"Early 16th Century Cannons" Topic

Hey TMP! I need some help. I am putting together an English and Scottish Flodden force in 15mm. I am pretty well versed in time period uniforms and have some good figures assembled so far, however I am at a conundrum as to what cannons to use.

I have some 15mm cannons for WoTR period, specifically Donnington cannons. However from what I have read, by 1513 they didn't used the banded breach loaders any longer.

When I search for renaissance cannons I tend to only find late 16th and early 17th century models. Would anyone know where I could find some appropriate cannons in 15mm which would be representative of what was used at Flodden?

Thanks!
Stanton

Stave built cannon with separate wedged breaches were still in use in Royal service at least through the sinking of the English Flagship Mary Rose in 1545, so anyone with less resources than the English Crown would have used whatever was still serviceable.

They may have been used more with stone shot for anti-personnel work, iron shot and cast bronze cannon being preferred for wall battering.

As Henry probably took the best (i.e. the newest) cannon to France the Flodden army was left with whatever they could get.

They has no particularly heavy pieces and, as far as I know, none were landed from ships to be used in the campaign (an easy source if suitable carriages could be found).

On Henry's death the inventory of his northern armouries and fortresses includes a surprising number of older guns. Mostly 'decayed' and on similarly decayed carriages. These appear to have mostly been stave built guns and so probably breech loaders. I wouldn't be surprised if these were some of the guns taken to Flodden and considered not worth returning beyond the border forts.

There must have been some decent artillery at the battle, or at least skilled artillerists. They outranged the heavier Scots' guns and seem to have frightened off their crews at some point.

My knowledge of 15mm ranges is slim but, from a quick cast around the obvious manufacturers, it looks slim pickings. Donnington's ARTHY03 is OK and I might suggest Magister Militum barrels on that carriage as a possible solution.

The best selection I know of is from Minifigs. Check out the Hussite, Burgundian and early 16th century ranges – all listed under 'renaissance' link
There may be something there suitable.

Wrought iron cannon remained in use well into the late 16th Century, some even saw use in the early 17th Century. The primary use was on ships and fortresses once "modern" bronze cannon had become the prefered field & siege artillery but early on in the century they would still see use in the field by armies that lacked bronze cannon. The Swiss are a good example, they kept using the iron cannon captured from the Burgundians for years and updated them by adding trunnions and plugging the breech to convert the cannon into muzzle loaders which could use a larger powder charge.

Good late 15th Century and early 16th Century artillery is in short supply. IIRC once of the best sets I have seen was from Old Glory 15s who had an artillery pack in their italian wars range which had a wide variety of gun types and sizes.

Just found the Old Glory cannons. Think this is perfect. Has a good mix of all types and two packs should be quite enough. Only downside is most the crew aren't compatible but fortunately those are easier to find. Thanks for the help everyone!

I have the Old Glory packs and they are indeed nice.