Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => Age of Myths, Gods and Empires => Topic started by: rumacara on 23 September 2016, 09:17:19 PM
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Hello all
As the tittle sugests this is a subject that is groing in me.
I started watching documentaries and Reading books and articles about it and decided to make 2 small tribes of north european bronze age warriors choosing ancient germans as the base.
I would like to chalenge other LAF members to place here their ideas and pictures of the warriors they choosen for Bronze Age projects/armies/warbands as a guide to other people who shares this same history likeness.
I know there are other topics about Bronze Age but what i mainly wish is the warriors and peoples as the main subject.
Their clothes, their weapons, their tactics.
So here are mine for a start. The first northern european warband.
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And a few more.
Miniatures are mainly ancient germans from Black Tree Design with 3 Foundry models mixed (club warrior, standard bearer and witch).
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Inspiring... :)
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The late bronze age interests me a lot, but more the Myceneans, Minoans and Hittites.
I have some figures stacked away, waiting for a lick of paint.
In fact, I'm just back from a vacation at Crete (no hotel resort, thank you!), where I visited several excavated Minoan towns and museums. Really worth a visit if that is your thing!
You may just made me start painting my Myceneans soon.
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It will take me awhile to get to them, like a year or so, but I have some old Wargames Factory plastic ancient Germans and Celts.
I had intended to use them for exactly what you are using them for here after our last discussion. Actually, until you and I discussed Tribal I had no idea what to do with them except sell them on eBay. Not only do I dislike plastics because of their fragility on the tabletop (there's always an arm or two to glue back on) but they are too "ancient" to use as Migration Period and the German cavalry are barefoot, which was a minus for me as I am not about to build a 28mm EIR army and enemies (except in 6mm), my late Romans, Goths, Franks, Saxons, Picts, Romano-British, Irish & Huns costs me enough that I am pretty much done with 28mm (my wife adamantly agrees).
That said, my last major 28mm buy I've planned for next month and that would be a Foundry Bronze Age war band with 2-4 chariots. Roughly equal size to my two box of Germans (one foot and one horse) and my box of Celts. After that, I really need to get back to and focus on 15 and 6mm: less space and less cost. Really starting to fall in love with the 6's!
Nevertheless, now it suddenly seems that those negatives above turn to positives. The great thing about plastics is that they lend themselves to conversions much easier than metal. I can foresee, and looking forward to, many conversion ideas on LAF in the future because I am not really sure what to do but can see that they will need some sort of conversion.
Imitation is the best form of flattery and I will be imitating you guys a lot.
My barefoot, hairy cavalry? Now they're perfect! Too ancient for the "Migration period?" Now we are talking about an earlier "Great Migration" the Indo-Europeans migrating from the Pontic Steppes into, well, the area where I currently reside.
In fact, there are theories suggesting that this migration and clash of the Indo-Europeans with the cultures already in Northern Europe may have been the origin of the Germanic myths depicting the Asgard's war and victory over the Vanar (initial war then assimilation.)
There are many books on Proto-Indo-European linguistics, culture, and archeological history inhabiting my bookshelves that I needed as background for the dissertation. Now I will dust some of them off and and have a look with an eye to cultural effects on painting and accoutrements, if there are any. Linguistics may show Indo-European interests and myth through vocabulary that may transfer to ideas for decorating banners and shields.
This period of late stone to early bronze age is so interesting and open and nothing is really set in stone (heh, so to speak!)
So count me in, hell, maybe it'll excite and motivate me enough to put together and paint a small group of PIEs (Proto-Indo-Europeans) between Late Roman units. It's also give me much needed practice with green stuff sculpting.
@WimVB
We were in Crete at this time last year for vacation (yes, at a resort Hotel, which made it sooooo much easier with a then two-and-a-half-year-old girl.) We got to get a good look around Knossos, which was fantastic, until my daughter, Aurelia, started getting bored. And that is exactly the reason why we didn't go to the museums, :'( , just not practical and really impossible with a toddler. All the more reason to go back.
As to the Myceneans, Minoans and Hittites, I am perfectly willing to stand corrected, but I am under the impression that it was extremely possible and more likely than not that in the northern backwaters of those empires our forces clashed. The PIEs and "Hügelgräberkultur" (Cairn Culture?) I think will play very well and give some variety to enemies your guys can face. I'm getting psyched reading this, this sounds fun!
