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Friday, December 9, 2011

Clipeati & Armati heavy infantry

The Clipeati were armored footmen equipped with huge shields known as pavises.  The Clipeati formed a shield wall from which the Hungarian infantry could fight. Crossbowmen and handgunners probably operated behind the safety of their shield wall. 

The Armati were the armored footmen who fought alongside the Clipeati. It is not clear what the Armati were armed with but it is reasonable to assume that they utilized pole arms for fighting from, over and around the Clipeati pavises.

I sometimes think I should paint every army twice.  The first time through would be for researching, profiling, choosing figures and color combinations.  In the second pass, I like to imagine that I’d get just the right figures with the perfect color combinations.  If I were to paint the Clipeati & Armati battlegroup a second time, I’d look for different figures for the 2nd rank.  The first rank looks good with the pavise shields but the second rank would ideally be pole armed figures with no shields.

I'm a little unhappy with the faces on these figures so maybe its time to try a new technique.  My face painting technique is very simple.  I put down brown for the base on skin, then flesh and then bring it down with an Ogryn Flesh wash.  The wash didn't take well here for some reason.  I'll have to give it a 2nd wash and maybe when I finish my knights, I'll change my technique.


64 shields in two battlegroups.  A tough looking bunch but I wonder if they can withstand a charge by knights?  I'll have to answer that question on the field of battle.  And I'm sure Al will be happy to run the other side of that experiment!

2 comments:

  1. They are great. I think they would withstand a charge by knights.
    Cheers
    paul

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  2. Thanks Paul! I can't wait to see firsthand. First, I have to finish the rest of the army. Christmas break can't come soon enough!

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