Robin Hood Project: Jester & Musicians

These are all late additions to my Robin Hood project.  I was ordering some things for other projects from Badger Games at the beginning of June and stumbled across these Grenadier miniatures, now made by Mirliton SG.  They are very old sculpts, as you will be able to tell from the photos, but they have a lot of character and will add some atmosphere to my games.  I wasn't sure if I would have time to paint them but they arrived quickly and the simplicity of the sculpts worked to my advantage.

The first pack consists of a Jester (center) and Buffoons. My 13-year-old really liked these so I let him pick the colors and designs. They were fun to paint.

This is the XIII Century Lords pack, though it came with 2 lords and 1 lady.  I will use them as courtiers or wealthier citizens of Nottingham.

The Medieval Orchestra pack.  The trumpeters came with separate arms, as did the violinist's bow arm.  The seated trumpeter was also split at the waist and the stool was a seat and 3 separate legs. Talk about overkill! At least they were designed with sockets for the arms.  I had to drill a couple of them deeper with a pin vise but everything superglued together securely.

Two cooks. They both came with separate arms and for some reason the one on the left was split at the waist.

The assembled denizens of Nottingham.

Robin Hood Project: The Hooded Man

The final installment of my Robin Hood project features the man himself! I began this project in fall 2025 spurred by the release of a Robin Hood guide by Crooked Dice for their 7TV rules.  While waiting for my copy, I read Pyle's "Merry Adventures of Robin Hood, watched various movies and tv series, and thought about what I could do with the setting.

As I mentioned in the Norman leaders post, I wanted to be able to run multiple scenarios simultaneously so would need plenty of rank-and-file as well as multiples of many of the characters. I started with a set of the characters from Crooked Dice that I bought at the same time as the guide. Then I looked around at other options. Footsore and Conquest both have suitable ranges.  The downside was that Badger Games was out of stock of most of the miniatures I wanted, and ordering direct from both companies to the US has gotten very expensive.  I put off making a decision as long as possible, then by chance Wargames Atlantic released a digital set of Outlaws in early April. I had several sets 3D printed byJohn Leahy at JS Wargamer Printing, who is great to deal with.

Robin of Locksley, Robert of Huntingdon, the Hooded Man, Robin Hood.  By whatever name you choose, he is the main character.  I ended up painting 5 versions just because I could. These 3 are all from the Wargames Atlantic digital set, which has a lot of arm and head options.

Two more Robins. The one on the left is from Crooked Dice. The one on the right is from WA Digital and based on the classic Errol Flynn version of Robin.

Maid Marian presented a problem. I had one from Crooked Dice and made another from the Wargames Atlantic Fantasy Villagers set, using WA Peasant Levy arms. I wanted to make a third but unfortunately I found the WA digital mini design very underwhelming once printed. The head in particular is terrible and I didn't have any other female heads to substitute so I gave up on them.

Three versions of Little John with the required staff. The one on the left is from Crooked Dice, the other two from the Wargames Atlantic digital set. I used the same set of colors on all of them just changing which piece of clothing was which color.  They are sufficiently taller than the other miniatures.

Three versions of Friar Tuck. The one on the left is from Crooked Dice, the other two from Wargames Atlantic.

Two versions of Will Scarlet. The one on the left is from Crooked Dice; the one on the right was made from the Wargames Atlantic 3D prints.

Alan-a-Dale, who first appears as a wandering minstel in the tales and later joins the Merry Men. Three versions using the Wargames Atlantic digital set.  I wasn't planning on making him, but once I saw the arms holding a lyre I couldn't resist.

Much the Miller's Son and the Moor, both from Crooked Dice and resembling the Robin of Sherwood characters.  Much appears in the tales, while apparently RoS is the origin of the Moorish characters who have appeared in several subsequent versions since the 1980s.

Bonus content, 2 boar from Company D that may appear in one of my games.

The outlaws assembled. Nobles & bishops guard your purses! I still have some extra parts left from the WA 3D prints, so may go back and add a few more in the future.

For Sale: 28mm Picts

This is a painted 28mm Pict army I have for sale. I painted it in late 2025 and it has never been used. The miniatures are a mix of Footsore and Gripping Beast. There are a total of 58 foot, 8 mounted & 1 chariot.  I am asking for $475. I will have it at Historicon July 15-19. I have temporarily set comments to moderation if you want to contact me.

The Picts are one of my favorite ancient peoples.  I used a lot of Pictish symbols on the shields and stripes and plaids on the clothing.  Lots of fun to paint!

4 mounted nobles.

4 more mounted nobles.

4 nobles on foot.

4 more nobles on foot.

General on foot with a standard.

There are 24 Pictish foot with a mix of spears, axes, and swords.

There are 12 Pict crossbowmen. I think the one on the back right is a dead ringer for Dave Grohl.

12 skirmishers with javelins.

There is also a general in a chariot holding a severed head, with more heads hanging from the chariot sides.