"By the early 16th century at the latest, there were troops in Muscovy who carried a small version of the arquebus, known in Russian as the pishchal, hence they were termed pishalniki. As with gunpowder weapons elsewhere, these were relative simply matchlock weapons, but they were to prove their worth as the century developed, and by the middle of that century the famous Streltsi, dedicated to the gun, had been created. The men in this set are not the Streltsi, but those that came before, and would have continued after the creation of that body of professional troops, forming an increasingly valuable part of any Muscovite military force.
Since this is just one of several sets devoted to the 16th century Muscovite armies, and focuses only on the firearms, we were very impressed by the large number of poses on offer. What might be termed a ‘typical' set of 15 or so poses would perhaps have only five or six of these men, but here we find 12 different poses, and for the most part they are really well done. Naturally there is a wide assortment of men at different stages of preparing and firing the weapon, plus one in more relaxed mood and one that has decided to use his sidearm, so must be in contact with the enemy. We thought all these poses were excellent, and thoroughly worthwhile, providing pretty much all you could ask for of such a set. We did have a reservation, unfortunately, which was with the first figure in the second row, who is walking forward with both arms tight by his side, somehow managing to hold his arquebus upright at the same time. The pose is very unnatural and poor, but it is the only one here that makes no anatomical sense. Also the last figure in row three holds his axe sideways, as such figures often do, which makes no sense and just makes him look flat…."
Full review here
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Also….
Moscow Infantry (Ratniki) Set 1
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Moscow Infantry (Ratniki) Set 2
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Ukrainian Cossack (Infantry) Set 1
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Amicalement
Armand
