Boyar's Sons (Muscovite cavalry)

 Any proper Russian/Muscovite army from this period is going to have swarms of irregular feudal cavalry. I have TAG minis to represent a few units' worth but wanted to have another go at converting some. These six are made from different Gripping Beast plastic kits; one Arab Heavy Cavalry, two Goth Noble Cavalry, and three Dark Ages Cavalry. Of note, these minis include my first ever attempt at adding stirrups. All of these except the one from the Arab kit, I made stirrups from wire and greenstuff.

 

I am quite happy with how these turned out, I think they mix pretty well with the real thing. 

Voevode (Russian Commander)

My Muscovites need an officer, and while I believe The Assault Group is working on one, I'm impatient! So I made this guy mostly out of Gripping Beast Arabs, with a Warlord head and horse and a TAG mace.

I gotta say, the Gripping Beast Arab Light Cavalry plastics have been an absolute godsend for Eastern Europe kitbashing. The long-robed legs and embroidered-front torsos are just so handy!

Muscovite Reiters

Been a while since I tried any really interesting kitbashing, so here's one. the torsos are from Warlord Games' (formerly Wargames Factory's) War of Spanish Succession cavalry, the horses and some arms are from Warlord Games ECW cavalry, and the heads / legs / other arms are from Gripping Beast's Arab cavalry. These represent the "new style" reiters incorporated into the Russian army post-Smolensk to supplement the traditional feudal horse. I will field them in Pikeman's Lament as Veteran Trotters.

Apologies for the gaps and mold lines on the horses, guess I'm a little out of practice.

Swordsmen for Flashing Blades

I threw together some goons for Flashing Blades. The pictures are bad, but the painting was rushed anyway, so whatever. These are all based on Warlord Games plastic infantry, with sword hands/arms from the plastic cavalry, and random other kits for left arms.

Swashbuckling Heroes for Flashing Blades

Oof, life's been busy these past few month. Not even in a bad way, and I did manage to get some hobby work done, but most of it wasn't really blogworthy.

Here's something though: a set of miniatures representing the characters my game group rolled up for a Flashing Blades campaign.

The two on the left have been posted before, the lady in the middle is an old metal fantasy mini I've had for ages, and the last two are kitbashed plastics specifically made for this campaign.

Russian force for Pikeman's Lament

Probably not optimal from either a tactical or a historical-accuracy perspective, but I finally have completed a full 24-pt force for Pikeman's Lament. Here is an assortment of group photos of varying quality:

(Well, almost completed. A couple units need flags, and the general is actually a Cossack mini because I somehow forgot to get any Muscovite commanders)

More Muscovite Cavalry

These are the "Boyar's Sons", the lower grade of feudal cavalry. On of them is a converted Gripping Beast plastic that I'm not entirely happy with, the others are TAG metals.

Dvoriane (Muscovite elite cavalry)

The next phase of my Muscovite project is cavalry. Primarily this will be feudal noble cavalry, though I may convert some new-style reiters as well. The feudal cavalry is divided into the heavier Dvoriane (in this post) and the lighter Boyar's Sons (forthcoming). This batch is unconverted TAG minis.

Blue Streltsy

So the good news is, I have finished painting all of my current Ottoman models. The bad news is, my table is currently set up for Christmas so I am unable to take an army photo until 2019, by which point I might just decide to wait until I've acquired and painted the necessary light cavalry.

But anyway: here are some more streltsy, the core of the Muscovite army I am also building for Pikeman's Lament. Streltsy have a special place in my heart, because one of them was the first historical model I ever painted. My first unit of them has already appeared on this blog, as well as a WIP shot of this unit's command figs.

Who Invited the Bishops?

So, The Assault Group provides special freebie miniatures if your order exceeds a certain price threshold, and if you forget to specify which you would prefer, they just send one that seems appropriate given the other contents of your order. Since I mostly use TAG for Cossacks and Muscovites, it makes sense that I would mostly end up getting Orthodox priests. So here they are.

I decided to do some minor converting just to avoid having identical quadruplets. I just googled "russian orthodox priest" to get a sense of how the outfit might vary, I have no idea what the history or theology is behind the hat colors or whatever. The beard extensions and hat flaps are greenstuff. The staff is a plastic Persian spear bit with a blob of gs on the end, and the ikon is the end of a wooden coffee stirrer.

(the title of this post is a line from The Death of Stalin, which I recommend if you like Armando Ianucci's brand of grim satire).

Streltsy Command WiP

A couple weeks ago I got my Ottoman and Muscovite army deals from The Assault Group, and I've been getting them ready to paint. The vast majority of them only require basing and a bit of cleaning, but there were four Soldat Pike that I really had no use for, so I converted them to Streltsy.

The Standard Bearer and Sergeant were just given appropriate weapons (and a greenstuff tassel on the halberd). The Musician uses a drum and left arm from the Wargames Factory (now Warlord-produced) WSS sprue, and bits of wire for drumsticks. The Officer had his arm repositioned and a bunch of greenstuff fur added, and I think his sword is from a plastic Celt box (can't remember which company).

