Warring States Chinese - Han Chariot and Qin Horse Archers

 

Here's a Han chariot and some Qin horse archers that I've just finished painting. The chariot is by Casting Room Miniatures and the horse archers are by John Jenkins Designs sold by Eureka Miniatures. This is the start of my Warring States Chinese Qin and Han armies, mainly I'll be using the brilliant John Jenkins Designs figures but have some of the Casting Room Miniatures Han range as well. An exhibition from China, The First Emperor at the NSW Art Gallery in Sydney in 2010, got me interested initially in this period and when Eureka Miniatures in 2021 released the John Jenkins Designs range based on the Terracotta Army I couldn't resist.

More Ancient Iberian Cavalry

 

Here are more Ancient Iberian cavalry that I've just finished painting to bring some units up to strength. The figures are by Casting Room Miniatures that I picked up during the Foundry Xmas sale. They came with massive great scuta, totally unmanageable on horse back, but fortunately I was able to replace them with spare plastic caetra from a Victrix infantry set. Shield transfers are by LBM and Victrix.

Nubian Command and Antonine Miniatures

 

Here's a Nubian command stand that I've just finished painting. The figures are by Casting Room Miniatures and are big and chunky, very easy to paint. They're not quite as good (or accurate) as the Perry sculpted Foundry Nubians but are nice for a bit of variety.

Below is my first tentative foray into painting 2mm for Strength and Honour. The figures are by Antonine Miniatures (sold by Warbases) and the first base is a complete ten cohort legion. The other work in progress bases below, are of elephants with supporting infantry and a wagon laager. I have some late Republican/ Early Imperial Romans on order from Italian manufacturer Korhyl Miniatures and will combine these with auxiliary bases from Antonine Miniatures.

Darius III King of Kings

 

Darius III and the Ishtar Gate

Today there's a guest post by Garry with his Battle Standard Miniatures, Darius III, King of Kings. The photo at the top shows him with some Casting Room Miniatures Guard Persian cavalry for comparison. We've got a Late Achaemenid Persian versus Indian Pacto MeG game lined up and no doubt Darius will be making an appearance. It will also be a chance to use my Kardakes that I painted up earlier in the year in their first game (see photo at the bottom of the post). 

The MeG Late Persian lists looks quite strong, lots of good cavalry and mercenary Greek hoplite infantry, I don't think the Indians will give them too much trouble.The Kardakes are rated as poor troops which seems a bit harsh, when Takabara peltasts and crescent shielded spearmen are rated average (there's a minus one modifier in combat for troops with a lower rating). They still have Long Spear, Shield Cover and Shove and can be in bases of three for Pacto which actually makes them quite resilient. Anyway it should be a fun game and interesting to see what happens.