Cossacks - the sons of Taras Bulba!

The Russian project continues. I wanted some Cossacks but not the regular kaftan wearing types of the late 18th and 19thC with regulation equipment and uniform. I wanted some wild steppe warriors who were happy to fight anyone as long as there was plunder to be had and songs to be sung!

TAG seemed like the obvious choice as their Renaissance range had some wild looking fellows. I'd never bought from them before and had no idea of what I would be getting although their figures did look good in the pictures. After a slight xmas related glitch the figs arrived a few weeks ago.

I was disappointed with the horses, they looked, well, almost dog-like and I was tempted to change them out for something else. However I stuck with them and when the horse and rider were saddled up they didn't look so bad. The riders were just the bunch of rag tag cut throats I was looking for!

Here they are again in the bare metal. 

For inspiration I stuck on the Yul Brynner film Taras Bulba - after all what Saturday afternoon isn't complete without a matinee - especially one with sword fights and a cast of thousands! It was terrible, but terrible in a good way and certainly inspired the painting.

As some of these fellows were stripped to the waste it was clear they were riding in midsummer, so white blouses with some cuff and hem trims were the order of the day for those who weren't feeling the heat. Those insisting on wearing something thicker were given a blue kaftan to match in with my Cossacks gunners and to continue their theme. Everything was give a wash or army painted sting tone ink. This made them look a little bit more weather worn and brought out the shading and details. This is a perfect replacement for my old citadel inks. 

Lastly they needed a flag. As they were Cossacks flighting for the Tsar and not the Sultan I thought a religious icon would be appropriate so I found a pic and scaled it down and stuck it to some wine bottle foil I had. A little disguising with some paint hid the foil/paper join.

As I wanted to use these figures for skirmish games I used single bases which will sit on the round bases I had with the recess cut. I've sanded down the double width edge this time so it looks a little  flatter and less of a step. 

Base texturing will take place when I finish the next unit of Russian foot.