More Mongol Cavalry

 

Here are more cavalry for my Mongol army that I've just finished painting. Figures are by The Assault Group and there's a comparison shot at the bottom with the Fireforge plastic Mongol cavalry.

Mongol Drummer

 

Here's a Mongol drummer mounted on a bactrian camel. This is the Fireforge Games resin model. I have quite a few of The Assault Group metal figures and Fireforge resin and plastic figures to paint for my Mongol army. For opponents I have medieval Russians, all Fireforge resin and plastic figures.

Mongol Command and Cavalry

 

Here are some Mongol command figures and cavalry that I've painted. I've been reading Kenneth W. Harl's book Empires of the Steppes The Nomadic Tribes Who Shaped Civilisation which got me inspired to start work on my Mongol army. This book is a great over view of the nomadic tribes, both in the east and west, from the Bronze Age right through to Tamerlane. The command figures above are Subutai, one of Genghis Khan's greatest generals, a resin Fireforge Games figure. The dismounted command stand figures with golden eagle are metal by The Assault Group. The plastic Mongol cavalry figures below are by Fireforge Games.

Nikephorian Byzantine Horse Archers and Normans versus Byzantines Lion Rampant Game

 

Above are some plastic Fireforge Games horse archers for my Nikephorian and Komnenan Byzantine armies that I've just finished painting. I will combine these as rear rank archers with the Fireforge Koursores figures as front rank lancers, for Tagmatic Kavallarioi. I have more Gripping Beast metal cavalry figures to paint as well as the Fireforge plastic cataphracts. Newly painted troops often seem to  perform poorly in games and this was the case with this lot, see photos and report below!

On Thursday afternoon Garry came over and we played another Lion Rampant game out in the shed. The scenario was Hold on Tight with the objective a mountain pass. I was the attacker with my Nikephorian Byzantines and Garry, the defender, with the Normans. The Byzantines advanced to the pass and managed to hold it for three turns before multiple charges from the Norman cavalry and shooting from the Norman crossbowmen drove them back. Disaster struck when the Byzantine leader was killed by lucky blows and soon the remaining Byzantine cavalry routed. The Byzantine infantry tried to hold on but retreated battered and soon routed.

Normans deployed on the left, Byzantines on the right

Normans with the pass in sight

Byzantines are within cooee

Byzantine horse archers and foot archers advance

Horse archers are in the pass but can they hold it?

Shooting commences - the Norman
crossbowmen prove very effective

Byzantines charge and Normans counter charge

Byzantine leader is killed and
remaining cavalry soon rout

Byzantines are down to infantry only

Can they hold on?

Norman Milites charge again,
crossbowmen find their mark

Byzantine infantry retreat battered and then rout

Normans are victorious 

Turcopoles

 

Here are some Perry Miniatures Turcopoles that I've just finished painting. Half of them have LBM shield transfers. I've also assembled and primed a set of the new Fireforge Games plastic Turcopoles and have included some comparison shots below.

Nikephorian Byzantine Klibanophoroi

 

Here's a unit of Nikephorian Klibanophoroi that I've just finished painting. These are all Crusader Miniatures figures with LBM banner and shield transfers. Most of the horses have red ox hide armour as per the Angus McBride illustration in Ian Heath's Osprey book Byzantine Armies 886-1118. I've also been beavering away assembling boxes of the brilliant new Fireforge Games plastic Byzantine cavalry sets, see the work in progress shots below.

Fireforge Koursores

Fireforge Horse Archers

Fireforge Cataphracts

Alexander Nevsky

 

Here is a Fireforge Games resin Alexander Nevsky figure that I've just finished painting. I have a small force of Medieval Russians that I originally collected for Lion Rampant, they're all Fireforge figures, most are resin, but there is one plastic box of Russian infantry. During the week I got my copy of the new Lion Rampant: Crusader States supplement which looks really interesting and includes a brief history of the Crusader States 1097-1291, new upgrades to the rules, 12 army lists and 12 detailed scenarios. I've certainly had lot of fun with these rules over the years and look forward to trying out some of the army lists and scenarios.

Komnenan Byzantine Kontaratoi

Here are some Komnenan Byzantine Kontaratoi or Skoutatoi that I've finally finished painting. These are from the recent released Fireforge Games plastic Byzantine Spearmen box set. In this you get 25 figures with individual bases and a choice of oval or tear drop shields. The figures are all in a variety of at the ready poses, with upright kontarion. They all heavily armoured with mail, scale or lamellar armour and helmets. Some figures have quite intricate patterns on the hems of their tunics. They are fully compatible with existing metal ranges such as Gripping Beast (see comparison shot below) and Crusader Miniatures.

These are really fine addition to Fireforge's impressive range of detailed Medieval plastic and resin figures. Since releasing these Fireforge have added a resin three figure Byzantine infantry command set. They are also stocking the resin V&V Miniatures Byzantine range which includes Kontaratoi and Varangian Guardsmen. V&V Miniatures have just released resin Byzantine Cataphracts, so hopefully they will be available as well. Orders on the Fireforge website, not including deals, are post free world wide, if over 79 euros. So if you've always fancied a Nikephorian or Komnenan Byzantine army in 28mm, the time might be right!

Finally a big thanks to Aaron of prufockian-gleanings.blogspot.com for spruiking my new blog and to all the old/new followers!