BLOG AND NEWS
An Elephantine Question
Posted on: 5/1/2012
An Elephantine Question
May used to bring us legions of the Red Army parading in Red Square. (oddly enough so named long before Lenin and his ilk ever were born but that is yet another story) But this May Lead Army has such a special treat to announce that the whole Red Army must be shoved aside to make room.
And, it might take that much room!! For we speak now of Elephants in warfare. When Alexander the Great set out to conquer anything and everything he went eastwards. He even could recommend things to us about Afghanistan for he marched through it conquering as he went east. When he crossed into India however he encountered types of troops which he and the West had never seen before. King Porus of India had a large and combative force of elephants. These were generally ridden upon by a few fighting men who rode astride the beast more or less. Nobility and commanders had a wooden box structure upon the elephant to fight from and to provide shelter and better footing...this was the Howda.
When Alexander's successors settled with Porus he was given back much of his territory in exchange for a payment of a large number of trained elephants. By this time the value of the Howda was established so all known successor elephants had towers upon their backs. These beasts mainly figure in the armies of the Selucid family based on Persia. However in Egypt the Ptolomies decided that they too needed this new wonder weapon which frightened horses and men and which might crack a hole in a mile long wall of pike phalanx. Luckily Egypt had access to the African elephants. These were either the northern variety or the ones from the tree forested areas to the south. Neither African elephant was as aggressive nor as large as the Indian fighting elephant but they were pressed into service. Indian Elephants were in use in many places demonstrating, if nothing else, that there was a lively arms trade even in those years. For Hannibal's best elephant was a single Indian which crossed the alps with him and lived the longest of those in his army in Italy. Pyrrus of Epiris invaded Italy with elephants of his own. The Roman officers told their men that these were merely 'Lucanian Cows' (Lucania was a local district involved) so the soldiers would not be as afraid.
However, when the successors and their families made war at the eastern end of the Mediterranean sea they commonly used elephants. And so, at the great battle of Raphia, 217 BC elephants even faced off against each other!! Polybus wrote of this confrontation,
"The soldiers in the towers made a fine fight of it, jousting with their pikes and stabbing at each other, but the beasts themselves fought still batter, battling with all their strength and butting at each other with their foreheads." (Quoted from Duncan Head, Armies of the Macedonian and Punic Wars, WRG publishers, 1982)
May used to bring us legions of the Red Army parading in Red Square. (oddly enough so named long before Lenin and his ilk ever were born but that is yet another story) But this May Lead Army has such a special treat to announce that the whole Red Army must be shoved aside to make room.
And, it might take that much room!! For we speak now of Elephants in warfare. When Alexander the Great set out to conquer anything and everything he went eastwards. He even could recommend things to us about Afghanistan for he marched through it conquering as he went east. When he crossed into India however he encountered types of troops which he and the West had never seen before. King Porus of India had a large and combative force of elephants. These were generally ridden upon by a few fighting men who rode astride the beast more or less. Nobility and commanders had a wooden box structure upon the elephant to fight from and to provide shelter and better footing...this was the Howda.
When Alexander's successors settled with Porus he was given back much of his territory in exchange for a payment of a large number of trained elephants. By this time the value of the Howda was established so all known successor elephants had towers upon their backs. These beasts mainly figure in the armies of the Selucid family based on Persia. However in Egypt the Ptolomies decided that they too needed this new wonder weapon which frightened horses and men and which might crack a hole in a mile long wall of pike phalanx. Luckily Egypt had access to the African elephants. These were either the northern variety or the ones from the tree forested areas to the south. Neither African elephant was as aggressive nor as large as the Indian fighting elephant but they were pressed into service. Indian Elephants were in use in many places demonstrating, if nothing else, that there was a lively arms trade even in those years. For Hannibal's best elephant was a single Indian which crossed the alps with him and lived the longest of those in his army in Italy. Pyrrus of Epiris invaded Italy with elephants of his own. The Roman officers told their men that these were merely 'Lucanian Cows' (Lucania was a local district involved) so the soldiers would not be as afraid.
However, when the successors and their families made war at the eastern end of the Mediterranean sea they commonly used elephants. And so, at the great battle of Raphia, 217 BC elephants even faced off against each other!! Polybus wrote of this confrontation,
"The soldiers in the towers made a fine fight of it, jousting with their pikes and stabbing at each other, but the beasts themselves fought still batter, battling with all their strength and butting at each other with their foreheads." (Quoted from Duncan Head, Armies of the Macedonian and Punic Wars, WRG publishers, 1982)
Is there a miniature April Fool?
