"Heater Shield vs Kites?" Topic

So I'm in the middle of getting things ready for painting a project which will range from Lewes to Bannockburn.

Basically I will have enough to do Lewes, then a mix of Scots so that I can cobble together Stirling Bridge, etc.

Figs are Mirliton, Fireforge, Crusader and Curteys. All mix A+ together.

The various manufacturers for this time period make both the smaller heater shields and the large kite shields. Mostly they are the smaller.

What are thoughts on whether I should only go with the smaller, or mix in some kite shields as well? It would be above a 20% Kite mix if I used them.

I also have a small number of round shields of various sizes that will be used mainly for Scots.

Suggestions?

Personally, no do not use the kite shields. Any other earlier equipment or weapons being used then I would say yes but not the kite shields.

IMHO they would not last the change of period of time and would likely be the first item of armour to be replaced over the years. I would not be tempted to use any for the poorer classes/nations.

Round top flats or straight top?
I haven't seen any knights with round top kites this late and the straight top but long shields seem to have gone out of fashion a generation or so before Lewes. Shields seem to have continued decreasing in size into the 14th century.
If you already have the shields, they might work best being used by infantry making do with older versions.

I'd support the recommendation to use heater shields.

These have straight tops. They come as options with both Fireforge and Crusader. I had thought only heaters until I noted they were selling the kite shields with the Feudal figs. Hence my question.

I think that if they are round topped kite shields I would chop the top of them off and use them for infantry as well as the large heater shields. I would use the smaller heater shields for mounted knights/sgts. I think that the round top kite shield might be a little too dated for this time period.

Allen

There are certainly illustrations of Italian militia foot using kite shields well into the 14th century but I don't know of any from Britain or the close continent much into the 13th.

As people have suggested, straight-topped 'kite' shields for infantry, heater shields for your up-to-date lords.

That's sort of what I was thinking initially. A few scattered straight-topped kite shields for a few of the foot.

Some of the figs are bought are Mirliton's advertised as Italians, but I can't see any difference, so am using them for English but with shields swapped out.

I was intending on using only heater shields for mounted.

The smaller size of heater shields are the answer, but maybe larger ones for use at sieges. Your infantry will all be either spearmen or archers and – on the battlefield at least – shields are not really compatible with using a bow or a long spear – you need both your hands for the weapon.
Bear in mind that your Scottish and English troops of all types should be indistinguishable form one another.
Stirling Bridge and Falkirk (never mind Bannockburn, Myton and Byland) are quite a long while after Lewes, so you may want to to have different figures, especially for the cavalry. At Lewes bacinets were unknown, few people had even minor pieces of plate armour and few would have had barded horses, whereas at Roslin, Falkirk, Bannockburn or Skaithmuir these would have been the norm, not the exception.

The longer "kite" was gone by the early 13th century at the latest. I don't believe even infantry used it anymore by the time of Lewes….

Absolutely right about kites….long gone by the 13th century.

Straight top kites as in Fireforge's packs.

Alternatively, Gripping Beast make a nice halfway between that and the heater.

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