A Horse is a Horse

Last year, I purchased a shedload of Essex Arab and Tang Chinese figures from a webstore that was closing down.  A number of them were cavalry and unfortunately they were riders only - no horses. But at well under a dollar for a 28mm figure, I couldn't pass it up.  However, finding compatible horses has been a bit of a quest, but I like the hunt. Essex's would of course be perfect, but after rather high shipping costs and currency exchange, I was looking at about a $4 horse. Wanting to keep costs low, I looked at a variety of plastic sources.

HaT is a manufacturer of mostly 1/72 soft plastic figures.  I have a Macedonian and Persian army from them.  They are good figures, but no one seems to game ancients in that scale - it is either 15mm or 25/28mm.

HaT must have recognized this and has begun putting out a line of 28mm El Cid era figures. They still do not seem to have much of a grasp of the wargame market as their figures are upscaled from their 1/72 line.  Details like chainmail and faces are indistinct compared to any other plastic 28mm products on the market.  Most striking though, are the proportions. The HaT figures are more accurate, with a figure about 7 heads tall, whereas most 28mm figures run 5 or 6 heads tall.  This can make HaT's visually incompatible side by side - if that matters.  Because all I wanted were the horses, which don't seem to suffer from scaling issues, I bought a box:

Three identical sprues come in a box. The horses and riders are single piece models, in a hard, slightly glossy plastic. The horses are good, the riders are the weak point. 

On the other hand, they are inexpensive.  I can get a pack for under $16 at a "big box" hobby store, or pay a little more via the internet.  That's a decent price for 12 plastic 28mm figures - but are they worth it in terms of quality?

Below, here are some of the Essex heavy cavalry mounted on HaT horses.  All it took was a little shaving of the saddle and some file work on the rider.

Essex Arabs on HaT horses.

I was tempted to work on a unit using the included figures. I clipped off the original heads and glued a spare head from the Gripping Beast plastic Arab box.  Since the head is what are eyes are most drawn to, this conversion goes a long way to make these figures compatible with other 28mm lines. 

HaT Arabs with Gripping Beast heads

Below, a comparison of the converted HaT to similar models.

From left to right, Old Glory, the converted HaT, Gripping Beast and Artizan. 

The same horses for my Tang China cavalry

Overall, the HaT's are a good, but not ideal way to supplement your early Arab or Moor army. In light of the recent announcement from Gripping Beast that plastic Arab cavalry is coming in April, I am afraid these might not be so useful after all.

The Khitans in SAGA

I've seen the Steppe Tribes faction do some pretty nasty stuff in SAGA and have been thinking it would be fun to give them a try. Where to begin, though? "Steppe Nomad" is very broad and nonspecific compared to, say "Norman" or "Welsh."

Nonetheless, warfare in late Antiquity and early medieval was similar across the Eurasian plains. It's just a matter of picking which variety of horse warrior you prefer or can find.

As it turned out, I came across a sizeable number of Khitan, Chinese and Tibetan figures on closeout this summer. Here is the first completed set from that purchase.

The Warlord - This Khitan commander with his falcon is a really nice sculpt. Hunting birds should be seen more in character minis, given their popularity in both Europe and Asia.

The banner was lifted from the Osprey book on Medieval Chinese Armies. Steppe armies, both pre and post Mongol era used color names for the divisions of their armies.

Hearthguard - The Noble Cavalry shown here here are heavy cataphracts. The Khitan's control of northern Chinese towns gave them access to artisans and markets. With this, their weaponry and armor was of better quality than most steppe armies.

Warriors -or Ordo, were free warriors who served for honor, status and plunder. They were expected to provide their own horses and weaponry. 

Here are 3 points of light horse I've posted before. They are a mix of Khitan and Jurchen warriors from Essex.

Levy - for the Khitans, skirmishing troops were drawn from tribal archers to Chinese and other conscripts. 

These six representative archer figures are a mix of Khitan, Chinese and Tibetan ranges.

Far East SAGA

This is the first of three Asian forces I'm putting together for SAGA. No custom battle boards this time, because I will use existing battle boards that are most analagous.  The Khitans will obviously use the Steppe Tribes board, and I have some ideas about China and Tibet.  The goal is the end of the year.

Later this week, more Vikings!

Custom Dice Kickstarter

I am fairly cautious on the Kickstarter craze, having gone in for about 8 projects in two years, with good results on all but one.  This one with a few days remaining caught my attention and I decided to go in for it:

Custom Game Dice on Kickstarter

OK, if you dropped over and came back, you'll see that the creator plans to allow backers to submit image files and share those image files with other users.  Having made a few custom dice sets for SAGA using decals, the plan is to convert those into actual engraved dice.

I do have some concerns about the project.  Having done a small amount of graphics work, inexperienced users will have some problems in designing custom images. This could severely delay the project creator if he has to deal with numerous individual issues. Nonetheless,bringing on demand manufacturing to dice is a great idea and I hope it is successful.

So, if anyone's backing the Custom Game Lab Dice on Kickstarter, I am planning on creating the set of dice below for my planned Tang/Song Dynasty SAGA battleboard.  I've backed enough for multiple sets, so I might do a giveaway through the blog.

The three common symbols (1-3) are "soldier," the less common symbol is "sword" and the rare symbol (6) is "heavenly."

The nomads of the steppes spanned thousands of miles, from Eastern Europe to China, and frequently came into conflict with civilized (as in settled, not moral) society.  Similar problems create similar solutions, and the response of the Byzantines to nomadic incursions mirrored what China had already been doing.  Namely, play nomads against each other, co-opt their tactics (horse archery) and create mobile frontier armies.  My Chinese battleboard will basically be based on my old custom Byzantine board with a few changes to reflect Chinese medieval armies - such as the prevalence of crossbows.

Keep an eye out, and I will get the board out in early summer, as soon as I paint up some Essex and Assault Group figures sitting in my lead mountain.

Steppe Nomads for SAGA

SAGA's introduction of the Steppe Nomads into the recent expansion has opened up a number of figures I have acquired from my years of gaming with Byzantines.  While not as numerous as Vikings, Saxons and Normans, SAGA gamers can find a number of steppe figures that can fit into the early medieval period.

The Pechenegs 

The Khazars, probably a Turkic people, were for a time the dominant power on the southern Steppes in the early medieval period. In the ninth century, the nobility converted to Judaism, probably as a way of trying to balance relations with both the Christian Byzantines and the Islamic Abbasids. At the same time, they were dealing with territorial challenges from the Rus to their north and Pecheneg Turks migrating through their lands. The Pechenegs became something of a player or a pawn in the ambitions of the Rus, Khazars and Byzantines on the southern steppe.  Pechenegs in the service of the Byzantines killed Sviatoslav I of Kiev and, as typical of the times, turned his skull into a drinking goblet.

Old Glory's pack of Pechenegs has 10 figures in 5 poses.  Additionally, the bodies are in two pieces - an advantage for those wishing to convert or customize.  I found it to be too much work, with large gaps that needed filling.

Seljuq/Seljuk Turks

Another group of minor Turks that came to play a significant role in the history of the Middle East was the Seljuk Turks.  They migrated from the central Asian steppes through Khurasan and Persia, defeating the Ghaznvids.  They also formed the core of the Ghulams, heavy cavalry in service to the Abbasid caliph, where they exerted increasing control over the titular head of the (Sunni) Muslim world.

The Seljuq Empire on the eve of the First Crusade
photo from Wikipedia

Light Turkic cavalry, or Turcomans, carrying bows and short swords, employed the traditional steppe tactics of hit and run and feigned flight to wear down heavier armed enemies.  Magister Militum's Turcomans (below) are nicely designed and affordable, but a pack of twelve comes in only two poses, one male and one female.

