Some Minifigs 'S' Range 'Medes' - actually Persians but the Persian/Mede codes were the wrong way round for these figures. So they are really Persians even if Minifigs called them Medes.
| Originally I was going to base these as Sparabara but finally decided on 3Bw and - well, spears on an 3Ax or similar base. |
| Again, two different styles of figure for the spearman! |
| This unit was a 40 strong unit bought from Harry. To fit my systems I've increased the size to 48 figures and included an extra officer and standard bearer - both Garrison - so it could double as two 24 figure units. One thing I couldn't quite match was the shield colour - so the shields on the extras might have to be repainted at some stage. Although actually Medes, not Persians, these figures were coded as Persians by Minifigs. |
| Other than painting extra figures and a minor repair on the original standard bearer the figures have just been rebased. |
| In common with many other 'S' Range figures there are two different variants. |
| These two units are a bit of an oddity. All the slingers and javelinmen I have other than these are either Garrison or PB figures! These are basically odd figures acquired with other figures/purchases. Harry, Charles Grant and Harry all had Garrison light javelins and slings; Harry and I had PB javelins and slings in our Macedonian armies. |
| The slingers aren't all 'S' Range though. Some are PB. |
| One thing about 'S' Range is that there were usually a least two variants. The front two figures are both 'S' Range A.Gr.9s - according to the catalogue it's supposed to be equipped with a shield like the middle figure - but the front figure has the code engraved on the upper surface of the base. The figure at the back is a PB figure. |
| These figures are a bit strange. There is no light javelin listed, just 'Greek Peltast (Medium Infantry) Charging.' So I assume that this figure is the 'medium' peltast! |
| Again, two variations. In true Minifigs tradition, one of the these with spear held vertically was obtained by me in the 70s directly from Minifigs. It was in that order I've previously mentioned when an order for some Egyptians came with five different figures... so it could be a weird Egyptian figure with crescent shield :) |
Having a quick look though Rick's blog Notitia Metallicum I realised that I don't really do justice in the area of figure identification/listings. One set I could include the Barbarian side of the 'S' Range - I've done a lot on Greeks, Persians, Egyptians and Assyrians, nothing on the Barbarians. Mainly because they're not painted.
| One reason for this is that I have PB Range (though S chariots!), Garrison and Airfix armies already. Most of these are ex-Harry, some were originally mine as part of my 70s Successor armies, passed on to Harry, then came home when I acquired Harry's collection! |
| However, I do have a load of S Range infantry lying around, even a few I undercoated grey a long time ago! |
| Now, it's worth noting these are Minifigs. Most of my ids could be wrong... Minifigs would produce several figures with the same code (sometimes at the same time) and some S Range figures transitioned without change into the PBs Range! |
| AF1s Frank Axemen Advancing - I'm publishing these in the order they sorted themselves on my hard drive rather than catalogue order. |
| AG1s Gaul heavy Spearman Advancing. The first figure I take to be an early version, the second figure is S Range 'cos it's shown in the picture in the catalogue... |
| AG2s Gaul Standard Bearer. This is an early version. You will see a different standard bearer in the chariot - that could be later S Range, could be PB... |
| AG10s Hun Archer... It's Minifigs, don't ask! |
| AG11s Gaul Heavy Spearman, early version. Later version could well be the back figure listed as AG1s of course - there's no number on the base. |
| AG12s. The one on the right has the code on the base (as AG12), the other one is assumed to be a variant. |
| AG13s Gaul Spearman (Ancient Briton) - id assumed but there is a worrying spike on the shield rather than just a boss. |
| AGC1s Gaul Lancer - assumed it's the lancer, not the javelinman! Early one piece casting. My two piece casting of Minifigs Gauls all seem to be PB Range figures. |
| AGC4s Gallic Chariot. Ex Harry, chariot painted by me, no idea who painted the PB Range crew. |
| APt1s and 2s, Pict Spearman Advancing and Pict Archer, Kneeling Firing. |
| Makes sense to include a catalogue page with this! |
| Minifigs 'S' Range or very early Persian chariots. How could I resist? |
| They came with some of the generic chariot horses. Should have a few more lying around to make up the numbers. |
| The buy included these horses. Don't recognise them - they had H7 on the base, no idea who the manufacturer was! Might use them for an Egyptian general's chariot. |
| There were a few other pieces in the box, little of use. A couple of the pieces may be from the same chariot as those two horses, not sure. |
So anyway, the figures are now in Dettol, so it gives me some time to decide what I want to do with them!
Can't remember the last some Minifigs 1 piece 'S' Range cavalry came up on Ebay, but I'm always on the lookout for them.
| The lot included some Assyrian cataphracts - my cataphract unit is full, but these will be able to fill in the spaces of the heavy cavalry giving me 2 12 figure units. |
| Next, couple of Persian spear armed cavalry. Only ever seen these on Ebay once before... missed them because I forgot about the auction... Still, few more years and enough more might come up to make up a unit. Think of the long game. |
| Finally, the lot included these. Might find a use for the Hinchliffe Clibanarii some day. |
Thing about these is that they were listed as Byzantines and there was no mention of including Minifigs - so I'm quite pleased with myself for spotting them.