Posted on: 4/1/2012
Is there a miniature April Fool?
Actually there is!! Once again it is the Romans who we have to thank for the custom. As you may know, March 1st was Roman New Year's. It makes sense with the coming of Spring to start the year off with a forward leaning season. Now many of you, like me, have at some time in your life written a letter, document, check or similar writing and then dated it with the prior year or month. This happens a lot in January when you are paying bills quickly and date them with the last year which had become a habit of sorts.
Well, the Romans did the same sorts of things. So during all of March it was socially acceptable to write the previous or wrong date on your document. But, when an entire month had gone by. By April 1st if you made the mistake then.... You were an APRIL FOOL. So, the little tricks and such we see at the start of April have their roots going way way back into civilized history.
So, what about Friday the 13th? Well, this relates to the Middle Ages. The Knights Templar were a Crusading order which was created after the capture of Jerusalem by the 1st Crusade. The Templars were in most of the major battles thereafter until the Islamic reconquest of the area. They were present in all European kingdoms and on the battle front in those resisting the advance of Islamic conquest. As such they had strongholds strategically located over a huge geographic area. This also just happened to be an excellent foundation for rudimentary banking. You could deposit money with one Templar stronghold and reclaim it at another a thousand or more miles away. And, when handling vast sums of money as they eventually did, the Templars were able to begin lending money as well.
This then got them into trouble. Several major monarchs owed vast sums to the Order. The most indebted was the King of France. The King decided he needed to be rid of this troublesome Order. Of course if they were wiped out it also meant that the huge debt wouldn't have to be repaid either. But how to do it? This was an era without radio, television, phones or even hielographic communication. If the Templars got word that a purge were going on they might be able to escape, to seal off their strongholds, or otherwise survive. So, the plan was that sealed orders to sequester and eliminate Templars were sent out in secret. These were to be opened and acted upon on Friday the 13th, October 1307 the King struck simultaneously at many Templar strongholds seizing both Templars and their assets. They were then tried and virtually exterminated. A very very "unlucky" result for Friday the 13th!! Which thereafter carried the taint of being an unlucky day.
As it happens Lead Army has both Roman Senators and soldiers all capable of being April Fools and knights Templar who can display the best attributes of the Order at it's height. Not only are these miniatures beautiful pieces of Art for your home or office, but they are also a memory aide to help you recount interesting and useful history associated with the individuals depicted. We here at Lead Army invite you to take a little art tour of our Roman and Medieval sections and see those who added color to the days of April, 2012.
Actually there is!! Once again it is the Romans who we have to thank for the custom. As you may know, March 1st was Roman New Year's. It makes sense with the coming of Spring to start the year off with a forward leaning season. Now many of you, like me, have at some time in your life written a letter, document, check or similar writing and then dated it with the prior year or month. This happens a lot in January when you are paying bills quickly and date them with the last year which had become a habit of sorts.
Well, the Romans did the same sorts of things. So during all of March it was socially acceptable to write the previous or wrong date on your document. But, when an entire month had gone by. By April 1st if you made the mistake then.... You were an APRIL FOOL. So, the little tricks and such we see at the start of April have their roots going way way back into civilized history.
So, what about Friday the 13th? Well, this relates to the Middle Ages. The Knights Templar were a Crusading order which was created after the capture of Jerusalem by the 1st Crusade. The Templars were in most of the major battles thereafter until the Islamic reconquest of the area. They were present in all European kingdoms and on the battle front in those resisting the advance of Islamic conquest. As such they had strongholds strategically located over a huge geographic area. This also just happened to be an excellent foundation for rudimentary banking. You could deposit money with one Templar stronghold and reclaim it at another a thousand or more miles away. And, when handling vast sums of money as they eventually did, the Templars were able to begin lending money as well.
This then got them into trouble. Several major monarchs owed vast sums to the Order. The most indebted was the King of France. The King decided he needed to be rid of this troublesome Order. Of course if they were wiped out it also meant that the huge debt wouldn't have to be repaid either. But how to do it? This was an era without radio, television, phones or even hielographic communication. If the Templars got word that a purge were going on they might be able to escape, to seal off their strongholds, or otherwise survive. So, the plan was that sealed orders to sequester and eliminate Templars were sent out in secret. These were to be opened and acted upon on Friday the 13th, October 1307 the King struck simultaneously at many Templar strongholds seizing both Templars and their assets. They were then tried and virtually exterminated. A very very "unlucky" result for Friday the 13th!! Which thereafter carried the taint of being an unlucky day.
