Having already produced a battleset using their crusades figure sets, this time it was the turn of their other medieval releases, for the Hundred Years War, along with a Zvezda round-tower castle and a cardboard base. So the figures here consist of:
The Siege of Orleans occurred in 1428 to 1429 and involved an English army besieging the town with its French garrison. After over six months the French successfully relieved the town, achieving an important victory in that long-running conflict. The set of French knights was clearly made with this period of the wars in mind as it includes a figure of Jeanne d'Arc, although it is heavy on the mounted knights, so far from ideal for a siege. In depicting the English forces, the second set also has some issues, including the figure of long-dead Henry V and the archers with stakes in the ground - hardly something to be seen at a siege. However in general both are very nice sets, and though far from ideal for a long siege, with too many mounted men, they make an attractive pair. The castle is of course merely symbolic of the town of Orleans. Built as a castle it is a good size for a model of this scale, but the walls and towers can also be arranged to better suggest a town wall, which is great. The base is printed assuming the castle is square, and even includes a moat, which like most towns Orleans did not have, although the adjacent river Loire was certainly important in the siege. Like most battlesets, this one was put together to make an appealing product but with little thought as to the suitability for the action named in the title. Clearly there was not much that could be done with the available figures, and Orleans was doubtlessly chosen primarily because of its fame, but the base could have been better designed to at least suggest a nearby river rather than a moat. Nonetheless, such arguments should not detract from a very nice set which won't tell you anything about the titular battle, but might well ignite an interest in the conflict as a whole.