Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => Medieval Adventures => Topic started by: HappyChappy439 on November 23, 2020, 11:58:53 AM
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Hi everyone!
A few months ago @Atheling here on the forums had a thread looking for inspiration on the appearance of 15th century Byzantines, around the mid-century. Unfortunately where there aren't many surviving contemporary sources, it's a bit of a difficult search, but it got me inspired to have a go at tackling a project for those late-late-late Romans!
The aim is to have the project be able to represent Byzantine (and adjacent) forces from about the 1440s up to the 1480s, to cover the period between Constantine Palaiologos' campaigns in the 1440s, up to some alternate-history "what if?" takes on if the Palaiologan exiles in Italy actually attempted one of the abortive Papal expeditions against the Ottomans. I'm trying to integrate elements from both the Palaiologi in Constantinople (and the Morea), and the Empire of Trebizond, there's some definite differences between them (as a rule, Constantinople seems much more Italian-influenced), but enough overlap that in some cases things can be used interchangably.
There's unfortunately very few contemporary visual depictions (or even comprehensive textual ones) describing the 15th century Byzantine (or Trapezuntine) militaries, so I'll be needing to work off a lot of assumptions, but there are a few hints we can glean from adjacent sources, such as church frescoes, early Renaissance artwork and small tidbits that were written down. The church frescoes and artwork are undoubtedly going to be victim to a bit of embellishment for aesthetic reasons, but they seem like a good start at the very least!
For this project I'll be drawing quite heavily on two particular pieces, the manuscript Il Virgilio Riccardiano, a Florentine manuscript from 1460 depicting the conquest of Troy (with Greeks and Trojans swapped out for Byzantines), and a Cassone believed to depict the fall of Trebizond, made some time after the event (again, in Italy), which shows Trapezuntine soldiers consistent with descriptions made earlier in the century by Clavijo (particularly the hats!). Unfortunately, I've not been able to find any high-resolution images that aren't completely covered in watermarks for the Virgil, so I probably won't be able to share them here, but I'd encourage you to look them up, because they're quite nice illustrations! http://www.riccardiana.firenze.sbn.it/index.php/it/raccolte-digitali/31-parnaso-di-carta/30-il-virgilio-riccardiano
There is of course the caveat that the Council of Florence in 1439 was very much in the public consciousness, and John Palaiologos and his retinue seem to have very much captured the imagination of early renaissance painters, with most 'Romans' in religious (especially crucifixion) artwork being shown with the dress and equipment of the Byzantine delegation there, so it could be that these depictions are simply a subset of an elite diplomatic party rather than necessarily representative of the Byzantine military at large! You see consistent patterns across Burgundian and Italian depictions though (particularly when it comes to headgear), so I figure either things spread quite quickly by word of mouth, or there was some truth to the artwork!
As a general rule though, and the assumption I'm working off of, is that the Byzantine military (where it existed at all) was a combination of Italian-style (or outright Italian) infantry, Balkan, Caucasian or Turkish lighter infantry and cavalry, and contingents from assorted Western powers such as Burgundy and the Italian states.
So for a start for the project, I've put together an officer, and a standard bearer to kick things off!
