Horse Archers

Just painted some Sassanid horse archers from Baccus.  The Galloping version rather than the standing ones.  These are a lovely casting with lots of detail that are a pleasure to paint.  Horses have a nice animation to them and a mix of long tails and bound up ones which matches the evidence for how they actually groomed them.  As these are light horse I went for a mix of Brown's Chestnuts and Bays for the horse colours and used a palette of colours based on Hyacinth Bloom colours for the riders silk clothing.  I chose the Hyacinth colour palette as it seems to match the colours in things like the Osprey on Sassanids and Parthians.

I still need to do the texture on the base to finish them but they look so nice I wanted to share.  I just have the odd 35 left to paint!

I try to base light cavalry in a less regimented layout then close order cavalry hence the two outside riders starting to turn away.

Once the Baccus shopping cart reopens after the workshop revamp  I will be ordering a second pack of the Sassanids plus two packs of Parthian Horse Archers which will do very nicely for allied horse archer types.  The Parthian's are bare headed with a headband while the Sassanid's have a mix of 'light bulb' style hats.  I'm wondering if a few Scythians might work for mercenary horsemen.  The main difference between them and the Sassanid and Parthian castings is that they have a three lappet cap.

 I have been making inroads into the lead mountain but everytime I think I have cleared my desk some one adds more to the 'to paint' pile.  The fact that that person is me doesn't help!

This parade of unpainted lead is taking a long time to clear.

Still If I'm reducing the lead pile it is probably time to buy more!