The Miniatures.
In Phil Barker’s book The Armies and Enemies of
Imperial Rome, the Bosporan Noble lancers of this time period are describe as
similar in appearance to Sarmatian but ride un-armoured horse, light cavalry are
described as Scythian and this may mean their apparel or method of fighting and
citizen infantry have a similar style of uniform as Roman auxilia of the
period.
Noble
Lancers.
The Old Glory Sarmatian shown here all came with
armoured mounts. These figures have been ordered in the past and generally had
a mix of armoured (3x) and un-armoured (6x) per pack and this was not the case,
so all horse were painted with cloth or leather protection. The cloaks, shirt
and trousers of the riders were done in red, blue and purple or madder red to
give a near “Byzantine” look. This was done for no other reason than to make
them distinct from the 24 elements of Sarmatian cavalry in my collection.
Horse
archers.
These are Scythian cavalry and painted with lighter
shades of blue, grey and beige. Trousers, caps and harness were painted in
different shades of brown. I am pleased how these turned out.
Citizen
infantry and archers.
These are Roman auxilia figures and have a uniform appearance
than the mounted units. The bowmen (3Bw and Ps) are Palmyran figures sporting
boots, trousers and tunic with some wearing a cap or are bareheaded. These
represent the Sindi and Maiotian farmers that fought as archers.
Mobile
artillery.
The mule cart is scratch-built from thin triplex and
scored. Fixed on an extra Napoleonic limber the cart is pulled by mules from
the OG Colonial baggage pack. There has been some discussion at Fanaticus
whether the bolt-thrower was fired from the cart or transported to a location
and assembled for use. I opted for the latter as all the pieces looked much better
when placed on a 40 x 40 mm base.
These are now ready to field against the Sarmatian,
Alani and Huns.
Unusual and very nice!
ReplyDeleteExcellent write up of the Bosporan and miniatures used to put this army together. Great article Robert well done Sir!
ReplyDeleteThank you both.
ReplyDeleteThe Bosporan Kingdom was nearing its decline at the time of my project and very few details were available on the Internet.
I had thought about adding pennons to the lances and horse tail plumes to the helmets of the lancers, this would in effect give them a rather Byzantine appearance. The idea is still an active one, but for now I am looking forward to field them against the cavalry armies of Sarmatia, Alan and Hunnic.
Vacation time soon, so there will be time.
Next enemy is African.