Recreating the early medieval Welsh llu: A painting guide

Footsore Miniatures range of early medieval Welsh are some of the best miniatures out there and a joy to paint. This is a quick guide on how I painted mine trying to do the most of these beautiful sculpts.

The Llu form up in a shieldwall and prepare to meet the enemy’s charge. Gwent, close to the river Severn, 1063 AD.

For my review of Footsore miniatures' Welsh range, which you can read here, I painted many archers and javelinmen. I did this because it matched my image of early medieval Welsh forces: large bands of lightly armed skirmishers harassing the enemy with arrows and javelins. This seems to be a prevalent theme among popular rulesets as well. Both Hail Caesar and Warhammer Ancient Battles classify most of the Welsh as light infantry or similar.

As I mentioned in the review, there are few sources on Welsh armies and warriors during this period. Thus, I was delighted when I received a tip about the book "War and Society in Medieval Wales, 633-1283" by Sean Davies. Davies offers a different perspective on early medieval Welsh forces than the popular image of "big bands of lightly armed skirmishers." He argues that the Welsh llu (army) was more organized and complex than generally thought.

The llu was not a homogeneous mass of skirmishers but a diverse force comprising different social classes and military specializations. While the teulu (the prince's personal retinue) formed the core of the army, the llu also included freemen and, in times of emergency, even bondsmen. The uchelwyr (nobles) played a crucial role in mobilizing and leading their followers to join the llu. The organization was likely based on local administrative units contributing warriors and supplies. In terms of composition and tactics, the llu had much in common with both Anglo-Saxon and Viking armies of the period.

Spears were the most common weapon of the llu, just as they were among both the English and Vikings. They were used by both cavalry and infantry for throwing and thrusting. Bows were an essential part of the Welsh arsenal, but they were not the sole weapon of choice. Contrary to the image of skirmishers, Davies suggests that the Welsh llu, like its Anglo-Saxon and Viking counterparts, formed and fought mainly in shield walls.

Overall, Davies' work challenges the simplistic view of early medieval Welsh armies as disorganized bands of skirmishers. Instead, he presents a more nuanced picture of a complex and adaptable force capable of employing various tactics and weapons, which could meet Viking and English armies on equal terms.

For my Welsh units, I wanted to portray an organized shield wall, not a band of skirmishers. I also wanted to depict the difference in status and equipment within the llu, ranging from rich landowners (although not nobility) to poor bondsmen. Fortunately, the Footsore range is large enough to incorporate these different warriors and still have miniatures left over to portray the nobility in the teulu.

Painting

For painting, I used the same method I have outlined before here. It was important to portray the difference between rich and poor members of the llu in the unit, and fortunately, the sculpts lend themselves to this very well. Some are sculpted without shoes and in ragged clothing, while others wear armor and more intricate clothing.

One problem I encountered was that using five colors, as in the tutorial above, wasn't enough for the many layers of clothing on some of the miniatures. Most of the Vikings I've painted only have a tunic, but even the least equipped Welsh also have a piece of cloth slung over their shoulder, and the richer usually have a cloak too. At the same time, most of the pants on the miniatures are barely visible. So I started by painting all of the pants in the same color, Vallejo Game Air Charred Brown. This was washed with Nuln Oil, highlighted with the same color, and then final highlights were made by adding Vallejo Air Aged White to the base color.

These were the primary paints I used, from left to right: VMA Concrete, VMA Dark Green, VMA German Red Brown, Vallejo Surface Primer IDF Israeli Sand, VMC Burnt Umber, VGA Charred Brown, VMA USAF Brown, VMA Golden Brown, VMC Russian Green and VMC Burnt Red.

I then arranged the miniatures in a grid pattern as described in the tutorial above. The basic five colors I used were Vallejo Model Air Concrete, Dark Green and German Red Brown, Vallejo Surface Primer IDF Israeli Sand (I know it's a primer, but I like the color), and Vallejo Model Color Burnt Umber. I had a total of nine sticks, so I painted the tunics on the miniatures on two sticks in a single color. I then went horizontal with the same base paints across the miniatures but painted the second piece of clothing now, avoiding getting the same color on both tunic and extra cloth.

Most of the poorer equipped warriors now had all the paint they needed, but I thought it would be too repetitive to just use the same palette again on the third and fourth piece of clothing on the richer miniatures. So I chose four complementary colors to use on these, mostly cloaks. The colors I used for this were Vallejo Model Air USAF Brown and Golden Brown, and Vallejo Model Color Russian Green and Burnt Red. I didn't really follow a pattern for this but just chose randomly where I thought each color would look good.

Here you can see the difference between richer and poorer warriors. Not only do the miniatures themselves differ but I have also tried to use colour to differentiate between them.

Details

To make some of the richer and higher-status warriors stand out a bit more, I wanted to add markings and patterns to them. On my Vikings, I usually do a little border at the bottom of the tunics, so to differentiate the Welsh, I needed to do something else. I decided to focus these details on the larger pieces of cloth that usually hang over the miniature's shoulder.

The simplest of these details were just a number of lines across the cloth in different widths. A bit more complicated were some fake tartan patterns. These were made with thin double lines going both horizontally and vertically across the cloth using a light color, usually Vallejo Model Air Golden Brown. I washed the folds in the cloth which the lines run across with Seraphim Sepia to create some shadows. Be careful with this depending on what the main color of the cloth is. Lastly, I added Vallejo Model Air Aged White to the Golden Brown to create a brighter color and put dots where the lines meet. Somehow, this quite effectively creates a "tartan look".

It might not look like much but the tartan is quite effective, especially at “wargaming distance”.

Basing

One of the problems I've faced with Matthew Bickley's sculpts before is that the animated sculpting can cause issues when basing. I used to base my Dark Age collection in fours on 40mm square bases, and it was almost impossible to get a good fit. Lately, I've started using 60x50mm bases instead and putting a variable number of figures on each base depending on what fits. This change was inspired by David Imrie's Hundred Years War collection, which you can see part of here.

David's collection is made up of his own Claymore Castings miniatures which are also sculpted by Matthew Bickley. The larger bases have several advantages such as more dynamic posing (which Bickley's miniatures benefit from), less risk of damage to the miniatures and fewer miniatures are needed for a larger footprint. It's also easier to avoid a too regimental look with warriors in neat rows, a trap I have fallen into before. Hopefully, you'll agree this basing is an improvement and complements the miniatures nicely.

A total of eight bases and there are between four and five miniatures on each base.

As stated before, the popular image of Welsh warriors in this period is often that of lightly armed skirmishers. However, the historical reality seems to have been quite different. The llu was a larger host composed of well-equipped freemen fighting in disciplined shieldwall formations. While archers and javelinmen certainly had their place, it was the steadfast spearmen of the llu that bore the brunt of the fighting.

I've tried to apply this knowledge to my hobbying, and hopefully, I've created a unit that both looks visually striking and reflects the most current historical understanding of how the Welsh armies of the 11th century fought.

A young priest urges the warriors on as they skirmish with a rival kingdom. Somewhere on the border between Powys and Gwynedd, 1011 AD.

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