15mm Figures for Later Hindu North Indian Cavalry?

Scottbot · Post by **Scottbot** » Fri Apr 02, 2010 4:09 pm

I'm thinking of doing a Rajput army and was wondering what figures I could use for the Armored Superior Lancers in the list. Looking at all the companies I could find, no one seems to make these figures exactly (please let me know if I'm wrong) so what could I use as a close proximity? Would the Rajputs have muslim or some sort of steppe mercenaries?

I do have some persian cav I've armed as lancers from Xyston for my Graeco-Bactrian list, do you think I could use those without getting called out? (in big tournaments, not casual play)

http://www.scotiagrendel.com/Xyston/ind ... cts_id=137

Thanks for your help!

-Scott

kevinj · Post by **kevinj** » Fri Apr 02, 2010 4:36 pm

Those look a bit early for Rajputs. I would try the Essex Moghul & Renaissance Indian range (MOG codes). Apart from being good for the period and location, I think they are some of Essex's nicest figures.

Kevin

ethan · Post by **ethan** » Fri Apr 02, 2010 6:13 pm

I hunted around quite a bit to find something specific and couldn't. So I started looking at the various ranges of Islamic lancers and decided the best are the Legio Heroica

http://www.legio-heroica.com/Musulmani-en.html

I used a mix of http://www.legio-heroica.com/img/MUS08.JPG, http://www.legio-heroica.com/img/MUS12.JPG, and http://www.legio-heroica.com/img/MUS17.JPG

They are really fantastic figures. One thing is that they are cast with seperate lances and shields, so I would plan to use wire lances (I like the Xyston ones) instead of the lead lances they come with.

The Essex Moghul range is a good one, I like their elephants, archers and swordsmen quite a bit. I couldn't find any cavalry that I thought was just right for Rajputs though.

Scottbot · Post by **Scottbot** » Fri Apr 02, 2010 7:20 pm

Thanks guys, both suggestions are great!

The Legio figs are slightly better looking, I think, but the Essex figs will be much cheaper for me since they have a US distributor. Hard decision, but who said wargaming was easy?

Ethan, just curious, did you paint your guys up as arab allies, or more like Indians (darker skin) in arab-esque dress?

ethan · Post by **ethan** » Sat Apr 03, 2010 3:22 pm

Scottbot wrote: Ethan, just curious, did you paint your guys up as arab allies, or more like Indians (darker skin) in arab-esque dress?

Mine are fairly light skinned, but I based this on a book I bought on Rajput Painting it seems the Rajputs tend to depict themselves as fairly light skinned in their own art. The nobility probably tried to stay out of the sun in any case...

Here is a (bad) picture

Scottbot · Post by **Scottbot** » Sat Apr 03, 2010 4:41 pm

Awesome pic, Ethan. Thanks for sharing. Your guys came out very nice! When I paint mine, I'm thinking of going with a more consistent saffron look, like your fig in back, 6th from right. That would be a lot of orange, though.

I found some figures from Khurasan that also could work, though some of the helmets may be off. I like the turbans on the Legio Heroica figures better.

http://khurasanminiatures.tripod.com/km1006.jpg

http://khurasanminiatures.tripod.com/km1005.jpg

ethan · Post by **ethan** » Sat Apr 03, 2010 5:46 pm

Scottbot wrote:Awesome pic, Ethan. Thanks for sharing. Your guys came out very nice! When I paint mine, I'm thinking of going with a more consistent saffron look, like your fig in back, 6th from right. That would be a lot of orange, though.

I considered it, but decided it would be a bit too orange and I wanted to have the ability to use them for other armies.

tadamson · Post by **tadamson** » Wed Apr 07, 2010 9:02 am

Nice figs Ethan.

Anyone looking for earlier than 16th c might want less turbans, two handed lances (shields were used with swords and slung over back or saddle while the long lance was used), light skin, very, very colourful robes (no green), fewer beards (Arabs all wore beards, leading to a rise in the popularity of shaving) but big moustaches were in, highly polished armour and helmets.

ethan · Post by **ethan** » Tue Apr 13, 2010 2:28 pm

Is the green thing a change that occurred at some point?

The book I found on Rajput painting shows them wearing a reasonable amount of green, although most of the painting is from the later (16-18th Century) periods. I also found that in the same painting it wasn't quite as colorful as I had previously envisioned, an awful lot of white robes. The one thing I noticed was that turbans were often colored.

Mustaches are more popular than beards, but everyone has some facial hair...

If you want to go the 2-hand lance route the shields are cast seperately and you could easily glue them to the backs (or saddles) of the figures (they all have a leather strap around the torse to hold the shield.