Fanatic Warriors

I've been a little under the weather lately, but I managed to finish these two stands of Fanatic Warriors for my Ayyubid 15mm Muslim Crusades army.
There were two approaches I could have used in designing these troops. The first could have been a group of warriors in different clothes, weapons and shields to look like the faithful hastily gathered together from different parts to fight the invading Franks. The second option and the one I decided to go with was a more serious and slightly sinister looking discipled  formation of warriors dedicated to crushing the infidels who invaded their holy land. They look much harder then their profile really is in the list, but hopefully they will intimate my opponent enough!:-)
In going with the black I insured to add plenty of colour to the sashes and shields to keep them tied in with the rest of my rather colourful army and so I hope it worked.
The figures are legio Heroica which as I said before are some of the best 15mm out there, but if I did have one small critique I'd say some of the figures can be a bit static, but the sculpting detail more then make up for it. The paints I used were mostly Foundry with some Vallejo and the flag is from LBM.
Thanks for viewing!
Miniature Company- Legio Heroica

Mamluks

Mamluks are the elite of my 15mm Ayyubid army for Impetus. They began as slave soldiers before eventually taking Nobles into their ranks were some even became Sultan! They were not just deadly archers, but were equally hard in close quarter fighting and in a large part defeated both the Crusaders and Mongols to give some perspective of their qualities for those perhaps not familiar with them.

It was tough finishing these figures as cavalry at any scale is taxing for me, but I'm happy I did it in the end.:-)

The army is progressing along at a nice clip and I'm pretty close to 300pts if you include command structure costs which is nice!

Once again wonderful Legio Heroica figures painted up using Foundry paints. The Banner is from the superb LBM with some small added trimming by myself.

Thanks for viewing!

Figure Company- Legio Heroica 

Turkoman Horse Archers

Continuing  on with my Impetus 15mm Ayyubid Muslim army for the Crusades in the form of Turcoman Horse Archers which are a main stay of the army of the period. Their lightning swift hit and run tactics were a constant thorn in the side of Crusaders until they got their own to counter it!

The figures are once again from the fantastic Legio Heroica range and paint up very nicely indeed. I'm really enjoying myself with the army as it gives quite a bit of opportunity to explore colour although painting horses regardless of scale is always a challenge!

Colours are mostly Foundry with some Vallejo.

Thanks for viewing!

Miniature Company- Legio Heroica 

Sudanese Archers

Here are some 15mm Sudanese archers for my Ayyubid Muslim Arab army. The figures are from the fantastic Legio Heroica Muslim Crusade range . The gentleman who makes and sells the figures is a real nice person and a pleasure to deal with and so I highly recommend the brand.

I've been searching for a way to speed up the painting process without losing too much in quality and I think I've found it....Devlan Mud wash from GW! After several attempts with army painter I've come to the conclusion I don't like Army Painter because:

-It's difficult to control where the stain goes.
-I have to repaint most of the figure to get it looking good therefore saving little time.
-It stinks and is sticky to use.
-I have to wait 24hours after application before I can work with it again.
-It's expensive if it drys up which it often does.
-When sealing it often leaves a light grey film over the miniature.

Devlan Mudd wash ignores all the above. I can much easier control the shadow effect by how much water I add to the wash. I simply apply the wash to the recessed areas leaving the raised parts untouched and so no need to go back and repaint anything. I then add one quick highlight and it's finished. In effect it completely replaces one complete painting stage saving time in switching bottles and adding the paint. For me it's much quicker then using AP and gives a better controlled effect without the all negative hassle. I'm a very happy painter at the moment!

Bye bye AP/Varnishes and Helloooo GW washes!! It seems GW does get things right on occasion and considering how little you need and how effective it is I'd say the price is actually very reasonable and quite fair something of an oddity from that company!

Miniature Company-Legio Heroica

Aztec Eagle Warriors

I've finally started my Impetus Aztec army as I felt this is the perfect year to do so with the heavy Mesoamerican mythology prevalent in the news,discussions and programs this year. If some of you are not aware the Mayan prophetic calendar runs out in December this year and supposedly the world with it. So, looks like I'd better do it this year or.......;-).
The army will be based for Impetus which I believe is perfect for this both in gaming style and the basing. Impetus allows one to really explore basing and I love this aspect as I find it really fun part of modelling and painting. I'll of course be doing the Spanish as well for the Aztecs to battle at some point.
The figures are from Foundry which are the only ones I'm collecting for my Aztecs. Sadly, the range is from one of the discontinued lines Foundry has without any real good reason decided to end.( see my rant here for more on my opinion on this) Happily I already collected most of what I needed before the discontinuation and the rest I got off the forums. The primary reason I collected for this period was because of the Foundry figures for this range which are just wonderful and the other was to keep practising painting in colours I normally don't use.
The unit presented here is of Eagle Warriors or rather Eagle knights advancing through some ruins directed by their captain which may be familiar to those who have followed my blog as I originally did him as a single model. The ornate back banner was something worn only by captains/leaders and was a conversion piece with the banner coming standard and the banner bracket holder self made.
The small platform and stairs are self made and the bushels/bushes are from Heki. I mostly used Foundry paints and some Vallejo and MIG pigments for weathering.
Thanks for viewing!:-)

Confederate Signal Station

My latest unit is a Confederate Signal Station that I saw earlier on the Redoubt Miniature web site and knew I had to have it!  I can't say enough how much I like the figures for Redoubt's ACW range!
I thought I would paint it up for the competition and snag a few quick point's ......... but that's not how it happened at all! As usual I completely underestimated how long it would take to do this which in fact turned out to be quite a bit of time indeed!
Last confederate unit I used army painter and so on this I wanted to see how it looked without army painter and I prefer it without and so won't be using it again on my confederates or any ACW for that matter. I did use MIG pigments again to weather the rocks and tower and the signal flags are hand painted. Also need to add if I haven't before the new Foundry ACW paints are superb and well worth buying folks!
The Confederate Signal Corps was unofficially first started under the leadership of Edward P. Alexander for a brief period before officially being made a separate branch on April 19, 1862, under chief signal officer Captain William Norris consisting of one major, 10 captains, 20 lieutenants, 20 sergeants, and 1500 men. In addition a signal officer was given to the staff of each corps and division.
While not as large or as well equipped as the Union Signal Corps it did function in a very similar manner of battlefield observation, intelligence gathering, and artillery fire direction from their elevated signal stations using platforms and aerial balloons. Unlike their union counterparts who had access to electric telegraphy (due to the limited resources) confederate signallers had to rely on flags or messengers  to relay information.
Another distinct difference between the two signal corps was that confederate signal corps also included espionage as part of their mission. This included undercover missions behind enemy lines and a network of agents running from Richmond to Canada. Because of this records on their activities and their going ons in the war are quite sketchy as most records were burned or otherwise disposed of to most likely protect information and people.
Thanks for viewing!
Miniature Company-Redoubt Miniatures