(https://i.imgur.com/Nq6wrh0.jpg)
The officer wears a suit of imported Italian plate armour (Theodore Palaiologos was known to have a set, and allegedly it was quite sought after by the upper echelons)
(https://i.imgur.com/ArQSoqa.jpg)
He has a curved Byzantine sword, and a fashionably pointy Byzantine hat as well
(https://i.imgur.com/Zqhzo1w.jpg)
The hat is inspired by the one shown in almost every depiction of John Palaiologos, and later among other 'generic' Byzantines in other artwork. It shows up fairly often in Il Virgilio Riccardiano amongst both the higher officers and common infantry as well
(https://i.stack.imgur.com/9IVhe.jpg)
The standard bearer is based on a fresco from Agios Ioannis Lampadistis monastery on Cyprus (many frescoes were painted shortly after the fall of Constantinople by refugees fleeing to Cyprus, however, some were only made in the 16th and 17th century), combined with depictions of foot-soldiers in Il Virgilio Riccardiano, which show very clear Italian equipment, such as barbutes in evidence. He could be either an elite household soldier with some imported Italian gear, or a mercenary fighting for the Byzantines. The fresco shows 'Roman' soldiers with very Western looking helmets and equipment, with long mail hauberks over the top of red tunics (in the Italian style), so that was something I decided to use here
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/12/Kalopanagiotis_Kreuzigung.jpg/580px-Kalopanagiotis_Kreuzigung.jpg)
For the standards themselves, I wanted to be able to swap out the banners depending on the context (so the force could represent Constantinopolitan Byzantines, Trapezuntines, Moriotes, etc.), so I used this idea in this post to attach the flags themselves to lengths of brass tube so they could be slotted over the banner pole as needed:
http://olicanalad.blogspot.com/2010/07/top-tip-flags.html
Currently I've painted up three flags, a Tetragrammatic Cross for the Palaiologi:
(https://i.imgur.com/YA7MLEZ.jpg)
A two headed eagle (based on the Catalan Atlas) for Trebizond (traced from another image because eagles are NOT my strong suit!):
(https://i.imgur.com/F0tb93q.jpg)
And though I've got doubts that it's strictly accurate, I do have a soft spot for the Trebizond zebra stripes in Europa Universalis IV, so I painted up a flag for that too:
(https://i.imgur.com/SDLd9tI.jpg)
This will probably be quite a slow project, where every figure needs a bit of converting and sculpting, but I hope this is good for a start! Let me know how they've turned out!
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A promising start :)
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Yes!!!! :-*
I'm so pleased that you have managed to get this project off the ground HappyChappy! 8)
I have to admit, I kind of gave up for the time being...... maybe you can hook me back into it? :)
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Well done, they look great.
I'll follow your project with interest having often fancied doing it myself. You might find the following reading of Runciman's Fall of Constantinople of interest.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAsmnj_WFB4&t=2739s
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A good start to an unusual period
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Im going to follow this thread with great interest. This period is not represented enough. Loved the paramerion :-* :-*
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Im going to follow this thread with great interest. This period is not represented enough. Loved the paramerion :-* :-*
I'm going to follow and, I have to say it, probably nick stuff with permission of course :)
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I'm going to follow and, I have to say it, probably nick stuff with permission of course :)
That goes without saying lol lol
Im intending to sculpt some minis of the period at some point in the future, so this thread will be another source of inspiration :-*
@HappyChappy439
as Im a native Greek, if I can offer any kind of help, dont hesitate to ask
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Thanks everyone!
You might find the following reading of Runciman's Fall of Constantinople of interest.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAsmnj_WFB4&t=2739s
Thanks for the link! I didn't realise there was an audiobook version!
I'm going to follow and, I have to say it, probably nick stuff with permission of course :)
:D Granted, of course! The more the merrier!
Im going to follow this thread with great interest. This period is not represented enough. Loved the paramerion :-* :-*
@HappyChappy439
as Im a native Greek, if I can offer any kind of help, dont hesitate to ask
Thanks for the offer! I've been taking Greek lessons but I'm still VERY much a novice, so I may have to take you up on that offer :D And ironically the paramerion started life as a TAG Ottoman scimitar of all things!
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Very interested to see where this goes! A very under-represented period on the tabletop. :)
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Hi again!
Little bit of a delay from the last post...sort of a combination of indecisiveness and puzzling out how to convert each model! lol
This time I've got an update with a couple more test figures, this time a few light cavalry!