The second squadron of Minifigs 'S' Range Assyrian one piece cavalry.
| They're generally in good condition though two horses have lost their crests. |
| Armour is basically dry brushed. I did make the mistake of painting the bases green instead of sand but the filler hides most of it. |
| Originally I had intended to leave the centre of the shield plain bronze. However, it didn't really look right because the centre has an embossed pattern on it - so I had to paint a centrepiece. |
Many years ago Harry Pearson sent me a tin of figures containing 'JohnBee' figures. It's one of those 'must look at sometime' projects that was filed apart from a couple of photos. As a result of the last couple of 'S' Range posts I thought I'd look at the box again...
| Found these... |
| Quick comparison and they're 'S' Range! Strangely, does seem to be minor variations across all of them as far as tail and helmet plumes go, don't know if these represent casting issues, more than one master used or updates during the lifespan of the figures - can never tell with Minifigs! |
| So checked the other cavalry figures. The cataphracts (mostly - see above!) have the 'typical' 'S' Range tail. the other figures don't.The last figure has to be JohnBee - smaller than the others, But look at that second figure. |
| So compared that Hun-type figure to the Assyrian 'S' Range horse archer... similar tail (not all the one piece figures seem to have the typical tail), similar head, rider a similar size. Differences horse body not as deep... that's it, really. So is this an early one piece 'S' Range figure of the 'Gaul or Hun horse archer? On balance I think it is closer to the 'S' Range figures than the JohnBee figures! But not certain. |
| So went to look at another one of the 'boxes-in-waiting' - 'S' Range Gauls. Found 6 'Gaul Lancers' in there, turns out they were one piece castings as well. Again, the known 'S' Range figure is a bit heftier than the '?' figure. So still haven't the faintest idea - has to be one of the two, balance of probabilities probably in favour of 'S' Range, but far from certain. |
Ain't Minifigs wonderful!
Found them!
| As previously mentioned, looking a bit the worse for wear. I like the original paint scheme. |
| I have to admit though that I'm a bit concerned at how well the spears will survive any remedial work! About the only painting needed would be the spears, stirrups and the arrows in the bow cases. Other than that, minor touching up paintwork. There should be another figure lying around somewhere. |
These figures have been gradually bought over a period of time in small quantities, hence painting and basing has been held back in the hopes of getting more!
| Greeks, Macedonians, Assyrians, Persians and a lone Philistine. |
| I have enough of the Greeks and Macedonians for a 6 figure unit of each plus a couple of others. They were acquired part painted - for example the Macedonian horse has eyes painted in! I have assumed the 6 figure unit to be the Greeks, the 3 figure unit Macedonians based on comparing helmet designs with the infantry. I have 3 more Macedonians to finish off. |
| The Assyrians. These were bought unpainted - one unit of horse archers finished, EHC and HC lancers undercoated. I have enough figures for full size units. For the HC I even have enough to make a bigger unit! |
| Sadly, I only have one of the Persians that came ready painted. I do have a dozen to paint up myself but I won't be reaching this standard! The Philistine came unpainted and I'm afraid I only have this one. |
| Finished unit of Assyrian horse archers. Being part armoured I suppose I should have used them as heavies, but that would leave me with no 1 piece light Assyrian cavalry! |
I also have a painted (needing restoration) unit of Byzantine cataphracts but not sure where they are at the moment!
At least, the markings on the base say they are G4s - but G4 is supposed to be 'Greek phalanx spearman receiving cavalry'. On the other hand, codes appear to have been more a case of optional ids amongst early Minifigs - there seem to have been a lot more Greek hoplite types than the catalogue suggested, often with the same code!
| Anyway, as I said these figures were already half painted. I have to admit that although the figures are very basic I quite like them. |
So things like that pond are still taking up all my time...
Put it this way, the original was about 6' by 4' and a bit under 2' deep. The present version is currently about 22/24' by 10/12' and up to 3' deep. It's taking a while to dig the thing out and stopping everything else. Had hoped to have had a casting session by now, it keeps getting put back..
That being the case, already did the Egyptians, so this time I set up the Assyrians. They have been covered before and not much added, just gave me an excuse to get them out! (To be fair, have been quietly painting a (very) few Japanese, but again figures that would normally have taken a couple of days are taking a couple of weeks.)
| Unlike the Egyptians these are not sorted into Divisions - just one glorious mixed up whole. |
| Also unlike the Egyptians this lot haven't been designated as 'finished' - still a few units patiently waiting their turn. |
| It's also an army that is not purely Minifigs 'S' Range. This lot are from about 1975-1978 and have Minifigs chariot bodies that I had 'updated' with Lamming horses, crews and wheels. At the time I was building a Lamming Assyrian army and used the chariot bodies to make 4 horse rather than Lamming 2 horse chariots - Bill was always happy to sell 'bits'. Really must paint the bases to match the current army. |
| Same basic style, but these are ones I did just a few years ago - all Minifigs 'S' Range apart from Garrison chariot wheels. The armoured horses are 'S' Range cataphract horses. The general was inspired by the next lot. |
| The next lot are ones I got from Harry. The design looked good so I took it as a template for my 2 horse chariot force! |
| The spearman in this acts as the general for the 2 horse chariots - and is one of my figures painted back in about 1970. He would originally have crewed one of the 4 horse chariots from the first chariot picture. |
| Chariots painted by me from unpainted ex-Harry chariots. Some of these are crewed by Garrison 20mm I cast. |
| Finally some ex-Harry charioys credited to Ray McGarry but given Assyrian crews to replace their original Persian crews - this is, after all, the 'right' chariot for Assyrians! |