Friday, 8 July 2011

Ben Yusef's Black Guard



Now these, (I'm sure the other Rejects will confirm),  haven't been out of their box for some time, infact I've only ever had one game with them and that was many moons ago.  As the title suggests these fine looking fellows belong to Yusef Ibn Tashfin , better known to us today as Ben Yusef.
Ben Yusef was the second ruler of the Murabitun Empire, better known as The Almoravids in Spain, who were the first Saharan Islamic religious movement to establish a large state, which expanded northwards to include half of the Iberian peninsula. The first Muribat ruler Abdalluh Ibn Yasin re-introduced the old military system of tribal drum groups and many other peoples joined the empire, including large numbers of black Africans recruited as slaves, ex prisoners and many Andalusians.
Ben Yusef  created a Hasham Guard of some 2,000 African Infantry also known as The Black Guard, on his way to conquer Andulas, with the eventual defeat of  El Cid at Valencia in 1099.

The figures are by Gripping Beast, I bought some of these figures painted, along with some other El Cid and the Reconquista  figures that I'll post at a later date at a wargame show in Birmingham around 12 years ago, (I think!!), so I had to paint the rest to match in and have got to be the easiest figures I've ever painted, spay black and drybrush grey, with a little colour here and there.        
So there we have it Ben Yusef's Black Guard.

Ray










39 comments:

  1. The first photo is my favorite. Good job.

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  2. interesting post, thanks!

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  3. Well Bens men look damn fine sir

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  4. Mean moody and darkly magnificent

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  5. You make it sound simple, but *man* do these look good. I soooooo want to command troops like these on a tabletop!

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  6. Cool figures and cheers for the background.

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  7. Love the figures - the black looks brilliant.

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  8. !MAGNIFICOS!
    Un buen trabajo, como no podria ser menos.
    Espero que alguna vez, mis informaciones sobre distintos uniformes ,le sean de utilidad,pues sé que me sigue,con gran placer por mi parte,
    Un saludo
    ALFONS

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  9. dang they all look amazing!!

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  10. Very nicely painted. However, I have to tell you I hate these guys. I played many games of Warhammer Ancient Battles with my spanish army against a friends Almarovids and the damn Black Guard swung just about every game.
    Seemed like every time I had him on the ropes the Black Guard won a combat and paniced everything I still had on the table. Grrrr. Tribal Drums.

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  11. Hi Ray. Great looking unit!

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  12. Big fan of the Moors and your unit definitely caught my interest. Thanks for sharing. Ta

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  13. Fantastic looking unit Ray. Well done.

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  14. Very nice Ray, black can be difficult to pull opff effectively.

    And of course are many opportunities for Norsemen to interact with the Musselmen - Praise to Odin/Allah!

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  15. Nice figures -I also have some of the Gripping Beast El Cid range which haven't seen the table lately - must look them out...

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  16. Men in black always look cool ^^

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  17. Nice work Ray, black = coolness in any era, did Fran help you paint those ...? :)

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  18. LOL!! I wouldn't trust that git with 'em!!

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  19. Great period and great looking unit!

    Christopher

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  20. totally agreeing with Electric Addict

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  21. It would have to be hot to wear black over heavy armor and walk around Spain like that.

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  22. Ray they look very good. Great painted!

    Greetings
    Peter

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  23. arent these the guys that the spartans pushed off a cliff?

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  24. Thanks for all your comments boys and girls!!

    @Bart - No! That was the Persians and these are from few years later.

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  25. I can see one of those models blinking in the bright light... you need to get these out of the box a little more often!

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  26. I gave you those figures you bleeding tart.

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  27. You are such a fecking liar Denton boy.

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  28. Very nice unit. And thanks for the history lesson! :)

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  29. I used to have this lot a few years ago. Lovely job. I prefer the GB range for the infantry.

    Gaz.

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  30. Might be easy to paint but it looks very effective. Great looking unit

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  31. I know, late to the party, but I like these alot!

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