More Midianite Camel Riders

 

Here are some more Midianite Camel riders in 28mm rather than 15mm this time. They are very detailed resin figures by Blitzkrieg Miniatures. It took a while to get these, about a month before they were posted down under. I think they were a bit swamped by orders at the time. I had a few breakages in the mail, the finer resin parts are fairly brittle. These were a bow, a bow case, the ear of one camel and a few toes on some of camel the riders but I was able to fix these with super glue and/or green stuff. There was a bit of cleaning up to do with the figures, especially around the hair and beard of the riders. The riders and camels are all one piece and I glued their feet directly on to mdf bases with super glue. I already have some other 28mm camel riders by Castaway and Warlord but these are much nicer figures.

More Midianites

 

Here are some more Midianite camel riders that I've just finished painting. They are lovely Peter Pig figures that I got from Mick Selman of Mick's Metal Models, true 15mm rather than 18mm. I've included some comparison shots below with Museum Miniatures ones I painted last year, these are larger 18mm figures that are a good match for Xyston. I actually don't mind mixing these ranges as there is a much greater range in human and camel sizes than the difference between 15mm and 18mm! All of my infantry for this army are Peter Pig. Essex Miniatures actually have both a 15mm and 28mm range of Midianites.

Midianite Camel Riders

 

Here are some 15mm Midianite Camel Riders that I've just finished painting. The figures are by Museum Miniatures from their Z range. These are one piece metal castings, designed in CAD and the photos on their website are CAD renders I think. Quite amazing detail, much better than 28mm Midianite Camel Riders figures, that I have! Size wise they're a good match for Xyston.

Neo-Assyrian Cavalry and Arab Camel Riders

Here are some Eureka Miniatures, Neo-Assyrian guard cavalry that I've just finished painting. The Arab Camel riders I painted quite a while ago and the Foundry Chaldean slingers I added a couple of bases to bring them up to strength for a twelve figure unit. I have one four horse chariot to finish then I should be able to play a Chariots Rampant game with my Neo-Assyrians.

There is an interesting summary of the evolution of Neo-Assyrian cavalry in the Chariot Wars WAB supplement by Nigel Stillman (p.57):

The cavalry arm of the Assyrian army evolved rapidly during the Assyrian Empire. As the empire expanded, the horse breeding regions of Anatolia, Iran and Urartu (Armenia) came under Assyrian control, providing the army not only with better mounts but expert riders as well. The Assyrians fought the Cimmerians and Scythians and recruited many of them into the regular standing army and the royal guard. Wearing Assyrian uniforms, they became indistinguishable in the sculpted scenes, but written records give the names and origins of many soldiers, showing that cavalry was recruited from all the regions renowned for horsemanship. Initially Assyrian cavalry consisted of mixed units of unarmoured mounted archers and shield bearers, and the later held the reins for the archer while he took aim. By the time of Tiglath-Pileser III (745-727 BC), riders discarded their shield and consisted of mixed units of armoured archers and spearmen... By the time of Ashurbanipal (668-627 BC), the royal guard cavalry were equipped with spears and bows, wore armour and rode mounts protected by felt bards like those worn by the chariot horses.