Last of the billmen

Foot Sergeants

The final unit of my Lion Rampant retinue painted. The lightly armoured troops I group together into one unit and play them as Foot Sergeants. The more heavily armoured I play as Foot Sergeants with an expert upgrade. This represents (in my mind at any rate) the distinction between well armoured and better trained soldiers and those who are more part time. From my background reading it would seem that there's little evidence about how troops were deployed, but of course for the sake of wargaming we make these convenient distinctions.

Expert Foot Sergeants

I think I have now played just about every scenario in the book, both using these troops and some Lord of the Rings figures. Each troop type performs a different role on the tabletop and I am still learning who does what. While there is a lot more randomness than most games I have played, there is still a need to keep your wits and put your troops to their best use (and then pray for decent activation rolls!).

The Perry figures I used here stand head and shoulders above their plastic competition - in fact I would rate them as better than the metals too, including their own. The main disadvantage to the plastics is the brittle weapons, I have already suffered one snapped bill head during action. Undeterred, I will be searching through their medieval ranges for inspiration, probably later in the year. I have a fancy to build a more generic, more classic medieval force. In the meantime, here's Clifford and his household retinue at the May Day parade.

Clifford's finest march into town