Indian Youths from 2 Different Manufacturers

As I get closer to beginning playtest of my campaign rules covering the 17th-18th century Beaver Wars here in Ohio, I realized I needed more figures armed with bows. And specifically, figures that could pass as Indian "youths." One of the aspects of the campaign is players will create their army list for tabletop battles immediately prior to the game. An option they have is to choose Indian youths -- weaker, less effective figures -- to bulk out their numbers, if they desire. Seeing as how I have few to no figures that fit that category, I decided it was time to get some painted up!

    Footsore Miniatures "Skraelings" painted up as Indian youths

At Historicon 2014, I'd purchased one pack of four "Skraelings" from Footsore Miniatures. When I'd seen them in the dealer area, I was immediately struck by their clean, simple lines. I figure that Indian youths will have less equipment than others because they have not had a chance to accumulate any. The fact they were armed with bows was perfect, too. Youths probably would not be entrusted with a firearm until they became much more common that was typical during the Beaver Wars. I was almost scared away by the fact that the hand with the bow is detached and you have to glue it in. I am NOT a fan of "assemble your own" figures. Those boxes of plastic figures from Wargames Factory are my own private vision of the inner rings of Hell!

I persevered, though, and purchased one pack of four. Somehow, in showing the figures to my friends, a hand/bow piece was lost. Luckily, I was able to find a suitable replacement in my 28mm Dark Ages miscellaneous bags. The hands have a pin end which fit into a hole on the wrist stump fairly well. Still, I would rather not have to glue anything together on my 28mm miniatures -- which is probably another reason I love Conquest Miniatures Indians so much. There's plenty of variety there -- no need for kit-bashed variety created by mixing and matching weapons and body parts.

The figures were incredibly simple to paint, and I will likely order some more soon. There are two main poses - one running and one standing and firing. Each type has a slight big of variety, i.e., the two running poses are marginally different. I like the long, flowing, "Conan the Barbarian" type hair that they are sculpted with. It looks very much like what I picture an Indian youth.

    25mm RAFM Indian Archers

The last two figures I painted in this batch of six are Indian archers from RAFM. Theses are smaller (and thinner) than today's 28mm figures. So, they fit the bill for Indian youths, as well. The detail is noticeably worse than either the Footsore Miniatures or the normal Conquest Miniatures that I paint up. However, I had them in my unpainted lead drawer, so onto the desktop they went.

Next up on my desk are three 28mm Pulp figures. With the conclusion of Dakota Smith's Oriental Adventures first story arc, my friend Tom has volunteered to run the next adventure. That means that *I* get to play. Which means I need my own league. It was fun to dig through my Pulp drawer and pick out three figures and create a back story for them. That's for next update, though...