Welcome to the Final Day - We have unlocked Stephen Langton!
over 4 years ago – Sun, Sep 29, 2019 at 09:54:40 PM

Heading into the final day we have unlocked Stephen Langton who at the time of the First Barons' War was the Archbishop of Canterbury.  It's totally amazing we have reached this goal and Paul and I are so very grateful and fired up to deliver firstly everyone's pledges in a timely fashion and also to plan what we can add to this range going forward.  The idea will be to give everyone who has pledged the opportunity to let us know via the KS survey what you would like to see.

We have also reached 500 backers, wow, just wow.  To celebrate here are painted images of spearman 1 and bowmen 1 which we received this morning from Daniel at HVM workbench, our goal is to have all the miniatures painted when the pledge manager opens in roughly a weeks time.  

With only 9 hours to go, it will be really interesting to where we finish.  Please share and support us as much as you can on this final day.

~Andy

Did You Know 17 - Nichola de la Haie
over 4 years ago – Fri, Sep 27, 2019 at 04:21:21 PM

When King John visited the cathedral city of Lincoln during the Barons’ War in 1216, a remarkable meeting took place between the king and Lincoln’s castellan, a noblewoman by the name of Lady Nichola de la Haie.  On King John’s arrival, Lady Nichola, who was then a widow in her fifties or sixties, offered him the castle keys and tendered her resignation as keeper of the great castle at Lincoln. As Lady Nichola explained to the king, "she was a woman of great age and had endured many labours and anxieties in the castle and was not able to endure such burdens any longer".  John, for his part, replied ‘kindly’ to these protestations but instructed her to keep the castle. This meeting left such an impression on the people of Lincoln.

This conversation between King John and Lady Nichola represented more than a simple exchange of social pleasantries. The king, it seems, appreciated Nichola’s talents in holding Lincoln castle for the crown. Further proof of Nichola’s high esteem in King John’s eyes came on 18 October 1216, when she was appointed joint sheriff of Lincolnshire, alongside Philip Mark, one of John’s most notorious henchmen, the type whom the Magna Carta had sought to remove from office. Nichola was still sheriff of Lincolnshire in May 1217, when she doggedly led the defence of Lincoln castle against the forces of the French prince Louis during the battle of Lincoln, one of the decisive battles that helped draw the civil war in England to a successful close for those loyal to John’s young son and heir, King Henry III.

The appointment of a woman as a sheriff was highly unusual in medieval times and in regards to Lady Nichola in 1216 it owed a great deal both to her inherited lands centred on the barony of Brattleby, her connections and to her strong track record of loyal service to King John. Nichola’s marriage to Gerard de Camville gave her a role in protecting their family’s interests. Such was the level of trust between the couple that when Gerard became entangled in a violent dispute between Richard’s royal chancellor and the then Prince John in 1191, during the King’s absence on the Third Crusade, Gerard placed Nichola in charge of Lincoln’s defence. In the words of the chronicler Richard of Devizes, while Gerard assisted John in securing the castles of Nottingham and Tickhill, "Nichola, not thinking about anything, defended … Lincoln castle as well as any man" against the chancellor’s forces. According to royal government records, the crown employed mercenary soldiers for forty days to besiege Lincoln castle and still failed. However, when King Richard returned to England in 1194, both Gerard and Nicola were punished for their disloyalty and effectively forced to buy their way back into royal favour.

After Gerard’s death in January 1215, Nichola returned prominently to the fore in public life, securing control of her inheritance as a widow, and assuming the office of castellan of Lincoln in the midst of the troubles between King John and his barons. With much of the county in open rebellion against the crown, Nichola’s unflinching loyalty to John (and later King Henry III), and her experience in defending Lincoln made her a viable appointee.  Philip Mark’s removal from office, just a short time after his appointment, left Nichola at the head of the royalist cause in Lincolnshire.  Nichola firmly took control of local affairs, her time as sheriff of Lincolnshire coinciding with her successful resistance to further sieges when Gilbert de Gant, followed by Louis of France, both occupied Lincoln besieging the castle once more. Nichola remained in charge of the royalist castle garrison throughout the spring of 1217 when she faced a new threat from a rebel army led by the earl of Winchester and the count of Perche.

Recognising the severity of Nichola’s predicament, the great regent of England himself, William Marshal, earl of Pembroke, issued a summons for the royalist army to gather in force at Newark and from there proceeded to Lincoln’s relief on 20 May 1217. The outcome of the resulting battle of Lincoln was a decisive royalist victory that helped to seal the fate of Louis’s ambitions in England. Nichola’s personal role in defending Lincoln castle and receiving royalist reinforcements attracted contemporary comment. While royalist writers praised Nichola for being "a worthy lady’ deserving of God’s protection in body and soul", the rebels and the French portrayed her as "a very cunning, bad-hearted and vigorous old woman".

Footnote: Nichola relinquished control of Lincoln castle for the last time in June 1226 and died peacefully at her Lincolnshire manor of Swaton in 1230. If William Marshal is to be known as “the knight who saved England” then for her actions Nicola de la Haie should be described as “the woman who saved England”.

How do I get one of everything?
over 4 years ago – Fri, Sep 27, 2019 at 01:41:43 AM

I have been asked a few times "how much do I need to pledge to get everything?"  

We have prepared the following graphic showing you everything included in this Kickstarter and how much it will all be in white metal.

I hope you find this useful, keep in mind we are assuming here that we are going to unlock Stephen Langton, the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Mounted Knights 3 unlocked last night - just!
over 4 years ago – Thu, Sep 26, 2019 at 12:34:57 PM

Morning everyone, the great news is we have been able to add Mounted Knights 3 to the list of available packs as they were unlocked last night, thank you!

With the knights unlocked it only leaves us Stephen Langton (or any battle bishop you would like him to be) to go.  With three days left and no prior experience of Kickstarters, I guess it is going to be tight.

In all the excitement please don't forget that everyone who pledges £40 or more will receive William Marshall and his Bannerman on foot added to their pledge for free.  If you are close then please consider adding a pack or two.

And if you pledge £75 or more you will receive both Marshal on foot and Marshal on horse added to your pledge for free.  Giving you the Marshal for free is our way of saying a huge thank you.

The last thing is I have been asked a few times "how much do I need to pledge to get everything?"  We are preparing a graphic showing everything that has been included in this Kickstarter and how much it will all be in white metal.  I hope you find it useful later today when we share it.

~Andy

Welcome to Day 10, we have a Prince Louis pledge available!
over 4 years ago – Thu, Sep 26, 2019 at 01:36:55 AM

Want to put yourself in the heart of the battle?

We have had one Prince Louis pledge become available, as all four of the sculpting pledges went very quickly at the beginning we just wanted to flag it up if you initially missed out.

Master Sculptor Paul Hicks has volunteered to sculpt a unique character based on you! If you select this pledge level you will work directly with Paul to have a unique mounted character sculpted. You will receive the "green" and become the owner of the reproduction rights too!

In addition, you will receive all 10 of the packs on launch in white metal. You will receive the following packs: Foot Knights 1, Foot Knights 2, Spearmen 1, Spearmen 2, Bowmen 1, Bowmen 2, Mounted Knights 1, Monks 1, Monks 2, and Monks 3.

Unlock the Knights!

We have almost unlocked Mounted Knights 3, this pack have their lances raised differentiating from the previous two packs with their lances set to charge.  With raised lances, they are also perfect for mounted standard bearers and would work perfectly as bannermen for the mounted Robert Fitzwalter and William Marshal.  If they are a pack that interests you help us by adding an extra £7 to your pledge now as it will enable us to reach the £36k we need to unlock them.

Footsore Building Stock

Not only have Footsore Miniatures & Games been able to make the production moulds during the Kickstarter they have also started to cast up stock ready as they are very confident we will fund!  I was able to snap a cheeky picture of a box of bowmen when I was there this week, they also have a box of full of each of the packs we have already unlocked.  

Speaking with the Footsore team they told me that they want to be in a position to start fulfilling your pledges as soon as the Kickstarter funds clear and you make your pack choices in the pledge manager.  So with your help, it looks like we are on target for shipping by December 2019.

What are the future plans?

When this Kickstarter ends this Sunday at 8pm I'm determined to reinvest any and all profits that I make, after all the pledges have been fulfilled, into creating a comprehensive collection of medieval miniatures as well as writing a set of skirmish rules that will cover the 13th Century, dipping into the end of the 12th and the beginning of the 14th, with the aim of a 2020 release. So if you have backed us this time I just wanted to let you know our future plans and to say thank you as you have made this passion project a reality. 

~Andy