The bill, a relatively simple weapon derived from agricultural implements, had by the start of the Tudor period (1485) become the favourite weapon of English armies, and would continue to be so for much of the 16th century. With its blade, spike and hook, it was a versatile weapon somewhat similar to the more refined halberd, but it was relatively cheap and easy to make, and in the hands of a competent man it could be just as deadly as any of the more sophisticated weapons in the armoury. It featured prominently in all the campaigns of Henry VIII, and was particularly valued for guarding flanks and key personnel, and in pursuit of a broken enemy. However, during the reigns of Mary and Elizabeth, it gradually fell out of favour as the pike became more widespread in England, and an order of 1587 recommended that anyone mustering with a bill should be rearmed with a pike, while the bill had virtually disappeared by the end of the century.

All but one of the main poses in this set are of billmen, and they are handling their weapon in various ways. Modelling polearms such as this is very difficult using traditional production methods, so generally such figures are a rather flat compromise, but despite that we thought these poses were well done. The bills are being moved around, used like a spear with the point thrust forward, and in one case being swung like an axe. This makes for quite a variety of different postures, which is good to see, although the man about to swing his raised weapon is unusual in that he is holding it left-handed, and has his hands too far apart to impart anything like the full impact of such a blow. The intent of the other figure holding his bill in the air is also a bit hard to understand, but generally a fair crop of billmen here.

The last figure in the second row is the sole man-at-arms. He is about to land a blow with a poleaxe, which was a medieval weapon that consisted of an axe blade, a hammer and a spear point. So like the bill it was a versatile weapon, but was primarily used against plate armour, and as plate armour became less common, so the use of this weapon declined also. However, it retained its popularity with some knights and men-at-arms early in the Tudor period, but the relative scarcity of such troops compared to billmen justifies there being only one pose here. The pose itself is not great. The man is holding the weapon directly over his head, and holds the shaft with hands wide apart, so would only be able to impart a small force into any blow; a rather clumsy pose that is often used, but no more realistic for that. Nevertheless, it is nicely active, like the billmen, who all look to be engaged in a fight.

The command figures add some very useful extra elements to this set, beginning with a really nice drummer. In this period there were generally two drummers per company. The first stayed with the captain so as to convey his orders, when no human voice would be heard above the din of battle, and the second usually stayed with the colours. Since in this set the colours are on the move and the captain is not, perhaps this drummer is with the banner, though he could just as easily be on the march, helping the men to keep in step. The man with the banner is resting it on his shoulder in a somewhat relaxed manner, but is still an attractive pose. The banner is a fair size and square, which is correct, and the choice of pose makes it relatively easy for anyone to substitute the undecorated plastic banner with a paper one of their choice. We were not quite so taken with the third command figure, the captain. He stands with sword raised high and holds out his left arm for some reason. Maybe he is encouraging his men forward, so it is not a bad pose, but not one of our favourites.

The designs of the bills are nice and varied, and the same goes for the clothing and armour on show here. The billmen wear a variety of items, including some plate elements and some small amount of mail (one man wears mail round his shoulders – a ‘bishop’s mantle’). We liked the various pieces of armour on these figures, though an almost complete suit such as worn by the second figure in the top row would have been increasingly rare during the period. Some have jacks or coats, perhaps quilted, which may or may not include or cover some item of armour, and they wear an assortment of caps, bonnets, breeches and hose, all of which is fine for the 16th century. While some lords endeavoured to introduce a form of uniform into the men they mustered, this rarely went beyond a common colour for the coat, and the only identification many of these men have is a large cross on both the front and back of the torso. The drummer is dressed in civilian style, but the man holding the banner wears a burgonet helmet and clearly is wearing plate armour under his fashionably slashed coat as couters are visible on his elbow, and tassets are also evident. The captain has a full harness, as does the man-at-arms, including a full-face (‘close’) bascinet helmet with comb along the skull. Over his suit he wears a very large coat which is trimmed with fur and has false sleeves that hang below his arms. Naturally this wardrobe is more about his wealth and status than anything else, and was increasingly anachronistic as the Tudor period went on, but looks impressive and achieves exactly the look he doubtless wished for.

The sculpting is very nice indeed, as we would expect of RedBox now, and there is some particularly pleasing details like the decoration on the captain’s armour, but everything looks really good. Despite the challenging polearms, the poses are not particularly flat (for the most part), and there is a fair amount of action in these figures. What is less appealing is the quality of the mould, because we find a good deal of flash on most of the seams, and in some places really large chunks of it. No figure is spared this curse, though on some the arms in particular suffer from very thick flash, and that’s not all. In a handful of places it appears that the mould has not filled correctly, so the sword hilt of the first figure in row two is just a mess, and the drummer has just half of one stick, when it is apparent that originally he had two whole ones! As always, it is a shame that great sculpting suffers in this way, and with time and patience most of these issues can be resolved, but not everyone will have sufficient of either to rescue these figures.

Since the Tudor period covers more than a century, inevitably not every figure here is well-suited to all of it. So for example the drum here is relatively small for the start of the dynasty, but more appropriate later on as smaller examples became fashionable, and the instances of shields (two poses carry a buckler) and plate armour declined as the years rolled by, while the poleaxe is more for the early years. However nothing here is inappropriate for at least some part of the years 1485 to 1603, and most is pretty typical for most of it, so overall there are no accuracy worries here. The poses are decent given the difficulties of modelling such weapons, and the sculpting really great, though let down by a less than impressive mould-making. As the bill declined so the pike and the halberd took its place, but until then any Tudor army would boast many such men, giving English armies of the day an unusual look that marked them out from those on the continent, so these figures are an important component for portraying such armies as they suppressed domestic rebellion, fought neighbours in Scotland and Ireland, and played their part in the politics of western Europe.