Saturday 30 January 2016

From PeterD - 28mm Stradiotti (86 points)

This week I have a unit of 8 Stradiotti for my Italian Wars forces and my Renaissance Men side duel.

These are all Perry figures, mostly metal.  There are 6 riders from the pack of Westernised Stradiotti (which are metal castings) mounted on plastic horses.  (This is how they are sold, six metal riders with instructions to buy two sprues of the plastic horses for mounts. ) The other two figures (with the long coats and top hats) are metal on metal, from the Stradiot command pack.


The all metal figure are on the left of each stand.


Backside of the same figures.  I love the poses here.
Stradiotti were Balkan light cavalry, manly Albanian., and were armed with a mix of bows and light lances.  They served first with the Venetian army and famously looted Charles VIII's baggage at Fornovo, including Charles' diary detailing his amorous conquest during his time in Naples.  Charles was so impressed that the French soon hired Stradiotti as did others including Henry VIII.  I painted this unit in less vibrant colours than my Italian units but I think that the figures has lots of colour themselves.

The shield design reminds me of ones I painted for my Hellenistic armies.
Shields are hand painted based on Osprey type illustrations and the flag came off the Internet, but got trimmed down once printed.  On one horse I included a severed head, the must have fashion accessory for Balkan auxiliaries since Cyrus the Great invaded Thrace.


Other entrants have commented that they hate painting horses, but I find it a lot of fun and very rewarding.  My mother (a former Bengal Lancer) was horsey and in my younger days I spent many a weekend being the dutiful son at her dressage and other events.  This gave me the chance to note various horse colour combinations.

The Perry horses are wonderful, especially the plastic set.   A single sprue comes with enough bits for 3 horses with 6 half bodies plus 4 heads, all interchangeable.  This gives you 24 different horses in the basic set, plus more with the armoured heads that come with the Knights.  I've yet to find a losing combination and you get a sense of a unit galloping at the same speed but with different positioning of legs and heads and differing horse furniture.

I am continuing my experimentation on basing and again looking for critiques.  The ground is a mix of Acrylic Gel with Raw Sienna plus fine ballast.  I then washed the bases with Raw Umber and am quite pleased with the colour effect.  I think I've hit the right combinations of Italian dirt colours.  Foliage is a few tufts from the Evil Empire.


I am looking forward to fielding these ruffians in an Italian Wars game soon.
I really don't know what to say about your mother being a Bengal Lancer and so will take a pause and politely move on. 
Great work Peter! I really like these cavalry, especially their bright colours and the varied shields. I think these will make the gendarmes have to think a bit before they commit to their typical panzer assaults.  
As as suggestion, you may want to apply a highlight (or a thin wash) to your horses, especially the bays/sorrels. I think their musculature, especially around their hips, hocks and fetlocks would benefit with a bit more definition from shading and/or highlights. Just a thought. :)
These Stradiotti will give you a base of 80 points, but I'm adding a few more for the hand-painted shields and banner. You may think you're crushing me Douglas but I have you fixed in my sights now (ahem, riiiight).

37 comments:

  1. Very nice Stradiotti. I have seen them in many army lists but without a clue how to paint them.

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    1. Thanks Clint. Oddly enough I had trouble finding colour illustrations of these lads.

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  2. Nice figures Peter and well painted. Those shields turned out very nicely as well.

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    1. Thanks Anne. Shields are another thing that I enjoy painting, even tho a lot of folks would rather see their dentis!

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  3. Really nice. The bright colours add some "fun" to what appear to be murderous horsemen of fortune.

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    1. Thanks Jamie. Murderous horsemen of fortune about covers it.

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  4. Brilliant work, the shields really make them stand out on the field of the tabletop.

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  5. Nice stradiots Peter :)

    I'm with you on the horses - I find them fun to paint. You'd never have guessed that from the amount of cavalry I have in my armies, would you? ;)

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    1. Thanks Tamsin. So why are you painting a force that never seen a horse?

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  6. Super work, Peter! I think these look really great. Stradiotti are some of my favourite troops from the Italian renaissance - they always cause problems on the table - and yes, for friend and foe alike! best of kuck painting some more of these chaps!

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    1. Thanks Sidney! This fills a hole in the army lists.

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  7. Nicely done. I also notice that every horse has its own pattern. This Renaissance duel is very entertaining to follow.

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  8. Another fine unit, you will have a great looking army when finished

    Ian

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  9. Fantastic work - your Italian wars stuff looks wonderful and it's becoming a very tempting era to give a try

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    1. Thanks Miles. Maybe the bug will spread further via the Challenge. I picked it up from Brendan the Kiwi last year.

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  10. Thanks Curt.
    I think it safest to be unclear about my parentage...
    Thanks for the tip on the horses. I did in fact do both washes and highlighting on these lads, but will have another look. It may be my lack of skills as a photo, as figures often look "flatter" in JPEG than in reality.

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  11. Nice work on them Peter! Lots of color with lot!

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  12. Great work Peter - I am enjoying seeing this project move along.

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  13. Really nice. The bases are excellent. I agree the horses are a superb product. Great work and interesting history as well. cheers

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    1. Thanks Brendan. Glad you like the bases, I was pleased with how they turned out.

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  14. Really nice. The bases are excellent. I agree the horses are a superb product. Great work and interesting history as well. cheers

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