15 mm Medieval Russian Levy (Fighting15s)

These two bases (units in Art de la Guerre speak) mark the last of the core infantry for the medieval Russian army I'm working on.  After this I've only some cavalry to do.

They are from two packs of FE031 Peasants with pole weapons from Ian at Fighting 15s.  Ian has re-moulded these excellent, late period, Josef Ochmann sculpts and the detail is incredible.  I don't often get the chance to paint eyelids!

To represent Eastern European peasant levy I chose a drab colour palette to differentiate them from the more "professional" Russian spear with their colourful shields etc.  I suppose it's the nearest I've got in along time to painting WWII European colours.

 

 

Historical note
When I was painting the figures carrying a spiked flail (bottom row from the left in the photo below) I ran into a small problem.

I initially painted them with metal flails on the end of the handles.  However it looked rubbish.  The spikes just wouldn't stand out from the body of the flail.  In the end I painted the flail black and used shades of grey to highlight the spikes as you can see below.

Ever helpful, Ian pointed out that they would must likely be wooden with metal spikes; not least because a metal flail would be too heavy to use in combat.  As I'd based the figures when I discovered this, I've decided that the Russians had treated their wooden flails with pitch to protect them against the weather.  Ian's suggestion that it was covered in dried blood was far too gruesome for me.

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