Monday 4 January 2016

Meroitic Kush and the Noba.

Here are photos of the recently completed Meroitic Kush and a rival claimant of the Noba tribes; the latter follows the Nobades army of II/55a. Troops are identical and the two blade are exchanged for two auxilia and one spear element has been replaced by an extra skirmisher. The two will make interesting opponents as both come from differing geographical areas; steppe and dry. Scenarios can now be written for civil conflicts or the two can be grouped to form an invasion force of Upper Egypt.  




Command standards were the last items constructed and from my initial research such symbols may have simulated the Egyptian military standards of an earlier age. I would think with the passage of time any references to ancient symbols would have become stylized. Looking at jewelry, figurines and bas-reliefs held at several museums I selected two styles might best represent standards for the two commands; the fan shaped emblem and the sun disk. The ribbons underneath the emblems are painted in the same theme colour as the army.



Because the two armies may be used together I chose to duplicate the shield patterns but use different colours as accents. The later Nobades after 200 AD (b sub-list) increase the number of mounted elements and introduce camel warriors. For these troop types I have selected the Blue Moon camel mounted Fuzzy Wuzzy as these will have similar hair styles. These will be placed on order soon.

II/55a Nobades 30 BC – 200 AD
1 x General (Cv), 1 x Cavalry (Cv), 2 x Cavalry (Cv) or spearmen (3Ax), 4 x archers (3Bw or Ps), 4 x spearmen (Sp or 3Ax). Terrain type: Dry, Aggression 2

II/55b Nobades 201- 831 AD
1 x General (Cv), 2 x Cavalry (Cv), 1 x Camel rider (LCm), 2 x Spearmen on camels (Cm) or on foot (Sp), 2 x Spearmen (Sp), 4 x Archers (3Bw or Ps). Terrain type: Dry, Aggression 2