As it happens Lead Army has both Roman Senators and soldiers all capable of being April Fools and knights Templar who can display the best attributes of the Order at it's height. Not only are these miniatures beautiful pieces of Art for your home or office, but they are also a memory aide to help you recount interesting and useful history associated with the individuals depicted. We here at Lead Army invite you to take a little art tour of our Roman and Medieval sections and see those who added color to the days of April, 2012.
March ROMAN ARMY MONTH
Posted on: 3/1/2012
Photo....
ROMAN EMPIRE MONTH
Caesar!! Beware the Ides of March!! So Shakespeare tells us that Caesar was warned that trouble was coming. And what would be more fitting than to look into Roman figures during March?
The "Ides" of March is for the Romans March 15th. And on that day Caesar the de facto ruler of the Roman Republic was murdered on the steps of the Senate in an attempt to preserve the Republic. This, perhaps sadly, failed to do more than kill Caesar and bring on civil war and the end of the Republic. Octavian, later Augustus Caesar would prevail and become the first Emperor.
But Julius himself, who we remember on the 15th, had quite a personal record. In fact, if you were to collect a single model figure from his lifetime and events he personally touched it would fill a large display shelf all by itself. We are fortunate that the Russian master artists who do works for art studios associated with Lead Army received a 'classical' education. Often their works turn to such subjects even if they are not constantly present in the collectible artwork market.
In his day Caesar expanded Roman Gaul until it was bordered by the Rhine river and the English Chanel. Thus many Celtic warrior figures from Gaul are available as well as Early Germans, Danish (Angles), and Ancient Britons with their early chariot armies. But, he also fought a civil war with Pompey the Great. He fought in Greece with some allies, in Asia with allies, in Egypt with Cleopatra and her army. In Spain with local Spanish troops as well as the legions. Either for or against Caesar you will find almost every military organization on the shores of the Mediterranean sea!
And, if you were to add in some of his political partners..like Crassus from the triumvirates, the list only gets larger. For it was Crassus who fought Spartacus and the Slave Army and who went down swinging fighting the Parthian Empire when it was his lot to expand the Republic to the East when Caesar went West.
Since so many spectacular figures come from the era around Julius Caesar and as Lead Army has pioneered in exceptional Roman background buildings, we have declared March to be ROMAN EMPIRE MONTH. It will not be until later this year that our 2nd piece of the Roman Forum series is released. The Arch of Septimus Severus. This will be equally as magnificent as the Roman Senate building pictured above but we hope it will set new standards for supporting buildings in this art medium. Yes Caesar, the "Ides of March have come, but they are not yet gone" And with that spirit of keeping history alive to teach us all its lessons Lead Army thanks you for your support and attention.
ROMAN EMPIRE MONTH
Caesar!! Beware the Ides of March!! So Shakespeare tells us that Caesar was warned that trouble was coming. And what would be more fitting than to look into Roman figures during March?
The "Ides" of March is for the Romans March 15th. And on that day Caesar the de facto ruler of the Roman Republic was murdered on the steps of the Senate in an attempt to preserve the Republic. This, perhaps sadly, failed to do more than kill Caesar and bring on civil war and the end of the Republic. Octavian, later Augustus Caesar would prevail and become the first Emperor.
But Julius himself, who we remember on the 15th, had quite a personal record. In fact, if you were to collect a single model figure from his lifetime and events he personally touched it would fill a large display shelf all by itself. We are fortunate that the Russian master artists who do works for art studios associated with Lead Army received a 'classical' education. Often their works turn to such subjects even if they are not constantly present in the collectible artwork market.
In his day Caesar expanded Roman Gaul until it was bordered by the Rhine river and the English Chanel. Thus many Celtic warrior figures from Gaul are available as well as Early Germans, Danish (Angles), and Ancient Britons with their early chariot armies. But, he also fought a civil war with Pompey the Great. He fought in Greece with some allies, in Asia with allies, in Egypt with Cleopatra and her army. In Spain with local Spanish troops as well as the legions. Either for or against Caesar you will find almost every military organization on the shores of the Mediterranean sea!
