Crusader 28mm

Spanish Medieval Range.

There has been a sudden upsurge of interest in the Early Medieval period in the Iberian peninsular. Now this may be because of a renewed respect for Charlton Heston, though I doubt it given his stance on firearms and the so called right to bear arms. More likely it is because of the latest Warhammer Historical supplement, El Cid, and the superb display games presented by members of the Newark Irregulars, that have shown just what a colourful and varied conflict this was.

A whole assortment of figures have come on to the market from a range of manufacturers and amongst the best are those coming from Crusader. A variety of recent releases were received for review. The first bag consists of 8 heavy Spanish infantry. There are four variations included in the pack, all wear a knee length mail coat and carry a separately cast round shield. The first variant wears a fluted helmet with nasal bar, and a heavy cloak. The second variant wears a simple round helmet and cloth coif, the third has his head and neck protected by mail, topped by a Phrygian cap style helmet with nasal bar. The final variant wears a conical Moorish style helmet that curves down to protect his neck, and that bears a cloth band around its brow. No spears are provided with the models and so the gamer can decide whether to use wire or separately purchase cast weapons. All the figures received were cleanly cast and extremely well detailed, and must be highly recommended.

The second bag contains both foot and mounted versions of personality figures, the first is the man himself, Don Rodrigo Diaz, "El Cid". The mounted version wears a long mail coat, a heavy cloak and is bareheaded, the foot version has a plain round shield held resting against his leg, and carries a solid broadsword (I have seen the supposed original in the Museo de Ejercito in Madrid!). The second character is Alvar Minaya whose mail hauberk is covered by a surcoat, and whose flowing locks are crowned by a fluted conical helmet with nasal bar. The mounted version is galloping into action with an impressive broadsword raised a arms length. Again excellent, and in my view better than some of the recent releases from the renowned Gripping Beast.

In the coming months I would like to see a wider range of shields become available, and perhaps cast spears available for separate purchase and reflecting the differences in Moorish and Frankish design. The bags retail at £8 each which is good value especially given the high quality of the models. For more details visit the Crusader add in the Traders pages of the Wargames forum and follow the links to the Crusader site, and have your credit card handy!

Damian C

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