Why are you painting that?

In the "what are you painting?" topic.. I noticed a few quotes that make me kind of go: "Hmmm?"

It started when I was readin gthe number of people doing armies like NKE, Philistines, Hebrews, or other Biblical armies.

Then I saw something that got me confused. It was an OT remark about armies that are "In Favor". In this case the context meant "In God's Favor" referring to a Biblical campaign, but I thought that it meant "Currently in vogue or fashionable to own"...

So, I got to wondering: "Why are all of the Biblical Armies sprouting up all over?"

Because they are "in favor!"

Hi Matthew,

Personally I'm a Christian and just like to bring my religious passions and my wargaming passions together. I cant speak for the others however, there is a biblically themed DBA comp coming up soon in the UK. Hmmm?

Originally posted by qamie:
Hi Matthew,

Personally I'm a Christian and just like to bring my religious passions and my wargaming passions together.

I hadn't thought about this before, but I'm a modern pagan and my first armies have been classical Pagans (LHG). However I don't think this was the reason I bought them... Come to think of it, the majority of DBA armies are non-Christian, which says something for the wide scope of the army set. I'm attracted to the last stand of the Baltic pagans against the crusading Teutons, but I don't think there's much point trying to win that matchup!

And for an army to truly match my Wiccan tastes I'd have to turn to HOTT, with tongue firmly in cheek, and devise a Buffy-style army with Willow as Hero, and Hordes of teen witches.

Perhaps its best if I don't bother...

Kim

I'm attracted to the last stand of the Baltic pagans against the crusading Teutons, but I don't think there's much point trying to win that matchup!

I disagree. My Lithuanians LH have been running circles around the Band of Heavy Metal Bruders while the rest are dazzled by the Ax and Ps dancing through the marshes and forests. Not to forget the pagans revered sacred groves (nice camp setting).

And for an army to truly match my Wiccan tastes I'd have to turn to HOTT, with tongue firmly in cheek, and devise a Buffy-style army with Willow as Hero, and Hordes of teen witches.

A cup of ovaltine and a tea biscuit might help.

cheers,

I never thought of religion as a primary motive in my army choices. I'm concetrating in the 10-12th c. eras and have an equal amount of Christian and Muslim armies.
As a matter of fact my Byzantines are faring extrememly badly, having lost to the Seljuks and twice to the Sicilians. Being slightly pro-Byzantine, I started my campaign by giving Constantinople extensive territory with a lot of income only to see it squandered 10 years later. The dismal 0-4 record speaks for itself.
Even a freak Pecheneg raid that I threw in just for fun made it outside the walls of Constantinople; the army I sent against it lost a morale throw that is part of my campaign house rules, and fled. Luckily the Pechenegs, who have no siege capabilities and no fleet, all could do was stare in wonder at the triple lands walls.
What I'm trying to say is that my religious/ethnic backround and/or preference have stayed out of DBA. I don't think they should be introduced into the game anyway. It's very easy to follow the "myths" that comprise the core from which the ethnos/nation/tribe/religious group/ is made up of. I'm starting to understand more now what J. Campbell was talking about refering to "archetypes", "heroes", "myths" etc.
I've been a pretty good book, "Balkan Wars: Conquest, Revolution and Retribution from the Ottoman Era to the Twentieth Century and Beyond" by Gerolymatos. For someone from the region, this book is an eye-opener. The Balkan countries (amuzingly, a Muslim word, balk, "mountain")stand unique among nations for having at once and with contiguity invented what we term sectarian religious hatred and ethnic cleansing, together with a pervading sense of the potential for national greatness for each member of the peninsula that was never realized because (as each sees it) of another of its neighbor(s). This has been associated in the national phyche with this or the other defeat or injustice done to them that EVENTUALLY doomed the nation. There isn't a single nation that doesn't have or hasn't in the recent past had some territorial claim on a neighbor; at the same time each is a subject of a territorial claim by another even today.
At odds with one another, each national tragedy is , of course, tied at some point to the 500-year (400 for some) long Ottoman occupation, the founding stone of a lot of today's "myths".
And, while I find my intellectual faculties applauding at such competent display of the main contribution of the ancient Greeks to the human race, Reason, I can't help the tears in my eyes when I read about the past, the old glories, the fall of the City.
Someone else also resides in me someone who, though I never consciously invited in and tend to constantly question in order to reaffirm that he stands on moral ground, is as old as the mountains there. For example: the discovery that Albania ang Greece are, regardless trading and a satisfactory level of foreign relations, in astate of an unmaterialized war since 1945 left me flabbergast. How come wasn't I told of this? What, isn't that something you should, like, mention to your high school kids for example? My father vitited Albania 20 years ago. How come wasn't he detained as a national of a country with whom you're at war? And if we aren't at war why won't someone finally put their bloody signatute on the piece of paper?
However, indignant as I might be at what clearly is a cultural faux pas and an act of cold war on the part of my "own people", I still have difficulty picking how I should describe the disputed territory: is it "Northern Epirus" or "Southern Albania"? There's no other term to use and either of the two will by the etymology of the term inspire and in turn elicit accusations--I call that whole area "the Prespas" after the group of lakes that comprise the point of conjecture of the Greek, Albanian, and (...ahem..uuhm..Macedonia or FYROM (hell no "Macedonia"!!..easy, you creep, eeaasy!) border. All the local languages include a version of that place name (Prespa, Prespansk, Prespinje) making thus acceptable in terms of correctness.
This, friends, is just one of the many typical Balkan mind-f....!!

