DBA Resources

Armies of the Americas

Finding Appropriate Miniatures for
Ancient North American Indians

By Rudy Scott Nelson

The following are some suggestions on appropriate miniatures for use in building DBA North American Indian armies.

Mound Builders

Most of the current opinions are that the Mound Builders were splinter groups of the Dog People which migrated to Mexico with (or vs) the Aztecs. I would use the peasant Aztec troops with long spear or throwing stick (atlatl). Both weapons are shown in museums and DeSoto commented on the Native arsenals containing long spears and round shields. Javelins and bow castings could also be used. The only iffy casting is the Aztec warclub. Although warclubs were common, most seem to have been shorter versions of the rounded head 4-6 ft club used in the 1600-1700s. One might try to file the edge off the Aztec version.

In addition to the Essex Aztec Common Warriors, casting options can include the Old Glory American Revolution Indian bag (non-gun castings of course). Irregular has some Indians w/o guns . Minifig has some Plains indians. The Tacital Edge folks has the Frontier 15mm Plains Indian line with interchangable heads for different tribes but you have to get him to produce them. RAFM also had a line of Plains Indians.

I happen to live in a town visited by DeSoto "Cosa" which was a provincial capital for the Creeks. We actually have a number of drawings around town on the Cosa tribes. They look very much like the ones located at the Moundville historic site in West Alabama.

Another source of a good likeness are the French wood carvings of the Florida Indians at war in the late 1500s or maybe early 1600s. The closest equivalents that I have seen in the 15mm casting lines are actually the Falcon UK Tupi range, whose figures have the closely gathered hair with a centered topknot. The throwing stick (atlcatl) seems to have been more favored than the javelin by the mound people, which is why I mentioned the Aztec peasant warrior troop types. Bows were growing in popularity and were very powerful by the time of DeSoto. One chronicle cites that an arrow pierced the leg of a soldier, then the wooden saddle and saddle blanket, then went deep enough into the horse to make its wound worth noting.

Eastern Forest Indians

The Falcon USA company out of Massachusetts has released a French and Indian War 15mm line. Some of the packs will work for earlier armies of the NE Woodland tribes. One pack is labeled as Indians w/ native weapons which does not have muskets. The packs that I have look good.

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Last Updated: Sept. 1, 2002