28mm The Barons' War (Footsore) - Part I

Being a graduate of medieval history, with much of my studies being on and around Magna Carta and the subsequent siege of Rochester Castle in 1215, I was thrilled when I found out that there was a range of 28mm miniatures themed around the First Barons' War of 1215-17 available from Footsore Miniatures. Initially this range began as a Kickstarter project from Andy Hobday, who has worked on a number of games and clearly has a passion for this particular period of English history. Andy has collaborated with sculptor Paul Hicks to produce a line of superb miniatures that really encapsulate all the participants in the conflict, from the lowly militiaman to nobles such as William Marshal and Hughbert de Burgh, and even going so far as to include the Archbishop of Canterbury Stephen Langton. This first Kickstarter was a smash-hit success, and has since led to a successful follow-up Kickstarter, the publication of an original Barons' War ruleset, and the development of another follow-up range due to hit Kickstarter some time in March 2021. Bravo, Andy and Paul!

I myself arrived somewhat late to the party as my interest in the hobby developed only recently over the course of the pandemic. No bother, however, as thanks to the savings made from being stuck in the house for much of 2020 I have swiftly caught up, with a heavy box of lead containing the full first wave of figures under my desk and an itchy wallet ready for when the second wave is available for general retail later this month. It should be noted that the prices for these figures are quite reasonable, with the majority of the infantry packs netting you four miniatures with bases and weapons for £8.00, and the cavalry packs coming in at £10.00 for two knights with their barded mounts, plus bases and lances. 

For my first excursion into the Barons' War I decided to start simple and painted up the first pack of spearmen. These are very nicely sculpted, with lots of added details such as pouches and knives hanging from the belts and a good mix of cloth and maille armour. The faces are full of expression and the poses are also quite dynamic - rather than a simple static spear wall you get a real sense of action from these figures, with the weapons being held and thrust at different heights and a mix of advancing and defending movement in the legs. The bases are standard 25mm rounds cut from MDF, and the miniatures have a thin base moulded onto the feet like those old green army men. I much prefer this to the moulded tab and slotta bases of my Robin Hood range from Conquest Games, as there's no need to fill in any gaps or balance the figures whilst the superglue sets. Speaking of Conquest, I did find that the Barons' War miniatures are noticeably slighter in their proportions than the Robin Hood troops, and that they had a bit more flash and mould lines to sort out prior to priming, whereas Conquest figures can be more or less primed straight out of the blister pack.

The Barons' War Spearmen - Pack 1

There is a need to drill the hands on these figures, which was a first for me. I started out using a pin-vice with a 1mm bit but after half an hour I had struggled to make much progress (probably due to the pin-vice being a cheap one from Amazon rather than anything more substantial) so resorted to a combination of making a small lead hole with the pin-vice and then using my dremel for the rest. This was a bit scary given how near my fingers were to the drill bit but it worked a lot better, giving me a much cleaner cut through the material. And I didn't stab myself once, which I suppose is a bonus. 

The spears themselves were moulded white-metal ones mounted on a sprue. These did come quite twisted and bent but I was able to straighten out most of the kinks. However I did suffer one casualty where one of the spears got knocked on what must have been a weak point and snapped in two. I replaced it with one of Footsore's 100mm metal wire spears which are much stronger - indeed, it took a good squeeze on the snips to trim the length! These don't have moulded heads so do look quite different from the originals but I think it's a fair compromise. I plan to use these for the rest of the spearmen packs and will most likely go back and replace the three remaining white-metal spears from this set at some point in the future when they've taken a few knocks. 

In terms of painting, because these are lower-ranking troops I didn't want to give them any specific heraldic colours so I opted to replicate the example scheme used on Footsore's website. This way they can be used as part of any lord's retinue and the earthy tones will hopefully make their more colourful superiors 'pop' more on the table. For the bases I used Army Painter brown battleground material and Javis summer static grass, with a large autumn tuft. It was my first time using static grass and I'm not entirely sure I used it right - perhaps I applied too much, or need to mix shades? I'll definitely have to experiment a bit before I base my next batch of figures. Either way I can always go back and give these another look later on.

Spearman A - one of the better equipped soldiers, he is kitted out with a maille shirt and a pot helm

Spearman B - this guy is clearly a veteran having acquired a maille shirt, coif, and a kettle helm, his belongings slung over his shoulder in a leather satchel

Spearman C - rather more 'squishy' than his companions, this chaps only protection is an old bowl helm

Spearman D - I like to think that this guy is a mercenary, lightly armoured but with a nasty-looking back-up plan tucked away in his belt

All in all, I was very impressed by these miniatures from Hobday and Hicks, and I can't wait to get stuck in with the knights and bannermen waiting in their box under the desk. This range offers an exciting opportunity to collect, paint, and wargame figures from a really dramatic point in English history: the climax of King John's wicked reign. I look forward to getting my hands on the second wave and you can bet I'll be in line to back the third Kickstarter project!

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed this post. Still to come, a set of Ecclesiastics from Conquest Games and the first Foot Knight Command pack from The Barons' War! 

- The Kenilworth Knight