Showing posts with label Vendel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vendel. Show all posts

Saturday, 29 February 2020

Overkill!


I'm plugging my way through assembly and basing for Salute. Above are four Polemarch chariots that I've owned for a decade, and which have only just made it to the painting table, and below are four vintage Vendel chariots that I am in the process of refitting. All of the chariots were assembled by me and painted by Shaun McTague, who did a splendid job on them.

  

Above is a closeup of a Polemarch. These models are festooned with lethal spikes and scythes- they look really deadly, and the detailing of the cabs is excellent. Below, the vintage Vendels have far fewer sharp edges but retain a certain charm. I had to give one some Footsore horses. I still need to add scythes to two of the Vendels and whips to all eight crewmen.


So, I hear you say, why so many chariots, when they have a shorter lifespan than the mayfly? Well, there were 120 at Ipsus, so eight models doesn't seem excessive. Moreover, I already had them in the Lead Mountain. These are, of course, for my Salute Ipsus game, on which front I am making steady modelling progress.


Friday, 22 November 2013

Flocked Indian


Last night I finished basing the Vendel Indian Elephant that Raglan very generously gave me. It is a resin model, with metal crew, and very nicely sculpted. 


The escorting light infantry are miniatures that I bought already painted, in 3 separate lots, though eBay. Luckily they matched pretty well.  I painted the crew lighter-skinned, as I picture them as being higher caste.


In the "To the Strongest!" rule-set I'm developing, a generously-sized escort postpones the inevitable moment when one's elephant rampages back through one's phalanx.  ;-)


I'd like to add a second beast, but unfortunately this range is no longer manufactured in the UK. Should anyone have any Vendel Indians lurking in their lead mountain, I'd be very pleased to swap or buy some. 

Monday, 18 November 2013

Indian nellie WIP


I couldn't resist posting this WIP shot of a Vendel Indian elephant that I've just painted. I still need to add the rest of the crew, and base with the escorting archers and swordsmen.  

Raglan very generously sent me the miniature.  The elephant is a very nice model, and I now regret not buying more Vendel when they were in the UK.  Their Indians were nice, and the Persian heavy cavalry, also.

Saturday, 21 November 2009

Updated Parthian Size Comparison Shot

After I posted last week, someone suggested that I include Bear's Den, and Chris from there has very kindly provided samples.  I've included these and also put the cataphracts onto this page, too, for convenience.


The new Vendel horse is from an Ebob master, I gather, and it is beautifully formed, with very slender legs. The reins are beautifully done; not a single piece casting as on most horses, but a pair with a gap between, something I've never previously encountered. The rider is also very nice (I worry a little about the potential fragility of the realistically slender bow, but all four were fine on the samples I received). The horse and rider are, however, slightly smaller and slighter than my personal preference for miniatures, which tends towards larger 28s; this won't be an issue for most sensible wargamers, though. In style terms, they make me think of some of the Perry ranges, such as their Crusaders. They would be ideally-sized opponents for 1stCorp or Gripping Beast Caesarian-era armies. A real departure from the previous Vendel style; rather exciting. Can't wait to see the cataphracts...

A&A miniatures produce an extensive Sassanid range, which includes several packs of the earlier Parthians. Earlier, I featured the same A&A Parthian cataphract  in the Seleucid Figure Size Comparison page. I really like the poseable horse archer figure. The horse is a little short and thick in the legs in my view, but I really like the decoration on the horses mane. I have used quite a lot of A&A horses in my Numidian and Gallic armies, and have a soft spot for them; solid wargaming steeds that work fairly well alongside the bigger Foundry ranges.

The new addition to the shot is one of the Bear's Den Parthians.  The mount looks like another Ebob horse, to me, but larger than the Vendel one.  As with A&A the legs are cast on, which I think would save preparation and painting time.  The bow is straight and would need to be bent into a recurved shape, which might be a little fiddly.  The rider looks in good proportion to his horse, which is a very nicely sculpted mount.  This mini is the largest of the three, and would probably be a happy size to ride up and  down skewering my Copplestone Roman cohorts with arrows! 


Above we have the Bear's Den and A&A cataphracts (the Vendel isn't out at the time of writing).

The Bear's Den steed is longer than A&As, but a similar height; the rider seems a good match for the size of the horse.  Bear's Den have gone for the very moment of attack, whilst A&A's rider is cantering forward with his lange upright, presumably some distance from the enemy.  The Bear's Den lancepoint is going to stick out 4-5cm in front of the horse, which may be slightly inconvenient on the wargames table, but which would look very dramatic. 

Thanks very much indeed to A&A, Vendel and Bear's Den for providing the samples!