The Szeklers were a key component of the Hungarian Black Army, providing them with thousands of lance and archer armed horsemen to defend against the encroaching Ottoman Empire. These superb horsemen were the perfect foil to the Ottoman Akinjis & Timariot horsemen as both sides could employ shoot and scoot tactics.
Thanks to Google Chrome's translator feature, I was able to find a Hungarian website featuring medieval Szeklers heraldry
HERE which were put to use below.
There are a few that didn't turn out well but my rule for painting heraldry is, "if it looks better than a blank shield, move on!" I did sprinkle in some geometric patters just to keep this from taking all winter.
I primed horse and rider in the horse's base color with Army Painter colored primer. Then I washed the horse in Devlon Mud and subsequently painted the highlight color onto the horse very neatly, taking care not to slop onto the tack. That way, I could paint the tack in a highlight color and the shadowing from the Devlon Mud remained intact. This is much easier than painting the tack in black and then painting a color over the top of the black. I'll be keeping this trick in my stable!
The number of photos is a bit indulgent but with 48 figures in 4 units of 12, I don't want to rush these fellows out the door. In Field of Glory, 4 units of Superior sword-armed horse archers will be Death in the Saddle. I can't wait to get them on the table and demonstrate it. Brandt, get rrrready to rrrumble!
Very nice brushwork, Monty. Especially effective heraldry. The figures look to be 15mm Essex. Is that correct? Basing technique reminds me of MacPhee's brown ballast with Stilfor tufts. Was that your inspiration?
ReplyDeleteJon
You have a very discerning eye, Jonathan. The Hungarian army is all Essex figs and I've employed the MacPhee method for basing for 2 years now. I've dabbled in alternates but I really like the results.
DeleteI game with Scott so it is quite easy to spot his style.
DeleteYou're quite lucky to get to game with Scott. I'd love to do that some day and maybe pick his brain on painting tips too.
DeleteWhen I made my first foray into 15mm historical from Warhammer some years ago, I almost quit in disgust because the way you paint in 15mm is quite different than 28mm. Luckily, I found Scott's blog and a couple of tutorials later, I was on my way with my first historical army, the Carthaginians. I did give Scott a shout out but back then, I had less than 10 followers!
http://twincitiesfieldofglory.blogspot.com/2011/08/my-backstory-in-4-paragraphs.html
Now that I'm painting for Saga, I'm having the opposite challenge scaling back up, lol!
Very good paint job !
ReplyDeletebest regards Michael
Thanks Michael!
DeleteIs there anything Google can't do? ;)
ReplyDeleteThey look fantastic, Monty. I'm looking forward to seeing some game reports.
It is a great tool. With Chrome, I now follow blogs that aren't in English!
DeleteNice colourful troops, neat work again.
ReplyDeleteThanks Andrew!I especially loved the icon of an arm, a sword and a heart stuck half way onto the sword. Who hasn't felt that in their lifetime?
DeleteHi Monty,
ReplyDeletewell done Mate!
great work on the Heraldry! I really like your Black Army, hope to see them on the field of Glory soon;
Cheers
Gilles
Thanks Gilles! I can't wait. I'll have to "rest" the Spanish for awhile so I can master a medieval army.
DeleteMonty - are you playing V1 or V2 rules for FoG? Assuming they are "protected", then they'll be even more effective under V2, provided you can get them into single rank to allow for evading and turn 180-retire-turn 180 moves. In both versions, they are best paired up with a light horse unit.
ReplyDeleteVery nice figures before I forget to say so!
Good advice, Tamsin. We've got the v2 rules and will get a game in soon to get everyone up to speed on the changes. I like the idea of pairing each protected cav with a light cav, especially if they're both Superior. I need to go back and check my list. And thanks!
DeleteFantastic! You are a master of the cavalry, the colors are really impressive...
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Phil.
Phil, thank you so much for your kind words! 2 years ago, I did not like painting horses. After much practice and painting, I love painting cavalry, especially Essex horses. They're such great figures!
DeleteThey're beauties!!! So colourful!
ReplyDeleteThanks Ray!. There are only a few stick figures of what is supposed to be Szeklerys cavalry I could find. With so little source material, a guy gets to fill in the blanks. I looked to the bright colors of horsemen of the ancient world and now, you won't miss them on a tabletop.
DeleteExcellent painting as usual Monty!
ReplyDeleteChristopher
Thanks Chris!
DeleteGreat stuff! More fantastic looking figs from Monty's painting desk. I suspect these units look even better when viewed on the table top a few feet away where all the highlighting truly goes to work.
ReplyDeleteI should probably dialed the size of the pics back a bit. They're a bit large for 15mm!
DeleteI like your use of colour on these. Well done!
ReplyDeleteAnne! Thank you so much for following and let me just say that you live in the place I can only dream of visiting one day-Ireland!
DeleteVery nice, Monty!
ReplyDeleteThanks Pru!
Deletegood job
ReplyDeleteThanks Spock!
DeleteComing along nicely Monty.....is this the new light left by Santa ?
ReplyDeleteYes, it's a huge improvement for taking pictures and for painting after dark!
Delete