(On the dance floor of the Nile Delta's most fashionable nitespot, Egyptian Troops throw a few shapes to celebrate the victory at the Apocryphal Well)
The Longuelades' new headquarters are small but perfectly formed - the exact opposite of the master of the house, in fact. Alas this means that though visitors may coo at the antique door fittings and the choice of National Trust paint colours used on the woodwork (My mind is clouded but I believe a Farrow & Ball's eggshell oil Housemaid's Knee White may have been used) there is precious little space for what one might call a "proper wargames table". In my younger days I would happily have crammed something temporarily into the smaller of the two sittings rooms, even if it meant moving all the furniture into the garden and the generals having to crawl underneath the playing surface to get to the lavatory.
Nowadays, however such antics are beneath my dignity, and beyond my knee joints. So, we shall have to make do with pressing a couple of table together to make a surface that is slightly over four feet square. This does not leave much room for the size of units I normally deal in. Luckily the basing means that all are easily chopped into quarters. On Saturday afternoon I propose to fight an action using these smaller units (Close order infantry in 10s, Close order missile troops in 5s, skirmishers in 3s, Cavalry in 4s and chariots in 1 vehicle squadrons). It will be a follow up to the Apocryphal Well in which the now retreating Assyrians attempt to hold up the Pharoah's forces at the narrow defile of Figment Gap.
The battle will also give me a chance to test out the army morale chart outlined last week. I am thinking of taking a leaf out of the great Charles Wesencraft's books and calling it The Longueglade Army Funk Revelator.
Fine S Range archers Harry, much more pleasing that the other, perhaps later, pose where they are just carrying the bow inconspicuously …
ReplyDeleteStrangely, something very similar turned up when reading around in response to your plea for Saite/Persian invasion period ideas. In Duncan Head’s Montvert ‘Persian’ book, he illustrates some pictures of archers looking very much like these – perhaps deliberately, if the later Egyptian wall painter was also deliberately aping Middle Kingdom styles, like Funcken and then Minifigs.
Whether they were trying to paint contemporary or archaic subjects, it is a fine excuse for us to use the bareheaded S range figures for the later period without any qualms.
Best wishes,
Nick
Yes, that later figure is probably better proportioned but it's hard to tell he's actually an archer. There's something oddly appealing about the earlier slightly clumsy versions. The Nubian archer is a particular favourite - he looks like an Edwardian toy soldier.
DeleteThanks for the info about the Saite. I was planning hoplites alongside these archers and the infantry with the cow hide shields, maybe some of the slingers and javelins too, supplemented by Rob's Garrison Egyptian cavalry conversions (The galloping Pharaoh is very fine). Disappointing not to deploy chariots of course, but what chance some camels?
H
I am fairly sure that there should not be any camels, I'm afraid, Harry. What I failed to mention earier was that the Blemmye archers, which you too have managed to get hold of, make a logical counterpart to the javelin/spearmen in long tunics. The Blemmye cavalrymen would also make a suitable mounted figure, although as the chances of finding any must be practically zero, I shall have a look at Rob Young's 20mm conversions. N.
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