Trip to Vapnartak

With Jamie being in York and with Vapnartak falling so close to my birthday, we usually meet up there so I can buy myself some pressies.  However, this weekend was the only one when Jamie could get himself combat-certified with his new re-enactment group - The Vikings - before the upcoming Jorvik Viking Festival. This meant that I had a somewhat speedy afternoon whizz round the event before meeting Jamie for tea.

Vapnartak was therefore mainly a shopping trip and very much focussed on my current obsession with Lion Rampant.

Star purchases for me were these painted, if rather battered, Dark Ages types.

There are about thirty figures and I reckon they'll do nicely as sub-Roman types...

...two units of foot and one of horse...

I also had chat with Annie the Dice Bag Lady as I purchased a pack of shield maidens from her.  It turns out we share the same birthday.  The four shield maidens I bought are dark ages in style and I plan to incorporate them into a mixed unit of town-dwellers and armed slaves (probably serfs in Lion Rampant terms).  They are currently on the workbench being glued together and undercoated.  Photos when they're in a fit state to be seen.

A useful source for the Sub-Roman Gaul project is Tim Newark's The Barbarians. This has some very nice colour plates (pictures in its sister volume Medieval Warlords inspired the project in the first place).   I managed to pick up a second hand copy for a fiver.

Finally in the way of purchases, and also now on the workbench, I bought a blister pack of six Italian Mercenary Crossbowmen from the Perry Miniatures stand.  These will go straight into my Burgundian retinue when painted.  I did consider painting them as ordonnance soldiers but several features of their dress are distinctively Italian and I figure as mercenaries they'll be more flexible.