More 25mm Ral Partha Condotierri

Above are two elements of pikemen in 3/4 plate. These were simple to paint and a nice break from the more complex slashed sleeves of the crossbow and blade elements. The DBA-Hx rules allow for two pike elements, but the DBR lists only allow pikes for a very brief period, the Venetians relying more on Spanish mercenary sword and buckler men it appears.

A view from the front showing the manly beards of the pikemen.

Probably one of the few home grown units from Venice; the mounted arqubusiers.

Venice was famed for importing stradiots, most notably from Albania. I have seen some nice illustrations of severed heads decorating their saddles, so I suspect they had a fierce reputation. They are listed as light horse, but they functioned in close combat as well, not being afraid to use their long lances.

Venice can have two elements of stradiots. These were some of the few castings my friend Terry did not have in his collection, so I had to order these online. Fortunately the 25mm renaissance line is still being manufactured by Great Endeavors, though they are not advertised as available unless you look really hard! Here's a link:

http://www.greatendeavours.co.uk/colonials/order.php

Crazy for Artillery

Shown above are some Ral Partha conversions. Unfortunately Tom Meier never got around to sculpting artillery for this line of figures so I have been forced to improvise. The artillery piece below is an absolutely magnificent piece from the Ottoman section of The Assault Group's renaissance line. I agreed to paint this for them in return for the casting so a very generous offer from TAG indeed. I have put on a base coat and will work on making the barrel a nice metallic brass soon. The carriage will be unpainted wood, with the possibility of painted red wheels.

The TAG artillery comes with a great selection of accouterments as well. The powder barrel is particularly nice and corresponds very closely with descriptions I have read. The gun barrel itself is 50mm long, so a very large gun. In the true 25mm size of the figures, that translates into an 11-12 foot long barrel. This is actually well within the size range of renaissance pieces and makes it appropriate for a large culverin.

I am also working on some artillery for my 54mm British AWI. This is a very nice plastic set from Imex, which includes a well designed howitzer. I have replaced some of the fiddly bendy parts with metal and added some green stuff to make the muskets more accurate for British infantry (This was actually marketed as a colonial set, but the uniforms are the same).