Collecting and Painting Slav Warriors - Period 500 to 700 AD.

[Paul Vinton]

Collecting and Painting Slav Warriors - Period 500 to 700 AD.

I have recently been playing an online campaign with some friends set in the year 715 AD.  I volunteered to play the Slavs, who fired up my interest in that period and army.   Reading up about the Slavs also got me involved in reading about the Lombards, Alemanni, Goths and Merovingian Franks in the preceding century.  It appeared the Slavs gave most foes the runaround in battle, scampering around their mountainous terrain, sniping from woods, being nasty little guerrilla pests to most formed troops like the Byzantines.  They teamed up with the Avars who furnished the better equipped troops and leadership, but also liked to go raiding in smaller parties.  In numbers they could be dangerous, but if their initial charge failed they often ran off in disarray. 

It appears the miniature offerings for the Slavs are slim pickings.  I did locate some with Old Glory, more with Gripping Beast, plus a few others here and there.  Same for painting guides, the following two seem to be in sync with each other. 

Warriors of Eurasia: From the VIII Century BC to the XVII Century AD Paperback – September, 1995 by Mikhael V. Gorelik

ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL ARMIES OF THE WORLD - DBA 220 PAINTED ARMIES HYSTOPEDIA

Both of these put the Slavs in white or off white clothing with colored trim, lightly armed troops, both foot and horse. 

Specifically I was trying to locate more information for the period 620 through 658 AD, when Samo led the Slavs to independence.  The Battle of Wogastisburg does not have much information about it at all, where Samo beat the Franks under Dagobert I.  I would like to go through my figure collection for figures which could be used as Slavs, and also go through various manufacturers for figures which could also be used as Slavs.  Germans and Goths seem close in appearance.  After completing the Slavs my second choice would be to complete an army of Merovingian Franks for their table top foes. 

I would welcome any help locating more information about this period from you ladies and gentlemen, as well as precise painting guides so I can properly paint up my army.  I would prefer 25mm figures, 28mm would fit also.

Thanks!

[Duncan Head]

Essex have a few Slavs - https://www.essexminiatures.co.uk/collections/25mm-ancient-dark-ages
So do Minifigs - http://www.miniaturefigurines.co.uk/Catalogue.aspx?ScaleID=3&CategoryID=15&SubCategoryID=96

You might find this and this interesting.

These papers include Procopius' quote on 6th-century Slavs:

Arrayed for battle the majority advance on foot against the enemies, with small shields and javelins, nor do they in any way don corselets. Some have neither a chiton nor a short cloak, but having put on only trousers up to and including the genitals, they are thus arrayed for a clash with enemies. ...  All are particularly tall and stout; their bodies and hair are neither very white nor blond nor are they very dark, but all are ruddy. Just as the Massagetae so they also have a harsh and careless way of life, and just as the Massagetae, they are full of filth.

[Erpingham]

Irregular do a Slav infantryman M19

[Martin Smith]

Donnington Miniatures /Ancient and Modern Army Supplies do two mounted and 6 foot in their Slav range. Codes DWC 01 and 02, DWF 01 to 06.

[Paul Vinton]

Do those two guides I mentioned seem accurate to you all?

Thanks for the notes, I have in my "barbarian" box some old Hinchcliffe, Minifig and Garrison 25mms that may work as Slavs too.  From what I see in related army books, the Slavs had round shields, would the one from Essex with the more conical style work?  Smells like a Norman import!!!  Or maybe from Frankia?



Duncan, I've dug up a few more other articles and papers about the Slavs, I had not seen those two.  Even found one about their arrowheads, there are also some mentions about them using poisoned arrows against Byzantine cavalry? 

Really?

[Erpingham]

From what I see in related army books, the Slavs had round shields, would the one from Essex with the more conical style work?  Smells like a Norman import!!!  Or maybe from Frankia?

Most Slav ranges seem a bit generic, covering a wide geography and timescale.  Kite/almond shaped shields seem to have come into use in 9th/10th centuries, so too early for your army.  Likewise, the rectangular shield seems to be a Northern thing (although some-one may have evidence it was used by Southern Slavs) so another to avoid.  You may be able to create more variety by using figures with separate shields and substituting round shields.  Others may wish to comment on likely armour types and frequency of use in the early period.

[Duncan Head]

Do those two guides I mentioned seem accurate to you all?

I've seen what Gorelik says, and I have no reason to doubt it. The other guide I don't know. Ian Heath in the WRG "Dark Ages" book says much the same.

