By Mike W
So after some time painting Irish troops for various periods, I have drawn these together into a single army that can, with suitable variation in units within the army, represent Irish forces pretty much anywhere between the 12th and 16th centuries.
The obvious thing to be aware of is the use of firearms, the musket armed troops would clearly need to be omitted form the earlier iterations of an Irish Army - as would any fellas with a Marian helmet .pre early 1500s.
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| The whole army laid out with all troop options |
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| Same from a slightly different angle |
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And again form the other side!
The core of the army is five warbands of warriors, either 20 or 25 figures strong, including a musician plus each has a chieftain to command it. It is at this point that it should be noted that a good 40% of the figures were originally form Steve's medieval collection, these however have all been repainted and rebased to fit in as best as possible with my own figures
 | A mix of Wargames Atlantic and Gripping Beast Irish figures
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Another warband of Gripping Beast and Wargames Atlantic plastic figures,
this time 25 figures strong with a metal leader, originally form Steve's collection. |
So about two of the warbands are made up of Wargames Atlantic & Gripping Beast plastic Irish figures, about about another two warbands are based around figures formerly in Steve's collection - I'm not sure of their manufacturer. The remaining 20% are from metals from Perry Miniatures, Redoubt Miniatures and I believe Essex.
I have tried to pull these all 'together' buy using a similar paint job across the army, with an ochre coloured cloth as the based tone, with highlights in other, sometimes brighter colours.
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Another 'large' 25 man warband, mostly made up of figures formally in Steve's collection,
repainted and rebased. Leader is one of mine and I think it is a Perry's figure. |
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The fourth Warband, again mostly figures that were originally Steve's
but also including an number of generic Dark Ages figures to bulk it out. |
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| Fifth and final Irish warband, 20 figures strong with a Perry's leader and a Redoubt (?) drummer |
Added to the base of five warbands I have two units of Gallowglass figures, armoured mercenaries wielding two handed swords and axes to drive fear into their enemies. The larger unit of these fearsome men are Perry Miniature figures.
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Gallowglass Unit, predominantly Perry Miniatures but also some Redoubt and Essex guys as well!
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A second, smaller twelve man band of Gallowglass,
these are all formerly from Steve's collection
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The Army Commander is, I believe an Essex figure, I have given him a priest carrying a standard and also a personal champion. Whilst on the subject of Essex figures, its worth noting that the fairly large number of these in this army were originally sourced from Steve C's collection, these have all been repainted and rebased to fit in with my army's overall look & feel.
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Army Commander with his Champion (right) and personal priest,
carrying the Army Banner, left.
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A Scots contingent of Musketeers and Archers,
all metal figures, not 100% sure of manufacturer,
these would be suitable for late 15th and early 16th Century periods. |
Next come various missile men, whose use would vary according to the time period in which any game is set. I need to build these numbers up somewhat but there are about a dozed archers, a single slinger and seventeen musketeers!
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| Nine archers and a solitary Slinger! A mix of manufacturers |
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| Three armoured Archers, formerly belonging to Steve |
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A group of Irish Musketeers, various manufacturers, including Wargames Atlantic,
Gripping Beast, Warlord Games and others. |
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| ... and six more musketeers. |
Another optional unit is the commander's retinue, these would work well in any late Medieval or Renaissance game but not really practicable in earlier periods.
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Commander's retinue, suitable for later Middle Ages and Renaissance period games
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Then we have the dogs!
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Finally, no Irish Army would be worth it's salt if it did not include Wolf Hounds,
these ten are from Wargames Atlantic, Irish boxed set.
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