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Thanks for the kind words. :)
I need inspiration to get back in the hobby.
For the time being i´m converting 15mm gangs of rome and finished this first band of Bronze Age warriors and am starting the second (another germanic type warband).
For this Project, pictures of other peoples armies/warbands are very welcome for inspiration, not just for me but to all others who may want the same type of Project. Books and links to web pages are also most welcome for my library has almost nothing about the Bronze Age specially about northern Europe wich is what i focus on.
When i started this i just gathered some figures and imagined what was a northern european bronze age warrior to me. The initial idea and what it came was to pick some germanic warriors full of animal skins and convert some stuff i wanted on the miniatures. I choose not to place any shields, first by lack of info regarding them and in my vision i did wanted them to come appart of the typical germanic warrior we all know who fights against rome. I wanted a more rude and primal warrior.
For those who choose Mediterranean Bronze Age their projects are easyer because there are a lot of manufacturers producing lovelly figures for the subject. For me i need to convert them and pick the "apropriated" figures i want.
Richard of Sachsen any info you have is usefull for me and by sharing ideas we are also helping others who may not have access to info.
About the cost of miniatures i´m always open to trade with someone whenever possible to complete eachother projects without spending Money (except postage of course).
I´m also changing some 28mm projects to 15mm for lack of space and spare some Money. Also there is the possibility of myself to migrate to other country next year.
WimVB, mediterranean peoples are also very interesting but i prefer northern europe. For me its a more chalenging Project. Nevertheless i would like you to place here your thoughts and chosen figures. They certainly will be inspiring.
Patrice, your projects and painting are also very inspiring. Keep them coming. ;)
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Two books I just got off my shelves may prove helpful. Mind you, I haven't read them all the way through as there were only a couple of chapters relevant for my academic focus.
1. The Horse, the Wheel, and Language: How Bronze-age Riders from the Steppes shaped the Modern World. by David W. Anthony. ISBN-13: 978-0-691-05887-0
This book was a major contribution, you may even find it in Portuguese at the library. First of all, you don't need to read the whole thing and definitely skip the linguistics. Nevertheless, some chapters may be relevant (again, I only read bits but I've been meaning to read the whole thing for recreational reading because it is so fascinating to me.) For example, Chapter Eleven The End of Old Europe and the Rise of the Steppe may provide insights to the Northern European and Steppe culture conflicts. Chapter Four Language and Time 2: Wool, Wheels, and Proto-Indo-European may provide insight to what they wore, etc. so that we can extrapolate tunic colors and designs. Again, I haven't got through these chapters myself, so I need to take a look.
2. Indo-European Language and Culture: An Introduction by Benjamin W. Forton IV. ISBN 978-1-4051-8895-1. This is an introductionary textbook to Indo-European linguistics, again skip all of the linguistics, which is most of the book. But Chapter 2 Proto-Indo-European Culture and Archaeology is worth photocopying from a library book as it covers society, religion, ritual, and myth. Again, it is possible to extrapolate shield and standard symbology from the information. The rest of the book is grammar and morphology, probably pretty dry stuff for wargamers.
The other stuff I have, on a second look, deals even more with linguistics and probably not relevant to our purposes (not to mention pretty complicated and boring for those who are just looking for some background on the war bands they're painting.)
In any case, that is where I'm going to start.
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Watching your posts with interest guys.
I second the recommendation of "The Horse...." It is a wonderful book (so good when I accidentally left my finished copy on a plane and didn't get it back I bought another!).
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Excellent idea Rui.
And very good choice about the BTD German. They are a great pleasure to paint...
Cheers
Eric
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Interesting subject. I wish you all success with your projects and hope you'll share photos and game reports as you advance. I am resisting the notion of building copper age/bronze age forces in 28mm, since I *really* can't handle another project, however appealing. My efforts are far too dispersed as it is. I already have a collection of 15mm chariot age armies, Bronze and Iron I, for the ancient Near East, all DBx mounted. And a 25mm/28mm Prehistoric North America collection that is my main interest for tribal warfare. I'll continue to work on building those out.
