Andalusian/Almohad/Almoravid Noble Command Vignette Base

This piece was sitting in my undercoated and primed cupboard since 2019 and was just begging to be completed. I have minor wargames butterfly tendencies, nothing compared to years ago, but still find it useful to remain on focus for major projects (Thematic Byzantines for the AHPC this year) by fliting with other periods etc from time to time. 

The vignette is specific to my Spanish 11th CE and features a Muslim Faris (Furusiyya, "Knighthood" is a martial tradition dating back to pre Islamic times) attacking a downed Frankish/Spanish knight. This piece but could sit easily in Spain or the Middle East during the 11th/12th CE as a command base or just a vignette to keep things interesting away from the main action on the wargames table.

For anyone interested in the origin of the miniatures, the Muslim Faris (Furusiyya,  Mutatawwi'a Warlord on Horse and a miniature from Wargames Foundry's Norman Spearmen Characters from their Matthew Bickley Normans range. 

The shield is hand painted. 

All the images are "clickable" for those wishing to enlarge the images. 

A Few Details- "all clickable"/Enlargeable:

Reconquista! Arab Heavy Cavalry

This unit is actually a part of my Italo Norman army as Aghlibid Heavy Cavalry allies. They have seen plenty of action over the years so they will be getting a bit of a makeover and will be re-based so the bases match that of the Islamic forces I have painted up recently.

They are all Artizan Designs and mixed and matched from the Moor range and include a light and Heavy Cavalry mix of Moors and Andalusians.

The banner on the standard bearer below has been repurposed to the Black Guard unit of spearmen so I will be adding something new to the unit. I just hope I have enough LBMS transfers for all the banners!

Reconquista! Spanish Caballeros Hidalgos

This unit of Caballeros Hidalgos, like the Ghuzz Horse Archers featured in my last post is another unit that was speed painted with a view to getting all the units finished in time for Partizan. That said, I am now quite tempted to paint up the rest of the Christian Spanish horses to match these as although they are far from the best I can do they don't look too bad and it's a great way of getting the miniatures into the condition where they are suitable for the table top.

In future, I am contemplating painting one army up to my best standard, then one or two speed painted. This would greatly increase my output. I've had no negative comments on the various wargames fora or social media thus far, in fact quite the opposite.

The miniatures I chose for the unit are a mix of Perry Miniatures. Gripping Beast from their (Early Crusades and El Cid ranges) and Crusader Miniatures (from their Dark ages El Cid range).  There is a gripping beast falling horse conversion and in there too to which I added a Wargames Foundry mini from their "Death of Harold" vignette pack in their Bickley Norman range. The saddle and the stirrups were sculpted using ProCreate putty. The Ebob horses (on license and snapped up by many sculptors many years back) certainly helps to add a degree of homogeneity to the unit. I also wanted to keep the homogeneity and distinguish the Christian Spanish units from my Normans which have a large array of shield designs etc so I opted to go for an analgous colour theme within the unit.

Close Ups: 

Reconquista; Almoravid Ghuzz Horse Archers

It's been a month or so since my last post; the spread of the coronavirus, the lock down and the need for me to self isolate completely for medical reasons have all played their part as have the worry about my parents who usually rely on me for day to day help.

I'm sure we all have our own anxieties about the outbreak and ways of dealing with it. I have to say, I have not been coping  so well of late. That is, until I turned my hand to the brush again that some semblance of calm was achieved.

I have just finished basing these Ghuzz Horse Archers. As the (now cancelled) date for Partizan began to get closer and the sheer number of horses I needed to paint I decided to lower the overall quality and go for the speed painted option for the horse flesh with both what was left of the Islamic and Christian armies for the display game. Thus, the horses here have been painted rapidly, the horse archers less so but they were hurried along to some extent too. It is somewhat ironic that i now have all the time in the world to complete these armies!

The "Ghuzz" Horse Archers in Spain came from the Oghuz, a Western Turkic tribe. By the tenth Century Byzantine sources were calling them Muslim Turkmens as distinct from Shamanistic or Bhuddist sects. They are recorded as being present as well paid mercenaries in Almohad armies but not in Almoravid forces. I have basically extrapolated from the Almohad sources and made the decision to include them at an earlier date in the Almoravid force. They could also be reasonably pressed into any 11th Century Muslim army of the Crusades if I ever feel the urge.