The Mycenaean army list (no.30) in L'Art de la Guerre allows for a single unit of mediocre cavalry. I've always felt a bit iffy about the use of cavalry in Bronze Age in general, and among the Aegean states in particular, but then I thought, "What the hell, they are permitted, they are mediocre (so hardly a game breaker), so why not?" ... and of course, there is also THIS from Kelder.
So for my 6mm Minoan army, where to start? I thought that Rapier Miniature's new Assyrian cavalry (above) may well fit the bill, so I ordered a pack along with my small Sea Peoples/Myrmidon order. Unfortunately, the Assyrian cavalry have bows and quivers on their backs, so I abandoned the idea.
Late Minoan horseman, from Kelder (2012) fig.8
For a few days anyway. Then I got to tinkering. If I could cover up the bow and quiver, the Assyrians still might work. I played around with a few different ideas until I decided that I could carve away most of the bow etc and cover the mangled remains with a small shield. There is some evidence to suggest that the unusual Mycenaean cavalry may have carried shields, so that seemed to work for me.
So what I've ended up with, are these wee chaps. I appropriated the shields from some unused Sea Peoples javelineers, and to make the unit fit in better with the Myrmidon command, also did a few head swaps to have a few figures in the unit wearing the Sea Peoples headdress.
Of course it also leaves me with these poor headless, armless corpses... never mind.
And here is the result, the most mediocre Myrmidons ever to grace a table top. I'm pretty please with the way they turned out, but - given my penchant for excellent cavalry - I'm not sure that these particular lads will impress on the table top.
In related news, I had a parcel waiting waiting for me when I got home. I guess it's time to start the heavy lifting and paint one or two Minoan spearmen.