I read more widely though, and I'll recommend a couple of books that might be useful to you:
Elizabeth Wayland Barber The Mummies of Urumchi is a detailed examination of the Tarim Basin mummies, probably relics of the Tocharians, an early Indo-European people. Of greatest interest to miniature modelers may be the many, close-up photos of well-preserved textile garments found in the graves. This is how proto-Indo-Europeans dressed.
https://www.amazon.com/Mummies-Urumchi-Elizabeth-Wayland-Barber/dp/0393320197
Barry Cunliffe Europe Between the Oceans: 9000 BC-AD 1000 is a recent survey by an acknowledged expert of European pre-history and history from the neolithic to the early medieval periods. The unifying theme is that Europe is a peninsula, and the oceanic coasts are avenues of trade and migration that have always carried cultural change and tied the whole together.
https://www.amazon.com/Europe-Between-Oceans-9000-BC-AD/dp/0300170866
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Interesting subject. I wish you all success with your projects and hope you'll share photos and game reports as you advance. I am resisting the notion of building copper age/bronze age forces in 28mm, since I *really* can't handle another project, however appealing. My efforts are far too dispersed as it is.
I can completely agree with this. I have so much going on that I can't start bronze age myself. But will watch this thread hoping it gives me satisfaction instead of longing for a force of my own. Best of luck!
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Eric, Emir, Zippyfusenet, Miantanomo Thanks for the kind words. :)
Zippyfusenet you are already participating and helping. Keep the literature coming. ;)
Richard the book " The Horse, the Wheel..." is on my wanted list on amazon. Probably will order in November.
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I started delving into "Horse" last night. We your copy arrives, you may find page 92 useful
The most famous definition of the basic divisions in Proto-Indo0European society was the tripartite scheme of Georges Dumézil, who suggested that there was a fundamental three-part division between the ritual specialist or priest, the warrior, and the ordinary herder/cultivator. Colors might have been associated with these three roles: white for the priest, red for the warrior, and black or blue for the herder/cultivator [...]
I had forgotten which book got me interested in this period and spurned me to write that post requesting suggestions for rule systems covering the period a couple of weeks ago.
I had just finished Bernard Cornwell's Stonehenge.
I realize that Cornwell has his (in some cases justified) critics of his writing style, but for a book to read at the end of the day while comfortable in bed, a Thomas Mann or James Joyce is just too heady for me. I'm looking for a fast-paced yarn that keeps me engaged and entertained.
Stonehenge did that (well, after the first 100 pages or so, it is slow in the beginning and I started the book twice.) But it picks up and I found it a plausible speculation about this period in Northern Europe. Some ideas of his I will apply to some of the war bands. For instance, the main tribe uses woad for their tattoos but the "outlander" tribes use grey. I found that a superb way to differentiate with war-bands that will probably look very similar in dress and appearance.
Having read his Warlord and Anglo-Saxon series, however, my only issue is that he seems to regurgitate his characters. Derfel/Uhtred are practically the same character, at least in the beginning of the Warrior Chronicles. Stonehenge is no exception. Without giving away spoilers, I found myself thinking at various parts of the book "Oh, well, he's just like Merlin" and "Oh, look at that, it's Nimue" and unfortunately some of the plotlines associated with those characters were obviously foreshadowed and predictable if you read Cornwell's Arthurian trilogy.
But other than that issue, I found the book enjoyable, especially for zoning out before going to sleep and I felt that it captured a definite, if speculative, flavor of the period.
That's the book that got me interested in this period recently, so that's also a recommend on my part.
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Strangely i have almost all the books of Bernard Cornwell as well as Stonehedge and i´ve never read it!!!!
I dont know why but defenetly will read on my vacations next month.
Lets see what crazy ideas might occur to me. :D
1 band glued and primed (as pictured before) and the other, miniatures chosen, converting phase and gluing. :)
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This is great as I am smack-dab in the middle of a European Bronze Age project inspired by the recent finds and article 'Slaughter at the bridge, 'Battle of Tollensie River'. My game will be DBX inspired, played on a 4' by 3' table using 15mm figures. The figures of choice are the 'Forged in Battle' Ancient Germans.
One opponents Warbands are predominantly long spears with the occasional swordsmen, supported by bowmen, javilenmen, LH, and Chariots. Opponent B's Warbands are equipped with swords, axes, and clubs, supported by archers and calvary. I have made several patches of woods and bogs. I have a small river cutting the board in half and I have purchased and painted all the standing stones from Copplestone Miniatures. Each side will have 36 elements. I will post some pics later.
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The Pictures:
Some terrain....
(http://i628.photobucket.com/albums/uu4/broones8/eba1.jpg) (http://s628.photobucket.com/user/broones8/media/eba1.jpg.html)
(http://i628.photobucket.com/albums/uu4/broones8/eba2_1.jpg) (http://s628.photobucket.com/user/broones8/media/eba2_1.jpg.html)
Skirmishers: LH, Ps...
(http://i628.photobucket.com/albums/uu4/broones8/eba5.jpg) (http://s628.photobucket.com/user/broones8/media/eba5.jpg.html)
(http://i628.photobucket.com/albums/uu4/broones8/eba4.jpg) (http://s628.photobucket.com/user/broones8/media/eba4.jpg.html)
(http://i628.photobucket.com/albums/uu4/broones8/eba6.jpg) (http://s628.photobucket.com/user/broones8/media/eba6.jpg.html)
Generals Element:
(http://i628.photobucket.com/albums/uu4/broones8/eba3.jpg) (http://s628.photobucket.com/user/broones8/media/eba3.jpg.html)
The Warbands:
(http://i628.photobucket.com/albums/uu4/broones8/eba8.jpg) (http://s628.photobucket.com/user/broones8/media/eba8.jpg.html)
(http://i628.photobucket.com/albums/uu4/broones8/eba9.jpg) (http://s628.photobucket.com/user/broones8/media/eba9.jpg.html)
(http://i628.photobucket.com/albums/uu4/broones8/eba7.jpg) (http://s628.photobucket.com/user/broones8/media/eba7.jpg.html)
(http://i628.photobucket.com/albums/uu4/broones8/eba10.jpg) (http://s628.photobucket.com/user/broones8/media/eba10.jpg.html)
(http://i628.photobucket.com/albums/uu4/broones8/eba11.jpg) (http://s628.photobucket.com/user/broones8/media/eba11.jpg.html)
(http://i628.photobucket.com/albums/uu4/broones8/eba12.jpg) (http://s628.photobucket.com/user/broones8/media/eba12.jpg.html)
On the bench....
(http://i628.photobucket.com/albums/uu4/broones8/eba13.jpg) (http://s628.photobucket.com/user/broones8/media/eba13.jpg.html)
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Bookmarked.
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Mikeygees, very well done. :-* :-*
Thanks for your contribution.
If i havent started in 28mm i would choose those FIB miniatures.
Great painting and terrain ideas.
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Mikey, those look great! Like Rui, I started 28mm already although 15mm is really tempting, especially considering space and cost. I'm looking at using Tribal and I do enjoy skirmish games in 28mm. But those 15's look great!
@Rui. Looking over my old Wargames Factory ancient German cavalry, I've decided to use GB shaggy ponies instead of the plastic horses that came with them. The horses have saddles and tack, which isn't what I imagined for this period and they look like a pain to modify. So, I've 12 plastic horses up for grabs - no charge except postage. If you or any one else is interested, send me a PM. It may take a week or two to send them off, we live in a little village at the moment and my wife has the car during the week, so it takes awhile for me to get into town to the post office.
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Mike, that is beautiful work!
Are you going to have this ready for Enfilade next year, or maybe even before that? ;)
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Yes Enfilade. Maybe before.... say Drumbeat?
Mikeyg
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I have also contemplated this project in 28mm. I have a ton of Ancient Germans in 28mm (Foundry, BTD, Warlord) that could work in a pinch ignoring of course the occasional Gallic helm, and more iron weapons, than bronze. The next step would be to purchase some Foundry Euro Bronze Age figures in bulk...
(http://i628.photobucket.com/albums/uu4/broones8/germs.jpg) (http://s628.photobucket.com/user/broones8/media/germs.jpg.html)
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It looks like there will be a few clan wars coming up soon!
Wonderful paint jobs, either in 15mm or 28mm.
As said before, my (late) bronze age figures are all Myceneans and Hitittes.
Currently all still in the Lead Mountain, but I'm tempted to start working on them soon.
