Killing two birds with one stone

 

The original idea was to use these as either a big unit of 48 4Sp figures or split it into two units of 24. Then I started thinking that the various Arab and Turkish based armies covered a lot of different troop types but, in DBA where they would most likely be used, I didn't need 12 bases... so didn't really need to use them all as Sp...

In fact, I could do a 6 base unit on deeper bases that would work as  either 4Wb or 4Ax...

And still leave me 6 bases of 4Sp...

Hence two birds with one stone.

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!

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.

Lombard cavalry

 

Goth cavalry conversion with a long spear - so best match amongst the Gothic armies would be Lombards. Another unit like this and I have a complete DBA  army with 12 elements of Kn...

Simple conversion of a Sarmatian cataphract - remove the bowcase, add a sword scabbard and shield. Being a Gothic army, standard bearer is the Sarmatian standard bearer with a shield - I didn't bother losing the bowcase. 

At some point I'll do a few more  Goth conversions - infantry, probably use the Sarmatian infantry, change the shield and a longer cloak. I might put a 'coffin' shield together - the 28mm one I already have is too big but would form a good template if photocopied then reduced in size. Initial cavalry figure probably the same as for the Rhoxolani - cut down the Kontos as a javelin and give them a Gothic shield. Not sure where I'll source the archer from yet. 

In terms of time, this unit took about 3 times as long as any of the Arab units - I was painting them in tandem...

Fatimid infantry

 

3 x 8bw, front rank tear drop shields borrowed from the 25mm Normans Range!

Again, more fantasy Fatimids I suppose, but they look OK and give a good basis for a DBA Fatimid army.

First of the Arab spears

 

Compared to the cavalry I've been painting recently this lot just whizzed past... started them and they were finished!

The Arab figures are a bit crude but look effective. Probably shouldn't have given everyone striped robes, just seemed right... Anyway, the next lot are being painted red as cultists with guns, so not every robed Arab type will have stripes.

I expect to be painting a lot of these figures on a wide range of bases.

Rhoxalani cavalry

 

First 6 base unit of Rhoxalani cavalry. 

There are four different figures in this unit - standard bearer, 'officer' is the horse archer figure on the fully armoured horse, horse archer figure on the unarmoured horse and standard cataphract conversion with the kontos cut down to javelin size and Sarmatian infantry shield added. 

My hope is to complete a further three of these units over the next few weeks/months/decades to give a good basis for an early Rhoxalani army. 

Moulds RY161 and RY162 Fantasy Medieval Arab infantry

Moulds now back from Pete. This one consists of robed Arab infantry, I have done a couple of test runs and they seem OK.

 

And this lot are the Turkish style tunic and trousers figures. Normally I wait a month or so for the mould to post cure a bit more but think I'll be churning out regiments a lot sooner than that!

Fantasy Muslim regular cavalry 2

 

This finishes my 'establishment' for my nominal town/sultan's regular  cavalry force.

Probably should have spent more time on the standard!

Meanwhile, going through the painting production line are a unit of Sarmatian Rhoxalani and a unit of nominal Lombards - lance rather than javelin armed! I'm currently looking at doing 3 Rhoxalani units and 2 Lombards - the Lombards then giving me a complete DBA army! 

The mould this lot are on have so far produced a bit under 100 figures with about another 50 or so wanted for future units. Add to that the figures I needed to get the infantry master cast. So how does this fit in with my 'costing' structure?

Moulds, metal, energy costs and (? - hobby!) time. To get a mould and figures made tends to be expensive - can't afford to have a mould made to produce 20 figures! So how do I cost it?

I'll use this as a starting point. When I was trying to get Minifigs to either start production of the S Range Ancients or let me buy the range they said they had to have guaranteed sales of about 800 per figure. That's... not my starting point!. For me, I look at a price of £1.25 per infantry figure or rider. Metal costs about 25-30p, no idea what electricity costs per figure, and then a mould costs about £100 each. So very roughly if every 'spare' penny went into buying a mould then about 100 figures makes a mould cost effective for me. Selling figures, not inclined to give my time up for free so I split it - 50p to the mould, rest to me. Actually as metal costs a bit more than 25p a figure and as I have to pay tax on 'profits' it probably knocks it down to 35-40p or less per figure for me.  Shouldn't forget any discounts such rounding down the bill or giving free postage for larger orders, likewise the cut PayPal takes... Anyway, bottom line is that for a commercial Garrison mould rather than a personal Garrison mould I probably need at least 200 figures per mould for it to be worthwhile. 

Some moulds will never pay back the 'investment', others way over achieve. Overall though Garrison more than pays for itself, and, happily, I'm able to have quite a few new moulds made to replace old moulds or just to make it quicker to cast figures by making the content of each mould a lot more logical than the haphazard moulds I originally bought!

Fantasy Muslim Regular cavalry

 

Lance and shield armed cavalry, basically regular or paid retainer armed and equipped by a town, city or sultan.

I painted these with a mail shirt rather than have them unarmoured - historical I would have had them without armour, fantasy always armoured! Also left all of these figures with plumes intact!

I've used the sword and shield armed figures for the officer and standard bearer - there is also a figure like this with a bowcase for double armed light cavalry.

Standard is from the 25mm Sassanid range. The mould I'm getting made has this standard as one of the spaces taken up.

