Before HaT, Waterloo 1815, and Newline Designs, even before Italeri, there was only Esci.
There was only one box remotely dedicated to this period and area, and even this had figures from all over the middle-east. It was Esci’s Muslim Warrior set.
Nowadays Italeri has reissued this set in their box Set 6055 Arab Warriors. So here’s the sole swordsmen unit I was able to make up way back, when I first started this collection.
On its own, its a fairly good looking unit, rebased into a Standard BP Warband. Apart from the Afghan on the far right (who’s come along for a bit of a skip by the looks of things), its a mix of Hadendowa and some blokes with shields and pointy helmets, which match written descriptions from the time and are best described as an Ansar Emirs or leaders (see Plastic Soldier Review). So a unit made up of Emirs – yay!
And you could always use most of the rest of the figures from this this set as Ansar – as I have done for commanders, musicians, and firearm skirmishers. But what if you wanted more?
Well back then, before electricity and internal combustion, we turned to Italeri, new to the market, Set 6010 Saracen Warriors. Why? Because there was nothing else and desperate obsessions are desperate obsessions.
Not even painted correctly, this unit, now based as another Standard BP Warband, again looks great on its own. So the only thing wrong with it is the complete anachronistic discrepancy. But do you know what? I reckon if I do the old ‘paint them white and paint some coloured patches on’ trick, no one is going to mind. Because this act shifts it closer to the misapprehensions originally regarding these units – that they fought in armour with metal shields. So it can be my tribute to early historians.
But… then…
The Joker
Welcome to my sense of humour, gone too far. A unit painted in tribute to Indiana Jones. Even with skirmishers...
And ‘the bad guy’ command...
Why oh why did I keep going with the joke?
So these guys actually started out as a few HOTT bases. Then I got the Sudan fever and even knew that these guys should be painted with white jibbas with coloured patches. But no, keep on keeping on is the motto.
Fact is ,historically, soldiers could have be stoned for turning up to muster wearing anything but white. But will this make an appearance on the Sudan BP battlefield? Will these figures be counted as part of the 1000?
No, not any longer. Recently I rescued some British VSF figures into some semblance of several HOTT armies. Now with all the excellent 20mm figures for this period, its time to retire these guys from Black Powder and let them be a HOTT army again.
There was only one box remotely dedicated to this period and area, and even this had figures from all over the middle-east. It was Esci’s Muslim Warrior set.
Nowadays Italeri has reissued this set in their box Set 6055 Arab Warriors. So here’s the sole swordsmen unit I was able to make up way back, when I first started this collection.
On its own, its a fairly good looking unit, rebased into a Standard BP Warband. Apart from the Afghan on the far right (who’s come along for a bit of a skip by the looks of things), its a mix of Hadendowa and some blokes with shields and pointy helmets, which match written descriptions from the time and are best described as an Ansar Emirs or leaders (see Plastic Soldier Review). So a unit made up of Emirs – yay!
And you could always use most of the rest of the figures from this this set as Ansar – as I have done for commanders, musicians, and firearm skirmishers. But what if you wanted more?
Well back then, before electricity and internal combustion, we turned to Italeri, new to the market, Set 6010 Saracen Warriors. Why? Because there was nothing else and desperate obsessions are desperate obsessions.
Not even painted correctly, this unit, now based as another Standard BP Warband, again looks great on its own. So the only thing wrong with it is the complete anachronistic discrepancy. But do you know what? I reckon if I do the old ‘paint them white and paint some coloured patches on’ trick, no one is going to mind. Because this act shifts it closer to the misapprehensions originally regarding these units – that they fought in armour with metal shields. So it can be my tribute to early historians.
But… then…
The Joker
Welcome to my sense of humour, gone too far. A unit painted in tribute to Indiana Jones. Even with skirmishers...
And ‘the bad guy’ command...
Why oh why did I keep going with the joke?
So these guys actually started out as a few HOTT bases. Then I got the Sudan fever and even knew that these guys should be painted with white jibbas with coloured patches. But no, keep on keeping on is the motto.
Fact is ,historically, soldiers could have be stoned for turning up to muster wearing anything but white. But will this make an appearance on the Sudan BP battlefield? Will these figures be counted as part of the 1000?
No, not any longer. Recently I rescued some British VSF figures into some semblance of several HOTT armies. Now with all the excellent 20mm figures for this period, its time to retire these guys from Black Powder and let them be a HOTT army again.
Ha! Brilliant! Still, I wouldn't worry. Nothing ahistorical about the Indiana Jones movies at all at all at all...
ReplyDelete