Myceneans are mostly Foundry (old Perry range) and a few Redoubt. The Hitittes are Newline (cheap for good qualitiy), but the plan is to mix in a few Foundry Hitittes.
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Yes Enfilade. Maybe before.... say Drumbeat?
Mikeyg
Oh yes - no pressure though for a January showing :D
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This thread's great - fantastic work MikeyG, I've just today unpacked a few packs of FiB ancient Germans and Celtic civilians for a Bronze Age skirmish project. Great too see someone else has thought the same.
They won't hit the queue for a few weeks so I'll post them once they're painted.
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Really interesting thread! I used to have a stack of the old Foundry Bronze Age models but sold them off...and am now hankering to do them again, as you do. Anyone here played 'Tribal'?
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I have the rules but unfortunately i havent tried yet.
Mikeygees again a great painting and lots of inspiration. :-* :-*
Wimvdb, James Morris and Jagannath feel free to post here some pics and some ideas. Scenario ideas are also of great use for all.
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Really interesting thread! I used to have a stack of the old Foundry Bronze Age models but sold them off...and am now hankering to do them again, as you do. Anyone here played 'Tribal'?
Tribal is a great game! I've been using it with primitive humans, my Savage Core Simians v Neanderthals and Cro-Mags, and for Aztec skirmishes. Cool system, with new expansions in the works.
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I am thinking that the new Frostgrave barbarians would be a good base for Northern European Bronze Age warriors.
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I am thinking that the new Frostgrave barbarians would be a good base for Northern European Bronze Age warriors.
There is also the old Grenadier Barbarians range of figures, sculpted by Mr. Copplestone. They are now sold by Mirliton in Italy, but there is also a retailer in the UK I believe.
I think they would look great as N.-European barbarians.
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Dr. Zombie i havent seen the barbarians from frostgrave but i will check them. Might be usefull.
WimVdB the grenadier barbarians are also usefull (at least some). Many do need a few more animal skins and diferent weapons sculped or they look to much Conan.
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Strangely i have almost all the books of Bernard Cornwell as well as Stonehedge and i´ve never read it!!!!
I dont know why but defenetly will read on my vacations next month.
Lets see what crazy ideas might occur to me. :D
1 band glued and primed (as pictured before) and the other, miniatures chosen, converting phase and gluing. :)
Stonehenge is very Influenced by the historian Pearson. The story is good, but very fictional. I do not love these very childish acting people. The are single minded and to much influenced by their anger of mighty goods. But it is an early work of Cornwell.
As figures I would suggest the Foundry Europeans Bronceage stuff, very nice
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Not much of a update since my projects are on a standby basis for i´m moving soon to another country, but a purchase of some Steve Barber civilians suitable for this Project plus a celtic priest from BTD.
I will try to paint some soon.
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Ooo cant believe I have not seen this thread before, my Bronze Age Northern European collection are getting a refresh at the moment for a game at York next month. Pictures on my post and my blog. Some interesting figures here I might check out. Trying to keep mine trouser free but still using figures from other ranges.
http://gapagnw.blogspot.co.uk/
Not the best of pictures but below is Foundry axeman with head swap to add variety to a small range.
(http://i574.photobucket.com/albums/ss181/rogercas/100_6396_zpspuaerjfl.jpg) (http://s574.photobucket.com/user/rogercas/media/100_6396_zpspuaerjfl.jpg.html)
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Have any of you read this article?
Found on TMP.
Very interesting reading.
http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/03/slaughter-bridge-uncovering-colossal-bronze-age-battle
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I have yes, early Bronze armies in the thousands in North Germany, fascinating. Changes perceptions of a small Clan, tribal society with Warfare revolving around cattle raids and the like. Interesting they have found stone headed clubs, none of the bronze age figures are modelled with these. I did find this article quite inspiring for my project and wondered if they had uncovered any more yet.
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Yes i also read that article and my bands are based on it.
I simply have this Project as well as the majority in standby.
I hope to get on with it soon.
Rogerc, i´m following your thread with great interest and thanks for post something here.
Any other is welcome to post here finds, books, miniatures, terrain, etc.
What you think is usefull for the other members. ;)
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I read that article on the Tollense River battle with great interest.
