Southern Sung Chinese 15mm DBA Army

Had time today to take pictures of the Southern Sung Chinese army by Essex miniatures that Andy got me for Xmas 2025 - supplemented with some lovely resin figures from Ten Kingdoms. These are the Southern Sung, DBA army III/62b, dating from between 1127 and 1279AD.  The army has had two outings so far, both times defeating Samurai armies.

The General at the head of his cavalry

The camp - a resin pavilion from Amazon, with Essex guards

The Ten Kingdoms resin cavalry

Mongol Light Horse from Ten Kingdoms

Ten Kingdoms Sung artillery

Essex Chinese rocket launcher

Essex solid hordes

The infantry - blades from the left, solid then fast, solid crossbowmen on the right - all by Essex

East Frankish 15mm DBA Army

Another army mostly using Museum Z miniatures, this time the East Frankish and the army of Otto the Great - DBA Book III/53.  

King Otto the Great at the head of his knights

The baggage (and Essex Miniatures cart) and peasants (Corvus Belli figures)

Swabian knights on horseback and on foot (Museum Z Normans)

Archers (psiloi) and Frankish Spearmen (Museum Z Anglo-Saxons)

King Otto and his knights

European Bronze Age 15mm DBA Army

Inspired by Ian Pain's work (as seen on the DBA Facebook group), I recently completed a European Bronze Age army (Book I/14b) in 15mm using Copplestone Casting's fantasy barbarian range.  I went for a bit of a fantasy take on it rather than toning it down for DBA - woad face and body paint and big bronze axes and swords, and hints of Lord of the Rings in the shield designs.

The army itself has a Light Chariot or Blade general, a cavalry or blade element, a couple of other blades, two psiloi, and the rest auxilia.

Achaean 15mm DBA Army

My Homeric 15mm DBA project is now complete.  Having painted up the Trojan army of Priam and Hector, this month I finished the Achaeans - the army of Agamemnon, Menelaus, Ajax and Achilles.  The figures are from the 'Z' range by Museum Miniatures (with the Trojan Horse by Rapier Miniatures) and I think they have done a superb job both in the sculpting, but also in the design - drawing strongly on the archaeological evidence.

"As when a swarm of of clustering bees pours out of a cave, so the Achaean warriors rushed out of their ships and tents, a vast and overwhelming force" (Homer, Iliad)

The Rapier Miniatures Trojan Horse is in 6mm scale, but it works well enough I think.  I painted up a couple of Greeks sallying out.  Their boar tusks helmets are well attested in the archaeological evidence such as this example dating from around 1400 BC, now in the Athens Museum 

The heroic charioteers are depicted in boar's tusk helmets and wearing full bronze armour based on the Dendra Panoply which dates from around 1500BC and can be seen in the Archaeological Museum of Nafplion

Agamemnon and his bodyguards.  The big, 'figure of eight' shields are attested in the famous Lion Hunt Dagger - a 16th century BC artefact found in the shaft graves in Mycenae.  It also shows figures with 'tower shields'.

Menelaus and his supporters.  I have chosen to give him a red beard given Homer describes him as 'xanthos' (either blond or a redhead).

Ajax - "the strongest of all the Achaeans" - and his men.  Homer describes him as of immense stature -"valiant and tall, towering above the Argives with his head and broad shoulders".  Black-haired, he carried a massive shield "of seven-fold bull's hide, and on the outermost, bronze" and Museum Miniatures have obliged with a nice tower shield.

Achilles (in Dendra-style armour) and his Myrmidons, with weapons and poses from the Lion Dagger

More Myrmidons.  Museum have based these figures on the soldiers depicted on the Mycenaean Warrior Vase, found by Schliemann in Mycenae and dating to the 13th or 12th centuries BC.

The heroes in battle array

The Achaean infantry are depicted with figure of eight shields, tall spears, and either in Dendra armour, kilts, or nude.