Early Turkic warbands (prior to twelfth century) might have included female horse archers as well.  Accounts of female mounted warriors are well attested, stretching back to Herodotus' descriptions of the Scythians.

The Eastern Steppes

I have become interested in the similarity in the response between the Byzantine Empire and the medieval Chinese dynasties to incursions from the steppes.  Their strategies were similar in many ways.  For centuries, the two empires alternately favored one tribal group over another, while adapting and using mounted archers in their imperial forces. Similarly as well, it was finally a losing game, as the Turks eventually overwhelmed the Byzantines and the Mongols finally conquered Song China.  

The Jurchen were a Tungusic tribe dominated by the Khitan Liao Dynasty (907-1125). The Song Emperor made the mistake of favoring the Jurchens over the more settled Khitans.  After the Khitan's defeat by the Jurchens, they turned on the Song and seized the northern capital, imprisoning almost the entire Chinese royal family. 

These Jurchen figures are from Essex's extensive line of medieval Asian historicals. Expect to see more of these on a China/Asia SAGA mod that I am working on currently. 

The Mongols

Two new ranges of Mongols are forthcoming.  Fireforge is producing a set of plastic Mongols for their  Teutonic/Baltic range.  I think they are great looking, but the horses are a bit too large for Mongol steppe ponies.  Of course, if these are Golden Horde Mongols from the thirteenth century and on, they might have larger western horses. 

Gripping Beast's newletter also included a pic (below) of their new Mongol line.  While it is also intended as an opponent for their Teutonics, the smaller horse and less ornate detailing could allow its use in earlier settings.  

Song Dynasty

     The Song Dynasty of China was easily the most wealthy and technologically advanced society in the world in the tenth and eleventh centuries.  Much like their contemporary empire to the west, the Byzantines, the Song Dynasty fought nomadic and semi-nomadic peoples who desired the great wealth that abounded in their kingdom.

     To historians and wargamers, the Song Dynasty gets little credit due to its military and diplomatic blunders. After losing territory in the north to the Jurchen people's Jin kingdom, Song policy makers too slavish followed the maxim 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend,' and they cultivated an allegiance with the Mongols, who were north of the Jin.  When the Mongols turned their sights on the Song after destroying the Jin, China placed far too much confidence in their defensive walls, and were not prepared for the Mongols' mastery of siege warfare. The Song held out longer than many of the Mongol's enemies, but finally fell in 1279.

On the other hand the Song Dynasty lasted about three centuries, if one counts both the Northern Song and the Southern Song periods.  That Dynasty can also be credited with developing a standing navy and the implementation of primitive gunpowder weapons into its army.

It was my first purchase from The Assault Group (what a great name, by the way).  The sculpts are excellent, and look to be based on some Song-era iron sculptures that are still extant.  A pack of four contains four unique figures, and the conscript spearmen could probably used for most any era of China from the Warring States period through early Qing.  While a bit chunky, they are comparable in terms of size and heft with the Crusader Miniatures line.  

I would love to build a huge army for Clash of Empires, my favorite 'big battle' system, but that is definitely a year away, at least.  In the short term, I imagine adapting the Song into SAGA using a Byzantine battleboard.  After all, both were heavily missile based armies who had adapted their armies to fighting steppe nomads.  Other battleboard abilties should take advantage of China's capacity for levies, as well as some limited abilities based on the psychological effect of firelances or thrown bombs.

  

Reading Suggestions

Tun Huang by Yasushi Inoue. Inoue, Japanese writer of historical fiction (1907-1991), produced this novel in 1959 about Chao Tsing-te, young Chinese scholar in the early eleventh century. He misses his civil service exam by an accidental nap and after a chance encounter with a woman and a mysterious scroll, he wanders westward towards the title city. Again by accident, Chao finds himself fighting in the Song army against the Xi-Xia.  Like a Japanese woodcut, the beauty of Tun-Huang is in its simplicity; an adventure novel, and the search for meaning in the randomness of life.