My medieval collection is a definite departure from the Ancient Greeks, Romans and their enemies. Unlike the Ancients, I wanted to capture many of the iconic conflicts in an effectively “closed” collection. In other words, every medieval battle basically just uses half of my collection against the other half. This works very well for the time period in central Europe as most armies look the same anyhow. It does rule out more esoteric engagements such as conflicts with the skirmishing horse armies of the East though.
Within that restriction I have tried to capture all the common European armies of the time including IV/4a French (1072-1150AD), IV/13a-b Holy Roman Empire of German Nation (1106-1450AD), IV/23 English, IV/32 Franks, IV/62 English 100 Years War, IV/64a-c Medieval French, IV/76 Early Burgundy (1363-1471) and even the later period with IV/82a-b French Ordonance and IV/83a-b English War of the Roses.
Knights: Knights are the center piece of most medieval European armies. The models are from a variety of manufacturers and the painting is likewise all over the place. Given the closed nature of this collection they tend to face off against each other most of the time anyhow so heraldry is more important than visual unity.
Cavalry & Light Horse: Only a few armies of the time still used regular Cavalry and Light Horses but I have includes an element of each type just in case.
Blades: Blades in this context are basically dismounted Knights. I have a set of four elements which is usually enough for most engagements as some Knights always stay on horses.
Pikes: Pikes were a late addition to this period. The focus of my collection is on the conflicts between knights so I only have enough Pike elements for supporting roles (e.g. the “peasant pikes” of the late German and French lists). Full Pike armies such as the Swiss are outside the scope of this collection.
Spears & Auxillia: Most of the lists in this range only use supporting units of Spears so two elements of is enough. For lists with a stronger Spear centre I usually just use the Pikes as Spears. The early Germans and English use billmen as Light Auxilia (3-model) so I added a pair of these.
Bows: Longbows are the core of most English armies so I needed a fair number of them. They can of course also be used as regular Bow elements in any of the other armies.
Crossbows: Instead of Bows, the French and German armies tend to rely on the Crossbow as their primary missile weapon. Four elements is plenty as the Crossbows are rarely fielded en masse.
Psiloi: Most of the armies in this period still have skirmishers and these generic models can cover just about any type from Irish Kerns to German Plaenkler.
Artillery: Most of the later period armies have some form of Artillery. I really should be adding a second element but that’s a project for the future. And of course there are peasants with pitchforks…
Camp: The two medieval camps both use resin cast tents. The Camp Follower elements are removable and depict typical “camp scenes” (morning reveille and the blessing before the battle).
Wargaming Workshop 