"Opinions on Old Glory 15s Ming Chinese" Topic

Does anyone have any experience with these? If so would you recommend or not? Thanks.

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Finished painting a large army of them about 6 months ago. I like them. As usual with OG a good variety of poses and always paint up better than the bare metal would suggest.

If ever there was a range crying out for an artillery pack though….

Martin

Thanks Martin. Not sure whether to use the OG to supplement Grumpy's or vice versa.

I just had a look at OG15's Ming and thr figures look quite good. I'm now tempted to buy some myself, and pit them against their nemesis, available from Khurasan. link

Yeah but don't Grumpy's look great too?

pit them against their nemesis

The Chinese Manchu from Khurasan depict Chinese soldiers from the Manchu era, after the Manchu conquered China, not enemies of the Ming. These would look more or less like their Ming opponents.

The cavalry in the Mongol-like style is almost universal, and you can use many of the Khurasan Manchu and Mongols for the northern Ming troops. A look at some depictions from the Injin war showing the Ming army on service there shows their equipment:

The attackers are Ming…

I built a full Ming army for a tournament last March – when it was cancelled I stopped the speedpainting process. I even asked my wife to 3d-construkt a "great general" and a warwagon and printed some of these for my DBMM army:

I used dearmed infantry as crews.

That said, the bulk of my infantry comes from Old Glory. Fine minis with a decent variety of poses. I can just recommend them highly!
Depending on which era you want to play you need to complement them with other troops. Guns changed a lot, especially between 1592 and 1640, but also handguns.

BTW: Imho, the nemesis of the Ming was the Ming rebel, though there is hardly a contemporary regional force that was not pitted against a Ming style army over their 250 years of fame.

From a historical standpoint the unarmored infantry are passable while the unarmored/armored cavalry are based on outdated sources.

Ming cavalry were predominantly clad in sleeveless, knee length brigandine armors with full length metal armguards.

The Chinese Manchu from Khurasan depict Chinese soldiers from the Manchu era, after the Manchu conquered China, not enemies of the Ming. These would look more or less like their Ming opponents.

The miniatures are based on parade armors, they lack vambraces
worn by combatants. Note that the two piece(separate waistcoat and skirt armor) predate the Qing conquest as the Jurchens during the Battle of Sarhu wore both variations. There would be little to distinguish Ming/Jurchens other than metal masks, scabbard orientation and larger bows.

A look at some depictions from the Injin war showing the Ming army on service there shows their equipment:

Unfortunately, the original scroll was destroyed in 1874 with the surviving copy dating to 1886. I suggest referencing Ping Fan De Sheng Tu《平番得胜图》 or this recently uncovered collection of scrolls.

@Wansui: These are some fine sources. Thanks!
The links to the "Ming Military" do not seem to work. I am a registered Patreon, so they are likely bound the wrong way here.

You do not happen to know about a good book covering organization and equipment of the Ming military?

The lack of a comprehensive 28mm range of Ming seems to me a glaring gap in the world of miniatures. 250 years of probably the largest military in the world, and all we got are a dozen individual minis …

BTW: For the cavalry in my 15mm Chinese expedition forces in the Imjin war I used the Korean line from Essex for the cavalry for the core, supplemented by Jurchen and Mongols.

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Not sure what went wrong there.
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You do not happen to know about a good book covering organization and equipment of the Ming military?

I'm not aware of English sources that can hold a candle to the aforementioned blog.

The lack of a comprehensive 28mm range of Ming seems to me a glaring gap in the world of miniatures. 250 years of probably the largest military in the world, and all we got are a dozen individual minis …

Compared to Sengoku era samurai there's lack of popular media representation, publications and interest.

The closest I've seen to a complete range is Kensei's Katai miniatures though they are definitely not 100% historical. I'm sure we'll see something by the end of the year ;)

BTW: For the cavalry in my 15mm Chinese expedition forces in the Imjin war I used the Korean line from Essex for the cavalry for the core, supplemented by Jurchen and Mongols.

I haven't come across period artwork depicting Ming cavalry with half sleeved brigandine. Some shared components are helmets, helmet finials and melee weaponry. Korean armaments can be considered a subset of mainland East Asian continental traditions. If we bring Mongols into the mix from a visual and historical standpoint they are not too dissimilar to the Ming.