And, if you were to add in some of his political partners..like Crassus from the triumvirates, the list only gets larger. For it was Crassus who fought Spartacus and the Slave Army and who went down swinging fighting the Parthian Empire when it was his lot to expand the Republic to the East when Caesar went West.
Since so many spectacular figures come from the era around Julius Caesar and as Lead Army has pioneered in exceptional Roman background buildings, we have declared March to be ROMAN EMPIRE MONTH. It will not be until later this year that our 2nd piece of the Roman Forum series is released. The Arch of Septimus Severus. This will be equally as magnificent as the Roman Senate building pictured above but we hope it will set new standards for supporting buildings in this art medium. Yes Caesar, the "Ides of March have come, but they are not yet gone" And with that spirit of keeping history alive to teach us all its lessons Lead Army thanks you for your support and attention.
Old New Year's 2012
Posted on: 1/11/2012
As I am late with only the 2nd ever Blog for Lead Army I ought to be creative about it. I could try to hide behind the Russian Church's use still of the Julian Calendar....13 days behind the Western, Gregorian calendar. It might be more truthful to say that the flu/cold/whatever I caught conferring with the Lead Army team in NYC in Dec has taken this long to heal. In any case, my apologies for a late start on January.
Actually, the 13 days difference has been an historical item for a very long time. As the calendars continue to slowly drift further apart due to an imperfect leap year computation in the Julian calendar this will be around for quite some time to come. In the Napoleonic era the two were closer together but somehow Russia's Western allies, like the Austrians, often just didn't 'get it'. The 1805 campaign was one of the worst with armies wandering about the countrysides with completely different meeting dates in mind and thinking that the date was certain!! And, frankly, having been too sick to appreciate Dec 31st I have been cheered that Jan 12th is coming up so I have not totally missed New Year's Eve. I don't know what the neighbors will think, but I will at least celebrate finally when Russian "Old New Year's" is here.
One thing which my NYC trip emphasized for me. The figures are simply much more attractive in real life than in a photo. And Sergei is very particular to try to get the photos as good as they possibly can be of Lead Army's offerings. Even so they really can't do justice to seeing these works of art up close and personally. Now that we are filling in the gaps at the Gettysburg venue there will be at least 2 locations where the Lead Army imports may be viewed live and in person.
For years I have joked to customers about some of the problems with dealing with former Socialist artists. Among those jokes was to point out that many shield patterns show up differently on the same figure. For example, 2422, Crossbow man with Pavise. Simple, very traditional, very historic item. EXCEPT that when I was in NYC and looked at the stock of them there were 11 different crests on the shields!!! Why? Because it really IS true that real artists do get bored painting the same thing more than once or twice. So, to relieve the boredom the artist assigned to that shipment was a little inventive in his intpretation of his assignment. One might say 'typical artist' or similar, but it is still a truth.
So, how can this benefit our customers?? Well, certainly where these pavises are concerned if you have a standard type crest which you want on your crossbowman, write to us. It may be possible to have one of these in fairly quick order, or at least to get it into a production que for the future.
At the moment I recall seeing the same archer with crests/badges for: Single headed eagle, double headed eagle, red lion rampant, Yellow Lion rampant and others. While we are going to attempt to standardize the figures with the photos in the website, this is, after all, art. And artistic license and interpretatation are what give life to these figures unlike any from an assembly line decal/transfer based production.
I guess if there were to be a moral to this blog it is that you must be careful what you joke about as it may come true and home to haunt you as well! May your winter be mild and may Lead Army help to amuse you throughout 2012 Charlie Tarbox Jan 2012
Actually, the 13 days difference has been an historical item for a very long time. As the calendars continue to slowly drift further apart due to an imperfect leap year computation in the Julian calendar this will be around for quite some time to come. In the Napoleonic era the two were closer together but somehow Russia's Western allies, like the Austrians, often just didn't 'get it'. The 1805 campaign was one of the worst with armies wandering about the countrysides with completely different meeting dates in mind and thinking that the date was certain!! And, frankly, having been too sick to appreciate Dec 31st I have been cheered that Jan 12th is coming up so I have not totally missed New Year's Eve. I don't know what the neighbors will think, but I will at least celebrate finally when Russian "Old New Year's" is here.
One thing which my NYC trip emphasized for me. The figures are simply much more attractive in real life than in a photo. And Sergei is very particular to try to get the photos as good as they possibly can be of Lead Army's offerings. Even so they really can't do justice to seeing these works of art up close and personally. Now that we are filling in the gaps at the Gettysburg venue there will be at least 2 locations where the Lead Army imports may be viewed live and in person.
