Very interesting testimony.
But for the Macedonian phalanx, I seem to have read somewhere that ultimately we have found very few sarissians.
Hence a large part of the mystery, as some YouTube channels point out. 🤔😕

Hello !

My "fascination" for the 1/72 figurines began like for many people here in my early childhood.

Atlantic and its Greeks and Egyptians. The Greeks ship and the Egyptian temple !
As a child, I drew on the garden terrace the countries of the Eastern Europe in order to reproduce the great battles that followed the Operation Barbarossa : played with Matchbox, Airfix etc..
The only (great) problem was the limited number of Soviet soldiers at that time!!
And of course the battles of the Rommel's Afrika Korps, especially this of El Alamein (second one).
It must also be said that I had a whole encyclopedia of the battles of the Second World War (Taillandier editions/the WW2).

But once I was an adult my fascination really took shape thanks to the American HaT Industrie compagny and its mass and creative production of miniatures.
At the end of the 90s.
It was a shock.
Many sets of Persians, Carthaginians, Macedonians etc...
Types of soldiers that we have never seen before who took flesh: Thracians, Numidians, Thessalonian horsemen!
I worked during the day and painted for hours during the night.
And I obviously read a huge amount of history books.

A History that had both an intellectual (books) and a physical (painted figurines) dimensions.
I also participated in history forums to learn and exchange.

Gute Nachrichten !!

would be nice to know the name of your designer. mentioned on the box?
Thanks if answer.

A lot of You Tube videos on this mythical battle..
Apparently, the most significant losses of the Romans troops took place during the retreat decided by Crassus.
And not during the assaults of the Parthian cavalries.
So the poses of these figurines here are interesting. However, I hope for the set number 2 more soldiers in battle : shields wall, a testudo formation ?
Roman archers?
On your covert box we can see drawn a Gallic cavalryman and an archer.
Some Armenians to come ?
Surprise !!

Nice painted !!
After the Greek "Bronze men" of the Pharaoh Psammetichus, the Italian iron men...of the 20th century !!

"Cultural" enrichment and why not "economic" enrichment! 😂
Or rather an economic exploitation (Lol).
we can clearly see here that there are those "above"- who manage or negotiate - and those "below": the workers who dig the galleries and transport the materials?!
Not the same life and not the same income.

Excuse me but who is the artist of the cover art ?
It looks like Giuseppe Rava's style.

Very nice and dynamic !!
The war against Pyrrhos's elephants is declared ! .

Yes indeed.
After "cruel," they certainly were.
What's interesting about "these" Assyrians is that their army was originally—at the beginning of the New Kingdom—made up mostly of "peasant soldiers."
The Assyrian aristocratic classes took the risk of calling on the peasant masses to defend Assyrian territory, besieged by the Arameans (the Assyrian triangle).
A "citizen-soldier" aspect, as in ancient Greece.
Or "revolutionary-soldier" as in France with the Republic of 1792 (Battle of Valmy, etc.)?
This also explains why the Assyrian army was so large (though not as large as the Roman army). Later, as the conquests progressed, more and more "auxiliary" troops appeared: contingents of vassal peoples, allies, specialized units, etc.
But what's really interesting is that Assyrian imperialism seems to obey the same historical laws as the Roman Empire.
At first besieged and on the defensive (Hannibal before Rome), the Romans resisted, then embarked on a dynamic of victories and conquests until they formed a vast empire.
The same goes for the Assyrians.

Oui effectivement.
Après "cruels", ils l'étaient assurément.
Ce qui est intéressant avec "ces" Assyriens, c'est que leur armée est à l'origine - aux débuts du Nouvel Empire - constituée en majorité de "soldats paysans".
Les classes aristocratiques assyriennes ayant pris le risque de faire appel aux masses paysannes pour défendre le territoire assyrien, assiégé par les Araméens (le triangle assyrien).
Un côté "soldat-citoyen", comme dans la Grèce antique.
Ou "soldat - révolutionnaire" comme en France avec la République de 1792 (bataille de Valmy, etc..)??
Ce qui explique aussi que l'armée assyrienne ait été si nombreuse (pas autant cependant que l'armée romaine).
Après, au fur et à mesure des conquêtes, de plus en plus de troupes "auxiliaires" : contingents de peuples vassaux, alliés, unités spécialisées, etc...
Mais ce qui est vraiment intéressant, c'est que l'impérialisme assyrien semble obéir aux mêmes lois historiques que l'empire romain.
D'abord assiégés et sur la défensive (Hannibal devant Rome), les Romains vont résister, puis enclencher une dynamique de victoires et de conquêtes jusqu'à constituer un immense Empire.
Idem pour les Assyriens.

