15 mm Byzantine Infantry Commanders (Donnington "Originals")

Introduction

These complete the commanders for my "fantasy" Byzantine army for Art de la Guerre (ADLG). At 200 points each army is allowed three commanders. I finished two mounted commanders early last month, so I now have four commanders: one spare in case I ever play a 300 point game (very unlikely).

My intention is to use these for the Byzantine armies of Justinian to Nikephoros a five-hundred year span marked by frequent changes in arms and armour. Accordingly, I’ve opted for models whose equipment is indicative rather than strictly historically accurate. Even so, I’m reasonably confident that each figure will be plausible for at least some point within that period!

Early Medieval Byzantine Flags II (Conjectural)

Introduction

On Monday I posted a set of these that included flags with square tails. In it I said:

They are all highly stylised compared to the reference image. The absence of swallow tails is deliberate. I printed mine 10 mm high and, at this size, simplicity counts for a lot.

If you are feeling brave you can cut, shape and curl the tails to match the reference. I decided not to. Mainly because I really didn't fancy cutting a shallow taper on something 2.5 mm high.

This is a case of famous last words. After I posted a link to Bluesky I received some photos of Varangian Guard re-enactors with a very similar banner design. Of course theirs had swallow tails, but some photos showed banners with only three tails. I also received various contemporary images also with three swallow-tailed banners:

From "Synopsis of Histories" by John Skylites, late 11th century. Images from Wikimedia.

I began to wonder...

Early Medieval Byzantine Flags I (Conjectural)

Introduction

For those following my progress of my "fantasy" Byzantine army, will have noticed that I've started the command bases and have recently finished the mounted commanders. I'm about half way through the foot commanders and have one base in need of a flag.

I decided to design my own. I based them, very loosely, on illustrations 27b & c from page 75 of Ian Heath's classic WRG book "Armies of the Dark Ages 600-1066":

It's worth noting this from Heath "[Leo's Tactica] records .... a new type of swallow-railed bandon had become the principal standard of both infantry and cavalry units". Must have been awkward for the infantry.