(https://i.imgur.com/Brmi2zA.jpg)
Originally, these were intended to be the start of a specifically Pontic set of cavalry, for the Empire of Trebizond, based on the Trebizond Cassone painted by Apollonio di Giovanni, a Florentine artist, roughly around 1461:
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c9/Cassone_with_painted_front_panel_depicting_the_Conquest_of_Trebizond_MET_DP106674_%28cropped%29.jpg)
I'd originally seen a description that the Cassone depicted the Conquest of Trebizond by the Ottomans, and showed a battle between the Trapezuntine forces (on the left), and the Ottomans (on the rights), where each army could be distinguished by their hats. So I started converting the cavalry based on this image...
However quite recently I found a very compelling article that suggests the Cassone does not depict the Conquest of Trebizond (though the city in the top-right is agreed to BE Trebizond), but instead, is an imaginary depiction of the Battle of Ankara in 1402. The argument is that the tall-hatted forces are not Trapezuntines, but are representing the Ottomans (with their Janissary hats), while the Turban-wearing force are the Turkmens of Timur's army. I'm fairly convinced with this argument, where the hats are definitely consistent with contemporary depictions of Janissary hats, and the seated figure on the right is definitely labelled as Tamerlane. So this put me in a bit of a bind!
On a closer look, the only definitively Byzantine figure on the Cassone is this chap on the right:
(https://i.imgur.com/KteUOdK.png)
There are also a few ambiguous people in the center, with slightly different hats to either side, who I think may actually represent local Byzantine soldiers. Their hats are consistent with other Western depictions of Byzantines of the era,...though I've got no confirmation on that unfortunately!
(https://i.imgur.com/6pzivTi.png)
Here's a cropped image from Il Virgilio Riccardiano as a comparison, where the conquest of Troy is depicted through Byzantines-as-ancient-Greeks:
(https://i.imgur.com/4yj5zqg.png)
The outfits and equipment however are consistent with Pisanello's sketches of John VIII Palaiologos while he was in Florence, so I think I might be able to get away with something similar!
So with all that in mind, I figured, that the force might not necessarily be fully accurate to Constantinopolitan or Trapezuntine Greek soldiers (though the absence of concrete evidence either way means the opposite could also be true!), but they could very easily pass for Albanian or Turkish mercenaries. Both empires made heavy (and almost exclusive) use of mercenaries in their armies, and we know there was a large population of Albanians in the Despotate of the Morea so it's not a huge leap to assume that we'd see forces of Albanian or Turkish light cavalry being employed!
(Worst-case scenario, they can pass as Stradiots for my Italian Wars force! lol )
Here's a more detailed view of the individual models:
The yellow-robed figure is almost a straight build of a Perry Stradiot, with a plume added to his hat
(https://i.imgur.com/tiyM0FJ.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/0EWcTlv.jpg)
The green-robed cavalryman is a kitbash from a Gripping Beast Arab Light Cavalry figure, with a Perry Stradiot shield. The hair, hat-rim and most of the chest-part of the robe itself are green-stuff'd. His colour scheme and shield pattern are inspired by the Osprey "Trapezuntine Infantryman" illustration from "Byzantine Armies AD 1118–1461"
(https://i.imgur.com/JPq673X.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/P5mzmsd.jpg)
Hopefully they've turned out ok! Let me know if anyone's found any other interesting tidbits around how these would look!
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Excellent stuff HappyChappy :-*
Oh, and thanks for doing the research :)
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Those look great well done the addition of the feather in the cap totally changes the look of the Perry figure.
Like Atheling said thanks for the research and for posting the Il Virgilio Riccardiano image I hadn't seen that before love the colours.
Looking forward to more.
Willie
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Thanks both!
Like Atheling said thanks for the research and for posting the Il Virgilio Riccardiano image I hadn't seen that before love the colours.
I probably should point out that the Virgilio is also illustrated by Apollonio di Giovanni so there's always the risk of me putting all my eggs in one Florentine basket there! lol
The Riccardian Library of Florence used to have the whole manuscript available online, but unfortunately it was Flash-based so it's pretty inaccessible now:
http://www.riccardiana.firenze.sbn.it/index.php/en/digital-collections/35-paper-parnass/77-il-virgilio-riccardiano-2
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I googled the artist quite a bit of imagery came up some great ideas there very colourful.
