Yes, I know I'm painting SYW Austrians..and yes..I am still working on my Muscovites....and adding a few bits and pieces to my Poles...oh and yes there are still some 18mm Crimean War figures on the painting blocks......and I do have a few more Vikings to go.......but the conversations went something like this......
FIRST CONVERSATION
Me: "Hey Ross what army are you going to use?"
Ross: "Assyrians."
Me: "Do you have any opponents for them?"
Ross: "No"
Me: "So your army is Assyrian- 8th and 7th Centuries BC ...right?"
Ross: "Yep"
Me: "Any particular ruler?"
Ross: "Yep."
Me : "You're a man of many words. Which one?"
Ross: "Ashurbanipal"
Me: "Ruled from 669BC until 631BC? Considered the last Great Assyrian King?"
Ross: "Yep"
Hmmmmm.... I did a bit of reading.
SECOND CONVERSATION
My kids:"Hey dad, What do you want for your birthday?"
Me : "Elamites"
My kids: "What?"
Me, rolling my eyes : "Elamites. Actually Neo-Elamites. In 28mm. A people who fought the Assyrians. Eureka Miniatures make some."
My kids..rolling their eyes. "Okay".
(NOTE- They KNEW who Eureka Miniatures were!!)
THIRD and FOURTH CONVERSATION
My kids: "Hey dad, What do you want for father's day?"
Me : " Elamites"
My kids..rolling their eyes again: "Okay".
My wife: "John, what would you like for Father's day?"
Me: " Elamites"
My wife- looking across at the kids who just nodded. "Er...ok...."
FINAL CONVERSATION.
Me: " I'm gonna do a Neo-Elamite army from the 7th Century BC."
Ross: "Why?"
Me: "They were opponents of your Assyrians. Ashurbanipal destroyed the Elamite kingdom in 653BC or so. There is a relief in the British Museum that depicts the crushing of the Elamite army. It's called the Battle of Ulai Relief. "
Ross: "Good choice." ( very talkative- TWO words!!)
So as you can see it was a perfectly logical progression from standing in front of Ross' shelves looking at his Assyrians to me getting the forces together for one of their opponents!!
The Elamites are an unusual army. They have lots of archers...even on their chariots. The 'kallipani' chariots actually carry groups of archers to outshoot the enemy.
I also dug out my 'Armies and Enemies of the Ancient Near East' - a staple classic that is always a 'go to'.
They also had lots of light cavalry too. Archers. Chariots. Light Cavalry. Interesting. This is to take on the Assyrian heavy chariots, spearmen, archers and cavalry.
Should be an interesting game when my army is ready!!
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| The archers- waiting for the undercoat to be spray painted |
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| Early stages- chariots- ( yes a unit of Austrian SYW figures just to the side!! Take about getting sidetracked) |
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| Archers and crew- a WIP. Some light cavalry at the back. |
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| The Chariots with lots of archers |
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| Need to finish the flocking..... |
My Reference books!
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| Ross is particularly happy with this relief! He figures that this reflects the outcome of our battle when my army is ready. |
Perfectly logical progression! I approve! The Assyrian Army is one of my favorites too. Which figures are you using?
ReplyDeleteI agree JF- perfectly logical. My Elamites are all Eureka Miniatures from here in Australia.
DeleteGood Grief - I am most impressed that your kids (adults I am assuming??) know who Eureka are? My (young) adult children HAVE bought me the odd wargaming figure for appropriate occasions, but I always have to spoon feed it to them - provide the URL for the web site, a list of possible purchases....etc!
ReplyDeleteYes Keith- they have been spoon fed often enough so they know the company.....although for the exact figures I do have to send thru the URL so they get it right!
DeleteSeems logical reasoning to starting a new project
ReplyDeleteThanks Neil- yes perfectly reasonable to justify the time, energy and money!
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