28mm Cataphracts Command - Relic Miniatures

In the course of their eastern conquests the Macedonians encountered very heavy cavalry of a type used for generations in Persia, and which the Greeks called "kataphractoi", meaning "completely enclosed". Not only were the riders themselves covered from head to toe in heavy bronze armor, but their horses as well were similarly protected. Recognizing a powerful tool, the Seleucids especially incorporated these units into their forces.

Cataphract cavalry were slow moving but extremely powerful, well suited not only to breaking the strongpoints of the enemy's line of battle with a momentous charge, but also to remaining in close combat, protected by their extensive armor, where other cavalry would have been put at a great disadvantage by masses of infantry.

These figures are 28mm models from Relic Miniatures, and are fantastically detailed with ornate helmets and many, many-pieced suits of armor. The standard bearer wears a metal face mask. The standard itself is part decal (the wreath element I cut from a LBM transfer) and part freehand (the eight-rayed sun and the border lines).

28mm Thorakites - Relic Miniatures

It's a slow process for me these days, with a lot of other things keeping me from painting, but my unit of Seleucid thorakites from Relic Miniatures is growing in proportions.

These are the four figures I've just added to the unit. I've given them North Star spears and made the javelins from some hollow brass tubing, the end of which I pinch in some pliers and then shape with clippers and a nail file. For a couple of them I've also added an arrow or two caught in the shield. I trimmed some short lengths of thin brass rod, attached shaped slivers of wood for the feathers, and inserted it into little sockets in the shield made with a pin vise. I have no illusions about them being sturdy attachments, but I figured it would be alright if they just lasted long enough for me to take some photos.

The shields again are hand painted, though it seems Relic is working to make some transfers with Battle Flag for these types of shields.

28mm Thorakites Command - Relic Miniatures

Having been absent from this particular genre for a little while, it is really good to be painting some 28mm ancients again. This set is Relic's Thorakites Command, my first foray in to Successor armies.

The Thorakites themselves are interesting subjects. As a troop-type, they are a fairly late development in the Macedonian/Successor style of warfare, a late evolution of the supporting troops that the iconic phalanxes relied on to guard their flanks, protect them from enemy skirmishers and whittle down the enemy ranks with javelins (when I start in on the rest of the unit the soldiers will carry both spears and javelins, to show their versatility).

They were well-off men, as their equipment was expensive, and between the cost and their late arrival on the scene, they were not employed in very large numbers. From what I hear only the Seleucids ever deployed them in bulk - so I've given them great big Seleucid icons on their shields. After the arrival of the Romans in the Greek theaters of war the similarity between Thorakites and Roman-style infantry were noted, and some referred to the former as "imitation legionaries", assuming that they must have been derived from their western neighbors. However everything I've read suggests that they are in fact of indigenous Macedonian/ Successor evolution.

Well, here they are. I didn't have any relevant transfers for the shields, so I've painted them by hand. In time these guys will be the command element of a larger unit. Stay tuned!

 And here are some closeup shots of these personalities: