Recently there have been several games looking at the colonial wars; Isandlwana was fought, and someone is working on a big Sikh wars collection. This got me thinking about some of the other European conquests around the world and I started to read up on the Mexican conquest of 1519-21. The mismatch in numbers on the one hand and technology on the other grabbed my attention and the more I discovered about the Aztec (or more correctly, Mexica) culture and their style of fighting the more I found it interesting.
I'd also been looking for something that would be different to what I've already done from a hobby point of view. So, a move to 28mm, with a splash of colour that I haven't really had since I gave up on the world of GW. The intricate designs of the Aztecs will give me a good challenge.
I've painted a few test models from Gringos40, and very nice models they are too. Little flash to remove and a few nice details.
For source material, the two failsafes of Osprey and Google have helped me a lot! There is a historical document called the Codex Mendoza which gives lots of detail about Aztec outfits. This has been summarised really well here: http://balagan.info/painting-guide-for-an-aztec-army
So, here we go: the Aztecs were split into several military orders, dependent on the number of captives the warrior had taken in battle. This was a really unique aspect to Mesoamerican warfare, in that the Warriors would not necessarily try and kill their opponents, but instead would try to take captives to take back to the temple to be sacrificed.
The Macehualtin were the peasant levy. Like all Mesoamerican cultures, they wore cotton armour and had weapons made from wood with sharpened obsidian blades.
I've painted three Macehualtin Warriors - two archers, and one with a spear. Aztecs made great use of the Atlatl, or spear thrower, but these miniatures don't have that represented. I've used some rigging techniques to thread the strings for the bows!
The next miniatures I have are three warrior priests, who have taken 4 captives in battle and so qualified to wear the 'starry night' decorated full bodysuit with a pointed conical hat. This style of uniform was associated with warriors who had taken 2 captives in battle, but the starry sky pattern was only worn by these priests.
I've used the Osprey book and the Codex for painting inspirations for these.
Ah! more periods, looking good though Paul.
ReplyDeleteYes, something different again! Cheers Tony.
ReplyDeletePaul
Wow! Your figures look amazing! My Dad also painted miniatures and did an excellent job. Do you sell any of yours?
ReplyDelete