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Very nice! I look forward to seeing a whole unit of these.
Eastern european and balkan light cavalry for the 15th century seems like an interesting subject, with potential for lots of research and subsequent conversions. It's not a subject I'm knowledgeable on at all, but i'm enjoying seeing others do it. Oli on his Camisado blog (link) (http://camisado1500s.blogspot.com/) has been doing lots of similar conversions for various sorts of Hungarian cavalry, and their Ottomon opponents.
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This is such a worthwhile pursuit and I am following with keen interest. This is how all great figure ranges begin and your research will no doubt prove ground breaking as it only seems to be we wargamers who care about this level of specific detail in military history. Thanks for sharing your findings and your interpretations in 28mm.
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I've had a few figures made not really a commercial venture but would be happy to share once the figures are cast up if there is any interest.
Cheers
Willie
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This is such a worthwhile pursuit and I am following with keen interest. This is how all great figure ranges begin and your research will no doubt prove ground breaking as it only seems to be we wargamers who care about this level of specific detail in military history. Thanks for sharing your findings and your interpretations in 28mm.
Aw thanks, that really means a lot!
I've had a few figures made not really a commercial venture but would be happy to share once the figures are cast up if there is any interest.
Cheers
Willie
Oh nice! these are some really nice sculpts! Is the cavalryman one painted up on your blog? I think I recognise the pose. Thanks for sharing!
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Yes the cavalry are already cast I have quite a few foot figures coming that will be cast once I get a slot.
They have interchangeable heads so should allow a nice mix.
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Yes the cavalry are already cast I have quite a few foot figures coming that will be cast once I get a slot.
They have interchangeable heads so should allow a nice mix.
Erm..... wow! :o
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Yes the cavalry are already cast I have quite a few foot figures coming that will be cast once I get a slot.
They have interchangeable heads so should allow a nice mix.
Really nice minis and without stumpy proportions, exactly the way I like them!
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Pretty cool project. I have also wondered how to set up a 15th century Byantime force and likeing what you have done so far.
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Wow, those look outstanding. I would definitely be interested in ordering some casts, both infantry and cavalry. When do you think you might be able to sell some?
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Thanks both!
I probably should point out that the Virgilio is also illustrated by Apollonio di Giovanni so there's always the risk of me putting all my eggs in one Florentine basket there! lol
The Riccardian Library of Florence used to have the whole manuscript available online, but unfortunately it was Flash-based so it's pretty inaccessible now:
http://www.riccardiana.firenze.sbn.it/index.php/en/digital-collections/35-paper-parnass/77-il-virgilio-riccardiano-2
At the risk of stating the obvious, presumably you are aware of the Osprey Book “Constantinople 1453 The End of Byzantium” which has much useful information on Byzantine troops at this time (including a decent Further Reading list of other sources) as do their MAA books “Byzantine Armies AD 1118 - 1461” and “The Varangian Guard 988 - 1453”.
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At the risk of stating the obvious, presumably you are aware of the Osprey Book “Constantinople 1453 The End of Byzantium” which has much useful information on Byzantine troops at this time (including a decent Further Reading list of other sources) as do their MAA books “Byzantine Armies AD 1118 - 1461” and “The Varangian Guard 988 - 1453”.
I've got the Byzantine Armies 1118-1461 and Byzantine Naval forces 1261-1461 ones, but not the Constantinople/Varangian specific ones. They were honestly a pretty big inspiration with starting the project, and like you say, the "Further Reading" sections are definitely useful (it's how I became aware of the Virgil to begin with!)
