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can't go around playing viking, medieval or fantasy scenarios with out any
civilians, right? And what is usually their mission in these games? Right
again, running around being in trouble, being captured as victory points
or rescued by the knights in shiny armour (especially an important mission
for the girls). So, as I found some packs of captives in
Eurekas web-shop I figured that
I had to have a closer look at them. In all, Eureka have 9 packs of
captives, all made by Museum Miniatures. They have three styles,
Mediterranean, medieval and nude and each style comes in three different
packs, female, male and a mixed pack with mounted figures. The mounted
packs hold four figs while the rest holds eight figures each. There are no
pictures of any of these figures but as "captives" could be regarded as
"not appropriate" for minors to view, I'm ok with that. I skipped the
"nude" and went for the Mediterranean bags instead.
Captive female, Mediterranean 15/MA21 comes with four poses, two figures of each pose. Two of the poses looks ok but the two in the centre on this picture should be re-sculpted right away! The kneeling figure has a face that could fit on any caveman (yes, man!) but here she looks more like a transvestite then anything else. What was on the sculptors mind when he/she designed the girl in the toga... I'm not sure that I want to know. My first reaction when I saw that figure was " It's miss Piggy from the muppet show!". That lower jaw is huge! She'll scare of any barbarian looking for victims and any knight on a mission to save fair maidens in distress... Ok, to be fair... these figures would surely serve as markers in any game... but not much more.
Captive male, Mediterranean 15/MA24 comes with four poses and two figures of each pose. The bag I recived had actuarly five different figures, two versions of the same pose, (fig 5 and 6 on the picture) one in shorts and one nude. My guess is that this was due to a error when packing, not done with intention. As one can se on the picture most figures are well proportioned and would probably generate a fair amount of gold on the slave market. The only figure I have some doubt about is the fig 5/6 on the picture. This figure is a little bit too flat over the shoulders to look normal, but I can live with that.
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My entire army lined up for battle. Details can be found future down on this page.
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A band of wild-looking peasants. Maybe they will come to represent Karelians or Russians since they have a bit of an "eastern" look. They are from the left; HR47 Hussite Crossbowman, HR46 Hussite Flail Infantry and finally three wild HR40 Prussian Tribesman armed with axe and bow. None of the figs comes in any variations. |
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Another gang of armed peasants. They are three HR19 Medium Infantry Pikeman. who comes with or with out the mantel. Note that the pikes are made from separate wire that has to be glued in position. The hands of the figs are however not formed to grip the pikes. The Crosbowmen are HR 59 13th Century Crossbowman in two versions, and in the middle a HR 47 Hussite Crossbowman.
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| Locally drafted and poorly armed infantry was the back-bone of the army that defended Sweden. Their armour and weapons where produced by the local back-smith or inherited from earlier generations.
HR 24, Dismounted Curror/Hobilar comes in t three variations. The basic figure is flanked by two figures displaying their extra equipment.
The number of variants of HR 58, 13th Century Spearman is large, I have found six different figures. They are basically the same figure as HR 24, but is carrying various kinds of shields, helmets and sometime some bag.
HR 11, Infantry Pavaisier with spear comes in two versions. The figure to the left is wearing a mantel and a helmet of a more "simple" and older kind.
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To provide the "fire power" the infantry preferred crossbows rather than the long bow. The crossbow had a lower rate of fire and a shorter range, it was much easier to aim and had a better penetration of armour. The HR 5913th Century Crossbowman comes as two different figures, one with the crossbow loaded and ready to take aim, the other one is loading. The later figure comes with five different head gear. From the left: Loading crossbowman with a simple helmet and some kind of protection for his neck. The next one has the same helmet but no protection of the neck. Bareheaded or with chain mail hood. Crossbowman with English looking tin hat. Crossbowman with simple helmet, ready to take aim. Finally a crossbowman in a "Viking kind" of helmet and a mantel.
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It's odd to talk about crossbows and "firepower" since there isn't to much fire involved in the "firing". These figures however, do use fire. The HR 10, Infantry Handgunner. comes in two versions, with or without the mantel. The figure is a bit shorter than the all the others. It's quite visible but, I can live with it. |
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The heavily armoured pike men enters the arena and proves that a well trained and disciplined infantry can defeat the noblemen's heavy cavalry. The figure FHU 6 Human Pikeman comes in four versions. They differ both in head gear and in body armour.
My Pikemen ready for battle.
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Another weapon that proved it's effectiveness against cavalry was the Halberd. The weapon had three functions. The spearhead to use as ...well as a spear, a hook to pull a rider out of the saddle, and finally an axe for chopping. The billmen often worked closely with the pikemens. The figure HR20 Heavy Billman comes with seven different head gears. |
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Here are my commanders. There should be no doubt who the two in the front line represents. The other two in the second line are purely fictional. The figures are (from the left): HR 12 Dismounted HR1/Infantry Officer. I only posses this figure, so I can not say anything of variations here. The other officers are HR50 Dismounted 13th Century Knight/Infantry Officer and comes with two different helmets. The HR13 Infantry Standard Bearer, are all identical. I don't know why the flags looks the way they do, I have never seen anything like it before...
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Finally, there just have to be some cavalry. This figure comes in two versions, with or without the hood. They are all carrying a crossbow on their back. (I'm sorry, I don't remember the Irregulars code for these figs.)
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