The Three Musketeers - Buckingham's Mounted Bodyguard

The Duke of Buckingham's guards don't have it easy. His escapades onto French territory frequently put him in harm's way (the things we do for love) and these seasoned veterans are sworn to protect him with their lives. This mounted guard is one of the best shots with a musket to be found in England and as such has the privilege to accompany his Duke on those voyages.

The model is a touched up King and Country ECW figure. I painted the buff coat green, so that he'd be a better fit to the colourful Duke's guards and to avoid confusion with the Witchfinder faction. He has one eye closed, which I also touched up as the original paintjob had his eyelashes at the same height as the open eye, where it should be lower for a closed eye. For some reason, the highlights on the green look a bit stark on the back, they are fine in real life.

The Duke and his bodyguards, so far:

The Duke and his guards get into a confrontation with the Witchfinder General and his thugs, who've been overstepping their boundaries lately...

The Three Musketeers - Witchfinder Henchmen

I wasn't entirely happy with the way the models I picked for the Wichfinder faction looked together. The use of buff coats to tie them together seemed insufficient and the colourful sleeves didn't do much to convey the grim nature of their occupation, so I decided to give them matching sleeves and trousers. I settled on black sleeves for all of them (which also matched the Witchfinder General's cape) and a light blue grey for the trousers as a couple already had that colour and it worked well with the overall look. Where required, the sashes were touched up to be red, hence matching the red touches on the Witchfinder General model. I think the end result is rather pleasing and they do look like a coherent force now.

The complete group so far...

The captain and a witchfinder thug

The pointing chap was originally a parliamentary gun commander and had the most work done to him. His sleeves were painted black from a striped red and blue affair, his orange sash was darkened to be red and his dark blue trousers were repainted to match the light grey-blue of the other models. All in all, a successful operation. Shown with the original colouring below:

This one had his sleeves and neckerchief painted in black. I'm still debating whether I need to add a white collar to match the others as well.

The final one had his sleeves repainted from red and yellow stripes to black and a small additional highlights to his pants which were already in the right colour. The model was part of an ECW dueling set ans is shown with original colouring below:

The Three Musketeers - The Preacher

Most of the Witchfinder General's henchmen are merely hired thugs, men of little moral integrity with a penchant for cruelty, but some, like the Preacher, are true zealots. A bonafide man of the fate, the General's right hand man truly believes in the holy mission. An otherwise kind and intelligent man, he will not hesitate to unleash his righteous fury on those he is led to believe are the spawn of Satan. A complex individual and a great swordsman to boot.

This characterful model is another King and Country ECW figure. As with the others in this faction, I took the liberty to make a few changes to better reflect the grim nature of his occupation. The colourful red and yellow striped sleeves were replaced with a more sobre black.

Source: King and Country - PnM054 - The preacher

The preacher model has one of the best faces in the range (shown here with original sleeves).

The Three Musketeers - King Louis off to War

It's the Musketeer's job to keep the King out of harm's way, but it's not the King's job to make that an easy task. When war is being waged, all kings will eventually have to make a show of being a warrior in the thick of the action, albeit from a safe distance, and so we have King Louis here decked out in his finest battlefield threads.

"It is your duty to protect France. And therefore... me."

The figure is actually King & Country's retired model of the British King Charles, but as he strikes a passing resemblance to the King Louis model, he will work perfectly well in that role.

No begging from the women can sway this brave warrior from his plan to put his guards into grave danger.

The Three Musketeers - Milady de Winter

Milady de Winter is Cardinal Richelieu's confidante, spy and occasional assassin. A woman of remarkable beauty, intellect and resourcefulness, but also cold blooded and ruthless when needed. It's hard to imagine that in a former life she was the countess de la Fère, in other words, the wife of the musketeer Athos...

Pictured here in a comfortable outfit destined for travelling and clandestine operations, about to torture an apple to reveal all it's secrets.

