1:72 Late Mycenaean Light Infantry

The late Mycenaean warrior traveling light

At the close of the Bronze Age the way of fighting in the Aegean changed faster than ever before. The palace centers were weakening, chariots were losing their point and the man who could run up a stony slope and attack in a scattered band came to the fore. The set captures exactly this late phase, not the ceremonial image of the heroes of the epic.

The armor was reduced and with it the weight. In place of heavy plate bronze comes a laced corselet of leather or of layered linen, on the head a conical cap with a metal rim, or a helmet with two small horns as we know it from the painting on the well-known warrior vase. The shins are protected by simple greaves, the feet by high laced footwear.

The shield grew smaller, and that is the key to the whole transformation. The tall tower type and the figure-eight type of oxhide gave way to a small round shield with a single grip in the middle, with which one can both cover oneself and run. Light javelins intended for throwing predominate in the armament, complemented by a thrusting spear and a bronze sword with a leaf-shaped blade, suited to the cut as well as the thrust, that is the type that spread from central Europe.

The figures at the small reduction of 1:72 suit the defense of walls, scenes from coastal raids and the picture of a withdrawal into mountain refuges. Anyone building a scene from the end of the Bronze Age gets with them precisely the component that is usually missing from the pictures. When painting, the shade of bronze on the rim of the cap and on the points deserves attention, because the metal is the only glossy element here in an otherwise earthy palette of leather and linen. A bundle of javelins carried in the left hand together with the shield will moreover suggest that these figures opened the fighting at a distance.