Islamic Berbers Light Cavalry and Ben Yusuf

This is the various light horse elements for an Islamic Berber army in Spain, with added elements to make it more appropriate for an Islamic army during the crusades in the Middle East.

Ben Yusuf (of El Cid fame) as a light horse general.  The standard is taken directly from the movie, but I must extend my apologies for the Islamic script, as it is an approximation only and more likely resembles a kindergartner's scribbles than any actual phrases.  The figure for Ben Yusuf is actually an Ottoman Turk commander from the Condottieri range.  I added the veil and modified the robe a bit to look more appropriate for the earlier period.

The standard bearer is a converted Turcoman with an added turban and veil

Here we have some Ral Partha Moors.  The sword has been re-positioned into more of a thrusting attack which makes the figure a bit more dynamic.

Another example with the sword in the original position.  The highlighting on the horse in the foreground is a bit heavy handed in this case.  I will admit to struggling with black, especially when there are no clear highlight and shadow areas such as this horse whose musculature is not well defined.

Here I have an element made more for the Syrian desert than North Africa and Spain.  The shields are still of Spanish design, but gone are the black/navy robes of the Berber tribe.

I had a blast with the horse blanket on this figure and was very pleased with the result.

Turcoman light cavalry

Turcoman and tribal light archers.  These are actually Persians that I have converted with head swaps or turbans and veils made out of green stuff.

Berbers and Bolt Action

Just finished up a few additions for my Berbers and Waffen SS armies

The unit of eight elements of four figures each displaying their standards.  The figures are a mix of Ral Partha Moors, and Ottomans from the condottieri line, as well as a smattering of Citadel Arabs from their Dark Ages line.  The banners are mostly inspired by Little Big Men, but the middle banner is completely scratch built and painted ala El Cid.

I particularly like the way the shields of Ben Yusef's Black Guard came out.  I used a variety of metallics with black lining to bring out the detail.

The black banner is simply folded paper painted and stiffened with white glue, but what really adds a nice touch is the addition of the horse hair tassels on the ends of the cross pole.

 I've really enjoyed the Bolt Action games I have played and painting WWII camo is a nice change from all of the Ancients and Dark Age figures I've been working on.

 

 Flowers might be a bit much and would probably have been trampled into the ground, but you have to love the way they set off the figures.

 Here we have an HMG pouring fire into the unsuspecting Americans (or Russians).  I decided to base them separately to facilitate taking casualties off the board.  The tufts are by a gentleman in Australia known as Leadbear.  I highly recommend them.