'S' Range Assyrian army - more or less completed...

There's still a couple of units to sort - a light infantry archer unit, a few 4 horse chariots, more Hordes and some heavy infantry spears. However, this is basically the completed thing.

Most of the units have already been shown but this is the first time I've managed to put them together as an army. They cover a 4' frontage here, so I don't think I'll ever be able to do a 'Grand Review' covering these, my Garrison Assyrians and the assorted ones that head this blog.

These two show the whole army lined up

 

The right flank going into the centre. The 2 horse chariots are ones I've done. One thing about the chariot force is that crews are a mix of Garrison and 'S' Range.  Some also have Garrison wheels. The middle 2 horse chariot is my 'Early' Assyrian general.

 The heavy chariots are in the centre. I used the 'S' Range cataphract horse to pull them - still got another 4 to do. I've split the Scythian light horse unit into 2 for these photos - I have got another unit of these but they have been allocated to the Persian army.

 Chariots on the left flank are a mixed bunch. Starting from left to right, the first 3 are ones I did. In the middle are the 3 that came with the army. These have not been modified and I tried to paint the rest of the 2 horse chariots in the same style. The extreme left flank are ones that came with the army but were not painted by Harry - see here.

Hopefully I'll be able to sort out and photograph more 'complete' armies over the next few months.

New moulds

Getting 4 new moulds made and the figures are now with 'The Mould Maker' - should be ready in a couple of weeks.

One is the S&S Vanha mould - apart from the archers, there are 2 variants of swordsmen (one with sword raised to slash down, one with sword reversed so it looks like it's being waved about in the air) and a figure throwing a javelin. Should have had new photos done to include the javelinman.

The other 3 are (of course) more 20mm Ancients - 2 are just some horses and Greek hoplites, the other is my series of Persian/Mede robed conversions, including:

The Greek hoplite mould does include another conversion - the medium cavaly figure rebased as a hoplite. It also has a singlr Roman figure - the marching legionary that I've been intending to sort for years. It's a repaired master so will need another mould for me to produce reasonable numbers - so I'm still going to need more moulds in the future.

In the days before I bought Garrison the previous owner said there was no way in which any new Garrison moulds would ever be made. I think my total of new moulds is about 120...

Vanha Swordsman

During my recent spell of casting I had (continue to have) serious problems casting the Vanha archer. It became increasingly obvious that it wasn't viable any more. So a new mould is in order, but they're expensive and I needed morte than just an archer to justify the cost...

When I did Aquiland and Nemidian moulds I sorted an officer for them. OK, new project, Vanha officer. Basically cut the spear off a Vanha spearman and replace it with a suitable sword. I now have masters for Vanha swordsmen...

Not sure how well they'll cast though - the sword is very thin and doesn't do all that well when attached to other figures. I can but hope.

First castings 2017

Still (slowly) getting through the first batch - about half way - but the initial figures are now entering service.

In the process of casting more of these. Two hours this morning produced 5! Definitely not casting well at the moment! Still about 20 short of what I intend to do.

This lot were not on my original 'to do' list, but they are on the same mould as the others and casting better so... current status glossed but not based.

Casting for others also about half way through - some OK, some being a pain (Vanha archers, I'm looking at you!) Probably do another 2-3 hours casting today.

Casting update

Slow weekend... things like freezer alarm going off... plus nothing seemed to work on Saturday.

So looks like my current session will be continuing over this coming weekend...

Egypt Pre Division

Division 2 of the Minifigs 'S' Range Egyptian army now  completed (though subject to change).

The archer unit is newly painted and based - finished today. No idea how to paint crocodile skin armour so I just used olive green. The black lines on the bow seem to have been a Harry Pearson trademark so I've done it here to keep the style going.

 

Chariot squadron and general ex-Harry and unmodified - just based.

The armoured unit was bought off the Internet and based without modification. Stile not quite right and only 20 figures in unit, but nice. They will probably be swapped out and put in the Sutekh Division.

 

Ex Harry - this unit is actually formed out of 2 units from a reorganisation of Harry's figures and have had the colour of the shield rim changed.

Every Division has a small unit of 'Scouts'. Amun and Pre are on Minfigs horses and  have bands painted on the helmet, Sutekh and Ptah are on Garrison horses and plain helmets.

Light infantry slingers ex-Harry and unmodified.

 

This unit, once painted, will probably replace the current unit of heavies - I'll paint it in a style that matches the rest of the Division a bit better.

Rose Prestige

This post (and probably the next) deals with ranges that I've always wanted armies from but haven't simply because I'm way over the top on that nation's armies to start with.

The nicest Egyptian infantry are not Garrison or Minifigs, they are Rose. But I have so many Egyptians anyway (really, 2 or more Minifigs armies, 1 Garrison, a sort of Heinz 57 one, plus Atlantic plastic) that I can in no way justify adding to the heap.

The painted ones look a lot nicer 'in the flesh' than they do in photos!

 

 

I have to admit, it is really, really tempting to paint some of these. If only there were some cavalry...