"Byzantine dilemma!" Topic

I have some Chiltern Miniatures 28mm Early Byzantine Buccelari archers. As supplied they come on fully armoured horses which is not correct for early Byzantines. However on the fully armoured horses they would do quite well for medieval Persians which means they could serve a dual purpose. So should I try and source new horses or accept the armoured ones? If new horses any suggestions for replacements? The figures are quite chunky.

Well, if money is no object, then I would get new un-armoured horses. Essex sell un-armoured horses but they are definitely NOT "chunky". Having said that, I have mounted "chunky" troops on old Hinchliffe horses and I rather like the look. Horses in the ancient world were often much smaller than today's breeds. Off the top of my head I can't think of any other companies that sell horses separately except Hinchliffe and Irregular.

This guy?

picture

That's odd. Mine have unarmored horses. But then, I bought mine when they were originally produced by Whitecross, and IIRC, horses were ordered separately. At least, that's what I wound up with.

I would contact Chiltern and ask to exchange them. The unarmored horses in the range, such as:

picture

..will fit interchangeably, although they may appear a bit small to some eyes.

Allen

Dixon also does seperate horses, but I'm not sure if they do any for the time period or army in question.

I seem to remember that Chiltern will sell their horses separately – might be worth an email to them to find out?

Paul

You want the "small" horses by the way. Horses back then were generally smaller than we know today, little more than pony sized. Chiltern gets this right. The big horses one sees in Ancient/early medieval ranges are actually, for the most part, wrong.

Essex and Navigator both sell horses incidentally, but the Chiltern horses are fine and they do indeed sell them seperately.

This guy?

Yes Allen that's the one. Interesting yours came with unarmoured horses. The non Buccelari cavalry come on unarmoured horses are you sure those aren't the ones you have?

As you can see he would makes a nice medieval Persian – as he is riding an armoured horse wearing mail and firing a bow! Not many 28mm figures of medieval Persians or any for that matter and an army I've always wanted to do. So you can see my dilemma – use the figure as is and start a medieval Persian army too or buy new horses?

By the way Allen are there actually any figures, in any scale that you haven't got or had at some time? lol!