Besides the stone-headed clubs, a number of all-wooden warclubs have been recovered. I think stone arrow and spear points are also plentiful. This is what I would expect for armed commoners in a big 'Bronze Age' army. Fancy bronze helmets, blades, points and axes would probably be limited to the noble lords and their warrior henchmen.
Something that wonders me is that early northern Europeans are often depicted wearing leather garments, or limited amounts of textiles in dull browns and greys, usually just a kilt. I suspect it's the lingering influence of Caesar, who described German warriors as hairy savages half-clad in pelts. Maybe they were, and maybe they weren't.
One of the important advances of the Indo-Europeans, and one that may have been a key to their culture's expansion, was the development of the wooly sheep. Early domesticated sheep were not especially wooly. It seems that the Yamnaya people bred a new type of sheep that produced abundant wool, and exploited the new resource to produce cloth.
Oetzi the Iceman, a neolithic European farmer c. 5000+ BP, was dressed head-to-toe in leather. The Taklamakan mummies, starting about 1000 years later, are head-to-toe in expertly woven and tailored woolen clothing, much of the cloth woven from colorfully dyed yarn. Look for yourselves:
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=taklamakan+mummies+textiles&qpvt=taklamakan+mummies+textiles&qpvt=taklamakan+mummies+textiles&qpvt=taklamakan+mummies+textiles&FORM=IGRE
The Tarim basin people are thought to have been Tocharians, early Indo-Europeans. The weave of their cloth is a twill, similar to that used by Celtic peoples in western Europe.
I understand that a lot of wool cloth has been recovered from the graves and bogs of northern Europe. I just wanted to point that out to any figure sculptors who might read this thread...
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Extremely interesting read, thanks. The European Bronze Age seems to be a much more dynamic period than I previously thought. Love the models & modelling in both threads :).
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Thanks Zippy,
That's just the type of information I love to have when deciding on a pallet. Thanks for the contribution, this is really a great website... so much info and so many knowledgable people.
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You're welcome. Few wargamers study textile technology, but it's an important subject if we want to understand how to accurately dress our little toy soldiers.
I speculate that the development of the wooly sheep greatly increased the material prosperity of early Indo-European cultures compared to earlier neolithic farmers, not only by providing a new and abundant source of fiber, but also by more thoroughly harnessing the time of the culture's women to productive labor. With fiber plentiful, women could begin to spend nearly every waking moment spinning yarn and other thread with hand spindles, as they cooked, cared for children, or walked on their way. The former ubiquity of this activity in pre-industrial times is illustrated by now-archaic references in English to the 'distaff' (female) side of the family, and to unmarried women as 'spinsters'. "Oh, Miss Mouse, are you within?" "Yes, kind Sir, I sit and spin." Um-hum.
An interesting read on the Taklamakan mummies, their culture and especially their textiles is Elizabeth Wayland Barber The Mummies of Urumchi:
https://www.amazon.com/Mummies-Urumchi-Elizabeth-Wayland-Barber/dp/0393320197
Not coincidentally, another work by the same author, Women's Work: The First 20,000 Years - Women, Cloth and Society in Early Times is a fascinating popular history of the development of textile technologies. I believe I lent my copy to my mother, who was an accomplished needle-worker, and one of my sisters got it when they cleaned out her apartment (her memory remains fragrant). I'll have to replace it. It's that good:
https://www.amazon.com/Womens-Work-First-Years-Society/dp/0393313484
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Zippyfusenet, thanks for the info and indeed textile technology has a great influence in both historical context and miniatures painting.
Knowing the fabrics and colors really makes our models more historically accurate. :)
More usefull info to us.
Keep it coming.
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Hi All. Great thing about this is the uniform police can’t really tell you you’re wrong. You do your research and go with what you think it looked like.
I spent a bit of time researching this before jumping in and buying figures. There is a great article by one of the Perry Twins in an old Wargames Illustrated which includes Colour Prints. Issue 115 from April 199, it even has sample army lists for Warhammer (by the way Warhammer ancients has some nice images for this period). This and a book I picked up “Bronze Age Warfare” By Richard Osgood Which is an excellent reference have been my inspiration for the SAGA warbands I have built. To help me I have used a bit of Irish Mythology to create my forces with Warlords, Queens and Hero’s names and characteristics. There are some great images to support the above on-line if you dig. I will try add a couple here.
