As I mentioned previously, I'm basing up a new Amazon army in 15mm scale. The figures are from the Armies of Arcana range, a small but exquisite line of figures, currently sold by Lone Gunman Games. They were painted for us by Old Guard Painters in Ukraine.
This week, I'm getting to Amazons and panthers. I don't know why, but panthers seem such a natural match for Amazons. I went with black panthers; the manufacturer's website shows them in golden tan if you want to see an alternate look. The Armies of Arcana line provides panthers that specifically go with their Amazon riders. I decided to field three different troop types for Mighty Armies, using the 2" square bases due to the length of the panther models.
Amazon Princess-General on Panther
Last time, I showed you an Amazon commander riding a Griffin. For a more earth-bound option (or a larger army!), I decided to have an Amazon princess riding a panther.
I thought the base would look bare with only the Princess, so I added regular mounted Amazon warriors to her flanks. The models are quite similar, but the warriors are distinguished by wide shoulderpads and a skirt-flap.
I followed good advice, and bent the sword-arms to give more variety in pose to the Amazons.
The shield pattern is engraved onto the model. There are some unfortunate bumps in the paint in the white sections of the shield; I'll convince myself that it's from battlefield repairs.
Amazon Warriors on Panthers
My next base is simply an Amazon cavalry base without a commander, using three Amazon mounted warriors.
I only went for one base, as Amazons riding panthers would be rare and elite, right?
To make it easier to tell the troop types apart, I based the Amazon warriors in echelon rather than in arrow formation.
Again, I carefully posed the sword-arms prior to sending the models off to the painting service, to add visual variety.
Panthers With a Bladedancer
For my third and last panthers troop type, I decided to have a pair of panthers on a base, along with a 'beastmaster'-type figure.
I decided that one of the Bladedancer figures would work well as a panther tamer.
You always spot the mistakes after you take the photographs! Looks like the panthers got some flock on them when I gave the base its final sealcoat… I'll clean that up later!