Thursday, May 19, 2016

Troopship from England!

"The world under heaven, after a long period of division. tends to unite; after a long period of union tends to divide. This has been so since antiquity."

-Luo Guanzhong, Romance of the Three Kingdoms

Although not a common topic in western wargaming, I have been increasingly drawn into Chinese history. English language references with of any great detail are sparse though, so I opted to trust DBA!

Liu Bei and leads his cavalry.
Enter Ian Kay of Irregular Miniatures!

Ian very kindly provided me with two painted DBA armies and some extras. Those of you in the know already know that Irregular have a tremendous range of figures ranging form 54mm down to 2mm. It is really quite astonishing.

Shu knights led by Zhao Yun, one of Liu Bei's "Five Tiger Generals".
The figures are "true 25's" and are a bit smallish next to more modern 28mm figures. It's mostly noticeable when it comes to horses, but some may find this off-putting. Not a problem for me as they currently make up both sides and I don't mind the difference compared to the 80's era Citadel and Alternative Armies figures they will be mixing with in their adventures.

Shu Spearmen

As an added plus the infantry fit just find on Warhammer Human Standard 20mm square bases!!!

What Dark Age Chinese army would be complete without serried rows of dour crossbowmen?
The order was processed quickly, painted to a fine standard, and...Ian being unsatisfied with one of the castings he planned to use as too early for the period, up and sculpted a new figure to suit.

Shu Auxiliaries and Swordsmen

I  have based these figures individually. This allows for their use in element based games with the movement trays shown, or as is more likely in individual figure games.

Shu Light Horse
I intend to use them with Warrior Heroes: Armies and Adventures as I continue to update that title.

Shu Engine and Psiloi
I've only shown the Shu army here. The Wei army is pretty much identical both in look and composition. This was a deliberate choice on my part. As in the War of the Roses, during the Three Kingdoms period warlords and their retinue changed sides with sometimes confusing frequency. This is a boon for me as the entire force can be fielded as a single army as needed.

On a final note although I  have based these fellows I have yet to flock them. Too busy with the long delayed Winged Man conversions to get to flocking them now:

15mm.co.uk Balrog, re-purposed for 25mm gaming.
More on that anon.

As for Irregular Armies I give Ian a big thumbs up, and a warm thank you!
All in all I am very satisfied with Ian's services and look forward to purchasing more in the future.

Thanks for stopping by!

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