More Successor cataphracts.

 Mounted on super heavy cavalry bases as 4Kn. I'm still in a bit of a painting desert so I'm scratching around looking for a few odd items to just - well, paint quickly.

I wanted this to be a 4 element 16 figure unit - at the moment I can only fing 12 of the horse Iwant to use so it's stuck as a 3 element unit - know I've got extra horses somewhere (I think), just wanted to quickly get going again so the extras were sacrificed.

Simple dry-brushing paint scheme - it looks effective, dark and menacing.

The green on the horse armour is just reflections! This is one of the simplest and quickest units I've painted for a long time.

 

Successor cataphracts

I've started sorting the Successor cavalry - still working on them plus might be doing a bit of extra painting, basing and finding.

This lot come under the 'finding' heading. The various Minifigs Macedonians are all over the place - though frankly I should have 'found' these by now.

An ex-Harry unit, originally with very long Kontos that sort of bent like pretzels all over the place. I cut the Kontos down, hammered the ends and filed to a spear point and repainted the shafts flat earth rather than the original white. This is one one of the very few of Harry's units I feel I've improved. Technically, kontos is now a bit short but it's a lot more practical.

A figure comparison. In front, cataphract. Next, late PB model Minifigs with wire Kontos, cut down fronm It's original length. Finally, 'standard' early PB Macedonian cavalry - 'kontos' really a bit short, but they look a lot better than figures with the long version!

More later PB figures - these cataphracts I haven't cut down the kontos as it would be difficult to do it and leave it looking good.

The current batch of  heavy cavalry. Various PB figures from the 70's to the 90's.

And the current batch of cataphracts - the ones in the middle with full horse armour aren't technically Macedonian but I've never considered the differences between different super heavy cavalry figures to be worth worrying about - these can be used as anytning from Seleucid to Sassanid and Byzantine. There should be a couple more unpainted units somewhere to be used as either EHC or SHC.

So the heavy cavalry are looking better - thing is, if I do both sides of a Seleucd/Ptolemaic battle I 'might' need to sort out more. Might even use one or two of the javelin/shield armed units.

Minifigs Sarmation cataphracts

Mixed among my various figures are a number of past units that never really became parts of an army. Some of these I've already posted; others I thought I'd posted but seems as though I haven't... or were lost several years back when Blogger started losing pictures and I tried redoing as many as I could - could have missed a few, these could have been some of them!

So some 2010 photos of 1990s Minifigs cataphracts.

Never really liked wire spears but generally like the figures themselves.

Garrison EHC Cataphracts

For the last week there's been the start of a draft post for my latest DBA game... which  is set up but hasn't happened yet. Mainly because the wargames shed is currently showing a temperature of 96 degrees and hasn't dropped below 90 in that time...

But I'm still doing other things - mainly painting 'orphan' units again. This time it's getting a unit of Companion EHC sorted.

Simply my Sarmation cataphract conversion - bowcase removed and given sidearm - mounted on the Achaemenid Persian half armoured cataphract horse.

Not about to try and say it's a realistic representation of early Successor uparmoured Companions, but it will do.

Already have a couple of units of fully armoured cataphracts of course - that do as Seleucid, Parthian, Sassanid, Late Roman...

Adding a shed temperature update - 104... but then, our outside thermometer is reading 110!

Cataphract

One thing about 'new' projects is that current projects tend to get put to one side. In this case, a build up of my Garrison Macedonian/Seleucids was halted when I got Harry's stuff. I had already made a cataphract conversion by simply removing the bowcase from the Sarmation cataphract and adding various sidearms, even painted up a few prototypes and, last August, the first unit - though basically listed as Parthian rather than Seleucid.

Finally got round to producing the second full unit.

Personal view on these figures? crude compared to 'modern' figures but I still like them.

Some Garrison Parthian cataphracts

Though they'll do as Seleucid, Sassanid, Late Roman and anyone else that used cataphracts...

A couple of years ago I modified the Sarmation cataphract by removing the bow case and replacing it with a sword or mace. The intention at the time was to use them in my Seleucid army and I painted up 4 figures to see how they looked. Roll forward a couple of years to now and I've just finished another 16 to enable me to cover the cataphracts needed for a DBA Parthian army.

Comparing the two it's easy to see that my present batch has been painted to a far simpler standard than the originals - for example, armour plain chain mail rather than chain mail dry brushed over a black base.

This picture and the next clearly show the difference in painting style!

At some stage soon I'll do a second unit - the figures are just sitting there at the moment and looking at me...

Garrison Persian cataphracts

Last post included the comment 'God this takes me back to my Persian army. What a wonderful sight.You've got to 'do' some cilibanarii from Garrison. Probably never fought for Cyrus but what did we know back then.' from Robbie Rodiss.

Well, I use the cataphract horses for other purposes and give the figures unarmoured horses - as per Herodotus. On the other hand, I have quite a few from the Charles Grant collection (some are on page 15 of The Ancient Wargame) so...

The collection I got was supposed to include 31 cataphracts, I seem to have gotten 39...

I think these are the page 15 survivors. The list  of figures included the comment 'Only a small element of the original Grant 20mm Persian army remained in his son's possession. The rest was sold off by Nell Grant via Ray McGarry - a Coven member - in the 1980s.' So I only got 93 cavalry and 51 infantry of these. Would be nice to know where the rest are.

A Christmas Review 2016

Lots of troops gone to winter quarters but some of the more recent recruits are still hanging around. So it seemed a good opportunity to have a Review on the dining room table before it got covered with more edible offerings.

The Successor Heavies...

Elephants flanked by Indian 4 horse chariots - Successor chariots were off on holiday somewhere.... then  the cataphacts, light cavalry in front of them, then general inspecting everyone.

Some of the Alexandrian heavies.

Unbased general lying around to take the Salute... Garrison general, cast by me, painted by Harry.

Seleucid EHC Cataphracts

Time was I had a load of these. Gradually replaced by Lamming then the later Minifigs offerings this figure was consigned to history. Well, I've got some of the old boys now. Not enough, and I've painted them in brighter armour than I used to, but it's a start. (Need at least 2 more units)