Pikeman's Lament

The snazzy new skirmish ruleset, from Osprey and one of my favorite bloggers, just arrived yesterday. It's a super quick read, and should be a lot of fun to play. Michael Leck has published dozens of sample companies on his blog, but I decided to throw a few together based on my own mid-17th-century collection and needs. I don't actually have the models to field all these, except the first two, but it'll be easier to attain these goals than full P&S armies...

Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
1 Aggressive Elite Gallopers @ 6 points each (Hussars)
2 Gallopers @ 4 points each (Pancerni or Cossack-Style Cavalry)
1 Trotters @ 4 points (German Mercenary Rajtar)
1 Dragoons @ 4 points (German Mercenary Dragoons or Tatars)
1 Commanded Shot @ 2 points (Haiduks)

Cossacks
1 Aggressive Forlorn Hope @ 6 points (Swashbuckling Cossacks)
1 Veteran Shot @ 6 points (Registered Cossacks)
2 Shot @ 4 points each (Moloitsy) (may trade one out for Dragoons)
2 Clubmen @ 1 point each (Peasant Rebels)
2 Priests @ 1 point each (attached to clubmen)

Muscovites
1 Forlorn Hope @ 6 points (Streltsy)
1 Elite Trotters @ 6 points (Dvor or New Order Reiters)
2 Trotters @ 4 points each (Boyar's Sons)
2 Commanded Shot @ 2 points (Border Guards) OR 1 Shot @ 4 points (New Order Musketeers)

Tatars
3 Veteran Dragoons @ 6 points each (Tatar Warriors)
2 Raw Gallopers @ 3 points each (Kazindji)

Ottomans
1 Veteran Shot @ 6 points (Janissaries)
2 Raw Shot @ 3 points each (Azabs)
2 Trotters @ 4 points each (Sipahis)
1 Dragoons @ 4 points (Tatars, Besli or Akinci)

Peasant Battalia

God willing, it's going to be years before I paint another Eastern-European peasant.

To recap, they are a mix of Assault Group metals, converted Wagames Factory Persians (so cheap!), and lightly converted Gripping Beast dark age warriors. The GB kit is what I'd recommend to anyone looking to make some peasants of their own. Warlord Games' peasant weapons packs were used throughout, and greenstuff for the hats. The standards are Napoleonic Opolchenie banners found via google search.

"Mordheim" Reinforcements

An order arrived from The Assault Group that I've been quite looking forward too! They may eventually be used to form full units in Pike & Shotte, but for now I'll just be fielding them individually in my historical Mordheim games. I had another smaller one with my brother last weekend, it was pretty fun and we actually got through the whole thing. His Ottomans were able to slay the powerful monsters and drive offer the lesser ones. I didn't have time to take pictures, but there were plenty of dramatic moments, especially when his halberd-wielding champion slew a heavily armored vampire in a single strike! There was also much stumbling and slipping about in the steaming offal which had spilled from the belly of a vile, corrupted monstrosity.

But nevermind that, here's the new minis:

Ottoman Janissaries - Swordsmen with bucklers

Ottoman Janissaries - Swordsmen with Muskets

Russian Sloboda - Warriors with Muskets

Russian Rindi Guard - Swordsmen with Two-handed Weapons

Polish Haiduks - Marksmen with Muskets and Swords

Polish Haiduks - Marksmen with Muskets and Two-handed Weapons

Szlachcic - Polish Nobleman

Halloweekend 2016 pics

The weekend before Halloween I had some friends over for a bit of historical/horror Mordheim. Warbands from all over Europe had been pursuing witches and vampires, and all the monsters had converged on a remote Carpathian town for unknown, but presumably dire, purpose. The hunters formed a makeshift alliance, and assaulted the village from all directions to cleanse the evil gathered within.

Painted peasants

Two more units to go...

Oh dear.

No. Please no. I can't afford a new project, I can't spare the money, the time, or even the space. This is extremely unfortunate.

Even if they'd make great foes for my Vikings.

Clergy in any color you like...

...so long as it's black.

Here are three godly sorts that I've painted up for my Pike and Shotte collection. The Puritan and the Anglican are from the Warlord Games ECW range, although I will be using the latter as a Catholic since I suspect Anglicanism are pretty scarce on the continent.

The Calvinist is the only one converted at all; I added a plastic sheathed sword from the P&S infantry box. I know some might point out that the black-clad Puritan image owes more to popular culture than history, because black cloth was quite expensive at the time, so English nonconformists preferred cheap simple brown/russet fabrics to demonstrate their humility and practicality. But I see this Calvinist as a wealthy burgher from Krakow or Gdansk or someplace, not necessarily tied into the cultural signalling of English Puritans specifically. Also, black looks cooler.

The beardy Orthodox fellow is an Assault Group freeby miniature that can be included upon request with orders above a given size. Or if you forget to specify a freeby for a qualifying order, and your order mostly consists of Cossacks and Muscovites, they'll probably pick this guy out as the most appropriate freeby anyway. That's why I have another of these guys waiting in the wings, as soon as I can decide on a contrasting color scheme.

For those of you interested in package deals, Warlord Games sells a "Fire and Brimstone" set with three clergy types, but I passed on that since the ranter doesn't really fit my setting, as nifty as the miniature is...