Range info boxes...

[Leon]

We've asked for your input on some of these previously, but with so many of us now self-isolating and maybe needing a bit of distraction, I thought we'd throw some more out there!

Each of the ranges on our website has a little box at the top for information about a particular conflict or period.  You can see examples on most of our catalogue pages, like this: https://pendraken.co.uk/18th-century/1745-jacobite-scots/  We've been slowly adding to them at this end but it's one of those little niggly jobs that we never seem to find time to finish!

We're missing info for a handful of these boxes, so if anyone has a particular interest in any of these armies/periods, pop a few sentences together and we'll stick them onto the site!

Dark Ages > Arabs
Mid-Medieval
Late Medieval
---
1812 Austrian
1812 French
1812 Polish
1812 Russian
1812 Wurttemburg
---
WWI Austro-Hungarian
WWI East Africa
WWI German
WWI Italian
WWI Middle East
WWI Russian
---
WWII American
WWII German
WWII Italian
WWII Soviet


There's some popular periods in there!

[Sunray]

Would it be appropriate to devote a sentence to potential proxy applications of the range?   I am always scrounging WW2/Korea for my post war AK47 Bush wars in Africa and Latin America.

[Leon]

Would it be appropriate to devote a sentence to potential proxy applications of the range?   I am always scrounging WW2/Korea for my post war AK47 Bush wars in Africa and Latin America.

I don't see why not, it's all helpful info!

[mmcv]

Some ideas here, can cut them down a bit if they're too long! Tried to tailor it a bit to the products on offer.

Arabs

Unified by Islam after the death of Muhammad in 632, the Arabs embarked on an aggressive campaign of expansion out of Arabia. Within a decade they held sway over much of North Africa and the Middle East, and within a century the Islamic Caliphate stretched from Spain to India, through North Africa, the Levant and Persia. It would remain one of the largest empires the world had ever seen for centuries to come. The Arab Muslim armies originally consisted of Berber tribal archers, skirmishers, and light cavalry to disrupt the enemy, with the heavier Arab lancers deployed to land the finishing blow. In time they would incorporate other conquered and converted peoples into their armies as well, often as slave soldiers such as the fearsome Sudanese Ghulams.

Mid-Medieval
As the fragmented feudal states of Dark Age Europe began to coalesce into larger empires, kingdoms and duchies, warfare was rife. Whether battling their neighbours over land and fealty or on Crusade against the heathens in the Holy Land, those who could afford the best equipment, the nobility, became the formidable knights who dominated so many battlefields of the period. Seiges were much more commonplace than pitched battles and as such the infantry made up the core of any medieval army, arrayed with a range of weapons and armour from billhooks and padded jackets to mailed halberdiers and deadly crossbowmen. With constant warfare against a range of opponents, tactics and military technology would evolve rapidly throughout the middle ages to counter both new enemies and old.


I'll take a crack at late medieval if no one else does but not as familiar with it as the earlier periods, and I'm sure there's more knowledgeable members than me to take in the rest.

I reserve the right to post edits in future when I reread these less bleary eyed!  

[Norm]

Some ideas here, can cut them down a bit if they're too long! Tried to tailor it a bit to the products on offer.

+1 

[mmcv]

Edit 1:

mailed halberdiers and deadly crossbowmen

to

mail coats and deadly crossbows.

To fit better with what's in offer.

I'd also recommend including a link to the TB Line ranges as there's plenty compatible in there that newcomers may not be aware of when looking for this period. The TB expansion greatly increases the viability of doing a medieval army with all Pendraken. Ditto for the Islamics when they come out.

[Leon]

Some ideas here, can cut them down a bit if they're too long! Tried to tailor it a bit to the products on offer.

Thanks for those, all added to the site!

[steve_holmes_11]

1812 Russian

Napoleon's antagonists in his greatest campaign to date
Stoic infantry, plentiful heavy cavalry supported by swarms of cossacks and an enormous artillery train, all set the Russians apart form other European armies.
The leadership suffered grudges between Russian and the numerous foreign generals.

A Russian army offers a predominantly green/white colour scheme, with bright contrast form their Hussars.
Gamers and Historians can re-create the battles that marked the beginning of the end for Napoleon.
Culture buffs can enjoy the campaign that inspired Tolstoy and Tchaikovsky.

Combine with an onion-domed church and a snowscape battle mat for an epic gaming experience.

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Think it should be bright contrast FROM...

[steve_holmes_11]

Think it should be bright contrast FROM...

That's my most popular typo.

[Ithoriel]

How does this read? Any good?

WWII Soviet

With their officer corps reeling from the effects of Stalin's purges and the whole army trying to absorb the lessons of the initially disastrous Russo-Finnish War (30 Nov 1939 – 13 Mar 1940) the Soviet Army was ill-prepared for war when the Germans invaded in 1941. Though they had masses of men, tanks and guns both their tactics and their vehicles were inferior to those of their German opponents.

As the war progressed and the Russians, by design and/or necessity, traded territory for time they were able to produce prodigious numbers of excellent, if rather basic, tanks, guns and aircraft and to refine their tactics to produce a battle winning force. Allied Lend-Lease support was also invaluable and a little research will show that several items in the British and American ranges can also appear in Soviet tabletop forces.

So, if you want to roll out you own "Russian Steamroller" from Operations Barbarossa, Winter Storm, Zitadelle, Bagration or even the final Battle of Berlin here's where you'll find what you need.