Sassanid Clibinarii Regiments #1 and #2

[Rob Herrick]

Since Sunday is a slow day at the LGS, I decided to let the 25mms out of their box and take a few photos. Here is the first of them, the beginnings of my 25mm Sassanian Army.

Clibinarii Regiment #1, from the side:


Clibinarii Regiment #2, also from the side. They're shooting in the charge of Regiment #1, or at least look like they are!


As usual, more pics on the blog!

[nevermore]

Very colourful love em as it takes alot of effort to put so many colours in a model it is well worth the effort...nice eye candy well done

[EvilGinger]

Very nicely done & I like the colours, especially as its surprising quite how bright even natural dies can be on silk & the ancient & early medieval Persians loved there bright colours

Ginger

[Rob Herrick]

Thank you both!

The Sassanids are difficult to paint because they have to be so varied. It's like painting knights. They look very pretty when they are done, but Lord do they make you work for it!

[EvilGinger]

I know I have several Sasaanian armies in store & am meaning to do another some time as figures are getting ever nicer. who are the figures by?

Ginger

[Rob Herrick]

I know I have several Sasaanian armies in store & am meaning to do another some time as figures are getting ever nicer. who are the figures by?

Ginger

Regiment #1



From the left, figures 1-3 and 6-9 are Old Glory 25mm Sassanid Clibinarii. The lances are Xyston spears; I looked at Foundry or A&A lances, but they're too big for the Old Glory hands. Figure #4 is a Gripping Beast from their Sassanid command pack, with an Essex flag. Figure #5 is a Gripping Beast armored drummer.

These were a first stab at painting 25mm Sassanids, and I wasn't happy with them. I've since changed both my basing style, drastically improved my shading, and how I paint the bows and armor. I'm also not sure about lance pennons - I like how they look on a lance, but I have seen different reports on whether the Sassanids had them.

They also fought poorly in their first outing. One of the members of my gaming group is painting Byzantines; he already has Huns, Late Romans and Germans in 25mm. He paints considerably faster than I do, so we ran a game with a Byzantine list for one of Belisarius' campaigns in Italy and this Clibinarii regiment as mercenaries (I'd seen reports of Sassanids fighting in Italy).

They shot poorly and then a Goth regiment got the worst of them. I actually had to fire the Roman General and replace him with my General Custer miniature to get them to do anything!

Regiment #2


All of the figures are Gripping Beast. Eight of the nine were Clibinarii with bows. The middle one is a Gripping Beast standard bearer from their standard bearer pack. He carries an Essex large draco - it's beautiful but VERY fragile, and I'm afraid it will quickly break if handled. Since the Gripping Beast horse broke in shipping, he's riding an Old Glory horse stolen from a currently unpainted Sassanid.

I had a serious bit of trouble with these figures. Lots of flash on man and horse I had to grind out with a Dremel, and fitting them on a 60mmx40mm base took a LOT of work. I have another regiment of them currently being stripped for repainting, and then all subsequent ones will be either Old Glory or A&A.

[EvilGinger]

I wouldn't have put on lance pennons as Kontos' where not lances that was what the Romans called a Konterion a much lighter spear altogether. The Kontos was actually a cavalry pole arm & the fighting style was much more like that used with the Japanese Naginata on horseback than any sort of lance or spear.

I have a reproduction & on foot it handles well if used with basic Bill fighting techniques, but its very tiring almost as bad as playing with a Dane axe, I do ride but have never tried this form horseback as I am not that good a horseman & I don't think a nag borrowed from a ridding school livery stable for a hack would put up with me trying.

Ginger