Hindu Indians

Hi,

The following images show a DBA army-worth of Hindu Indians from a larger force I'm re-basing for a demo game I have planned for later this year (more on that over the next few months).
All of the miniatures are from Essex - I'd originally bought 3 DBA armies during a 3 for 2 sale they had a while back, but some of the figure choices provided weren't quite what I wanted so I've added to them since, buying individual packs here & there..

Anyway, first up we have a couple of images of the entire army arrayed. This particular DBA list, III/10c, allows for an artillery piece in place of one of the elephants and although I have painted up the bombard I'm not 100% happy with it. I've since bought some rocketeers which I feel better represent the artillery option, and I'll add those in once I've painted them up.

Next, the general and the elephants. I posted more images of the General's elephant in an earlier post, showing off the hand drawn details on the howdah canopy.

This section of the army can intimidate opponents, unsettling them before the battle has even started, and have the potential to win battles on their own. Used incorrectly however, they can become a liability.

I kept the saddle blankets simple. I've seen some beautifully painted elephant blankets on other miniatures, but I didn't feel confident enough to do them justice (I'll keep practising though).

These elephants come with 4 javelinmen & a driver (there's also an option to have bow armed crew) but aesthetically I prefer 2.

To break up the mass of greyish-brown, and to give the elephants a bit of individuality I painted flesh coloured areas on the trunks and ears to represent the de-pigmentation that can occur on Indian elephants.

Now we have the cavalry. I went with the unbarded horses here, choosing to use the barded cavalry miniatures a Rajput nobles in another command.

The bowmen. These are your core troops - excellent v's mounted opponents, but you need to protect them from heavier foot.

Essex provide a mix of poses which gives them a nice irregular feel. They are simple to paint (I managed 24 elements worth in 2 evenings) and look effective en-masse.

The Blade and Psiloi elements. The psiloi are effective at seizing and holding areas of rough going and can, with some luck and support, take out opposing elephants. The blade give you a means of going toe-to-toe with heavy enemy foot.

Finally we have the camp. This is a Persian command tent from Baueda painted up in red & green to match the colour scheme running through the army.

thanks for looking, and enjoy!!

Bob Mcleish