And a close-up for no good reason:

Having a casual conversation with a young musketeer-wannabe.

"You're not dangerous, you're beautiful" - "Not the sharpest sword in the armoury, are you?"

Getting orders from the Cardinal:

"It's on my order and for the good of the State..."

She's not Rochefort's biggest fan though.

"Why don't we go somewhere more private?" - "Why don't we pretend that this apple is your... other sword?"

The Three Musketeers - The Duke of Buckingham Faction Overview

Georges the Villiers, the Duke of Buckingham, was the British prime minister and a personal friend of his Sovereign. Being responsable for waging war on France and rumoured to be the recipients of the French queen's affections, he was no favourite of King Louis. His clandestine visits to France to see the queen make him a good candidate to build a separate faction around.

In this post I will try to keep a complete list of the figures in the "Duke of Buckingham" faction. It will be updated with new pictures as and when I add to the collection.

The collection so far...

1. Georges Villiers, the Duke of Buckingham.

Source: King and Country - PnM076 - The Duke of Buckingham

2. The Captain of the Duke's bodyguard

Source: King and Country - PnM028 - The Laughing Cavalier

3. The Duke's bodyguards.

Source: King and Country - PnM065 - English Civil War Duellists 

Source: King and Country - PnM062 - Sergeant-At-Arms, The English Civil War

The Three Musketeers - The Duke of Buckingham

Georges Villiers, the Duke of Buckingham was to British politics what cardinal Richelieu was to France's. Being responsable for a permanent policy of war against France (and Spain) didn't endear him to King Louis. Rumours of him having an affair with Queen Anne probably even less so.

Pictured here with some members of his personal bodyguard, on those sneaky visits to Paris that are described in Dumas' novel.

The model is King & Country's interpretation of the character in 65mm, and a very nice one at that.

A clandestine appointment with the queen in the park. He'll only be able to steal a few minutes, but it will be worth it.

The Three Musketeers - Captain of Buckingham's bodyguards

As we all know the Duke of Buckingham likes to sneak into Paris for some quality time with a certain queen, his bodyguards have their work cut out for them to get him back home safely in time for tea and biscuits. This dapper fellow is the captain of those bodyguards, one of the finest blades of England, and plenty of charm and wit to go with it. If he'd been born in France, he'd probably have been a member of the King's musketeers.

The model is King & Country's "Laughing Cavalier" from the ECW range. He's been recast here in a role that will suit him well.

The Three Musketeers - King Louis and Queen Anne

The King, His Majesty Louis the XIII, known as Louis the Just, with his queen, Anne of Austria, daughter (and later sister) to the king of Spain and rumoured to have a soft spot for a certain Duke of Buckingham, another mortal enemy of France. Not an easy mariage. Both models are from King & Country.

The King, the son of Henri IV and Louis XIV...

The Queen. I added a small base to the queen, as K&C robed figures tend to be supplied without one, but I feel that looks a bit odd next to the other figures.

It's not easy being the Queen of France and a sister of the King of Spain

The King and Queen taking a stroll through the park, followed by their courtiers.

The Three Musketeers - The Royal Courtiers

The Royal court of King Louis is of course frequented by a myriad of greater and lesser nobles, hoping to catch the King's eye and favour. This gentleman and his wife are the Duke of Vendôme, César de Bourbon, a half-brother of our beloved sovereign no less, and his wife Françoise de Lorraine. Having dabbled in intrigues and conspiracies, he will spend a larger part of his life in exile, but that's just the way of the 17th century courts.

The models are actually King & Country's (prepainted) ECW King & Queen, but after having them originally pegged to stand in for our benevolent rulers, they have been recast in new roles. I added a base to Françoise, as I felt she was missing something without it.

I have just as much royal blood as Louis, well, on our father's side anyway.

I married a King's brother, because of a treaty between Henry IV and my father, Philippe-Emmanuel de Lorraine