Friday, July 27, 2018

Almost a Nikephorian Byzantine Army

On a impulse I bought some second hand figures from the Facebook "The Australian Historical Wargamer Trading Post" group.  They arrived today (thanks Steve) and I had fun sorting them out, working out what they were and what I could do with them.


There is almost enough for a Basic Impetus 2 Nikephorian Byzantine army.  Just short a few slingers and some light cavalry.  I need another unit of archers, but can do that by thinning out the ones I have and adding in the odd command figure.  I think a bit of detailing, some flags and basing and they will look fine.

These Tin Soldier figures are a bit ordinary compared with the Hellenistic range (and even the Medieval range), but I like them. 

The challenge as always is getting my act together and finishing them.  In doing a bit of an initial search I came across this post by the Archduke Piccolo which is giving me inspiration for colourful shields, flags and pennants.

11 comments:

  1. Great to see the dear old 'Tin Soldier' castings! I recognised them right off. Their Patzinaks were very nice, but there was only the one casting. I modified some of mine to carry javelins and shields.
    I may have some spare Kataphtaktoi and Trapezitai kicking around that you could have.

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    1. Yes, Tin Soldier figures have charm.

      That would be fantastic if you had some cavalry to spare. I would be happy to cover costs. My email is mark_haughey AT yahoo dot com dot au. Cheers.

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    2. No worries about costs, mate. I'll see what i can find.
      Cheers,
      Ion

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  2. What fun to receive a ready-made Army!

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    1. Almost, almost. Still needs a few figures and a bit of work.

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  3. Are these 15s or 25s? If the former I have a box of bits and pieces that might yield a few slingers and light cavalry I could chuck in an envelope for you. Table Top & Minifigs, mostly.

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    1. 15s. If you have any odd figures you think might be suitable I am sure I could make use of them. For slinger base just need 3 figures and for light cavalry can get away with just 4.

      As I replied to the Archduke, I would be happy to cover costs. My email is mark_haughey AT yahoo dot com dot au. Cheers.

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  5. Hi Mark
    I have e-mailed the following, but you might see it first here:

    I now have a much clearer picture of what spare figures I have available.

    12 lance armed kavallarioi (Thematic or Tagmatic). Horses non-barded (apart from the super-heavy kataphraktoi, bards were becoming less common anyhow.
    Only 2 have their original lances, and I think a couple more might be wanting lances added, the rest have wire lances.
    12 kite shields for these

    18 bow-armed kavallarioi. 12 to go with the lancers, 2 more for the kataphraktoi, and 4 more for bow-armed light cavalry. As the light cav was drawn from the
    kavallarioi anyhow, I have assumed their dress would be the same. I can add more to this pile if you want.
    The bow-armed guys don't get shields.

    8 trapezetai, lance armed light horse as cast.
    8 round shields, with central bosses, for these.

    4 kataphraktoi - these are the fully barded fellows. the addition of two horse archers will complete a 6-figure unit (forms wedge (trapezoid, really)). These have been painted the same way as my others. I still think I might have some 'mint' guys kicking around somewhere, but can't find them. It is just possible I have given them to someone else some time ago, though.

    4 Varangian Guard. These have been painted, but have kept their original axes (the ones I have kept I replaced the axes with spears.

    If you have need for more skutatoi, I might be able to sling in some. A bit less sure about that. Foot bowmwn might be more problematic.

    Just by the way, I began experimenting with bending the skutatoi shields into a 'semi-cylindrical shape - this for a unit still being put together. I have taken a bit of historical licence with them, using a shield design that was more fashionable some 4 centuries earlier.

    Just a comment on my menavlatoi. These were simply the original, unmodified shutatoi, given a small plastic chad shield. Apparently they were pretty effective, historically, against heavily armoured cavalry.

    Cheers,
    Ion

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