Wednesday 26 February 2020

15mm Tibetan Garrison Troops

There is not a lot of infantry in the Tibetan army list, and only two units of actual Tibetans comprised of garrison bowmen and spearmen which i have managed to complete over the past couple of weeks:


















Upon reading this the first question that came to my mind was where were they actually garrisoned? The capital Lhasa was the obvious answer, but I was quite interested to find that the capital was only shifted there by the first great Tibetan emperor Songsten Gampo in the 7th Century. Previously the capital was Taktse Castle, a formidable-looking place high in the mountains with, to my eye at least, a far more mystical quality, but probably not conducive to trade and the protection thereof, which is why the I surmise the emperor must have chosen to shift the capital. Whatever the reason, it provided the spark for Tibetan expansion and the beginning of a 250-year empire. The six elements of spearmen are rated as inferior, but don't cost a lot of points and may still come in handy:


















The figures are again Khurasan Miniatures:




































The six elements of bowmen are slightly better trained and rated as ordinary:




































Again they should come in useful and, in the absence of any other choices, suspect they will be making a few appearances.




































That's the infantry done. Now back to some cavalry in the form of some bow-armed light horse.
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11 comments:

  1. Jonathan Freitag26 February 2020 at 18:40

    Nice work, Lawrence! Not only do you provide beautiful figures but a history lesson too!

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    1. Lawrence H26 February 2020 at 20:23

      Very kind of you Jonathan. Just a few bits and pieces I'm picking up via the internet as I move along with the project.

      Delete
  2. rross26 February 2020 at 21:05

    Very nice work on these little guys Lawrence....a very unusual army to collect so will be interesting to see this army grow

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    1. Lawrence H26 February 2020 at 22:22

      Thanks Keith. I think I'm approaching the halfway mark at the moment, and I estimate about a month to go depending upon work and life commitments.

      Delete
  3. Phil26 February 2020 at 23:22

    Unusual and beautiful units, and interesting historical background!

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    Replies
    1. Lawrence H27 February 2020 at 03:00

      Thanks Phil. Yes, unusual is definitely the most apt description for this army.

      Delete
  4. Mark Strachan27 February 2020 at 12:13

    You are going hammer and tongs with these Lawrence. Careful you will be using the “complete” word soon.

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    1. Lawrence H27 February 2020 at 17:15

      That's one of my favourite words Mark. I really want to be able to write "That's the last of my 15mm Ancient armies completed" so I can get back to some 28mm Napoleonics. The thing about 15mm Ancients though is that at least they are getting some decent game time, whereas the 28mm Napoleonics would appear to be only for my own entertainment at this stage.

      Delete
  5. caveadsum147129 February 2020 at 05:49

    Lovely looking Tibetan infantry! No idea about them till Younghusband comes along and shoots them at the tail end of the 19th century, they don't look much different in the photos!
    Best Iain

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    1. Lawrence H29 February 2020 at 12:56

      Thanks Iain. yes, I saw those photos and was amazed how little they must have changed in the previous thousand plus years. That's the nice thing about this army in that I'l be able to roll them out for renaissance games as well.

      Delete
  6. Maria17 March 2020 at 16:54

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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