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When I began building an "Arab Conquest" era army, in February last year, I settled on a North African Arab army (132 in Art de la Guerre) not least because it offers steppe terrain and camel troops.
Needless to say I got sidetracked into painting units for other Arab Empire lists, but I had began to dread preparing the Forged in Battle horses (see below). So I kept putting off these final cavalry. However, they are done now.
When I placed my last order with Essex I decided to buy a few extra figures to add some variety to the long slog of painting a 15 mm Hellenistic army. I ended up with commanders for three of my Art de la Guerre (ADLG) collections: Hellenistic, Arab Empire, & Ilkhanid Mongol.
The figure is based on a magnetised 40 mm plywood base which is the same size as my 15 mm ADLG command bases. My plan is to use them as CinCs during competitions. Afterwards they will be retired and placed in my display cabinet.
This is another mini-project using figures from my "Phalanx hobby haul". It only involves 16 figures but this post is longer than usual. There are some simple conversions to discuss, and some research into the Guard and early Umayyad flags to summarise.
As regular readers will have noticed, I am busy building an Arab Conquest army for Art de la Guerre (ADLG). However, not all of this project involves a paintbrush. I've also taken the opportunity to read a few books about the period. I knew next to nothing when I started.
So here are the four main history books that got me started; complete with brief, one paragraph type, reviews. Since this post was written, I've found a fifth book, and it is very different to the other four.
They are listed in my recommended reading order.
This is one of my "hobby haul" from Phalanx last month. They are the first camels for my Arab Empire armies. Imagine an Arab army without any camels!
I wanted Essex figures as I usually find them a pleasant change of "painting pace" compared to Forged in Battle. Plus I have no intention of fielding large numbers of camel riders so buying a large pack from Forged in Battle wasn't really an option.
In the end I was glad only bought one pack. Usually, I find Essex figures quicker and easier to paint, but not this time.
Here's the latest addition to my Arab Conquest army for Art de la Guerre (ADLG). It is the penultimate group of infantry in my army.
After nearly eighteen months painting an Arab Conquest army with a deliberately limited & muted colour palette it was time to go wild. And what better subject to choose than that wargaming cliché the Daylami: fierce mountain warriors renowned for their brightly painted shield designs.
After last month's flurry of posts about the 2022 ADLG Survey, not to mention all the data analysis & charts, I found time to finish off a few batches of figures. The first to be photographed is some light infantry archers for my Arab Conquest army.
Most of the Arab Conquest lists in Art de la Guerre (ADLG) only allow 4 units (think bases) of light infantry archers, which makes them an ideal project within a project. Of course, as a wargamer, I find things are never quite as straightforward as they first appear.
I have a two-day competition in October: "The King in the North" held in Haxby, a small village outside York. As the day draws near I've begun getting things ready. To be honest I've been getting ready for a while now.
I've been surprised at just how much preparation is required so I thought I'd record what I've been up to. I suppose one of my former professional roles, as a project manager, is well to the fore in what follows.
This post marks two important milestones.
The first is: these units are the final infantry units of my Arab Conquest ADLG (Art de la Guerre) army. I now have all the infantry I need including many variants and most options. I have bought some Daylami but they will have to wait until I've done the cavalry.
And so it begins. New year: new army!
In choosing a new army I wanted something versatile and something outside my normal bailiwick of late medieval armies. After a bit of reading I decided on the Arab Conquest period (600 - 800 AD). This was partly because it would give me my first "Dark Age" army, allowing me to enter more competitions, and partly because the period offers lots of armies to chose from but all with a common core.
Progress on my new Dark Age army continues. This time it's some javelin armed light infantry (with medium infantry to follow soon).
I don't normally do this but what follows is that staple of wargaming blogs: the "what I bought at the last show" post but with a twist or two.
Ten days ago I spent the day at the Phalanx show (St Helens, UK) helping Dave Lanchester run his bookstall. I didn't get a lot of time for shopping but I went prepared with a list to focus my efforts. The purchase of the day was a rather special dice tray:
This is something of a first: a 28 mm figure!
As regular readers will have seen, I usually paint 15 mm figures but for some strange reason I was overcome by an urge to paint something larger. So, when I was shopping for a few random 15 mm command figures, I strayed into the 28 mm portion of the web shop and bought a super sized commander for my Art de la Guerre (ADLG) Arab army.
Why is it the last units always seem to take ages? These took a while as I painted them as one group; which I don't normally do. Plus the horses required extra work (see below).
Anyway, I now have all the core units for a wide range of "Dark Age/Feudal" Arab armies so I'm pleased they are finished. It feels like I've finished a project and that is always good.
My Arab Conquest army continues to grow; even if slowly. This time It's a complete set of commanders for Art de la Guerre (ADLG) on the currently trendy 40 mm round bases.
As always, click on the images for larger versions.
Introduction
For the second year running I attended this excellent competition. When
the theme was announced I was relieved to see that my recently completed Arabs
just sneaked into the "Vikings!" theme thanks to the Andalusian Arabs list
(ADLG list 133).
As it turned out this was a very popular choice with three other players opting to pit Arabs against the even more popular Irish and Viking armies.
Travel
On Friday the 13th my wife and I set out for darkest Yorkshire in the pouring
rain. To make matters more interesting it was the first long journey in
our new car: new control layout and computer beeps a plenty. Three hours
later the rain had stopped and we had reached our B&B in Haxby. We
were staying in the
same place as last year
so finding it wasn't a problem.
Introduction
Once again I braved the northbound M6 on a rainy Sunday morning.
Fortified by the mandatory bacon buttie (sandwich), the journey there
wasn't too bad.
We've all done it!. Bought something on impulse that is. In my case I bought the Arab Conquest Army Deal from Red Copper for a mere 30€. The deal includes both 15 & 28 mm versions.
I want to make it clear that I do not own a 3D printer nor do I intend to go down that route due to lack of space in my new home. This makes the purchase seem somewhat less than sensible, but I do think 3D printing is the way forward. Somehow, I managed to convince myself this would be a sensible medium term investment.
In between painting masses of Arab infantry of various types, I've been distracted by such things as baggage tents and command elements. However, the biggest distraction so far has been some camels I bought at Phalanx in June.