But because in my case I am a seeker, the previously mentioned tears are ultimately not tears of hate. Deep inside I do know the truth: Thy will learn to love, or thy will be done. May this be the outcome in the generations to come, for enough blood has been spilled already and the accumulated, centuries-old pain of the common folk is great. The most recent example of this pain I can think of is the Bosnian mother who just yesterday found out about the fate of her son, missing for years now, when the Bosnian TV aired the recently surfaced video from Sebrenica: he was one of the executed.

Apologies for the length of this, I feel strongly about the subject. I also apologize if I've hurt feelings and/or incited passions. My intent is not to divide any further but to repair.

Couple of practical steps:

The EU and NATO MUST extend IMMEDIATE membership to Romania and Boulgaria, just as they did with Hungary. Serbia will take a little longer but, they too, MUST be included.
Turkey MUST be admitted in the EU; trust Greek oppinion on the issue and the position of the Greek goverment, they've been dealing with the Turks a loooot longer than the French and the Germans.

Do not bring religion into DBA.

I was NOT trying to bring religion into the discussion of why people choose the different armies that they paint, but rather to discuss how certain trends get started in certain armies going into and out of vogue.

I have noticed of late that Biblical Armies seem to have become rather popular. In the past year I have seen a LOT of Islamic Asiatic Horse armies as popular or in vogue...

So... WHY are you painting THAT?

Or, what caused you to choose to paint the armies that you have?

Matthew,
So much of my life is tied to deadlines, rules, needs, responsibilities, duties.
When I choose a DBA army, it is on

whim.

I could qualify that a bit by adding "I've got to see that" which is what I often think to myself as I pore over lists. Forthcoming movies, current reading, ancestral roots are also in the mix. Having the DBM lists is sometimes a spur. That little bit of insight into the character of the army - do I want these guys to represent me in competition? I know that the current local disfavour for Kn-heavy armies in my local competitions influences my army choice too. Army composition then? I look for army types I have never played before, and I also don't look for army types I have played and didn't like. For solo playing I like heroic historical encounters.

Konstantinius,
thanks for your post. I know a Bosnian who is prone to the same mood. It's a fascinating part of the world.

Cheers,
Richard.

[ June 06, 2005, 00:00: Message edited by: Cremorn ]

The reasoning behind my Current project - the Rise of Islam reads like a Larry Leadhead Cartoon.

I put together an Early Arab Conquest Army from old spare figures to sell to a co-worker (So that she could give it to her son as a birthday present as he wanted to give wargaming a try). In doing so I listed the historical opponents and thought "What a great list of armies". To make up a campaign set I cast the net a little wider and now here I am.

I have put together several Campaign Set lists based on the interest piqued from a book or movie, or by seeing one cool looking army out on the table. It is for that reason alone that I have now embarked on my first Biblical Era army in 22 years - I set up the list of armies for a Trojan War Campaign, one of them being Early Libyan. I ordered them with my MOAB winnings (because they are cheap) and now they are on strips ready to paint.

But that is why I paint what I paint - we start with an army that piques my interest and work out from there. Often as one of the secondary armies takes shape the web grows out.

Larry might have been warned that the DBA lists are not a checklist, but once the snowball starts rolling ....

Cheers

Originally posted by Macbeth:
the DBA lists are not a checklist,
Cheers

...


...Wha!? They're not?!!