Art De La Guerre

KevinD · Post� le: Mer Oct 18, 2023 11:28 pm Sujet du message: 15mm Almughavers

What figs do you like for 15mm Almughavers? (For a 14th c Aragonese army)

And what color should their spear shafts be?

Lina14 · Frondeur Inscrit le: 12 Oct 2023 Messages: 1

Hey there!

For 15mm Almughavers in a 14th-century Aragonese army, I'd go for figs with detailed armor and cool poses. As for spear shafts, I'd say a dark wood or a weathered brown would look awesome.

KevinD · Post� le: Jeu Oct 19, 2023 4:35 pm Sujet du message:

Thanks.

Would they be more likely to be in armor or in fur tunics?

Mark G Fry · Post� le: Ven Oct 20, 2023 10:32 am Sujet du message:

KevinD · Post� le: Ven Oct 20, 2023 4:53 pm Sujet du message:

Thanks, Mark. I had seen that illustration before but sort of forgot about it. It looks like 1-2 dudes in Aketon/Gambeson and the rest wearing plain cloth (presumably wool or maybe linen). They don’t really seem to look like what I’d imagine raiders from mountains or war ravaged borderlands should look like…

The bit about spear colors was my (lame) attempt at a joke after my previous request on information regarding these was mocked…

What I’m really interested in is what figures to use for a force of 14th century Almughavers for an Aragonese army that I’m expanding my Khurasan HYWar French army into…

As an aside I wonder how they actually fought. Their usual operational employment seems to have been as very effective light infantry raiders, not field actions. If forced into a field battle would they have maintained their light infantry mode of operation or would they have formed up as heavy infantry? Also, even if they were used as MI Sp Impact, should they be allowed Missile Support? Their crossbowmen are frequently mentioned and weee noted as being quite good. We’re they employed in close cooperation with the spearmen. Unfortunately I don’t know of any sources that describe how they actually fought in field actions; the best we have, AFAIK, are some unfocused comments about Kesiphos.

Mark G Fry · Post� le: Sam Oct 21, 2023 8:55 am Sujet du message:

Hi Kevin

By the C14th I am (personally) not convinced that Almughavars were "raiders from the mountains" any longer.

The 'traditional' WRG Armies of the Middle Ages image of a unarmoured, shield less (mountain raider type) infantryman, in a sleeveless woolen jerkin and a soft Phrygian style hat, armed with a long-knife, a pair of short javelins and a longer spear probably went by the wayside as the Almughavars were hired into more professional amries and sent out across the Mediterranean, first to the Balearic islands, then Sicily, then Greece and ultimately Anatolia. We even hear of Catalan (Almughavar) guardsmen in later C15th Byzantine service - apparently in elaborately decorated, gold cuffed and hemmed light blue tunics, but we have no idea how they were armed.

As we don't really know for certain what C14th Almughavars really looked like, ultimately its your choice how to depict them.
My own view is that as they progressed across the Mediterranean and as time passed, they possibly fought in denser formations and acquired more armour (so HF spear might be a good classification), however, that is all just supposition.

However, I think that the current ADLG unit classifications MF, spear impact (elite) or MF, sword impact (elite) work fine (for me anyway) and there are enough HF spear in the Spanish list for you to use some of them as heavier Almughavars if you so desire.

Cheers
Mark