1:72 Russian medium cavalry of the 1st half 15th century

Russian medium cavalry of the first half of the fifteenth century

Figures of horsemen in 1:72 scale from the brand MARS Model, capturing the medium cavalry of the Russian principalities in the first half of the fifteenth century. The set is part of a coherent line in which the maker sets the rival and the allied components of eastern and central Europe of that time side by side, so it can be combined with its Lithuanian cavalry and infantry of the same period. The plastic is in a single color and waits to be painted.

The horseman of the Russian principalities

The warfare of fifteenth-century Rus lay on the border of two worlds. From the European side it took over the longer lance, the long sword and a growing share of plate additions; from the steppe inheritance of the Mongol period it took lighter saddles, the recurve bow and the saber. Medium cavalry stood exactly between the light scouting horseman and the fully armored man-at-arms: it wore a mail or scale shirt and a conical helmet with a mail aventail, and it fought both by charging and by shooting from horseback. It was precisely that flexibility that made it the backbone of the princely retinues.

Getting the riders and the horses into color

Divide the set up: first the horses, then the riders, and only at the end join them. The coat gains depth after a glaze and a dry brush, and the harness takes a deep red or green. Suggest mail armor with a dark base and a light pass of metal over the raised areas. Leave the kaftans and the caps in earthy tones, so that the colored trims stand out.

Intended for

• builders of eastern European battlefields of the late Middle Ages
• players of tabletop battles with mounted formations
• collectors of coherent historical lines
• modelers who like painting horses

The riders and the horses are supplied in the color of the plastic. Paint and glue do not come with them, unless stated otherwise.