Fantasy Muslim elite cavalry

 

Have to be elite, no way this lot would ever settle for being some lowly militia outfit!

I've painted some Sarmatians with bronze horse armour; thought brass would be better for these but didn't like the result. Went for scale armour using alternate metalic colours instead - works well.

These figures are unusual - generally scaling figures up like this is a disaster. Thi lot, even though the paintwork isn't exactly neat or precise, still look good in my view! Really pleased with this unit. May not be an accurate depiction of Medieval Muslim cavalry, but like the look for a Fantasy unit.

Meanwhile, as these were close to finished, the next lot are on the table. These would make a town guard or militia...

Getting Arab infantry moulds ready

Still a little bit of work to do, but figures for the Arab and 'Turkish' infantry should be going off soon to have moulds made.

There's a lot on these moulds! Robed figures include, spearmen, swordsmen, riflemen and archers. I wasn't sure about standards but have decided to use a Sassanid standard - the spearmen or swordsmen are easy conversions and with two points of attachment the joints should be strong. Saves having four separate figures! I'm looking on these figures to be basically wild desert tribesmen. Didn't do  a robed cavalry figure but I think one of the unmodified Achaemenid Persians will do that job.

The tunic/trousers mould includes some J/Bw/Sh light cavalry to give a bit of variety. Figures themselves - apart from the cavalry and javelinmen perhaps a bit more 'regular'? Spearmen backed by archers or rifles as a kind of palace guard, town militia or government troops? Unmodified Rose Zulu war figures make good Ottomans as they are - good for 20mm, though bit small for 25mm.

I must admit I've been surprised at how this lot of figures has grown in scope - I was originally just going to do one mould for all the infantry! Figures are a bit variable, but with uses in both 'normal' wargames and Pulp scenarios I'm quite pleased with them.

First of the Fantasy Arab cavalry

 

A mix of them shooting arrows and waving swords around...

I've been just casting cavalry recently - Arabs/Turks. Rhoxolani, Goths - and have quite a few in various stages of completion. All while still looking at figures to convert for the infantry moulds.The rest of this year is going to be busy!

Mould 160 and some immediate consequences...

 

Normally I let a mould stand for a month or so to post cure before I start casting. This one I started casting and converting straight away... this lot are the initial proof of concept figures (cast and converted 1 day, painted next day... proof of concept, not masterpieces!)

I realised that I could do with a J/Sh/Bw light cavalry figure so these are 'first attempts'.

These are the infantry figures I had originally intended to do - did 2 robed archers because first one looked a bit short. The infantry spearman is not just a version of the cavalry figure above - that figure is a  horse archer, the infantry figure is just spear/javelin and shield.

Hadn't originally intended to do this one - simply basing the cavalry figure - because I didn't think it would work. I did four because I wanted to see if they would make a decent city militia or guard - on balance, think it does work.

This is the mould - quite crowded and has a lot of potential... Rhoxolani, Goths, Fantasy Arabs...

The first horse archer unit is already undercoated...

And I've also cast units of Rhoxolani, armoured Arabs and Goths.

Dr Frankenstein, I presume?

 

So, having decided that the Rose colonial figures  seemed the best bet, my first move was to start chopping figures up...

Proof of concept figures. The one in the middle is simply the Garrison Mameluke stuck to a base. It makes a good officer and already has a carbine. The carbine looks crude, but that's because it's in a carbine scabbard! Figure on the far left is a standard Rose figure. I could use these unmodified as Ottoman infantry purely using paint. The kneeling figure makes a good uniformed fantasy 'regular'. 

Comparison of various figure... overall, although Rose figures are slightly smaller and slimmer than Garrison, they are still basically compatible.Incidentally, I've left the plumes on all the figures - easier to cut plumes off figures that don't need them than add plumes to ones that do! One thing I hate are head swaps. I can never get them right.

Comparison with Jacklex - they go well together. I'm still working on the new figures - need more choices and then I will have the best ones put on a mould. Pity Jacklex are no more.

Incidentally, these new figures are causing a problem. I had pretty much sorted out what I wanted for an infantry mould... all these 'new' figures mean that I won't be able to fit everything I want on one mould, not sure I want to have two moulds made!

Note re scale: Minifigs 'invented' 25mm scale and defined it as a 6' tall figure measured to the top of the head - a 23mm tall figure would be 5'6", all these figures are roughly 22-23mm to the top of the head, so close to 'true' 25mm. 

Making Arab infantry masters

 Cavalry figures for the next mould are now with Pete. Some of these figures will then be further converted as Fantasy Arab infantry.

Meanwhile I've started with some of the robed infantry figures anyway. The one with the upright spear spear will act as a standard bearer - spear a bit short but... Torso is from the Mameluke, spear arm and robes from my robed Achaemenid Persian conversion. So a conversion made from conversions. A shield from the '25mm' Norman range gives a bit of variation...

Robed swordsmen - the one with the Khmer shield will also serve as an officer!

These are some of the figures done as 'proof of concept'. The one in Turkic clothing is simply a cavalry figure on a base. 

To do once I get the mould back - robed archer plus Turkic swordsmen, spearmen and archers. Turkic swordsman and archers are just a matter of puttting cavalry figure on a base, Arab robed archer will have the same sort of body swap as the Robed swordsmen, and the Turkic spearmen will get a new arm from an Achaemenid Persian!