Very Nice job Stéphane ..!!

What surprised me about the Assyrians is that they already had an excellent army in the Bronze Age (the Middle Assyrian Empire) !

A period less known than that this of the Sargonids for example.

Thus during this périod contemporary to the New Egyptian Kingdom, they had defeated the Great military power of the Hatti at several times !

Under the reigns of Salmanazar 1, who crushed an army of Hittites and Hurrians (heavy losses), and Under the King Tukulti-ninurta 1, at the battle of Nihiriya in 1265, so 9 years after the battle of Qadesh.

Suffocated by the Aramaean invasions for several decades, they knew how to come back stronger, by creating gradually this prodigious army, made up in particular of these very specialized units, including the engineers.

Excellent traders - especially during the Paleo-Assyrian période, great warriors, resilient and conquerors, cultured and literate- see the great library of the Assyrian King Ashurbanipal,.. we should speak of the "genius" of the Assyrians as we spoke of the Greek genius or the Greeks "miracle".

But it must be said that for a long time, the history of these people of Mesopotamia - very Ancient or more recent - so this history was hidden and distorted by the Old Testament , which is largely on the historical level, only a Legend, a fable and an imposture.
The "history" of very very.. small tribes of one little part of the vast Near East...

Great job !!!

Gesehen.

Incredible set !!
With a remarkable precision and realism.
To buy as soon as possible and I intend to do it.
But a very "innocent" question:
- why is the lancer in photo number 6 pointing his spear towards the sky (?).

Wunderbar !!

Thank you Dianelis for the informations.
However I have the impression that the Thracians, through their disunity, have missed the opportunity to write their own history.
I certainly know less than you about this subject , my dear Dianelis.
I became interested in it because this history of the Thracians tribes is a little like a "black hole" in the Science of the Ancient Times , like for the Illyrians, the the Roman conquest of Britain,..
After you did not answer my questions about the foreign influences (?) about this kingdom of the Odrysses.
it 's not a problem, occasionnaly I could do my own research...

Hello Dianelis,
so a multitude of riders from only 2 figurines !!
I recognize indeed these two characters.
On the question of the Thracian history, I don't necessarily know more than you.
I was became interested in these Thracians by doing some researches - and files - because this people represents a bit of a "black hole" in our historical knowledge, a little bit like the Ilyrians, "the Roman conquest of Britain", or maybe even the Scythians (Sakas)..
And I completely understand your interest for these Ancient inhabitants of the Balkans .
After if you are some answers or informations on the rise of this kingdom of the Odrysses, why not?
Coud be very interesting .
If you take the example of the Asia Minor, at the time of Mithridates , we clearly see on the political level, the Greek and the Iranian influences among different kingdoms (Achemenid Persians, then Parthian).
So what about the "barbarian" Thracians..?

Thank you for the images Dianelis and your historical lessons !!
Here we have indeed many very pretty painted figurines .
It's strange but I dont recognize all the figurines (!?).
May I add a very small historical contribution .
I believed that the Greeks were quite afraid of the turbulent Thracian tribes - they were very numerous, fierce and ferocious -, who themselves, greatly feared .. the Scythian peoples.
The kingdom of the Odrysses as you have said above represented one - the only (?) - of the strongest and important political entities of the Thraces tribes history.
I would be very interested to know what were the factors of the constitution of this kingdom? Internal factors?
External?
(with an influence of their neighbors, the more evolved Greeks ? But to the Greeks didn' t lived at this period under the regime of the City States (!?)).
Or even influenced by the Persian Achemenids?
And this kingdom of the Odysseus has not included all the region populated by the Thracian tribes, the southern and central territories ,isn' it ?

Hello,
To answer the Brist comment, very critical , I would say first that this building like any kind of buildings don' t interest me.
Then, in Linear's defense we must note that this edifice is very beautiful, massive and very well made .
And that it is not just any type of building : it 's a monument, a mausoleum, THE mausoleum of the Great King Theodoric, the leader of the Ostrogoths . He' s not just anyone !!
And maybe that somewhere with it Linear reminds us that it is a real German company.