Here Come the Irish!

 

Albrecht Durers Kerns revisited by Antediluvian Miniatures 

Here Come the Irish

The Irish are an interesting and very different Ruckus Retinue, sporting two very different types of warrior. There are the Fast, Nimble and Woodcrafty Kerns who although lightly clad can deliver a hefty punch with their ferocious charge and Gurt Big Swords and then there are mail clad Gallowglass and their huge Sparth axes.

The Irish Retinue lacks any Support and that fact alone will create some interesting situations, this is a Retinue that if badly handled can get itself into trouble very easily. It is also a racy hard hitter, an attacking force, that can knock holes in any opponent if it gets the first blow in. This Retinue offers a different type of game which requires new tactics and a lot of yellow paint!

Here is a quick run down of how this Retinue differs from the norm

The Galloglass Originally, having read how heavily armoured these warriors were, I gave them a Saving Throw of 3+. After a bit more reading though, and realising that they mostly wore mail, I moderated it to 4+. This also restores a bit of balance to the Retinue as the Kern do have a lot of Traits! The Galloglass are  essentially Billmen who have exchanged Support for a Gurt Big Sword, which reduces their opponents saving throw, they are therefore, a more aggressive profile than the BiIl men

The Kerns The kerns are radically different to any previous Retainer Profile, they even have their own Trait -Kern that means that although they are Shootists they are never Encumbered in melee, this combined with Ferocious Charge and the ability to arm themselves with a Gurt Big Sword gives the Kern an aggressive melee option that no other shootist has and can provide a significant back up to the main melee arm...the Galloglass. Fast and Nimble means that a sprinting Kern can move up to 12”across any terrain.

Kerns Saving Throw. Initially this was 6+ but felt too vulnerable. Peasants have a 6+ save and do not last long on the table, particularly against Archers, so I increased it to 5+. However, I did this after adding several Traits such as Woodsman and Nimble so it may be that the Kern is a bit OP! But that’s Ruckus! Get used to it! Balance is for other game systems! If that doesn’t suit your style of play try using them with a saving throw of 6+ but I doubt they will last long.

Javelins. As Shootists the Kern are pretty tame and are always going to come off second best in a shooting contest against Archers with their ability to shoot twice and their much greater range. Originally the javelin range was 6” but it was little lame. One thought was that javelins should only throw to 9” only if the Character throwing the javelin moves towards the target, otherwise the range should be 6” and this I feel would be a rather more realistic take on how javelins work but does make the rule more complicated. In the end I dropped it for simplicity’s sake but Players should feel free to try it. 

Support or the lack of it! The Irish are a fast-moving, hard-hitting Retinue but lack Support. This requires some completely different thinking especially against those Opponents who do have support. This Retinue is very new to all of us and so the only observations I can offer are to use Terrain to your advantage and attack where your enemy is weakest! 

Mounted Characters. The Irish also suffer from poor cavalry, the lack of stirrups and the Irish saddle being no more than a strapped on cushion mean that they can not couch a lance nor deliver a heavy blow from horseback. They do however, gain the ability to throw javelins when mounted which is something no other Retinue can boast! 

Creating an Irish Retinue

I used Perry and Antediluvian Miniatures for my Retinue. Of the two I would say that the Antediluvian are by far the better sculpts. These were particularly poor by Perry standards I thought, the Gallowglass are in very stiff static postures and lack animation or character. Having said that, they seem to represent the Kerns leine, the voluminous saffron-dyed shirt/tunic, more accurately.

Flags of War, Border Wars, the Fighting Irish look to be the very best of the bunch and I know I shall end up getting some even though I really need no more! I have a few of their figures and they are superb sculpts, crisp, casts, with good definition and excellent poses and animation. They would make an excellent Retinue, however, I should point out that several of them are sporting morions and so should only be used for the later period

There are no commercially available Irish cavalry for this period that I know of but you could do worse than follow Steve Woods lead in kit-bashing some. Here is a link to his blog

https://arcanesceneryandmodels.co.uk/modelling-irish-wotr-medieval-cavalry-part-one/

These are a Retinue born to have fun! Slainte