That said, sometimes I think they rely a little too heavily on icon-paintings of saints for visual references. My guess is that the armour in the icons is a sort of idealised "good old days" sort of depiction rather than a 1:1 depiction of the contemporary rank-and-file...but in the absence of evidence *against* that armour, it's still a valid interpretation! It's kind of a shame that we're stuck with very few, if any contemporary secular sources to rely on, but that's part of the challenge I guess! lol
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Happy Chappy
Hope you don’t mind but thought rather than start another individual thread I thought it would be good to keep adding my progress along with yours.There seems to be small number of us interested in this period so will save us trawling the forum.
A couple of conversions and some new sculpts.
Willie
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Happy Chappy
Hope you don’t mind but thought rather than start another individual thread I thought it would be good to keep adding my progress along with yours.There seems to be small number of us interested in this period so will save us trawling the forum.
A couple of conversions and some new sculpts.
Willie
Oh no, always glad to see more! Happy to share the thread!
Those are great sculpts too, that first one is based on the Constantine XI statue in Athens right?
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Oh no, always glad to see more! Happy to share the thread!
Those are great sculpts too, that first one is based on the Constantine XI statue in Athens right?
Me too! please keep firing away! :-* :o
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One of the advantages of the separate heads will be adding to other manufacturers figures this Perry Sculpt will receive a cloak and join the ranks as a minor officer.
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Good idea.
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Super interesting topic. Following.
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A couple more conversions.
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Nice conversions! Is the first vignette based off a Perry Napoleonic Egyptian kit?
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It is the Perry set yes still have a wee bit of work to do to it have to give the middle figure his nose back!
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Hi again!
It's been a bit of a while since I posted an update to this thread! I've been going back to art references to find some inspiration for more Byzantines (and to avoid putting all my eggs in one Riccardian Virgil shaped basket!). I'm operating on the assumption that a lot of depictions of Biblical Romans in 15th century artwork tend to use their contemporary Byzantines to allegorically represent the ancient Romans. Italian artwork from around the 1430s onwards seems roughly consistent with depictions of the Byzantine delegation at the Council of Ferrara-Florence (with a few added extras, presumably for artistic license!), compared to Byzantine icons which are far more in-line with much older iconographic artwork, so I tend to assume that they're not necessarily accurate to the 15th century equipment and clothing.
In this case, I've decided to go into Flemish artwork for a few inspirations, it's an extra step removed from actual Byzantines, where it may be that the Flemish artists only heard about the Byzantines second-hand from Italian descriptions, or would have Byzantine visitors to the courts of France and Burgundy who would probably attract a lot of attention. That said, I like to use the Flemish paintings because the scenes themselves are generally extremely busy, so there's always a pretty varied cast of characters to use for inspiration!
First up, in Jan van Eyck's Crucifixion and Last Judgement diptych from the 1430s, these two soldiers show up near the bottom. The one on the right has clothes that are broadly consistent with other contemporary depictions of Byzantines, while the one on the left is a little closer to how Stradiots tend to be depicted (with a few changes).
(https://i.imgur.com/y5fL7VG.png)
I thought they were pretty striking designs so I decided to convert up some figures based on them
(https://i.imgur.com/BUTcQcX.jpg)
And from the back to emulate the painting!
(https://i.imgur.com/i0MbwXJ.jpg)
For a third figure, I went to André d'Ypres' Crucifixion from roughly 1450. There's another figure towards the bottom of the painting who had a pretty interesting pose, so I decided to use that as the basis for another figure, though I went back to Il Virgilio Riccardiano for the outfit itself, considering the painting seemed like the clothes were a little too 'Western'
(https://i.imgur.com/U8aOvij.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/xNiL20r.jpg)
And here's the three of them together
(https://i.imgur.com/0jfgr20.jpg)
Hopefully they've turned out ok! My plan is to finish up a unit of 12 of these lighter infantry to use as either levy billmen in Never Mind the Billhooks lists, or alternatively to have them as a block of dismounted Stradioti for later Renaissance/Italian Wars lists
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Pretty cool, They look great. How many are you planning on makeing into a unit?
