Hat Numidian Cavalry
I obtained three boxes of these from Bob at Easter. My original idea was to convert them into Abyssinian types for my Lionian army. I got enough for two units of 12 so I thought I'd do a Numidian unit and a Lionian unit. I have since changed my mind and all of them will be Lionians.
So what did I thin of the set? The Box art is very enticing . The horses are nicely sculpted. The riders, at first sight looked ruggedly impressive, faces a bit brutish, but within human measurements. (Mounted goblins?) the hair is suitably wild and woolly. But as I looked closer I noticed some flaws.
First up, is it just me or are the arms too long? If you put your arm straight down at your side as you stand you will see that your hands rest somewhat above your knees. On these figures, some more obviously, the arms are of chimp like proportions. If you straightened the arms you would see they come to just below the knees. mental note; is it going to bother me - yes! Am I prepared to do surgery by cutting the arms and hot welding them or gluing them back with a hand sized piece cut out? Maybe. Or maybe I'll replace the arms entirely.
Next gripe - the feet are missing a toe! The toes that are there are carefully sculpted so it is obvious if you bother to look. Alright it's not THAT noticeable but I KNOW it's not there.
Then there was something about the horse. The box art shows horses with no bridles as well as no reins. The plastic horses have bridles but no reins. Okay that's a common oversight easily fixed with some aluminium reins but the box art bothered me. So I looked it up - The Numidians did not use bridles or reins but steered with their knees. Sounds kind of dumb to me. I mean why rely just on your knees when bridles and reins had been invented but that's what they did?
So if I want to use these guys as ancient Numidians I could just ignore the history and leave the bridles but it would look strange - bridles and no reins. Or I could add reins but go against history, or I could just say they are some random fictitious unit.
As for their historical effectiveness, they threw javelins but were no match for heavier cavalry. They were good for scouting and harassing. For those who want to paint up a unit I'd go for off white clothing and a deeply tanned/olive complexion; they were not 'black' but not peaches and cream either and probably similar to your run of the mill Berber.
Oh well! The reins have decided me. If I am going to do conversion I might as well go the whole hog with arm surgery, putty pants, curved swords, occasional rifles and stirrups. More Lionians to resist various European and other invasions.
The extra spears can be inserted in the hands but the holes need to be slightly widened. there is also a standard which can be attached to a pole.
Nice horses but it is necessary to glue the riders on as they don't stay stable without it.
So what did I thin of the set? The Box art is very enticing . The horses are nicely sculpted. The riders, at first sight looked ruggedly impressive, faces a bit brutish, but within human measurements. (Mounted goblins?) the hair is suitably wild and woolly. But as I looked closer I noticed some flaws.
First up, is it just me or are the arms too long? If you put your arm straight down at your side as you stand you will see that your hands rest somewhat above your knees. On these figures, some more obviously, the arms are of chimp like proportions. If you straightened the arms you would see they come to just below the knees. mental note; is it going to bother me - yes! Am I prepared to do surgery by cutting the arms and hot welding them or gluing them back with a hand sized piece cut out? Maybe. Or maybe I'll replace the arms entirely.
Next gripe - the feet are missing a toe! The toes that are there are carefully sculpted so it is obvious if you bother to look. Alright it's not THAT noticeable but I KNOW it's not there.
Then there was something about the horse. The box art shows horses with no bridles as well as no reins. The plastic horses have bridles but no reins. Okay that's a common oversight easily fixed with some aluminium reins but the box art bothered me. So I looked it up - The Numidians did not use bridles or reins but steered with their knees. Sounds kind of dumb to me. I mean why rely just on your knees when bridles and reins had been invented but that's what they did?
So if I want to use these guys as ancient Numidians I could just ignore the history and leave the bridles but it would look strange - bridles and no reins. Or I could add reins but go against history, or I could just say they are some random fictitious unit.
As for their historical effectiveness, they threw javelins but were no match for heavier cavalry. They were good for scouting and harassing. For those who want to paint up a unit I'd go for off white clothing and a deeply tanned/olive complexion; they were not 'black' but not peaches and cream either and probably similar to your run of the mill Berber.
Oh well! The reins have decided me. If I am going to do conversion I might as well go the whole hog with arm surgery, putty pants, curved swords, occasional rifles and stirrups. More Lionians to resist various European and other invasions.
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