15 mm Swiss Army Finally Completed after 25 Years

Last Part of my 15 mm Swiss Army Completed

Way back in 1994 when DBM v1.3 was still in use I decided that I might like to build a Later Swiss Army. Because Navwar was local to me and the figures relatively cheap I decided to use their Naismith/Roundway figure range to build it. As other plans changed including real life events causing problems they project languished in a draw for years and years.

The Swiss Confederation army of this era consisted of troops drawn from 14 Cantons which meant that I had some guidance on the Cantonal Flags and used these as inspiration for various uniforms of each contingent. As I built the army over the last four years I restarted with contingents 9 and 10 back in 2016. Fast forward to 2019 and now Cantons 13 & 14 are finally done along with the last element to complete the Early Swiss Army which came about due to my ending up with a bag of very cheap Minifigs 13th C Halberdiers which I had painted earlier.

So that's two armies finally completed from Project Lead Mountain which I started back in 2012.

First up is the Early Swiss CinC Reg Bd [X] which includes a converted pike general who is now holding a halberd. The cantonal inspiration is Schwyz, one of the founding cantons.

The list requires two optional Psiloi generals elements so I used Basel for the inspiration for this element. Whilst not a canton until quite late they still provided troops to the confederation before they formally joined. Again I took a pike general and modified the casting to carry a much more handy spear for use in rough going terrain.

Next up is the Basel Cantonal Contingent made up of eight elements in all, four x Reg Pk [S], 2 x Reg Bd [X], 1 x Reg Ps [S] Handgunner and 1 x Reg Ps [O] Crossbowmen.

Last up is the final cantonal contingent drawn from Schaffhausen organised exactly the same as the Basel contingent.

 

Of course posting about a completed army would not do unless I posted a picture of all the troops together. All in all it made for a colourful army painting project and I am very pleased with how it turned out.

 

15 mm Early Swiss Enfant Perdus

Early Swiss Enfant Perdus

The DBM/DBMM Early Swiss had eight Reg Ps I Enfant Perdus in the list. They are rock throwing children and I thought no one made them until I was directed to the Minifigs website under their Two Dragons range of Dark Age Peasants.

http://www.miniaturefigurines.co.uk/images/catalogue/DAP11.jpg

The figures are quite well sculpted and are ideal for these particular Swiss elements.

I only have one more Reg Bd X CinC element to paint to field the Early Swiss army which grew out of my Later Swiss and other suitable three to a base Halberdier elements in other armies.

They are finished off with my usual basing of magnetised MDF covered with Vallejo Earth Brown paste, gravel, tufts with the bases edged in Raw Umber.

This means that now I only have two more Canton Contingents to complete the Later Swiss army.

Later Swiss - Part 3

Another Swiss Canton Contingent Completed

Due to some more down time I have completed the contingent from Solothurn which is number 12 of 14. I added a Psiloi general to this contingent to ensure I field optional commanders. All the castings are Naismith/Roundway and the general had his pike removed and replaced with a short spear. 

Later Swiss - Part 2

More Later Swiss Now Added to My Collection

After what seemed like a short time but turned out to be three years I have now completed Canton contingent 11 of my Swiss army. The Canton of Appenzell whose flag is a black bear on a white field. As with all my Swiss contingents I based their clothes on their flag colours to create pseudo uniforms for them. They are more of the Naismith/Roundway range which has sat in my to paint pile for far too long. Only three more contingents left to paint along with some more elements to enable me to use some of these troops for the Early Swiss army if I ever feel the need.

Early Swiss Morph From Later Swiss

Early Swiss Is Now Started

Having built a Later Swiss army I decided that with the addition of a load of Reg Bd X I would make it into an Early Swiss beast. To be honest it was because I had more metal in Project Lead Mountain to clear from the pile.

So with six packs of Minifigs Z317 European Infantry, Helmet, Bill and not having any other use for them I decided on the Swiss. They are old sculpts, very clean and simple to paint. After cleaning up and prep I decided on a uniform appearance. I am very pleased with how they turned out and will slot into the other Swiss troops I have without any problems. I will have to finish off the last of the Later Swiss to ensure I have enough Reg Bd X to field the Early Swiss but its not a project in a rush.

Minifigs Z317 European Infantry, Helmet, Bill making 16 elements of Swiss Reg Bd X 

Later Swiss Army As Part Of Project Lead Mountain

Later Swiss

As Project Lead Mountain rumbles on I had the metal for a Later Swiss army that had remained untouched for more years than I can care to think about. In the DBM era there were in effect 14 Swiss Cantons so I decided that I would create 14 different uniformed Cantonal Contingents. Each contingent consists of four elements of Pikes. two elements of Halberdiers, one element of Handgunners and one element of Crossbowmen. I have just completed contingents 9 and 10. These are for Luzern [Blue/White] and Glarus [Red & Monk]. All the infantry for this army are from Naismith and Roundway which whilst fairly small castings being true 15mm paint up easily and cleanly. Not every canton has a general's element and Luzern made up the last canton that would have a command group.

Luzern

Glarus

Swiss Mounted Crossbowmen Cavalry as an option to their Light Horse