the box front, some good ides for painting
Another addition to the growing stable of excellent minis from Wargames Atlantic is this set of Mounted Knights 1150-1320. After the Normans had established the lance-armed and armored knight as the essential expression of Western Combat in the late 11th century development slowed. Armor gradually became more comprehensive but remained almost exclusively chain mail over a padded undergarment, helmets grew in size and protective qualities and the lance became heavier.
This set reflects that evolution. In it you will find twelve mounted knights covered from head to toe in chain-mail armor (very well rendered) riding horses covered with a protective caparison. The knights are cast as torsos with legs having the heads and arms all cast as separate items allowing a huge array of posing options. The horses are cast as five pieces; the body split lengthwise into right and left halves, a tail, a head and neck and finally a set of reins. All of this is molded in medium hard gray plastic and exhibits excellent detail, no flash and very few mold-lines are present. Of course there is a wide variety of heads for the knights from a simple cloth cap to the complete head-encompassing Great Helm.
the box with contents; two sprues of horses, three of knights and bases
horses, the caparison drapes well over the body of the horse and flows realistically
Knights, side A
even the backs of the shields are detailed, sell done
Knights, side B
the bodies are realistically proportioned and posed with a stunning array of heads to choose from
there is also a vast selection of weapons including two types of lance
this is where I discovered that contrast paints aren't for everything
they almost got another trip to the spray booth
(in retrospect that might have bee quicker!)
the red was just as bad,
too thin on the highlights and huge dark drops only in the lowest part of the folds
lots of fussing and touching up on the horses slowed the painting process to a crawl
thankfully the knights were much easier to get sorted out
in the end I had two units for Midgard with a leader and one spare
in looking at the blow-up of this picture I realized
that there is still some work to do on the yellow section of the caparison
he turned out pretty well,
nice arrogant pose and a ridiculous golden bear on his helmet
the chain-mail is sculpted just coarse enough to paint well
and fine enough to look the part
I couldn't squeeze this guy onto a Midgard base so he is currently footloose and fancy free
but I have a box of Conquest Knights in my inventory so he will soon find his way into service
the ability to vary the pose of the minis is a big attraction for me,
holding the lance a bit higher, or looking to the side adds so much character to the figure
I understand that the most outlandish of the helmet decorations were reserved for tournaments,
but I couldn't resist incorporating one in each unit
as with the Sergeants I assembled the minis with the lances (mostly) upright
this greatly eases storage and avoids breakage during play
the tiny 1/8th inch square faces are surprisingly characterful,
and equally difficult to paint!
in the smaller areas of the head and neck the contrast paints worked reasonably well
only requiring some touch-up where they got carried away flowing onto flat surfaces
I will have to hunt up some flags or lance pennons
Another truly great set from Wargames Atlantic; at around $3.75 a mini they represent and excellent price and the quality is simply top-notch. The ability to customize the poses and details allows the gamer to present minis that are true individuals. In addition these figure will share parts with Wargames Atlantic's Mounted Sergeants set, adding another layer of options during assembly. If you are considering either skirmish games or large battles these are an excellent choice.
Very Highly Recommended!!
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