Henry Tudor's Retinue Men at Arms

It's funny how projects grow. In April last year I completed a set of Tudor Commanders for Bosworth but they only came about because I decided to replace my venerable retinue billmen.

I'd settled on the Roundway late medieval range and had started painting the foot when I was "seduced" by the mounted command and sidetracked by making my own livery & heraldic flags.

Since I finished the command bases I've been chipping away at the pile of foot figures and here's the first completed retinue:

You might be wondering about the thick black "under-base".  This is a piece of MDF (2 mm) topped with magnetic vinyl (1 mm).  The command unit does not need an under-base but I added one for comparison purposes.

I made a batch of 40x30 and 40x40 mm under-bases to help me convert DBx bases to ADLG units.  Using these I can easily combine two 40x15 mm (or two 40x20 mm) bases to form one ADLG unit.  It's one of the many benefits of using steel bases.

The under-bases are not absolutely necessary but I found individual 40x15 mm bases a little fiddly during ADLG games.  The under-bases help as they keep the bases together plus they make the units easier to pick up.

Here are a full set of photos form all angles.  As always click on a picture to view larger image.

Notes on Roundway Figures
The Roundway medieval Europe range consist of "old school" 15 mm figures (unlike the eastern European ranges which are much closer to 18 mm and probably sculpted later). They are also quite narrow.

I know from previous experience that the cavalry will blend with Essex figures providing you boost the height of the Roundway models by placing a few layers of card under the base. Sadly the Roundway medieval European infantry differ significantly from the equivalent Essex ranges.

If you fancy some Roundway figures be prepared to do a little bit of filling as the moulds are now quite old. I've had to fill quite a few nooks and crannies with Milliput. It wasn't difficult just tedious. On the plus side it made them a touch easier to paint.

Figures Used
As photos of the Roundway range are rare I thought I'd post as many pictures of the bare metal as I could find:

I also used:

• RKE6 English Dismounted Knight.
• RKE7 English Man At Arms Dismounted. 
• RKG6 German Dismounted Knight Maximilian Armour.

The most common figure is RKG5 because it's in full plate without a surcoat.