Minotaur Miniatures Timurid Range

For Minotaur Miniatures Webpage (inc. new releases etc)

I was very kindly sent these Timurid miniatures by Ashley of Minotaur Miniatures after seeing them on Facebook on the Minotaur miniatures page. If I had not stumbled across them I would not have known about them which, given that they are i/ a Timurid range ii/ very fine sculpts iii/ realistic proportions would have been a terrible shame for me to miss.

I contacted Ashley vie Facebook Messenger asking if he would like to send me some and I would happily review them then paint them up. To my delight he agreed and this post is a product of just that.

Here are a few words from Ashley describing what his inspiration was behind the range:

Minotaur Miniatures was created in response to my experiences playing L’art De La Guerre and not being able to find suitable figures for a Timurid army. I discussed the idea of creating my own figures with my wife, and she encouraged me to explore the opportunity further. 

Our first range is centred around the Timurid Empire from 1370 AD to 1453 AD, showcasing the distinctive aspects that constituted their army. Our expert sculptors have poured their passion and creativity into crafting these stunning figures, capturing the essence of these exceptional figures and beasts in unprecedented detail.

With this range of figures and models I have tried to capture an authentic and true to the historic period as possible. This has led me to spend countless hours researching in museums and libraries, tirelessly studying every detail of the era, and making sure the Timurids represented in my miniatures are to the latest research.

Moving forward, I aspire to create various components of the Timurid army, their allies, and their adversaries. With the ongoing support of the wargaming community, I genuinely hope to transform this vision into a reality.

Regards,

Ashley

All the images are "clickable" should you want to hone in on some of the details.

All the models were very well cast with absolute minimal flash (if any) and simply required a quick comb over with a file in places. The metal is high quality which really makes a difference when it comes to longevity IMHO. 

Timurid Extra Heavy Cavalry

One glance at this miniature, complete with extra heavy armour, a lance and archery equipment was enough to tell me he was a Timurid Extra Heavy Cavalryman or an extremely heavily armed Subject Noble. The lance has to be attached which was a little fiddly given the size of the join but as you can see, it all fit together nicely post pinning into place. 

I chose to match the Timurid Extra Heavy Cavalryman with a fully barded horse in scale/lamellar armour and attached the shield to the horse behind the saddle. I think these horses are the latter Ebob dollies and are, if I am correct, of course very high quality indeed as they are used by Empress Miniatures and a host of other top tier companies.

Another Heavy Cavalryman this time about to nock an arrow into his bow. Again, he could be a Timurid Extra Heavy Cavalryman. Note, the armour style is different to that of the miniature above and he could equally be a Subject Noble/auxiliary cavalryman. The Timurids were known to make the best use as they could from defeated enemies (those that survived!)

More images of the quality of the horses in then range. This time sans horse armour it is easy to see the quality of the horseflesh and the realism of the sculpt. Movement is not an easy thing to capture when it comes to sculpting a horse without losing the dynamics of the horses body and gait.

Extra Heavy Infantryman/Dismounted Extra Heavy Cavalryman

Lighter Armed Auxiliary

I'm going to be giving these models a lick of paint to watch this space.

The Other Partizan Wargames Show Report; Somewhat Boring Title- Far From Being a Boring Show!

Here we are, nine days out from the best Partizan show I have ever attended and it's time to put into words my feelings about the event. I heard from one of my mates that it was the best turnout for Partizan thus far with over 1200 bodies through the door, I think with more women and kids attending too, though I could be wrong on that as I'm going on a "feeling".

After the brief obligatory walk around the hall one thing was noticeable immediately, most of the display games had disposed of their battle mats and replaced with ye olde terrain tiles, which, in my opinion, just makes games look so much more presentable, and geographically understandable. This is not a knock at terrain mat users, they certainly have their place and can look great if made well. 

These photographs are all "clickable". They are quite large files so you can dive into the detail. don't forget, you can click right on the image then click "open image in a new tab" for the full size files should you wish to do so.

Before I dive into the games, I want to make an apology to the great looking games I missed! It was not until checking out extra Partizan games here and there, mainly on Facebook, that I realised the plethora of games missed by my aging eyes and lens of my camera. Yeah, I still wander around shows with a camera! 

The first game to mention would be the Bodkins (Dave Andrews, Matthew Bickley, Simon Chick, Nichol Murray, Andy Mill and myself David Imrie), The Siege of of Hennebont, 1342, during the Breton War of Succession. 

I am obsessed with the Early Medieval period, High Medieval period and the Late Medieval Period, in particular the Hundred Years War, ergo there may a clear bias afoot but this game was quite simply the best game I have ever seen in my whole life! It had everything. The standard of painting of each miniature was outstanding, the terrain tiles so well thought out they presented the scene with perfection, the buildings including Hennebont so well detailed they told their own story and the standard of hand painted heraldry on the nobility unsurpassed. 

NB. This post is so damn late that I am going to publish it as it is. I would have loved to delve deeper into the other games but time has father not been kind enough to allow me to find the time to do so.

Apologies to all the other gamers, games, clubs etc. You all are worthy of a well deserved mention!

The Bodkins, The Siege of of Hennebont, 1342, during the Breton War of Succession:

Iron Brigade, 28mm Dragon Rampant, Winter is Here:

Cramlington Wargames Group, 28mm Zulu Wars Battle of Inyezane River 22nd January 1879:

Boondock Saints, 28mm Mughal Empire, Lalsot 1785 and the Rise of Benoit de Boigne:

Gothenburg Gamers, 28mm Crimean War:

 Gothenburg Gamers                                    28mm Crimean

Bramley Barn Wargames Club, Elizabethan Ireland Game:

The Billhook Brothers, 28mm Medieval Naval, Never Mind the Boathooks:

Perry Miniatures 28mm Franco-Prussian War, Valour and Fortitude Rules (Free with WI):

League of Extraordinary Kriegspielers, 28mm Back of Beyond, Setting the East Ablaze:

Shrewsbury Wargames Society. ECW, Siege of Stokesay Castle:

RAF Wargames Association, 28mm, Vietnam Never Get Off The Boat:

Pandyman Entertainment, WW1 Trench Warfare, Trench Offensive:

We're putting on the Battle of Hereford 1055 at the next Partizan. Definitely something to keep us all very busy at the club as it's a large project and requires more painting than I had, at first realised!