For years I have joked to customers about some of the problems with dealing with former Socialist artists. Among those jokes was to point out that many shield patterns show up differently on the same figure. For example, 2422, Crossbow man with Pavise. Simple, very traditional, very historic item. EXCEPT that when I was in NYC and looked at the stock of them there were 11 different crests on the shields!!! Why? Because it really IS true that real artists do get bored painting the same thing more than once or twice. So, to relieve the boredom the artist assigned to that shipment was a little inventive in his intpretation of his assignment. One might say 'typical artist' or similar, but it is still a truth.
So, how can this benefit our customers?? Well, certainly where these pavises are concerned if you have a standard type crest which you want on your crossbowman, write to us. It may be possible to have one of these in fairly quick order, or at least to get it into a production que for the future.
At the moment I recall seeing the same archer with crests/badges for: Single headed eagle, double headed eagle, red lion rampant, Yellow Lion rampant and others. While we are going to attempt to standardize the figures with the photos in the website, this is, after all, art. And artistic license and interpretatation are what give life to these figures unlike any from an assembly line decal/transfer based production.
I guess if there were to be a moral to this blog it is that you must be careful what you joke about as it may come true and home to haunt you as well! May your winter be mild and may Lead Army help to amuse you throughout 2012 Charlie Tarbox Jan 2012
Book Recomendation
Posted on: 12/4/2011
A Holiday Book Recommendation from Lead Army
The nice thing about beginning a Blog for Lead Army in December is that Christmas Gifts can be recommended. And, with that in mind I am going to suggest THE WARRIOR OF ROME book series by Professor H. Sidebottom. (yes, his real name). Professor Sidebottom is an Oxford University Classics professor who decided he wanted to write historical fiction. As it happens he is very good at it as well as being a terrific military history scholar. The result is the now 4 volume Warrior of Rome series either in paperback or hardcover.
View this item
Why is this of any interest to anyone involved with Lead Army? Well, if for no other reason than the books have a lot to do with the fighting between the Roman Empire and the Sassanid Persians. It just so happens that Lead Army already has one Sassanid military figure for you in its inventory for you once you become deeply interested in the characters from the book series. We have our Persian Cataphract 259 AD who is almost straight out of the story! The figure's plate metal on cloth for his horse and combination mail and plate for himself are the classic Cataphract. Reading book II of the series, King of Kings you will see in your mind cataphracts in their frightening glory.
We hope in the future to bring you more figures from this colorful and exciting period of Empires and societies in collision. The Roman Empire's Eastern frontier was for several decades a cauldron of invasion, revolt, Imperial reaction and more. Exciting Queens, Heroic Emperors and Kings...its all there. In all likelihood by this time next year there will be a line of Late Roman figures and their enemies available from Lead Army
The nice thing about beginning a Blog for Lead Army in December is that Christmas Gifts can be recommended. And, with that in mind I am going to suggest THE WARRIOR OF ROME book series by Professor H. Sidebottom. (yes, his real name). Professor Sidebottom is an Oxford University Classics professor who decided he wanted to write historical fiction. As it happens he is very good at it as well as being a terrific military history scholar. The result is the now 4 volume Warrior of Rome series either in paperback or hardcover.
View this item
Why is this of any interest to anyone involved with Lead Army? Well, if for no other reason than the books have a lot to do with the fighting between the Roman Empire and the Sassanid Persians. It just so happens that Lead Army already has one Sassanid military figure for you in its inventory for you once you become deeply interested in the characters from the book series. We have our Persian Cataphract 259 AD who is almost straight out of the story! The figure's plate metal on cloth for his horse and combination mail and plate for himself are the classic Cataphract. Reading book II of the series, King of Kings you will see in your mind cataphracts in their frightening glory.
We hope in the future to bring you more figures from this colorful and exciting period of Empires and societies in collision. The Roman Empire's Eastern frontier was for several decades a cauldron of invasion, revolt, Imperial reaction and more. Exciting Queens, Heroic Emperors and Kings...its all there. In all likelihood by this time next year there will be a line of Late Roman figures and their enemies available from Lead Army
FEATURED ITEMS
Templar Crusader XII c.
Traditional Hercules
Jacobite Scottish Nobleman XVIII C
Scottish Highlander Archer XVIII C
Janissary Officer with Pipe XVII C
Marshal Berthier