The view I have is of warriors in knee length kilts or tunics, shoulder length hair and relatively few beards. So the long haired, long bearded barbarians in trousers and skins don’t really fit for me. These are the later Teutons and Celts wearing warmer gear as the climate became colder at the end of the bronze age. Warlords and Hero’s might drive around in chariots, these look a bit more like the ones from the Mediterranean rather than the later Celtic ones (plenty of Scandinavian evidence for this). Their elite warriors (Hearthguard in SAGA) would have helmets and body armour, possibly in bronze but also in toughened leather. If mounted, they have javelins and swords and carry small rectangular shields. On foot they have round shields with circular patterns and either carry Slashing Swords or in the slightly earlier period double handed axes. I have a unit of each to pit earlier settlers against new arrivals.
Most Warriors carried spears and shields, the size and weight of the spear heads found suggests these were used two handed with shields slung on backs in an almost phalanx style. These warriors will often have helmets mainly of toughened leather.
Skirmishers will be either javelin men, archers or the youth of a tribe armed with slings.
The last three have the fewest options in the Foundry range (Two each of javelins and archers with one slinger) but has the most number of simple options from other ranges. Lots of these in Mediterranean bronze age ranges and a few Picts mix in ok as long as I don’t have too many bearded types, I even have some Mahdist plastic javelin men, you would really never know to look. I have done quite a lot of head swaps and simple conversions to add some variety to the basic foundry range.
Each War band then has a Leader in a chariot, supported by a hero in his chariot. A unit of 4 mounted Hearthguard and a unit of 4 foot Hearthguard, 2 or 3 units of 8 warriors with double handed spears and a unit of 12 skirmishers. A nice rounded force which looks the part.
Couple of pictures below illustrate how I picture it.
(http://i574.photobucket.com/albums/ss181/rogercas/Miners_zpsav8nnk1t.jpg) (http://s574.photobucket.com/user/rogercas/media/Miners_zpsav8nnk1t.jpg.html)
(http://i574.photobucket.com/albums/ss181/rogercas/images%202_zpsncrqrjfn.jpg) (http://s574.photobucket.com/user/rogercas/media/images%202_zpsncrqrjfn.jpg.html)
(http://i574.photobucket.com/albums/ss181/rogercas/Denmark-during-bronze-Age_zpsgaykj9qp.jpg) (http://s574.photobucket.com/user/rogercas/media/Denmark-during-bronze-Age_zpsgaykj9qp.jpg.html)
(http://i574.photobucket.com/albums/ss181/rogercas/images3NRH1QVN_zpsttyiqhuu.jpg) (http://s574.photobucket.com/user/rogercas/media/images3NRH1QVN_zpsttyiqhuu.jpg.html)
I think this illustrates the earlier point around the textiles.
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Hi Rogerc,
I love a man with a plan. :) You have a well reasoned plan to collect and paint the figures needed.
As more of a gamer I would tend to go with a collection of figures that would look cool but not that historical.
If you are interested, Black Tree USA is having a sale on figures.
About half off of many them.
Lots of Picts and Germans, sadly all have beards.
I really look forward to following what you do, sure it will neat.
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Cheers, I don't mind bears too much, will need some with beards and can always use headswaps for some. Will check them out, I have a small dark age Pictish collection anyway...
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Bears? I meant beards of course.
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I just wrote a few words in this thread so that it bumps yo the recent ones.
There is a lot of usefull info in it of others. ;)
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Thanx for the bump Rumacara, it was interesting to re-read this thread. It reminds me that I've been posting on LAF for a while now.
I still have an itch to model and wargame the misty, mythic, heroic early Bronze Age. I'm still putting it off, telling myself that it's one collection too many. I'd hate to admit how many toys sit half-built and half-painted on my work desk. Hey, as long as I'm having fun, it's all good, hainna?
But, over the past couple of years I've picked up a small batch of Foundry Euro Bronze Age, and another of Eureka Amazons. They were sitting on flea market tables, winking at me, what could I do? Someday that collection may reach critical mass, and I'll have to do something with it...
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On the upside it does work on a fairly low level of figure numbers.
If Amazons were Steppe Warriors from around the black sea then facing off against central European Bronze Age warriors is not amassive stretch.
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Amazons were Trojan allies, right? No, not that far a fetch to Halstatt at all...