Overview
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This 15mm army was created for use with the Triumph! rules.
The Early Tang Chinese army list starts at 618 AD when the Tang Dynasty, led by The Li Yuan (later Emperor Gaozu), was established following the collapse of the Sui Dynasty. The Tang era is considered a 300-year "golden age" (618–907 AD) of prosperity, cosmopolitan culture, and territorial expansion. Notable enemies from the army list on Meshwesh include the Japanese, Koreans, and Tibetans, and even the Umayyad Arabs.
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Army Composition
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In Triumph! Terms, the army has:
3 x Elite Cavalry, one of which is the general
Turkish-style armored horsemen with lance and bow
1 x Cataphract
Heavily armored riders on armored horses
1 x Horse Bow
Central Asian nomad horse archers
3 x Pavisiers
Conscripted peasant infantry equipped by the state
3 x Bow Levy
Conscripted peasant archers
1 x Artillery
Bolt shooters
1 x Warband
Fierce tribal auxiliaries from the frontier
Battle Cards: Mobile Infantry for the Pavisiers and Bow Levy; representing use of mounts to move infantry to the battlefield more quickly. The second Battle Card is Shower Shooting for the Bow Levy.
Point Costs:
3 x Elite Cavalry 12
1 x Cataphract 4
1 x Horse Bow 4
3 x Pavisiers 12
3 x Bow Levy 6
1 x Artillery 3
1 x Warband 3
Mobile Infantry Card 1
3 x Shower Shooting 3
For a total of 48 points
THE ARMY DISPLAYED
Mounted Troops
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The Elite cavalry are Essex riders on Old Glory horses. I added some extras to the riders, like giving them Tang-style beards and moustaches and adding a feather to the top of the helmet. Plus quite a bit of arm bending. The banners are based on illustrations from the excellent 1995 Montvert Publication "The Tang Army". Highly recommended for anyone building this kind of army.
The Horse Bow are from Essex.
The Cataphracts are Outpost riders with some conversions to give the single pose some variety. The horse are Old Glory. They were converted to have a decorated cloth covering on their neck and the top of the rump of the horse. Also a metal faceplate was added. Many of the illustrations I have seen of Tang cavalry show them with a small banner attached to the lance so these were made of paper for each figure.
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The general's theme is the tiger, so his horse is decorated with tiger skin and his banner has a tiger theme.
Pavisiers
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The spearmen and bowmen in these stands are by Outpost figures. They are simple sculpts so I packed as many as possible on the stands to compensate. There are also added transport figures on each stand; a Bactrian pack camel and a wheel-barrow man (both Essex) and a converted pack horse from Falcon. These represent the Mobile Infantry battle card and also contribute to the look I wanted to achieve of a hard-matching army capable of crossing the vast distances of China. They were also given a "dusty" look by dry-brushing light grey. The soldiers were believed to wear state-issued tunics in solid colors; I picked beige, green and deep ochre as a nod to the Tang "san cai" three-color pottery scheme of yellow, green, and white/brown.
Bow Levy
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These stands are all Essex figures with no modifications. I added a baggage carrier as a reminder of the Mobile Infantry battle card and a fourth archer because of the Shower Shooting battle card.
Artillery and Warband
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The artillery piece is by Khurasan and the crew is by Essex. I like the Essex figures because they look like they are doing something and not just standing there.
The warband is three Old Glory brand Dark Ages Irish figures. They were chosen because of the loose long-sleeved tunics combined with bare legs and shaggy hair.
Notes on the Mobile Infantry Battle Card
The rules state a stand with a Mobile Infantry battle card should be represented on the board by a separate square base showing the transport, which is then replaced when they are near the enemy with the actual stand. I thought about doing this by making some Chinese-style wagons or maybe using Bactrian baggage camels, but just went for extra figures on the stand for now. I will use some kind of marker to show that the troops are on their transport.
In Battle
Here the Tang battle with an invading force of Heian-Era Japanese.
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paints a legend from the Trojan Wars.
