"Thinking of a 100 Years War Army" Topic

I have been thinking of making a 100years War Army for some time …… and would like to ask the following

Do Perry & Front Rank work together ? And old glory for that matter ?

Also …….. would these armies be good for another war ?

Crusades or anything ? Sorry I do not know alot about the period

Hi

the crusades were over well before the HYW.

But in the period, europe was pretty active in producing unpleasent encounters.

Rocky

Hi,

There are "spillovers" (if that is a word) into the Iberian and Italian peninsulas and I am sure the Holy Roman Empire had a fair share of nastiness as well. The Hussite wars are in that period as is the last crusade that was squashed at Nicopolis. Mercenary bands pillaging the countryside of France or fighting for small Italian principalities and lots of action outside Crecy and Agincourt.

I have seen on this forum that Front Rank are a bit bigger and chunkier than Perry.

I have Black Tree Design (mainly for the early part with)Crusader miniatures and Perry (mainly for the later part)and they look well together. I keep them in separate units.

I have heard that there will be HYW plastics as well later on by, I think Wargames Factory.

Eric

HYW English can be fielded against revolting celts under Owain Glyndwr in Wales, and merely angry celts from Scotland.

They can also form the core of a Free Company creating yet more mayhem in France.

Hi,

HYW is great for all sorts of reasons – the height of chivalry, the death of chivalry, heraldry, longbows, handguns, underdog victories!

You can use them for crusades, though – just not Middle Eastern ones. The Hussite Wars were a crusade in Europe in the 1420s against 'Wycliffites, Hussites and all other heretics in Bohemia' and the crusader army was made up from soldiers from all over Europe. Wikipedia is a good start, here.

Actually, having (very quickly) scanned the Wiki pages on the HYW it looks like a reasonable place to start. If you are looking for basic info, the Osprey books are pretty good, and I really like Juliet Barber's book 'Agincourt'. Also, Froissart's Chronicles are very readable and give a great insight into military life and the dynastic struggle of the time.

Eastern Crusades would use many of those figs. Some of the knights that fought in the HYW fought for the Teutonic knights as "guest crusaders" against the Lithuanians even after the union and conversion.

So Tannenburg is one other option for you.

Oh, and I mixed front rank and Perry with no trouble.

"the crusades were over well before the HYW."

True, looking back. But at the time they were anything but a dead horse. And the battle of Nicopolis was fought by mainly French crusaders.

"But in the period, europe was pretty active in producing unpleasent encounters."

And for the first part of it, Templars were still around! After that, they either went underground, joined other Military Orders or changed their names. As you can tell, some of us are still here.

As already said, it is a good period for playing a variety of different wars. The armor is essentially the same everywhere.

Hawkwood led a group of former Hundred Years War troops as a mercenary company in Italy. They were everywhere.

I think Hawkwood's group was the White Company, though my middle aged memory is suspect.

Thank you all for the great Information !!! I'm going to start collecting my French and Britsh now

Another Question ……. on Heraldry

I have a great book Called

A Wargamers Armorial Volume 1. by Tony Hughes ( Great Book ) List about 1500 Coats of Arms from the Roll Calls from the 100 Years War

I'm now looking for a book like this for the French ??

Indeed, White Company it was, but this was a spin off of a company he was involved with earlier called simply "The Great Company". I believe Hawkwood may also have served briefly in the Company of St. George or the Company of the Star.

As for HYW, I agree: if you go with a mid 14th Century force, you can basically cover a wide range of conflicts from England, France, Italy, the Free Company adventures, also the Black Prince's invasion of Spain. If you go with the middle period, the Crusades of Nicopolis and Tunisia and war in the Balkans, Italilan wars, as well as Crusader support for the Teutonic knights are possible (England and France were at peace during much of this period).

However, there are a few caveats here, as the more you start to look at HYW armor, the more you realize its a broad period in which soldiers went from wearing chainmail, leather and some plate, cyclas and long surcoats, to wearing all plate and short jupons to finally wearing a different style of white plate with no cloth cover at all.

Foundry, Black Tree, and Gripping Beast (to an extent) tend to cover the earlier period of Crecy/Poitiers 1330-1370. Old Glory and Front Rank tend to cover the period of hounskull visors and partial plate 1375-1400. The Perry HYW, in my mind clearly the best models, cover a pretty circumscribed period – 1415-1430. The end period of the war – 1430-1450 – has no model support currently: its a pretty distinctive period for armor, with armets and enclosed sallets making their appearance. By 1450, the open sallet and bevor would replace the closed sallet nearly everywhere; I think the Italians, especially the Venetians, still used it.

Bottom line, figures may mix, but may not match period wise. I would feel good about mixing Front Rank HYW with Perry Agincourt to Orleans range. And of course, earlier armor was often used in later periods; Front Rank actually models this nicely, with Great Helm wearing models in sucoats (surely someone there thought hard about making sure some archaic armor made it into a more 'modern' force).

Oh, and George, try Brian Timms site for lots of excellent free information and heraldry:

perso.numericable.fr/briantimms

Essex covers 1430 – 1450.

"but this was a spin off of a company he was involved with earlier called simply "The Great Company" '

So the White Company is sort-of like Baywatch Nights?

or Laverne and Shirley?

"revolting celts"

what's so revolting about us then?!!!

:D

Yes, the White Company was the Frasier of the condottieri. Some say it was better than the original.

Sacrelige, I know. ;)

Thank you all again for the super information and idea ….. I get such great responses here as compaired to the Nap Boards with any questions !!

Look for old Warhammer bretonnians – they make excellent HYW minis. They are rather hard to find nowadays.

"Look for old Warhammer bretonnians – they make excellent HYW minis. They are rather hard to find nowadays".

Are they no longer being made? I have quite a few "Brettonians".

Actually, I was thinking of selling them off.

- Greg

Really? PM me!

Which Bretonnians are suitable for HYW is entirely dependent on what generation one is looking at:

1st Gen: entire range is suitable for HYW.
2nd Gen: Foot figures only. Some are not entirely suitable (one leader is wearing a visored bascinet…I'm not so sure that would be very common amongst foot) and the spearmen are a little…odd… Knights are fantasy (or suitable for jousting games).
3rd (current) Gen: not very suitable at all. The fantasy elements outweigh the historic ones. May make a good medieval fantasy range, but fantasy it is. Would require quite a bit of modding to even start getting historic. Why pay the price for GW plastics when metal historicals are competative price-wise (well, except for Foundry…)

Damon.

Tancred,

I don't see an option for sending a "PM". You can email me direct at: epaminondas123@verizon.net

- Greg