samedi 3 février 2018

Late Crusaders: Maronite auxiliary archers

This year, I've decided to complete the armies I've started to paint in 2017 or earlier. The more I read l'Art de la Guerre, the more I wish to play with these rules, so I need different armies to test most situations. One of the most epic scenes is the charge of units of heavy cavalry, so I need an army with knights. Since I painted a few Templars for DBA last year, I decided to paint a Later Crusader army.

I prepared a list for a 100 pts army, the closest format to DBA. Here it is:

  • General (1 knight + 1 standard bearer + 1 monk): 5 pts
  • Templar knights (6 knights): 26 pts - 4 painted, see here
  • Crusader knights (6 knights): 20 pts - 2 painted, see here
  • Turcopoles with bow (2 horsemen): 6 pts - 1 painted, see here
  • Bedouins (2 horsemen): 6 pts
  • Sergeants on foot (8 men): 16 pts - 4 painted, see here
  • Sergeants with crossbows (4 men): 7 pts - 4 painted, no pictures
  • Maronite archers (4 men): 10 pts
  • Light infantry with bows (2 men): 4 pts
There is no manufacturer who released Maronite archers, but the Andalusian archers  are close enough in my eyes. I also painted a couple of figures from other manufacturers to add some variety in the poses.

Here is my unit:



 Not as impressive as the knights of course, but they will be highly valuable auxiliaries.
Some close-ups:



These figures come from the El Cid Andalusian infantry by Hät (set 8168). They are perfect as Maronites, but two poses are a bit short, hence:




The firing archer comes from the Italeri Saracen warriors (set 6010), He is rather close to the previous ones. The other one comes from the Strelets Anglo-Saxons before battle (M050). He would be perfect in my eye if he was equipped with a composite bow - let's say that he was compelled to use an occidental one :)
If I find a better mini for the fourth Maronite archer, the Saxon archer will downgrade to light infantry. Any suggestion ?


22 commentaires:

  1. Très beaux archers, peinture, poses...et présentation...

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  2. Interesting and unknown subject, I do not know how maronited looked like, but for medieval eastern archers i think you chose so good :) they look beautiful
    Did you check also the strelets muslim archers? Maybe some do not look very arabic...

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    1. Thank you Sceavus. There is one representation of a Maronite archer in the Osprey Elite Crusaders book. I suppose you're right, Muslim archers should be okay, especially those with a hood (that is, without a turban).

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    2. I had a look on osprey and PSR,
      Maybe some archers from Orion byzantines are also useful. Or some strelets dacians?¿
      keep the Saxon there, his story will for sure be interesting :)

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    3. Yes, the archer from the Byzantine troops, that's right! I have to find that reference. Thank you Sprinks!

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  3. Great looking group Phil, I'm no expert on the subject but I think you would get away with the Saxon bloke. It just brings extra character to the group!. Maybe there's an interesting back story....

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    1. Thank you Sprinks. I let you find that story, Sprinks the story teller :)

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  4. Interesting! The Saxon looks like he will slot into the group nicely.

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    1. Thank you Tony. Yes, except for the bow, he is perfect. Maybe I just should have redone it with some wire.

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  5. Very cool. What base coat do you use for the white clothing?

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    1. Thank you Nick. I use GW Dheneb Stone as a base coat (then brown wash, then Dheneb Stone as first highlight, then a mix of Dheneb Stone and white). That reference no longer exists, I read somewhere on the net that Vallejo Heavy warmgrey is a good replacement, but it didn't test it yet.

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  6. A great looking army is being prepared. I like the Strelets Sergeants and the cavalry look amazing. I don't know the rules - must have a look. Bon weekend.

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    1. Merci Maudlin. Here is a link to the official site, both in english and french: http://www.artdelaguerre.fr/adlg/v3/?/en/
      Bon week-end également :)

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    2. Thanks for the link, looks interesting.

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  7. Very nice. Not many Maronite bods about so using These bods is good. The strelets archers bow is not 100% right but your reason fits

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    1. Thank you Paul. I am considering Sceavus' suggestion - to use a medieval Byzantine archer, it will be more accurate. To be true, I disappointed myself, I should have thought of it :)

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