Classical Indians
After finishing up Alexander's army, I wanted to cover his major enemies.
Porus gave Alex a great fight, and earned the conqueror's respect. Plus,
the Elephants! For now I'm using Zvedza's excellent war elephants but
realistically there should be no howdahs. If I ever find a suitable
plastic elephant to convert, I will...
Anyway, here's what I've got so far:
These are ESCI (now Italeri) "Barbarian" archers. The bows were cut
off & replaced with longer florist wire bows. The sarong is made
of tissue paper, stiffened and held in place with white glue. The barbarians
already had topknots, I painted on moustaches and painted flesh tone
over the trousers.
Since you only get 5 of them per box, I fleshed my archers out with lots
of Atlantic (now Nexxus) Egyptians.
These are Charioteers from the Egyptian set. Again, Sarongs were added.
The two with swords had their rein hands drilled for bows. The
other two had their short bows chopped off and new ones inserted. The
last one was a "Pharaoh" figure so his head was transplanted too -- an ESCI
muslim provided this one. I konw turbans are anachronistic but it looks
ok to me.
The chariots these guys came with will be used in a Mitanni army I'm planning.
The cavalry is a significant element in the army. I used Italeri Gallic
cavalry, as they are bare-chested. The conical helmets look vaguely
eastern to me, so ...
Close enough!
I should do some chariots too, but I'm not certain how they should look.
I'm leaning towards the Zvedza Persian chariot but you only get one
per box and I don't need all those extra Persians. I may g owith the
Atlantic Greek chariots (two per box) but I'd have to seriously alter the
chariot.
Lastly, I did the Psiloi element as javelin men. Porus' spearmen are
not really represented in the DBA list, as far as I can tell, unless they
are optional Blade or assumed to be mixed in with the bows.
These guys are more Egyptians, with sarongs added. The Egyptian shield
shape matches what I've seen in depictions of Porus' troops.