Converting Freforge Mongols to Saracen mounted archers

Hey, friends, super long time no post. I just thought you'd like to see my conversion of Fireforge Mongols into Saracen mounted archers.

I wish I had a great artistic breakthrough here, but it's really straightforward. I just popped some extra heads I had from my Gripping Beast Arab spearmen and archers on the Mongol bodies and I was pretty much there. While I'm sure a cultural anthropologist would disagree, from a historical mini gaming perspective there don't seem to be any major costume features that separate Saracens from Mongols from the neck down. At least, as I painted these dudes, I completely forgot they were ever supposed to be Mongols,

 Yes, I realize that Gripping Beast does plastic Arab cavalry at about the same price point. Fireforge's Mongols appealed to me more. You get more scimitars with them. 

I dig these guys with their full head wraps.  Note that I made one of these dudes leaning as far back as possible to take a Parthian shot to the rear.

 I decided, since I ran out of fully-wrapped heads, that I'd do some more colorful riders wearing small turbans. I think the full-face wrap guys are Bedouins and the turbans are more urbanized Arabs or Seljuks.

 I didn't realize while I was assembling them that most modelers place a horse archer's quiver at his hip rather than on his back. That's too bad, because I like to model the pose of reaching back over one's shoulder to draw the next arrow. Can anybody speak to the historicality of quiver on back vs quiver on hip?

 Had to let this adorable figure get in on this post. He's a stray Castaway Arts infantryman. If you are an ancients/medieval 28mm wargamer and you don't know Castaway Arts you should really give them a look. They're Australian, but it's cheaper and faster to order stuff from down undah than you'd think... no worse than ordering from England (I'm located in Virginia).

Get a job, you damned hippeis

A hilarious joke in ancient greek - hippeis means cavalry.

Cavalry was not the Greeks' strong suit until the time of Alexander. The cavalryman of the classical period might cynically be described as a guy rich enough to own a horse and thus get out of the rigorous training that a middle class hoplite would get. In battle, they mostly chased down enemies who were broken and fleeing, or disrupted low-ranking troops like peltasts or psiloi. They guarded the flanks of the hoplites somehow, I guess by charging light and maneuverable troops when they tried to flank the phalanx.

Lacking stirrups and saddlehorns, the Greeks didn't do mounted archery or couched lance charges. They did have a nasty spear called a kalyx, which they would use with an overhead downward thrust, aiming for the neck or behind the collarbone. They also used the makhaira (Heeeeeeey makhaira), a single edged saber, shaped to deliver a slicing or chopping blow with the full force of a charging horse behind it. They'd also carry a few javelins, becoming missile troops that could be quickly deployed to a strategic point.

A lot of them went unarmored, but I prefer my figures to flash some bronze, so the ones I just bought have helmets and shields. They were marketed as Carthaginian cavalry by Gorgon miniatures but with their crested helmets and round shields, they read as very Greek.

Work in progress shots:

I decided, rightly, that it would be best to get the horses' saddle blankets all prettied up before I stuck the riders on, rather than trying to paint around their legs.

 Getting down to the details. You like those spears? Those are made of copper wire, pounded and clipped by yours truly. They've got a much better feel than plastic spears and obviously they don't snap. Plastic spears are more regular and more convenient.

 You gotta put a little bit of snazz on their cloaks.

 Shields, ba bang. Probably the best Medusa I've done, and that horse head is no mean feat because I find horses hard to draw. In the foreground is a Trojan.

 I hate to see you go, but I love to watch you leave.

I also had some old horsemen sitting around. I probably painted these guys a year ago. It was encouraging to put them side by side and note my own progress.

                                                                     1 year ago < today

Progress! Now I have to channel this positive feeling into repainting these older guys, which is not my favorite task.