a turncoat Outlaw who works as Scout for the Sheriff…Bodkin Groatsworth

Another Oathmark Light Human Infantry figure a perfect scout for the Goodies Old Harry Scuttbutt

Yet another Oathmark figure from the same set

“There is a pestilence on this land…”

  This chap may seem familiar, he I Roger the Shrubber from the Hayland Medieval Mayhem Miniatures collection

Claymore Castings produce this little gem and he is the perfect Outlaw

and this guy…

The Merry Men assembled…some of which are also WA plastics

Look out for these guys in the next issue of Wargames Illustrated with all the rules necccesary to use them in your games of Ruckus

Wargames Atlantic Serjeants 1150-1320 A review

 

Those busy folk at Wargames Atlantic not content with giving us Foot Knights and Peasant Levy have recruited Foot Serjeants to the cause and the loveliness continues with this equally versatile set of figures.

There are five frames in the box, four Serjeant frames and one “Long Weapons” sprue which is identical to the one in the Levy box- see previous post on Peasant Levy

The main frame is packed with goodies. There are 27 heads with various head coverings from acorn style helmets with short nasal bars to kettle helms with a few bare heads and some soft hats, and arming coifs.

There are three crossbows. There are a variety of arm positions with hands clutching falchions or short swords, one has a small horn another holds a standard pole and one has the very lovely pointing hand.

There are six sets of legs and eight torsos, four of which are designed to take a shield

There are six shields of the heater variety three of them are slightly longer

Lots of loveliness here! I particularly like the arm holding the kettle helm, destined for a Sergent of serjeants for sure

There are six scabbarded Falchions in total one for each completed figure

I do like a good kettle helm! And here there are ten! 

I like the shield strap. All three kits share the same body poses which makes kit bashing between the kits a breeze…

The rear view of the main frame 

There are 28 long weapons with a variety of arms of smooth linen, jacks and mail. There are 6 pole arms which I shall decline to define, after all,one man’s Volgue is another man’s Glaive, and the rest are spears, which seems appropriate.

What I did with them

first up, the Sergent of Serjeants! This set has come along with perfect timing for me to create the Sheriff of Nottingham’s Retinue for Ruckus. My aim is to present the final scenes of the 1938 film the Adventures of Robin Hood at Partizan in May and so I am tied to this livery…

rear view showing the heraldry that the soldiers in the film wear on their tunics

The clearest image I could get of the device

The more typical garb of the soldiers. Each tunic bears the heraldic device on its chest 

Baddies always use crossbows!

It was much easier to paint his shield on his back! 

The classic! You could make all 24 figures to look like this chap. If I was clever, I would have painted his torso before adding the arms, it would make painting the dragon much easier!

I imagine the bulk of medieval armies would look like this

A Bill or a Glaive or something…

“Who goes…?”

The Tunic is Citadel Steel Legion Drab highlighted with Tallarn Sand and Karak Stone.

  The sleeves are Citadel Skavenblight Dinge highlighted with Stormvermin Fur washed and glazed with Nuln Oil

A change of pace and over to the Crusades…

  This set is perfect for Crusaders

The rear view…

The tunic is done with Citadel Khemri Dust, Ushbati Bone and Screaming Skull. Washed and glazed with Seraphim Sepia

The metal is Army Colours Gunmetal washed with a mix of Agrax and Nuln Oil

  The cross is Citadel again, Mephiston Red highlighted with Evil Suns Scarlet and Wild Rider Red, washed and glazed with Berserker Bloodshade 

I hope he’s not thinking of loading his sword on that thing…

  Excuse the hair, you only see these things after the pic is taken!

The tunic is the Foundry Terracotta triad washed with Citadel Flesh Ink. The Jack is Citadel too, the Balor Brown group

That shield has a few tales to tell

  The scars are Khemri Dust and Karak Stone with a slash of thinly mixed black /brown paint

The blue is the Citadel Fang Triad washed and glazed with Tyran blue

 The red hose is done with the Foundry Terracotta triad washed and glazed with Citadel’s Berserker Bloodshade 

Rear view

I really like the pose of this one...en Guarde!

“Have at you…”

The old notched shield…

This chap has the upper body and helm of a Foot Knight and the lower half of a Serjeant. He may be a Squire in the SoN Retinue or possibly a Man at Arms

A menacing looking figure 

Sir Guy of Gisbourne 

I really like this …er… guy...ahem...I will get my coat...

The pointing finger…well…you have to have standards

The box art demonstrates quite nicely some of the many possibilities of this versatile and adaptable set. 

This is a golden age for our hobby and Wargames Atlantic are part of the reason with their ever-growing range of excellent affordable and adaptable plastics