Friday 14 June 2019

Machiavellian Swordsmen


Here is my first completed Florentine unit, some unusual-looking Italian swordsmen; I just love the character of these chaps. It's quite uncommon to find infantry equipped with just a sword and no missile weapon, and very little armour. There are very few in the army lists.

This unit has been a slow burner; I bought 16 of these Perry metal minis around two years ago, mostly painted, from a chap in Sweden who had been planning to use them as soldiers from the Free City of Braavos. Chum Shaun McTague painted 8 more and I highlighted and painted the shields, which I based on Florentine heraldry and guild symbols. The flag is from Pete's Flags on eBay. I have based them on my FK&P6 bases; this means I can use them either as three bases on a 20cm grid, for shows, or, dropping a base, two on the 15cm grid we often use for To the Strongest! competitions. The bases came out really well; its hard to see the joins, and the wobbly edges vanish into my gaming cloth.

I suppose that having these (and some Florentine mounted crossbows that will follow) necessarily means that I am building a Florentine army. Machiavelli would be delighted! :-) 

13 comments:

Phil said...

SUch a splendid and dynamic unit, such a masterpiece!

TamsinP said...

Lovely figures Simon :)

Have you read Nic's "Dell'Arte della Guerra"?

caveadsum1471 said...

Lovely looking swordsmen! You will of course have to build a Florentine army now,I look forward to it!
Best Iain

Gonsalvo said...

Quite a unique and striking init. Yes, you must do a Florentine army now! Thankfully, many troops are pretty interchangeable between armies in this era.

BigRedBat said...

Thanks, chaps!

Tamsin, donkey's years ago. Could do with a refresher.

Millsy said...

VERY nice indeed mate!

Ray Rousell said...

Oooo these are very nice Simon!

BigRedBat said...

Thanks again, chaps!

Friends Of General Haig said...

A brilliant looking unit. Love the details on shields etc. And those unusual looking helmet ‘cushions ‘! I can imagine they’d go down well in Florence

BigRedBat said...

They are fabric rolls- alas I can't remember the Italian name for them. :-)

Paul Scrivens-Smith said...

Very nice work Simon.

Condottiero Magno said...

Those fabric rolls are called mazzocchio: https://archive.bridgesmathart.org/2012/bridges2012-433.pdf

I don't think these were as common as depicted in art and on figures in contrast with other forms of turban like cloth worn around helmets.

http://www.nachtanz.org/SReed/histcost.html

BigRedBat said...

Thanks for those links! Most interesting.