"28mm Swiss...any ideas please?" Topic

I am keen to develop a new project as my present ones draw to a close and a favouriye has always been a Later Medieval Swiss army in 28mm. I've been looking at quite a range of medieval figures and wondered what people who already had, or who are like myself looking to recruit would recommend? I've also looked at the Front Rank WOR range and wonder how some of these would fit in? Obviously I'm not thinking of the longbows but the mounted MAA may be suitable for Lorraine allies and the crossbowmen, handgunners, 2 of the 3 pikemen poses plus a number of the halberdiers and other foot seem quite suitable. I've an interest in the period but I'm certainly no expert so wonder what others may think?

Old Glory's are excellent, IMO.

Allen

Parkfield have just released a small number of Burgundians and Swiss, the range will be added to soon with handgunners, crossbows and gendarmes.

link

Simon

I agree with Allen. Old Glory has some ranges which are awful, but this isn't one of them. These are as good as anyone's.

The best Burgundian Wars Swiss in 28mm is, IMHO, far and away the range that Dave Andrews sculpted for Foundry.

They are not particularly cheap, however, no other line does as credible a job covering the Swiss style of clothing and hairstyles at the time as well as their mixed harness.

I've used the Foundry Swiss command, handgunners, and crossbowmen, mixed in with and alongside Old Glory--and also some of the old Grenadier, now Mirliton? handgunners and crossbowmen sculpted by Mark Copplestone. And I have no desire to argue with Fred, who knows this period very well.

But I really do like the Old Glory range for the bulk of the army. They look like suitably tough characters.

Allen

I've got the whole range of the Foundry Swiss, and they are very nice figures for the later 15th century.

Only drawback in my opinion is that the crossbowmen are one-piece (ie. no separate crossbow) which slightly affects the quality of the casting. And the pikemen are in pretty aggressive poses, which requires some extra effort in lining them up (compared to pikemen holding their pikes upright).

As said, they are a bit pricey with the current Foundry rates, so you might want to look for their collections and/or horde deals.

Griefbringer

I'd have to go with Alan and Fred. Foundry and the old Grenadier bulked out with Old Glory. The Front Rank figs. are great and I have a bunch in my WOR army but I do not mix them in units with my Foundry, Grenadier Old Glory Essex figs. They seem a little to large to mix well with the other figs.

I have a Holy Roman Empire Army built from mostly OG, with Front Rank for the mounted figures and artillery. As other have said, the Front Rank are too big and bulky to mix successfull with the OG figs. You can see some photos here:

link

I have now mixed in some of the Mirliton/Grenadier figures (not pictured), and for the most part they are a good match. Lastly, I just picked up some Crusader WOTR crossbowmen yesterday, and they are of a slighter build and a fraction taller than the OG, but I think painted up they may be able to mix successfully in a unit (at least I hope!)

Chris

I'll add a bit more here. (In the spirit of full disclosure, Burgundian Wars Swiss is one of my prized armies and the second half of the 15th Century among my favorite eras)

If one choses carefully some of the old Mirliton/Grenadier line is an excellent compliment to the Foundry Swiss.(as others have already said.)

With the OG, there are some gems in their lines but one really has to sift through their WotR and Late Medieval lines to find the true winners.

I did pick up a bag of their Swiss. IMHO they're just a tad late for Burgundian Wars Swiss to my liking. There is no reason one cannot use them of course, but the hint of slashed clothing style makes them much better suited for the Swabian Wars a couple of decades later.

Mirliton/Grenadier mixed with Front Rank will suffice.

I thought the Foundry Swiss were closer to 25mm than 28mm to mix with their older Citadel WOR ranges?

Cheers
Mark

"Mirliton/Grenadier mixed with Front Rank will suffice."

I do not understand what "suffice" in the context of our discussion is supposed to mean.

"I thought the Foundry Swiss were closer to 25mm than 28mm to mix with their older Citadel WOR ranges?"

They mix very well with Mirliton, OG, and Old Foundry.

By my measurements, the Foundry Swiss are height-wise around 27mm tall, measured from soles of feet to the eye level.

Griefbringer

Thanks everyone for the helpful comments and info. Thanks Allen for the pointer to OG. The only problem I have is that I cannot actually find a reference for them on the OG UK site? I'm probably missing something obvious…it certainly won't be the first time and I doubt it will be the last.

It might be that the OG Swiss are listed under their "Italian Wars" range – try looking out there.

Griefbringer

I agree that Old Glory's range is excellent, one of their best, but that it is slightly later in terms of the soldiers it depicts. I think that Dave Andrews sculpts for Foundry are the most specifically accurate for Burgundian Wars Swiss out there. I just bought two army's worth of them from Don Manser and couldn't be happier with them.

Now when to paint them? I wish I didn't like big infantry armies as much as I do. Cavalry are so much quicker to paint up. :\

joekano, thanks for sharing the photos. Very inspirational.