"Suitable 15mm figures for early Henrician armies?" Topic

There seem to be a few options around in 28mm for both early Henrician (Henry VIII) armies, for the 1510-1525 era, but nothing obvious for 15mm. I'm looking for options for retinue archers/billmen, and Yeomen of the Guard (either in dress regalia or their "campaign" uniform).

Any suggestions from the cognoscenti on this?

I'm assuming that Essex Early Tudor do not fill your requirement?

Essex' offerings are really pretty limited:

link

QRF seems to have more to offer. I don't have any of their stuff, so can't comment on compatibility, etc:

link

You might be able to find a few odd sculpts here:

link

That's all I can think of.

There are some figures in the Minifigs Early 16th Century range that may be useful: link

English Longbowman

English Billman

English Command

There are some very nice figures from Khurasan which are available but not on the website.
link has photos.
I have a couple of the figures. They are reasonably small, especially the mounted, but as you can see from the photos they are very nice.

QRF are pretty good. A little bit of variety. Smaller than Essex.

Here are some QRF not great photos but you can see what you get.

If anything I think them a little bigger than Essex – either way compatible I'd say.

I do like those Khurasan.

Thanks guys – I currently have everything (ie Pensioners, Burgundians, Light Horse, Landsknechts) except suitable Bill and Bow troops. They are all in Minifigs 2nd Gen, hence I need something to fit in with them.

I think Khurasan get the prize on this one, they really are nice figures AND a range of poses. How does one order them and where can I find the codes?

Minifigs and Essex – too few and not all are right for the early 1500s; plus, I think this is one of those bits of the Minifig Renaissance range where rear rank pikes (unarmoured) are charging and front ranks (armoured) are at order.

QRF – ok on poses, but a bit small and crude for my tastes.

The figures on HeresyBrush look great, but I don't see an Early Tudor range on the Khurasan website. The posting was from 2014. I tend to think it was a range that Khurasan previewed but never released? That would be unfortunate, they look impressive.

"QRF – ok on poses, but a bit small and crude for my tastes."

They really are not small but Khurasan look nice do tell us is you are able to buy some.

@Supercilius Maximus

I'm jealous if you've got an army using Minifigs 2nd gen Renaissance figures. That was a lovely range and why they ever discontinued it is beyond me. The current range isn't a patch on it.

Another option for figures that will fit alongside 2nd gen Minifigs is the old Table Top range sold by 15mm.co.uk: link

The quality is a bit variable but some of the cavalry look very like 2nd gen Minifigs (I'm told they were sculpted by someone who had worked at Minifigs or were based on Minifig dollies). They do English billmen and bowmen.

I agree entirely. A friend gave me some old 15mm Minifigs that had been lying unused in a box for many years – I already had loads of 2G TYW/ECW figures, and it was nice to be able to put together FoG armies for the earlier Renaissance period using the same style.

I actually have some of those old TT figures (and they were sculpted by someone who worked at Minifigs – I think he got a "cease and desist" letter from Neville Dickinson when they first came out), but the bill-and-bow figures unfortunately aren't the best of that range and the clothing isn't quite right on some of them, too – ok for earlier 15th Century, but not late 15th/early 16th.

I agree about the billmen and bowmen – they are not among the better figures in the range. I've got some of the Table Top command groups and the Landsknecht with a two-handed sword, which is a very nice figure. I can't make my mind up about their pikemen though. The sculpts are good but the way they hold their pikes, with the butt of the weapon balanced on their palms, makes them look like they are about to toss the caber. I don't know whether it is historically accurate but it looks a bit precarious to me.

The Khurasan figures are available to buy – or at least they were last year as someone I know bought some. He passed on a couple of spare figures as samples for me, so it wasn't just hearsay :)
I had a list of the codes but have lost them. I have no idea why they haven't been put on the site.

I am fairly certain that the Khurasan Henry VIII range was never for sale on the website.

According to a 2014 email I had from Khurasan

"The range is:

Longbowmen in livery jackets
Militia bills
Bills in livery jackets
Retainer billmen in armour
Elite billmen/yeomen of the guard in almain rivet (3/4 armour)
Infantry command
Demilancers
Border horse
Cannon and crew
High command "

The range still hasn't appeared on the site, though other ranges have in the meantime.

I don't know whether it is historically accurate but it looks a bit precarious to me.

@SJD – Ironically, I have some (for another army) and they are a lot more resilient than the standard 2G pikemen he did for Minifigs such as the ECW bods – and a lot more so than most of the current Minifigs pikes!!

The Khurasan figures are available to buy – or at least they were last year as someone I know bought some.

@Swampster – Thanks, that's useful to know. I have tried to email (PM) him via the Steve Dean Painting Forum as his website email link doesn't work, and I'm not on Facebook.

It appears that the range is not currently for sale, as there are a few bits to add and the sculptor is finishing off another project.

Quite a few Khurasan ranges have been previewed but never released (Ottomans, Caucasian States, etc.). On the Khurasan front page there is a picture of Assyrian cavalry. To my knowledge they have never released an Assyrian range.

Yes, it is odd about Khurasan miniatures as I also messaged the facebook page about the Assyrian range and got no reply. It is odd as I could see that they had read the messages I sent but they just did not reply. Odd customer service to ignore a message when one is merely inquiring about buying their figures.

That's been my experience as well – several unanswered mails asking about the availability of both the Henrician Tudor and 1798 Irish ranges that Khurasan have previewed but never officially released.