Friday 13 September 2013

Sling your hook! Sub-Roman Missile Troops

A small but useful (if not perfectly formed!) unit in a Dux Brit army is the missile troops. These British ones are (to no great surprise I'm sure) made from Gripping Beast plastic Dark Age warriors, as per most of the Sub-Roman army. Some have West Wind heads as replacements, but otherwise these are "out of the box".

 At leastthat's a granary, not a glass house, with all those stones!

I found the process of cutting off the spear hands from the arms and replacing them with the sling hands works well. It was worth cutting the sling hands first, then gauging which arms would look "right". The hands, being plastic, are very light and the butt joint is plenty strong enough, in contrast to a metal mini where I would be thinking about drilling and pinning.

Rear view - simple, plain colours.

Slings are a cheap, but devastating weapon in the hands of a skilled user. Classical authors often rate them as more dangerous than bows - arrows are easier to see (and hence block or avoid), and if they don't penetrate, they do little damage. A fast moving rock is hard to spot, and the damage even though they don't penetrate armour  - concussions, broken bones etc, is no joke.

These chaps are probably shepherds or similar woodsy types who use the sling to protect their herds or get their lunch.

Oi, Aelle! How would you like one of these stones in your eye for a stye?

Merry Meet Again!

1 comment: