'Resistance' from GregB: The Maid of Orleans

 

The Maid of Orleans sets forth, ready to rid France of English invaders! 28mm metal figure from Perry Miniatures.

For my "Resistance" theme I thought I would return to my halting 28mm Hundred Years' War project, for that setting holds one of Christendom's most enduring symbols of "Resistance". Here was have Jean la Pucelle, a.k.a The Maid of Orleans, known most widely in our modern era as Joan of Arc. This is a 28mm figure from Perry Miniatures' "Agincourt to Orleans" range. 

Reverse view of the sculpt.

When considering wargaming projects, the Hundred Years War offers so many awesome factors. Castles? Check. Kings? Check. Knights? Check. France? Check. Lots of opportunities for skirmish-type games? Check. There is so much to delve into. But this sort of historical subject is also quite intimidating, in that I really don't understand much about medieval heraldry, and the more I try to research it, the more confused I get. It's one thing to paint fantasy stuff, where you can just make stuff up, but in the historical setting I at least want to sort of TRY to get things right...

So my progress on this project has been really, really slow. On the plus side, you don't need hundreds of figures for a skirmish game. I'm about half-way toward a decent French force for "Never Mind The Billhooks".

Great sculpt by the Perrys (of course). 

I mentioned that the Hundred Years War has just so much to take in, and the story of Joan of Arc is a big part of that. I'm sure it is well known to Challengers, but this young maid, born in or about 1412 in north-eastern France, felt called by God to seek out the Dauphin, to promise to lift the seige of Orleans and then see him crowned in Rheims...it all seems and sounds delusional. And yet...it all came true! Subsequently captured by the Burgundians, handed over to the British, put on trial and burned at the stake in 1431, "rehabilitated" in 1455 her incredible story has resonated through the ages. Even today she remains a potent political and cultural symbol and competing political movements still seek to claim this aura for themselves.

Answering the call of God...

This Perry Miniatures sculpt is lovely, and since there seemed to be so many conflicting accounts of what she actually looked like, I just sort of improvised. The white horse seemed to be the best for a figure such as her, and I imagined the Dauphin and his Armangac supporters kitting her out with pretty nice "white" armour and horse furniture which variants of the blue colour in the arms of the House of Valois.  This might be...totally wrong? Who knows? 

Points-wise, this is a single 28mm mounted figure, good for 10 points. The "theme" bonus tops things up nicely to 60 points, I think. 

Anyway, great to be back painting in the Hundred Years War. I hope you enjoy the figure!