More Turks, on the painting table and looking at future moulds...

 

This lot could be either 3Ax or 3Wb... though ones like Dynastic Kurdish armies specify 5Wb or 7Hd! But then, Seljuk Turks use 3Ax and so can Anatolian Turkoman... though they also use 7HD!

So still a lot more units needed - and I haven't even thought about the various irregular Bw or Ps types. And of course Central Asian Turkish needs 3 x 4Sp.

So what am I painting up at the moment? Nearly finished what could be 2 24 strong or 1 48 strong (extra command element painted) unit of  possibly 4Wb (Arab Conquest) or 4Sp (Umayyad Arab or Abbasid Arab)... never ending... and also couple of cavalry command elements nearly finished, plus the rest of a fancy heavy cavalry unit. 

At some time must take a break from them. Could go for 7YW - it would help offset my current mould splurge... so far I've had 10  moulds made for these over the years, 'need' a couple more at least to sort the French and Austrian cavalry but really can't justify the cost - though I am going through and sorting them out - A new mould costs about £100, and for ranges that are not really a major interest of mine? - though to be fair some of the moulds have paid for themselves. Might get back into trying to paint up some more for myself. Meanwhile French and Austrian cavalry moulds can wait.

The Third Eye

 

My second cult faction seems to be setting up a tradition - they all have eyes in them... honest, I'm just going with normal horror traditions and the third eye on the forehand is pretty well established. Not sure where (if anywhere) I go with expanding these cult figures - should probably do some for the Cult of Dagon? Figures have been painted as shaven headed - seemed right.

I have to admit I like the idea of that face. It strongly reminds me both of the film Bleeders/Hemoglobin cover and The Scream. The theme from Hemoglobin is one of my favourites.

One thing I'm finding is how useful a set of metallic paint pens I bought are, especially for shields, armour and standards. The set I got is one I'm happy to recommend!

'Regular' Turkish archers

 

These units are coming along thick and fast... This lot definitely come under the fantasy umbrella as uniformed 'Turkoman' troops, either city or personal retinue in a standard uniform. Or perhaps would fit into some later armies that are a bit more realistic.

Although I've described them as regular, I doubt that a unit like this would be trained so I've based them as 3Bw rather than 4Bw. A unit or two of infantry equivalents of the regular cavalry would finish this part of the fantasy Muslim armies. Add a load of the irregular Turkoman types - cavalry and infantry - should give a decent looking army. 

Turkoman light cavalry

 

Another unit of Turkish style light cavalry gives me two units, the other one just being bow armed. That's more than enough for Turkish DBA armies, need more irregular Cv though.

I admit I like these. The mix of J/Bw/Sh, Sword/Sh and Bw armed figures gives a good irregular mix. Probably a bit heavy on the J/Bw/Sh component though. I suppose it would work to simply mix figures from the two units up...

I'm already working on the regular Turkish infantry component - archer unit nearly finished, lots of both regular and irregular spears and bows to complete. I also must start work on Arab cavalry... must see how well the Achaemenid Persian Sp/Sh figure works and what might need to be done to it!

New 7YW Moulds - Hanover and Britain

 So leaving the 20/25mm fantasy moulds for a while and getting back to updating and consolidating more 7YW moulds...

This mould incorporates all the Hanoverian infantry that are available - 7H4 isn't. The cavalry will be sorted at a future date - they use French horses and use Prussians as officer and standard bearer... if I do a basically Hanoverian cavalry mould I may convert the Prussian tricornes to something a bit more Hanoverian!

Not all of the British infantry but covers gaps - previously 7B2, 3 and 7 weren't available. They are now. The mould also includes all the artillerymen figures.

This mould brings all the British cavalry riders together as well as the four generals. If I do a Hanoverian cavalry mould I'll include 7YG2 on that as well; likewise a France cavalry mould will include both 7YG3 and 4.

Back to the Fantasy Arabs

 

One thing I felt I had to do was a unit of swordsmen... probably should be 2 handed swords but don't have any of them.

The usual red fez with a white turban wrapped around it and striped robes. My orginal unit just had white robes with stripes; at the moment I'm favouring a few different coloured robes. Probably do a mix in future.

For this lot I've gone for a plain black flag. I'll probably do more units with plain flags in future.

This little project is getting very broadly based. Covering Middle Eastern DBX elemental armies and round based modern cult figures there's a 1,000 year spread. Also, with some units/figures in robes and others wearing tunic/trousers there's a range of basic nationalities. Frankly, not sure what to call them in 'Range' terms - they aren't all Arabs, or all Turks, or all Muslims... seems a bit bitty to just name each individual unit without a unifying 'theme' - I'll admit to be at a total loss as to what I should call them! Middle Eastern doesn't really seem to fit though is probably more accurate.

An unseasonal Christmas battle between good and evil....

 

While Steven was visiting we used his 15mm Christmas armies to have a little altercation. I'm the good guys at the bottom, he's out and out evil at the top... picture shows the armies positions after a few moves and the 'tough' part of my army is about to hit. As attack, I just thought 'charge' using my faster and better elements take out his... well, better elements. From this point on all the action took part on that flank while everyone else just stood and watched.

So Buddy and Jovie took on Jack Frost, Santa went after the Psycho Shooters disguised as prezzies while Rudolph sneaked round the side...

Rudolph didn't last long. Mind you, Buddie and Jove didn't either... At this point I was convinced Evil was about to win...

Santa (Ably supported by the Snowman) found himself facing Jack Fost as a couple of snow trolls starting sneaking behind them.

But the gods favoured Santa and Jack Frost just melted away. Taking into account losing the general and some dead evil shooters the forces of good won the day!

An interesting battle that finished up depending on luck more than anything - Jack Frost failed to turn anyone into a frog early on, many of the characters proved to be very fragile and combats tended to be short and brutal. Personal I seemed to just roll 1s and 6s - the 1s mainly being in the middle of the battle. Steven also threw a few 1s and 6s. It was quite spectacular. In retrospect I should probably have gone after Steven's weaker flank but the plan (mad charge into combat as soon as possible) worked so...

Meanwhile, both armies have been left with me so will be a available while when Steven visits over the New Year.