DBA III/68 Early Hungarian

King Stephen I (which might give you a clue about why I felt the need to buy this army) ruled Hungary from about 997 AD.

Hungarian horse

Hungarian horse

On the left is the Knight command element – King Stephen flanked by a figure carrying his holy banner, and one with a handpainted raven, which was a symbol of the Arpad family. The flanking figures are Old Glory, while the King is from Museum Miniatures. The ruling elite became westernised pretty quickly. To the right of the command element is a Magyar cavalry element from Donnington Miniatures. And then we have 5 Light Horse elements – mostly Donnington riders on Essex horses, but there are some Essex Lithuanians in there too. Why Essex Lithuanians, you ask? well the LH in the Essex DBA Early Hungarian army pack is all Lithuanian. Lord knows why because they have a range of steppe peoples they could have used.

Hungarian foot

Hungarian foot

Supporting all that cavalry are 2 spears, 1 psiloi, and either 2 auxilia or 2 bows. The spears and auxilia are a real mixture of Essex, Outpost, and Old Glory figures. The bows and psiloi are mostly Essex, with a lone Museum Byzantine. The foot are all painted as Slavs, with light coloured hair and undyed or bleached clothing.

I have enough figures painted to field either variant of the army, or even a Magyar army (III/30), although for the latter I should paint a more Magyar looking command element.

One response to “DBA III/68 Early Hungarian

  1. They look great! I’m impressed at the way such a range of different manufacturers has come together so well.

What do you think?