Militia

[Vermin King]

okay ... now I need to go back through looking at images of bowman minis. I really don't remember seeing any with the arrow on the wrong side of the bow. I don't doubt you, but I don't remember it.

Of course, I'm old and my memory isn't what it used to be.

What was I talking about again?

[Parduz]

Mar 3, 2011 10:34:28 GMT -9 josedominguez said:

And he's using his bow properly!
The number of minis with the arrow knocked on the wrong side is amazing.

Lovely work, another mini that will really stand out at 15mm
I love that you are producing units of minis for massed battle but each has enough character to be used in RPG (the variety in the footsoldiers was excellent).

eheh... me and Labrat already discussed this. I was saying that the wrong way is the one you think is right... after a short googling i learnt that both ways are right. It's a matter of choice, school and technique

[Vermin King]

The way shown is the way I was taught. Having the arrow resting on your thumb just seems wrong. But I could have been taught wrong.

Now that I think about it, there was a show on Discover or History Channel on the horse-mounted Mongol archers. The portrayers rarely had their bows verticle. If you are holding the bow at an angle, the other way might work better.

Eh, I was never all that good with a bow.

[cowboyleland]

Standard western is off the finger, not off the thumb, and the three fingers on the string also comes from medieval "English" (actually Welsh) longbows. The Mongols use a thumb on the string and zen archery tends to favour shooting the arrow off the thumb side, but in the olympics even asian countries use composite bows with the arrow rest on the finger side.

I don't pretend to know what goblins and elves do.

[labrat]

Thanks everybody! It is definitely coming along nicely. If I can maintain a steady pace I should be done with this set in about another 5 days. Then I can move on to the next set, which I have decided will be a catapult and crew.

It should be interesting, since I haven't really done any 3d type stuff as of yet.

[emergencyoverride]

He looks great and also ready to drop some ogres or impalers! Nice. ;D

[nikloveland]

Those Impalers are pretty nasty and close distance fast. He better hope he hits the first time!

[josedominguez]

Mar 3, 2011 13:12:39 GMT -9 Parduz said:

Mar 3, 2011 10:34:28 GMT -9 josedominguez said:

And he's using his bow properly!
The number of minis with the arrow knocked on the wrong side is amazing.

Lovely work, another mini that will really stand out at 15mm
I love that you are producing units of minis for massed battle but each has enough character to be used in RPG (the variety in the footsoldiers was excellent).

eheh... me and Labrat already discussed this. I was saying that the wrong way is the one you think is right... after a short googling i learnt that both ways are right. It's a matter of choice, school and technique

My mistake, I should googled, instead of relying on all of that archery I've done over the years

Modern bows can indeed be used either way, it's a matter of preference, but those are traditional European style bowmen using their weapons for war. Horsbowmen tended to use that grip as you can hold the arrow in place more easily while also controlling the reins. It really doesn't matter when using the bow vertically but to get a big draw on a traditional wooden bow you'd often need to turn the bow to the horizontal (pretend to hold a bow and really tense your arms, you'll find you want to turn your hand flat with the thumb facing inwards, it's where your grip is strongest and you can exert the most power), an arrow nocked on the inside would need to be gripped in place as it would just fall off. An arrow on the outside will just sit on top of the bow and rest against your gripping hand. American indians used a mix of grips, purely based on preference but their bows never required the huge draw strength of a European military bow. Mongols, American Indians etc... used bows as individual ranged weapons, most European armies used them for organised volleys, so power, range and consistency was more important than short range individual accuracy.
Most archery schools still teach that there's a right and wrong way to do it, but both work, it's just that the inside grip wouldn't be as effective on a traditional European wooden military bow.

[labrat]

I have finally finished the artwork for the militia (all of them). Here is another preview of what you will get.



This guy will come with a crossbow as shown, and also with a handcannon. In total there will be 15 shooters. 5 bows, 5 crossbows, 5 handcannons.

Nik and I will have a photoshoot day on Saturday, and these should be released sometime early next week.

I have already begun the next project which will be a catapult and crew. I plan to have that done in a couple weeks.

[Parduz]

Wonderful!

[josedominguez]

That is superb.... and the figure selection will cover a huge variety of army options
Lovely work.

[Reivaj]

WOw ! Excelent work Labrat. ;D I love the shadows and lights of the wrinkles from clothes

[emergencyoverride]

Very nice! Bring on the Catapult!!!! ;D Starting to round out the human army a bit.

[naked]

Sweet!... and the guy is pretty good too.

[Sirrob01]

Nice work as always Labrat. I can only imagine you must quiet literally spend hours coloring each mini.

Looking forward to the set as the Human army closes in on completion

edit: I hate commenting on others art as I know how tough it is to draw and colour but I just noticed is his left (on the right) arm a little long? possibly an optical illusion....

[labrat]

Hmmm. Well I suppose it's slight enough it won't make too much difference at 30mm. It doesn't seem too bad to me. No more time to dally on this set though. I'm onto the next.

[nikloveland]

Here's the teasers (I'm still working on the close ups):

[Vermin King]

Kiladecus will be happy to see he was included ... LOL

[nikloveland]

Yeah, front and center! More photos are up. You can check it out here.

[josedominguez]

Brilliant...... that's the core of a human army sorted.
Lovely artwork as ever and looking more and more like 3d figures all of the time.

[stevelortz]

I like these sets! It would probably be good to have some militia with pole arms, too, things like simple spears, bill hooks, scyths, etc.

Have fun!
Steve

[labrat]

Sweet! I'm glad these guys are finally released. I hope everyone enjoys them and finds them to be useful.

[Sirrob01]

Very nice and nabbed

[stevelortz]

I just finished building some of the crossbowmen. These are the best 2.5D crossbowmen EVER!

Have fun!
Steve

[labrat]

Apr 18, 2011 13:54:53 GMT -9 stevelortz said:

I just finished building some of the crossbowmen. These are the best 2.5D crossbowmen EVER!

I am very pleased that you like them. I really like the way this set turned out.