"28mm Rus ?" Topic

Old Glory makes some, anybody else ?

Gripping Beast do: very nice indeed.

The Gripping Beast do a very nice range. Much nicer IMHO.

Molniya makes some post-Mongol Russians, but I haven't seen them yet. Otherwise, as the other posters have noted, Gripping Beast have it all over OG in this range. In particular, stay away from the OG cavalry.

jeff

I have not the faintest clue if it matters at all miniature-wise if we're talking about the pre-Mongol Russians or post-Mongol Russians. I believe to have read that some people had gripes about GB horses. What are the opinions about those in this context? (Haven't seen either OG nor GB nor Molniya, so enlighten me!)

As the owner of a horde of OG Rus who has looked elsewhere for variety, I can tell you that the OG Rus are smaller than just about everything else out there. The Magister Militum Rus and Gripping Beast Varangians tower over the OG Dark Ages Rus, as do the GW Kislevites.

Stylistically, the Rus get more ornately "Russian" and less like Vikings (which is what they started as) over time. If you believe the progression seen in the WAB books, the Kievan Rus use of cavalry progresses from none to dominating by the time the Mongols arrive and turn them into a vassal state. Except for a little more eastern influence, they don't change much under the Mongol Yoke, which is the period when a lot of the Russian folklore developed to remind folk of the greater times before the Mongols arrived.

The MM Rus look to cover the earlier Kievan period, as the Norse influence is still very visible. The GB and OG Rus span a little more time stylistically, but both really stop with the Mongols in the mid-1200s. The OG "Mongols in Europe" line can be used to stretch the Rus into the Yoke period, but not all those miniatures match the Rus very well. I use the GW Kislevite skirmishers as "Tribal Allies" from the WAB BBGG list, but they fit the Yoke period better.

For pre-Mongol Rus, archers compatible with the OG Varjazi are hard to come by, though the OG "Asiatic Horse Peoples – Slav Archers" will do in a pinch.

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WAB – Warhammer Ancient Battles
BBGG – Byzantium-Beyond the Golden Gate
GB – Gripping Beast
OG – Old Glory
MM – Magister Militum
GW – Games Workshop

GB Horses aren't great, but Darren will sell the riders on their own. Rumour has it the horses are being re-designed. Some of the Essex horses will probably suit them (they make the nearest thing I've seen to a steppe pony too, btw).

Simon