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I'm loving these :-*
Very inventive and skilled work 8)
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Thanks both!
Pretty cool, They look great. How many are you planning on makeing into a unit?
I think for a start I'm planning on doing a block of 12 of these lighter 'militia' infantry (with room to expand later if the full unit turns out well!). I've found some sources for some heavier armoured Byzantines as well so I'll probably do a similar block of 12 for them as well (count-as men-at-arms in Billhooks games, I'm thinking!)
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Very impressive conversions, I look forward to seeing this project grow.
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Look great love what you did with these figures.
Willie
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Nice, looking forward to seeing more of the lights and the heavies.
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Thanks for the kind words everyone!
I've been working over the last couple of weeks to finish off the initial block of twelve light infantry, and I've managed to complete them
I wanted to keep the very slapdash, militia feel of the unit, so I've varied up the equipment a bit, so only some get shields, only some get armour, and so on.
At the same time I've been trying to keep my options open with 'when' the unit would represent, so I avoided any overt heraldic or religious iconography on the shields (so that they could stand in for multiple Balkan or Ottoman forces in the 15th and early 16th centuries, or simply dismounted Stradioti in service with France or Venice). Plus, it's a way to have a visual shorthand for how Byzantium was (even at its smallest) never demographically homogeneous, and was made up of a whole lot of different peoples throughout its history
(https://i.imgur.com/w3VQcHi.jpg)
A lot of the colour-scheme (and hats!) are based on the good ol' Riccardian Virgil once again, though I wanted to avoid giving anyone red shoes or leggings which feature in a lot of the illustrations
(https://i.imgur.com/FyTpR7h.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/bOQrv6q.jpg)
Hopefully they've turned out ok!
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Yep! Superb conversions :-* :-* :-*
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Wonderful painting and great conversions. :-* :-*
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Impressive :-*
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Wow, they look great! :-*
Did you use the steelfist Tudor dolls as a base? Where did you get the heads and arms from?
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Amazing job. Captures the time period perfectly. Also lovely colorful unit on the field!
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Yes the cavalry are already cast I have quite a few foot figures coming that will be cast once I get a slot.
They have interchangeable heads so should allow a nice mix.
Are you already taking "orders"? I would be very interested!
Cheers,
Peter
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Are you already taking "orders"? I would be very interested!
Cheers,
Peter
Me too! :)
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I, too, would be very interested in the near future!
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Are you aware of Timothy Dawson's By the Emperor’s Hand: Military Dress and Court Regalia in the Later Romano-Byzantine Empire (https://www.amazon.com/Emperors-Hand-Military-Regalia-Romano-Byzantine/dp/1848325894)? It has a section on the 15th Century, though not as much as pre-1204 stuff.
(https://scontent.fnyc1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.6435-9/46035918_2409797395703271_3711956490936909824_n.png?_nc_cat=110&ccb=1-3&_nc_sid=cdbe9c&_nc_ohc=QnwRyCXhMzIAX_Tc3DP&_nc_ht=scontent.fnyc1-1.fna&oh=bb603a43a0d701cade87d69071e5aa66&oe=60D585FF)
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Are you aware of Timothy Dawson's By the Emperor’s Hand: Military Dress and Court Regalia in the Later Romano-Byzantine Empire (https://www.amazon.com/Emperors-Hand-Military-Regalia-Romano-Byzantine/dp/1848325894)? It has a section on the 15th Century, though not as much as pre-1204 stuff.
(https://scontent.fnyc1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.6435-9/46035918_2409797395703271_3711956490936909824_n.png?_nc_cat=110&ccb=1-3&_nc_sid=cdbe9c&_nc_ohc=QnwRyCXhMzIAX_Tc3DP&_nc_ht=scontent.fnyc1-1.fna&oh=bb603a43a0d701cade87d69071e5aa66&oe=60D585FF)
Wow, that does look like a great find.
