Mongol Cavalry - 2nd Batch Completed After Long Gap!

    Another troop of Mongol cavalry gallops out from the steppes to raid their neighbors - 28mm Curteys

It was midsummer when I painted my first batch of Mongol cavalry. Now, snow covers the ground and I am just finishing the second batch. I know that painting mounted troops takes longer than foot, but this was ridiculous! To be honest, I have not spent the last six months on these figures. Rather, the Mongols were pushed to the back burner and I didn't begin my second batch till a couple weeks ago. The intervening time was spent painting figures and terrain I would need to host the Saga tournament at Advance the Colors 2021, as well as some demons for Reign in Hell, and a couple batches of post-Apocalyptic miniatures.

    I tried a new method of painting the robe patterns on these miniatures - color Micron pens!

One of the things I like about these 28mm Curteys miniatures is that there is so much variety in poses. I'd ordered a good number of packs when I bought the figures for the army from 1st Corps. So, it was fun to pull out the previous eight that I had painted and look through the packs and pick out the miniatures that I wanted to paint. I like to mix in a pack of four horse archers with one of the many command packs they produce. This gives not only a nice variety in poses, but also in weaponry. After painting this batch, I am definitely making a change for the rest of the army, though. Eight mounted 28mm miniatures is simply too big of a batch for my tastes. I prefer painting in smaller groups of figures. I don't know whether it is because I get bored doing that mean reins, saddle straps, etc., all at once, or if I like to progress more quickly. Either way, the biggest batch I'll do from this point is five or six.

    Lots of patterns to do on these figs - from the dappling on the horses, to the robes, quivers & shields

Another change I'm going to make is chocking up something I was trying with this army up to a failed experiment. After cleaning the flash from the figures and gluing on any shields, I used white glue to attach the rider to a wooden peg. In the past, I would epoxy the riders to the mounts before priming and painting. However, while painting the Carolingians, I got annoyed by how hard it was to get in behind the shield of the rider. So, this would allow me to turn the figure to any angle necessary, I thought. It DOES make painting all parts of the rider easier. However, there's a problem. Not all riders fit securely onto all the horses. Some had huge gaps between the saddle and the bottom of the rider. For about half of the finished riders and mounts, I had to fill in the gap with green stuff and paint more. I have had this occur with other miniatures, so I don't think it is a particular problem with 28mm Curteys. I think it is even MORE annoying to have to go back and fix the miniatures after they're painted than it is to get my brush in behind any shields. So from now on, I am back to attaching the riders to the horses before priming and painting!

    I am a fan of the sheer variety of poses in the 28mm Curteys Mongols - different poses and weapons

I did something brand new on this batch that I am extremely pleased with. Instead of using my 10/0 brush to paint the patterns, I purchases a pack of colored Micron pens. I fought it is MUCH easier to draw designs with a pen than it is with a brush (for me, at least!). The pack had a half dozen different colors, which gave me a lot of leeway on color combinations to use on the patterns. I had previously experimented with a black Micron pen for tattoos, lettering, and stuff, and considered it a success. Why not take it to the next level, I thought? You DO have to be careful about doing a wash or anything over top of the ink in the pens. It will run if it isn't completely dry. However, I found that waiting a couple days was enough. I may also try on the next batch to seal the miniatures with clear coast before doing my black or brown wash over the figure. I am very happy with how the robe patterns came out on this batch of eight.

 

    Lots of equipment on these minis, some of which gets its own pattern like these quivers & bow cases

Painting these miniatures are very time coming -- especially in batches of eight! Even so, there are weapons, quivers, bow cases, saddle pouches, drinking gourds, extra weapons, and more festooned all over these riders. I have been putting patterns on the quivers and drinking gourds, too. There is definitely a "too much" line you have to be wary of crossing when doing miniatures like these. Painting every article of clothing or every piece of equipment with its own pattern would be too jarring to the eyes, most likely. So, it is a kind of "less is more" effect. I suppose very subdued patterns might lessen the jarring effect. Frankly, though, it is a good thing not every piece of equipment is decorated!

    Step 1 to making the figures less top-heavy -- gluing on lead sinkers from a fishing supply store

One potential drawback to the 28mm Curteys miniatures for some is that they are noticeably smaller in size than other ranges. However, I made it a point to compensate for that with a taller oval base (ordered from Litko Game Accessories). I also ordered the matching magnetic bottoms to stick to my tin-bottom trays. I have to be honest. I ordered about the smallest oval base I thought the figures could conceivably fit on. Why? Welllll...in Saga, Mongol mounted warriors are armed with composite bow, which has a 6" range. Huge bases would simply make it harder for a back rank of figures to get within range. Smaller bases can squeeze together more closely, plus the base's shape should allow the back rank can interlace with the front some. Yes, I know that seems "gamey." However, I honestly think it will be a challenge to do well with a horse archer army in Saga. It is so easy to load up a board with terrain, and the composite bow doesn't seem like an overpowering weapon for most of the army to armed with it.

    Step 2: Paint the base with 50/50 brown paint and white glue and dip into fine, brown ballast

This solution to basing lead to another potential problem. Would the figures be too top-heavy? The smaller footprint of the bases meant this might be an issue. How to counteract that? I got the idea to buying lead "sinkers" from a fishing equipment store and glueing them along the base. I wasn't 100% sure a cluster of 8-10 of these would make a difference, but I was willing to give it a try back when I did my first batch this past summer. After the figure is epoxied onto his base, I squirt Tacky glue around the edge of the figure's metal base. I then push in as many of the tiny sinkers as I can.

    Step 3: Paint base in 50/50 white glue & water, then dip into Woodland Scenics Blended Turf

Once dry, it is now time to cover up these little bumps with flocking. I begin by painting the base and sinkers with a 50/50 mix of brown paint and white glue. I then dip the base into fine brown railroad ballast from Woodland Scenics. Once that is dry, I cover the base with a 50/50 mix of white glue and water. I then dip the base into Blended Turf from Woodland Scenics. Next, comes the first spray coast of clear matte. Once that is dry, I paint blotches of white glue onto the base, covering it up with Blended Grasss from the same manufacturer. While still wet, I add in a handful of tufts, and the bases are complete. I was very pleased to see that the figures DO seem very bottom-heavy now. Was the sinkers? All the flocking? Not sure, but I'm happy my base experiment seems to be a success with the Mongols.

    The final product - a rounded, hopefully natural looking base that blends in well with the tabletop

So what's up next for me? Well, I got a group of Pictish crossbowmen to add to my Picts Saga army. So, I am squeezing that in first, before working on more Mongols. I promise it won't be another six months before I paint up my next batch!