Wars of the Roses - Part 3

 Wars of the Roses part three, and as I have just made my box of plastic Perry Miniatures mounted men at arms, my second box of infantry, and my small breach loading artillery piece it must be time for some background.

“My Yorkist troops will be the retinue of one William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke KG (c. 1423 – 27 July 1469).  Known as "Black William", he was the son of William ap Thomas, founder of Raglan Castle, and Gwladys ferch Dafydd Gam, and grandson of Dafydd Gam, an adherent of King Henry V of England.

His father had been an ally of Richard of York, and Herbert supported the Yorkist cause in the Wars of the Roses.  He was rewarded by King Edward IV with the title Lord Herbert of Raglan in 1461 (having assumed an English-style surname in place of the Welsh patronymic), and invested as a Knight of the Garter.

Soon after the decisive Yorkist victory at the Battle of Towton in 1461, Herbert replaced Jasper Tudor as Earl of Pembroke which gave him control of Pembroke Castle.  However, he fell out with Lord Warwick "the Kingmaker" in 1469, when Warwick turned against the King. William and his brother Richard were executed by the Lancastrians, now led by Warwick, after the Battle of Edgecote Moor, near Banbury.”

 My thanks to the wonderful world of Wikipedia for the above material.  Because I currently reside across the border in Wales I was aiming for a figure from that area, and William Herbert jumped out as an important character of the period, with a nice coat of arms.  As noted in my November 2014 work in progress I’ve purchased some decals and flags to enable my army to advance under his colours, although my efforts at applying them haven’t been very successful so far. 

Troops In Progress

I currently have plenty of nice 28mm Perry Miniatures models (mostly plastic) hanging around awaiting a paint job, including the 12 mounted men at arms, 12 billmen, 24 bowmen, and finally my small artillery piece and its four crew.  They have all been made – it’s a joy to make Perry’s plastics – and based with a layer of sand before receiving a brown spray paint.  Of the painted models I already have (12 billmen and 24 bowmen) I need to redo the banner bearer which I clumsily broke the standard pole from while ‘Dipping’ them.  I’ve used a drill to create a hole through the banner bearers fist so he can hold a metal pole (instead of the plastic they come with) which will be more forgiving to the user.  He will be the first receiver of a CitadelSix banner when I can pluck up the courage to try it!