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Wow, that does look like a great find.
It's a decent book and while there's an obvious focus on court dress, the military clothing is usually a simplified version, though could be just as ornate.
(https://imtw.ru/uploads/imperiall/imgs/total_war1446579558_20.jpg)
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Thanks everyone!
Wow, they look great! :-*
Did you use the steelfist Tudor dolls as a base? Where did you get the heads and arms from?
Thanks! I used the Steel Fist Tudor Dollies for some of them (mostly to compensate for lack of confidence with sculpting large areas of cloth!), I've labelled each of them just to make it easier to describe:
(https://i.imgur.com/j5SXOhb.png)
1: Perry Italian Light Infantry body, WotR plastic infantry soft-cap head
2: Steel Fist Tudor Dolly body, Perry WotR infantry arms, WotR infantry command-frame soft-cap head
3: Steel Fist Tudor Dolly body, Perry WotR infantry arms, Perry Italian head
4: Steel Fist Tudor Dolly body, Gripping Beast Arab Light Cavalry Arms, WotR infantry command-frame soft-cap head, Perry Stradiot shield
5: Steel Fist Standing Tudor Dolly body, Perry WotR infantry arms, Perry Swiss head
6: Plastic Perry WotR infantry body, WotR Bill arms (with the bill removed and a TAG Ottoman Scimitar added), Perry Italian head, Perry Stradiot shield
7: Metal Perry standing billman body, Perry Swiss head
8: Perry Italian Light Infantry body, Perry Swiss head, Perry Stradiot shield
9: Perry Italian Light Infantry body, WotR plastic infantry soft-cap head
10: Steel Fist Standing Tudor Dolly body, Perry Agincourt French Infantry arms, Gripping Beast Arab Light Cavalry head
11: Metal Perry standing billman body, WotR plastic infantry soft-cap head
12: Perry Italian Light Infantry body, WotR infantry command-frame soft-cap head
The Italian Light Infantry bodies all have longer coats sculpted on with Green Stuff, and all the heads have beards (and modified hats) sculpted on, aside from the one Gripping Beast head. Hopefully that helps!
It's a decent book and while there's an obvious focus on court dress, the military clothing is usually a simplified version, though could be just as ornate.
Thanks for the suggestion! Rookie question but do they give sources for the interpretations for the equipment in the book? I'm guessing they're based on church frescoes, I'd be curious to see which ones they're using!
Are you already taking "orders"? I would be very interested!
Cheers,
Peter
Not specifically about the sculpts being on-order, but there's a second project-thread with the excellent Anderson Collection sculpts and conversions up and running now too, to signal-boost the work there as well!
https://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=131911.0 (https://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=131911.0)
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Thanks for the answering the build question. Again, they look great.
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That has to be on e of the clearest and most useful conversion "how to's" that I've seen in a while. Nice and clear if you know the miniatures. 8)
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So did this project end here? Or is it just hibernateing? :D
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Fantastic project, very excited to see more.
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Fantastic project, very excited to see more.
Indeed, in full recognition of just how deep the research would have to go into such an "obscure" (to Western European eyes anyway), it would be wonderful to see more if possible ???
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Giving this project a nudge. To see if you still plane on making the heavy infantry section. :D
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I’m starting to get ideas
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I’m starting to get ideas
Excellent! lol
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I’m starting to get ideas
Excellent! lol
If you were to do a 15th CE Palaiologos Dynasty Byzantine Range I would have to offer you my hand in marriage! lol lol lol
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Apologies for the delays! I've not forgotten about the project (promise!), and I've got some half-finished builds in my pile o' shame! At the moment I'm having a bit of a think about how best to focus things (based partly on availability of sources), and trying to get hold of some actual Byzantinists to make sure I'm not making any glaring errors, and to make sure I don't play into any harmful myths
(Plus sculpting is a slippery slope and I get very tempted to work on some Italians or Ottomans!)
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All good reasons if you ask me. :D