Tag: byzantines

Categories
new additions

Reinforcements 1

I had seen these figures by Orion many times on screen and decided against purchase. But byzantines in 1/72 is not a happy hunting ground. So I have taken the plunge.
4 identical strips giving you 52 figures in 13 poses. it says on the box 11th to 14th century – so for my needs – 10/11th century they should work.
One strip showing the flash that plastic soldier review complained about generally.
back and front with some awkward poses to deal with and the other issue that plastic soldier review mentioned – flatness
but look at the detail – plastic soldier praised the detail on many orion products of this era, sad that poor mould/manufacture compromised these figures. The animation like more recent strelets releases is what I like
Next up again Byzantines in 1/72 are few so again a set I had looked at many times were finally purchased.
You get two rounds of small unarmoured cavalry plus one sprue of horseman. The infamous? flash is visible.
If the flash proves to be a non issue in prep, I think I have another promising set of figures with some excellent detail on well proportioned figures.
These byzantine infantry are on the edge of my project timeline – 11th century. But again some nice designs should prove useable.
The dark plastic does not do justice to the design quality – I hope my average painting will not let them down.
These chaps are almost too early but I reckon you have some latitude in this era – ” we have not had new uniforms here in decades the new recruit was informed by the byzantine clothing department”
Again the flash is present but also again some good designs and excellent details
And now for something completely different! Strelets doing Marlbrough. Despite having hundreds of Zvezda Russians and Swedes I had to try some. I think these are my preference from the British
One command sprue and 4 rounds of infantry. sufficient poses that are similar. Unlike my dark age figures I like a degree of uniformity in my “baroque” era armies.
Some complementary reading matter from a reknowned author Paddy Griffiths – I remember a library book by him on gross scaling of simulated battles as in army level or corps level etc. Great ideas. This book will complement my biography of the master builder Vauban.
And we finish up with two more books on the anglo saxons – in themselves a side project of my “Normans in the South”. One day I will read John Julius Norwich
Both books are by Paul Hill and having enjoyed his Norman Commanders and nearly finished his Anglo Saxons at War books I have taken a punt on these earlier two books which having more sweeping titles. A quick look at the contents suggests Paul will stick with his thematic – episodic approach which some reviewers did not like but I think it helps in what is a difficult era to write clearly about. Now i really need to crack on with my saxons and angles.
Categories
basing

Do bases matter that much?

Do bases matter that much when it comes to miniatures used in wargaming? By current standards they clearly do with plenty of trade offerings available and a wealth of DIY advice online.


Also the preference for elements without individual figure removal permits more imagination to be applied around a base. Perhaps the exception is skirmish gaming but even here you have the option of sabot bases providing the individual figure movement while retaining the convenience of the larger element base which can still be given varying levels of decoration.


My basing journey has been pretty basic. Back in the dim and distant past I painted desert or green paint onto cardboard bases. I still have them and they work after a fashion. The figures are 25mm. They look a bit tired though.


I think this figure is a citadel adventurer from the 1970’s when my painting hand was patient and my eyes still worked! note the ageing gloss varnish.

Then I started a 15mm phase and actually paid for painting including basing. The quality was good but somehow they did not grow on me. They look accurate but……

15mm Essex Byzantines professionally painted with matt finish and understated basing!

I did some of my own and I was even less happy!

And then I caught the plastic fantastic bug and returned to simple painted bases for some 1/72 scale figures.

Zvezda Russian Cavalry cruise past some positively ancient 20mm minifig french napoleonics and giant 25mm tradition russians

In the middle of this phase I moved into 28mm figures and thought they needed something extra. As it happened despite all the wealth of offerings and advice in all the various magazines and books I had collected, I stumbled across the humble warhammer guide in one of their rulebooks – maybe shieldwall – where they recommended simply gritting the bases, basecoating and drybrushing once. Somewhere I found a suggestion to use budgie grit. I tried it and painted it up, except no dry brush, but added some static grass and…… I was still underwhelmed. There is no pleasing some people.

Perrys 28mm Continental Burgundian Pike on DBA bases

I then had another surge of plain painted bases when I reworked more of my old 25mm metals.

You can see them next to the Zvezda Russians above – Minifigs French circa 1972? and Tradition Russians from the mid 1970’s. The bases they replaced were very dark green painted airfix box card – the figures have been transformed in my view, although unbelievably garish – they cheer me up!


And then I decided to do some mediterranean normans. Coincidentally I had watched both British cycling, Le Tour and La Vuelta races and the penny dropped. All my scenic basing had generally used dark green/dark brown earth (or grey brown for 15mm) colours – and I had not recognised why I liked the bright green bases beyond their simplicity. British cyclists rode through dark earth countryside with bright greens but La Vuelta cyclists went through fantastically bright coloured soils of many hues and even with brighter green shrubs and trees on top. (well except in the picos mountains in the north).

So I got my paints out and started experimenting – and so I have now found what I want for my Normans. Well until the butterfly lands on the next flower…..

In my next post I will share the results.