Thursday, 26 February 2026

More 15mm Arab Conquest Swordsmen and a Few Slingers

I feel as though I'm stuck on a rat-wheel of Arabs at the moment but nevertheless have managed to complete another forty-four elements of Arab swordsmen, this time with four to a base to represent 'blade' as opposed to the earlier twenty-eight three-to-a-base elements of warband:











That's one hundred and seventy-six swordsmen completed in this batch, and two hundred and sixty in total including the warband:





















Since they are the same figures as the earlier warband I won't linger on them too long, but here are a few pictures of the new recruits:





















Needless to say, I was glad that there was so much variety in the figure poses with eight different poses:





















I also managed to complete ten elements of slingers, which make an appearance in the Arab Conquest army list but will also be useful for the forthcoming Ghurids, which I swore I would never do until Phil from Toy Soldiers Studio https://15mm25mm.blogspot.com/ put the idea in my head and which I then found I couldn't get out:





















Just a small group of twenty figures but again with a satisfying amount of variety:





















That makes three hundred and eight-two figures completed for January and February so far with another thirty-seven nearing completion, which is my best start to a year ever and the momentum would have continued if I hadn't dropped an army containing two hundred early Carthaginians and their allies on its end while trying to get the A3 storage box out of the back of my car. 

They had just suffered their worst defeat ever after my gaming partner lost five 50/50 melees in a row by managing to roll nothing but ones against our opponents fives and sixes and resulting in five holes in our line, only to be followed by two more in the next round. So when I first heard the clatter of lead upon lead, my first thought was 'serves you right, you bastards', until I realised how much work would be required put them back together. Eighty shields and around sixty spears and javelins detached, numerous paint chips plus half of the wire traces I had originally painstakingly attached to the chariots broken off:

















If you can imagine putting three hundred figures into an A3 box, shaking it a little, and then thumping it on its end, that is roughly the effect. 

I took me around eight hours but things now do appear to be back as they were. To be honest, it wasn't the worst experience as I again got up close and personal with the figures again.

Now on to the last of the Arab cavalry, which I hope to have completed by the end of March.

14 comments:

  1. Oh, what a beautiful rat-wheel to be stuck on! That is really a terrible disaster you suffered. Gives me shivers just thinking about it. Replacing shields and traces sounds painstakingly tough. I might not have bounced back as quickly as you.

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    1. I felt quite numb at first, almost like watching it happen in slow motion, then defeated and then revitalised once I got stuck into them. It really was a waste of eight valuable hours, but they do look back to where they were so it was worth the effort.

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  2. Oh, my! Excellent work on that minis 😱

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  3. That's a hell of a lot of figures painted Lawrence! I have had similar incidents, although thankfully not on that scale. Our "playful" (read bloody annoying) cat scrambled up on top of one of the formica cupboards in the garage and dislodged an A4 file box of 28mm SWW troops, not once, not twice but on three separate occasions over about a month until I made a "wall" of other non wargaming boxes to block her access to the top of the cupboard. I was actually pretty happy with the lack of damage, given the box fell 2m onto the concrete floor of the garage - but it was bloody annoying.

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    1. Storage is normally OK for me apart from a recent leak in my hobby room which caused a mould issue, but transport was the issue for me here Keith. I have magnetised all the bases so and haven't had any episodes before, so had probably become a bit complacent. No cats but two dogs, although thankfully they can't climb.

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  4. Wow, what an amazing output, Lawrence.
    Such accidents are an unwelcome hazard when transporting. Glad they're fixed now.

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    1. Thanks Richard. I was annoyed at the loss of eight hours of what could have been productive time, but glad to have got them back to their previous condition.

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  5. your painted Forged in Battle Arab Conquest Swordsmen look great!
    I love en masse infantry blocks :o) of troops.

    I use 18"L x 12"W x 3"H Corrugated Cardboard Boxes for storing my figures. One day I will work on :o) "magnetising" my bases which I'm sure will be a pain in the backside to do, tired of my bases moving around filled with anxiety of damage to figures is somewhat fearful! :o)

    oh before I forget, Sorry about the Ghurids :o) army worth working on during the year. anyway love your painting style and painted armies really awesome work to follow on your blog.... cheers!

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    1. Cheers Phil. Thankfully my storage and transport generally works and given I'm hauling troops across town at least once a week on average then one accident in the last twenty years is not too bad.

      The Ghurids seem like a useful little army and a logical extension given the crossover with already completed armies. Not long now before I get stuck into them.

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  6. Lots of lovely Arabs Lawrence and you do now have a lot. Dropping your army is making my palms sweat as I’m taking my french naps on a trip today 😬

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    1. Thanks Matt. I think the key is making sure you use two hands when lifting the transport out of the back of the car, rather than one.

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  7. Superbly painted Arabs Lawrence! Sorry to hear about the large box of troops that you dropped. I can only imagine that awful feeling as it hit the ground. It's good that you were able to repair them all, but my goodness, that must have been demoralising.

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    1. Thanks Jason. Yes, it was a strange feeing and initially I just felt like putting them away and forgetting about it, but knew it would nag away at me if I didn't get stuck into it straight away.

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