The Hundred Years War was not one single war, and nor did it last for 100 years. It broadly labels the wars between the King of France and England and her allies during the later middle ages, generally accepted as between 1337 and 1453. The name actually first appeared in the 18th century in French literature, but is a convenient identifier for a crucial period in the history of France, during which some progress was made towards creating a more unified state, and ultimately the modern nation state. During this time there were also major changes in the way the King of France could raise troops, moving from a feudal contract system to one in which a small but efficient and professional standing army was at his command, forming the core of any force he might choose to deploy. The period also saw a transformation in French fortunes in war. Beginning with a huge emphasis on chivalrous mounted knights, which brought with it many significant defeats, and ending with professional soldiers and a good, modern artillery, which brought many victories and ultimate success.

For much of the period, a French army was made up of elite cavalry (knights and men-at-arms), mercenary infantry, town militias and peasant levies raised for the duration. The levies, though numerous, were usually poorly trained, badly equipped and of minimal value in deciding the outcome of a battle. Looking at the figures in this set however, we see none of such men, but instead men that are well armed and armoured, and would be the best of the infantry France could call upon. Many indeed may well be cavalrymen, since it was common for such men to find themselves serving on foot when the circumstances demanded it.

Every man here is well armed, with all carrying a sword. Four hold this in their hand, while another four hold a polearm, and an axe and a mace complete the weapons in hand. These are the kinds of weapons to be expected of such men, with none of the spears and improvised agricultural tools that the levies might carry, nor the bows and crossbows of the missile troops. All but one also carry a shield, which as can be seen come in a variety of shapes and designs. Two of the shields are bouched, which means a cutout has been made in the top right corner to accommodate a levelled lance. This implies mounted action (either the joust or battle), so perhaps these two figures are indeed mounted men-at-arms currently fighting on foot.

The quality of the clothing and armour is what really marks out these men. The variety is very good, but every man has a good deal of mail, and some also have elements of plate. Eight of the poses wear a mail hauberk, covered with an assortment of padded aketons, jacks or brigandines of various patterns, but all looking authentic. One may even be a plate cuirass, covered by a tabard, but difficult to be sure. A couple have no added protection on the limbs, but most do, and again this varies, with mail, plate and possibly leather items, and some splint protection on lower arms. The most common form of helmet here is the basinet, in several styles and sometimes with a face guard. A couple of men have the simpler war hat or kettle hat, and one man wears a cervelliere with a mail face covering that exposes only the eyes, which was fashionable in southern France and copied from Castile. Two poses have a bevor to protect the throat, and most have a mail coif or aventail attached to the helmet.

None of these figures require any assembly, which is always a challenge when they hold bladed weapons and shields. While this does impose limitations, we thought that these poses are mostly very natural and not noticeably flat. Indeed, since some earlier Ultima Ratio figures have been fairly flat, we thought these were some of the best sculpts they have produced in a long time. About the only pose that gave us any concern was the middle figure in the bottom row. He holds a polearm, but also a shield, so has only one hand on the weapon. This would seriously diminish his effectiveness, and makes no sense to us. Men with two-handed weapons certainly did also carry shields on occasion, but these were usually left slung on the back until the weapon was dropped or broken and the sword drawn, as in the last figure in the second row. Apart from that, with one guard figure and the rest action poses, we liked everything on offer here.

Sculpting is very nice, with a lot of detail as would be required of such complex figures. The surface texture of the mail is done with a series of pits, which is not perfect but does make it clear what the material is, and at least it avoids the mistake of trying to sculpt individual rings. The armour and clothing are nicely done, and the faces are pretty good too where visible. All the shields have a raised design on the surface, and no two are alike, so while we always prefer smooth surfaces where heraldic designs are required, these do at least aid the painter, and all look plausible. We found a low level of flash round the seams, but none anywhere else, and no excess plastic in awkward places, which is great considering most of the poses still look natural.

The relative lack of plate body armour, combined with the lack of salet-type helmets and the abundance of shields, all make us think these are more appropriate to the 14th century than the 15th, though this is by no means a rule, and doubtless many men looked like this at Agincourt and beyond. On the other hand, the practice of bouching a shield, whilst known by 1350, only became fairly common in the following century. One man has his sword scabbard hanging from his right hip rather than the left, which surprised us, but overall we had no problems with the accuracy of these figures. The sculpting is very good too, and only one pose did not meet with our approval, so while this set concentrates on the better quality foot troops of the French King’s army, that does mean it also concentrates on the soldiers who were most likely to be the ones to decide a battle. Since the term ‘French’ could also be applied to other armies such as those from Flanders, Brittany, Burgundy and Gascony, and there was little difference from other armies too, this is a very nicely done set of late medieval heavy infantry that would do the French crown proud.