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










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39 comments:

  1. The Happy Whisk8 July 2011 at 22:16

    The first photo is my favorite. Good job.

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  2. Anonymous8 July 2011 at 22:25

    interesting post, thanks!

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  3. Paul´s Bods8 July 2011 at 22:29

    Where are the daleks??

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  4. Anonymous8 July 2011 at 22:44

    Well Bens men look damn fine sir

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  5. Sgt Steiner8 July 2011 at 23:13

    Mean moody and darkly magnificent

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  6. Chris C.8 July 2011 at 23:20

    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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  7. Paulalba8 July 2011 at 23:52

    Cool figures and cheers for the background.

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  8. Furt8 July 2011 at 23:55

    Love the figures - the black looks brilliant.

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  9. Alfons Cànovas8 July 2011 at 23:58

    !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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  10. Zombie9 July 2011 at 00:39

    dang they all look amazing!!

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  11. Dangerous Brian9 July 2011 at 01:05

    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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  12. rhingley9 July 2011 at 02:32

    Hi Ray. Great looking unit!

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  13. Hendrid9 July 2011 at 02:59

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

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  14. Rodger9 July 2011 at 06:20

    Fantastic looking unit Ray. Well done.

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  15. Paul O'G9 July 2011 at 07:43

    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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  16. Whisperin Al9 July 2011 at 08:17

    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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  17. Unknown9 July 2011 at 08:27

    Men in black always look cool ^^

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  18. The Extraordinarii9 July 2011 at 08:47

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

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  19. Ray Rousell9 July 2011 at 09:45

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

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  20. The Onion Gypsy9 July 2011 at 16:08

    awesome as usual! :)

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  21. Christopher(aka Axebreaker)9 July 2011 at 22:07

    Great period and great looking unit!

    Christopher

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  22. Electric Addict9 July 2011 at 22:55

    very detailed

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  23. Magixx10 July 2011 at 10:07

    totally agreeing with Electric Addict

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  24. mekelnborg10 July 2011 at 13:05

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

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  25. peter10 July 2011 at 17:08

    Ray they look very good. Great painted!

    Greetings
    Peter

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  26. Bart10 July 2011 at 18:02

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

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  27. Ray Rousell11 July 2011 at 07:51

    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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  28. BigLee11 July 2011 at 12:19

    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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  29. The Angry Lurker11 July 2011 at 15:13

    I gave you those figures you bleeding tart.

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  30. Ray Rousell11 July 2011 at 16:03

    No you never, twat!

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  31. Mr. Cactus11 July 2011 at 17:17

    Looks like a menacing band.

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  32. The Angry Lurker12 July 2011 at 13:39

    You are such a fecking liar Denton boy.

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  33. Triper12 July 2011 at 16:15

    Great wariors!

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  34. The Doc12 July 2011 at 20:54

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

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  35. GaryA13 July 2011 at 18:17

    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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  36. MiniMike15 July 2011 at 09:31

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

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  37. Stig of the Dump16 July 2011 at 20:38

    pretty cool looking unit.

    Steve.

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  38. Jonathan Freitag20 August 2013 at 04:29

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

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