The source for poisoned arrows is the Emperor Maurice's Strategikon, as briefly quoted here.

[Paul Vinton]

Here is the similar article I found by MICHAŁ STĄPÓR

EARLY MEDIEVAL ARROWHEADS WITH TWISTED SOCKETS DISCOVERED IN POLAND – THE CONCEPTS OF PURPOSE:

Pretty wicked, and all was fair in war for these guys!  I guess I'm going with some off white tunics and trousers, along with maybe some cloth or leather cloaks, rounded shields.  Goths, later Germans, lots of nice figures seem close in appearance to the listed paint guides.  Found some stuff on sale, great time of year to buy MORE TOYS!!!

[Duncan Head]

Incidentally, according to https://wholesomelinen.com/pages/linen-flax-history:

Ancient manuscripts of the 9th-10th century B.C. contain evidence of linen made by Slavs. Oriental writers of the time described Slavs attired in linen clothes.

So the main sources for the linen clothing may be Arabic travellers or geographers. Ibn Fadlan mentions the Yura people wearing linen clothes, but these seem to be Finno-Ugrians in modern north Russia, not Slavs; not sure which other writers might be likely candidates.

There is no obvious reason why linen cloth should not have been dyed, of course, though no doubt only for those who could afford it.

[Paul Vinton]

Linen?

I seem to recall having a linen hunting shirt back in the 70's when I was in a Revolutionary War unit, of course I was one of the brave Colonials fighting those dastardly REDCOATS!!! 



So much out here to find online, every day I get on for a few hours and find more!  Had a recommendation for Footsore Miniatures too, they seem to have very nice detail.  Plus some Xmas deals!   If I want to expand to Merovingians now, Gripping Beast has some new ones being released now too.....

I think I'll paint some Slav's first!

Thanks Gents!

[Patrick Waterson]

I seem to recall having a linen hunting shirt back in the 70's when I was in a Revolutionary War unit, of course I was one of the brave Colonials fighting those dastardly REDCOATS!!! 

You must be the last living citizen of the United Colonies ...

[Paul Vinton]

Ahem.....

It was the 1970's, I'm not that vampire Lestat.........

Midwest area, a reenactment unit called Willings Marines, I guess back then they went up and down the Big Muddy raiding English outposts.  Basically militia, nothing like the units and associations y'all have over there in the Olde Country!   I did have one English toy I kept clean, my old .75 Brown Bess.  Dang black powder was DIRTY!!!  I did learn to love Flip, Drambuie and campfires after a hard day in the field!



Back to subject though, I think I may try a few specific Slavs from Gripping Beast, plus a SAGA Goth Warband I see on sale right now.  Maybe two???

[Patrick Waterson]

Dang black powder was DIRTY!!! 

At the risk of thread diversion, or at least oscillation ...

French powder, on which American powder was based, was.  British powder was a lot cleaner and fouled much less (as the Royal Powder Mills told me when I asked about fouling and the Ferguson rifle and was informed this was principally a re-enactor powder quality problem).  Black powder on sale to re-enactors seems to be mainly of French-inspired lineage - not sure whether this is tradition or just cheapness of manufacture.

But for really foul powder, try what the Mexicans used in the 1830s-40s.

Anyway, back to thread ...

[Paul Vinton]

I may have more information about the Southern Balkan Slavs popping up than the ones I'm more interested in, the ones who lived further north along the upper reaches of the Danube, next to the Alemanni, Thuringians and Saxons.  Essentially on the border marches of Merovingian Frankia.  They did aid Thuringia in gaining it's independence from Frankia, if for a short time in the early to mid 600's.  If they moved into the area in the 550's to 600's, they should have about the same clothing or dress as did the rest of the migrating Slavs.  Or, they could've looked more like their warlike neighbors further north.  Part of the realm did stretch south too though, into the Balkans. 

Maybe I'm double-thinking this......

According to the Byzantines they raided quite a bit, with both large and small scale forays into their territory.  Then ended up occupying a large chunk of the Balkans.  They were guerrilla fighters, hit and run tactics.  Slavs were known for a fierce charge, if that didn't work then they faded away.  When ruled by the Avars, they furnished mainly the light and medium foot, the Avars had the better equipped and led troops.  And just like the other barbarians migrating into Europe, they didn't have much of a manufacturing base.  So trading and raiding for weapons, plus scavenging battlefields, was how they supplied themselves. 

Well, back to digging!