Stradiots

Stradioti

Stradiots or Stradioti, I am not sure what the correct term is for these Balkan Light Cavalry. The figures are from the excellent Assault Group range with a few from Venexia. The Assault Group figures are superb and the details have come straight from contemporary illustrations. Have a look at the below pictures, the second is based on an image by Urs Graf, a mercenary soldier himself:



Stradiots






Stradioti



Stradiot by The Assault Group

The figures are spot on, even down to the coifs under the felt hats. The Venexia figures were more hard work as the torsos were separate from the legs and they needed to be drilled, pinned and glued together, which was not easy. I am pleased with the result though. The Stradioti were supposed to have carried weapons called Assagaye or Assegai, spears that carried points at both ends. The Venexia figures allowed me to show an example of this weapon. The Assagaye is converted from one of the plastic pikes in the Perry Mercenaries 1450-1500 plastic set:

Venexia Stradiot with an Assagaye



Venexia Stradiot with an Assagaye

 Another characteristic weapon of the Stradiot was the mace. I have added maces to a few of the figures and denoted the captain by showing him with a large mace. They also carried crossbows and I painted a couple up to add to the figures. In the end I couldn't add them to the horsemen in a way that looked natural and fitted the group so I left them out.

Stradiot Captain



Stradiot Captain

Venexia Stradiot with a mace added

Stradioti were ubiquitous by the end of the Italian Wars and appeared in armies for most sides. They even made it to Scotland during the Rough Wooing in the 1540s, fighting for the Tudors! I wanted this band to be usable for all sides. Initially my idea was to paint a Stradiot flag that would have been carried in any side but I couldn't find anything suitable so I decided to use James Roach's excellent tip on flags so I could change the alleigance of the unit depending on what flag they carried, http://olicanalad.blogspot.com/2010/07/top-tip-flags.html

Following on from this decision I have had my eye on these excellent cloth flags for a long time http://thegreatitalianwars.blogspot.com/2011/05/venetian-flags.html . This decision finally forced my hand into picking up these flag sheets on ebay, I am really impressed by the quality of these flags and I think they have a real renaissance feel to them. I like my hand painted flags but I cannot match anything close to the level of detail on these! With the simple changing of the flag the Stradiots can now fight for any side:

Stradioti in Imperial Service

Stradioti in Venetian Service

Stradioti in French Service

The interchangeable flags are a great idea. I have some figures from The Assault Group that I am going to paint up as standard bearers so I can add plenty more to the collection. I have already prepared some Venetian ones shown below with an old Foundry Conquistador. These kind of designs were always far to difficult for me to paint myself and I think these are superb. I particularly like the one bearing the image of the Virgin Mary and Child, a popular renaissance and medieval theme.

Venetian Standard Bearer



Venetian Standard Bearer with a Banner bearing an image of the Virgin Mary and Child



Venetian Standard Bearer