Mounted Arquebusiers

Mounted Arquebusiers

This weekend I have finished my next troop of horsemen. They are 12 Italian mounted arquebusiers from The Assault Group. I have been waiting for some figures to suitably represent this type of combatant for ages so I was really pleased when they released these last year. I wanted a group that were all stationary and was not too keen on the figures they did firing from the saddle as I am unsure whether or not this is how these guys fought. I have always envisaged them more as early dragoons who would dismount to fight and then ride off. From an aesthetic point of view I didn't like the idea of some in the group firing off to the side either. It looks neater with them all in more passive poses on the standing horses.
I bought 2 packs of them standing ready and 2 packs of the mounted crossbowmen in the same pose. For the crossbowmen I bought extra arquebuses and then removed the quivers from the figures to turn them into arquebusiers. I tried turning one crossbow quiver into a pouch with green stuff but wasn't too keen on the result so I removed the rest. I also made quite a few head swaps as I wanted as much variation as possible. I used Perry Tudor heads and also a couple of heads from their plastic Wars of the Roses set. I am shocked that from the 36 Perry Tudor heads I bought I now have about 3 left, its safe to say that the set came in useful for this collection!
One strange thing about these figures is that although they are mounted none are wearing riding boots. In fact they are wearing footwear that looks extremely unsuitable for riding. I have left some in the original footwear but I have used green stuff to model riding boots on about half. Below is a photo of the riders before they were glued on the horses to show the head swaps and green stuff additions. To be honest the boots is just a minor gripe and I think they are great figures. I love folllowing what The Assault Group are releasing and I am very tempted by the 1540s figures they have on the way.

The Arquebusiers



Mounted Arquebusier in riding boots



Mounted Arquebusier in riding boots

Mounted Arquebusiers

Mounted Arquebusiers

More Elmeti and Jinetes



Milanese Elmeti



To the start the year off, while I am recovering from a crushing hangover, I thought I would post some pictures I took over Christmas. They have come out rather dark as it rained constantly and I didn't get much natural light for them. The last set of figures I painted were the new Elmeti and Jinetes from The Assault Group. I already have regiments of these by TAG so I added these extra figures for more variety and I am pleased with the result.You may notice I have changed the sword for one of the Elmeti to an axe, I didn't want them all carrying swords. I have used some of Petes cloth flags to show them as a Milanese troop of horsemen.

Elmeti



Milanese Horsemen



Mialnese Horsemen

Milanese Elmeti

Milanese Elmeti

 Below are a few snaps of the new Jinetes. They look great added to the figures I already have.

Jinetes

Spanish Jinetes

Spanish Jinetes

Spanish Jinetes

Jinetes


Finally I added the commander and standard from the Perry Light horsemen I converted to my Mounted Crossbowmen to see what they would look like riding under a Milanese banner. I don't think they necessarily need a standard I was just seeing how the figures fit together.

Up next should be The Assault Groups Mounted Arquebusiers, I have been waiting for suitable figures for these for years so I am keen to paint these up.

Happy New Year

Milanese Mounted Crossbowmen



Milanese Mounted Crossbowmen