We've got a fun little pair of releases next with both a siege tower and a trebuchet now available in our Late Medieval range!
The structures have been made from MDF and then Techno has added some handy crew figures to them for us. Both standing at around 80mm high they'll make a great addition to any siege games. The trebuchet will require a bit of modelling to make the sling and ropes, but we're sure that folks will have those to hand at home. The tower could equally be pulled into position by horses, so we can supply those as well if folks want them.
European Late Medieval - https://pendraken.co.uk/medieval/late-european/
ELM41 Siege tower with crew £5.00
ELM42 Trebuchet with crew £5.00
And the pics of course:
(https://pendraken.co.uk/_img/products/5099/ELM41a.jpg)
(https://pendraken.co.uk/_img/products/5099/ELM41b.jpg)
(https://pendraken.co.uk/_img/products/5100/ELM42a.jpg)
(https://pendraken.co.uk/_img/products/5100/ELM42b.jpg)
We hope you like them!
Wow! Those are brilliant.
Can see at least two armies I can add them two.
They look great.
I've been wanting a trebuchet for my crusader camp.
Quote from: mad lemmey on 28 November 2020, 11:43:58 PM
Wow! Those are brilliant.
Can see at least two armies I can add them two.
Bloomin' heck you got those crew cast up quickly, Leon !!
They ARE cracking models....I've got one of each on the desk at the mo', and I now understand the references to the nice smell of the MDF. ;D
Cheers - Phil :)
Ooh they will go nicely into my 10mm year LOTR Army.along with the new releases on the TB line.
Regards
Sean
Now we need an MDF castle to assault, and a ram
I could put some horns on one of the sheep, if you want, Mark. :D
Cheers - Phil ;)
;D ;D
Quote from: Techno II on 29 November 2020, 07:03:35 AM
I could put some horns on one of the sheep, if you want, Mark. :D
Cheers - Phil ;)
Phil that deserves a good coat chewing....
Excellent additions and I'm sure will be popular 8).
Quote from: ianrs54 on 29 November 2020, 07:13:57 AM
Phil that deserves a good coat chewing....
Why would I want to chew a goat ?.....
Ah...OK. I've cleaned my glasses, now. ;)
Now genuine questions.
How DID they move those siege towers ?.......Or....How many men did it actually take to shift them ? They must have weighed a
huge amount.
Did they construct them as close as possible to 'the castle/fortress'....
Just out of range from bowshot, so there was the minimum amount of effort to get them to the walls ?
I note that Leon has mentioned horses being used to
pull them into position.......How did they protect the horses ?.....A 'turtle shell of shields'. :-\
Cheers - Interested of Wales. :)
Siege towers come in all sizes, over a long period of time.
Manpower definitely, pushing from behind and inside. I have seen somewhere illustration of horses inside the bottom - never seen them dragged into final position by horses. I'll see if I can dig up a picture.
Both look look excellent!
Although the trebuchet looks . . . big.
What height's the platform on the tower?
Lisbon C12
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1e/Siege_of_Lisbon_by_Roque_Gameiro.jpg)
Assyrian Dalek
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/72/Assyrian_Attack_on_a_Town.jpg)
"So large was one siege tower used by Macedonians in an attack on Rhodes that 3,400 men were required to move it up to the city walls." ( Encyclopaedia Brittanica)
"Siege towers were heavy and could easily tip over. It was difficult to move them into position from the safe distance where they had been built. The ground had to be level, and many teams of oxen were needed to move them. They also needed to be moved close to the walls, which normally meant that pushing, not pulling, force was required. One way to move a very heavy siege platform was to sink one or more posts into the ground by the castle walls and loop heavy pulleys and ropes around them. The platform was then attached to the ropes, and it could be moved forward by oxen walking away from the battle. The siege tower inched closer to the fortress walls, but the muscle power moving it only moved farther out of range. The tower could come right up to the pulleys, if the defenders had not disrupted them. Towers could also be moved with levers, but, in any case, they moved very slowly because of their great weight." https://weaponsandwarfare.com/2020/05/17/the-medieval-siege/ (https://weaponsandwarfare.com/2020/05/17/the-medieval-siege/)
:-bd
Very nice. Can we expect something to besiege soon, such as a 10mm model of Jerusalem?
Cool - and very timely. Just added a Trebuchet to the order I placed yesterday.
Quote from: Techno II on 29 November 2020, 08:00:29 AM
Why would I want to chew a goat ?.....
Ah...OK. I've cleaned my glasses, now. ;)
Now genuine questions.
How DID they move those siege towers ?.......Or....How many men did it actually take to shift them ? They must have weighed a huge amount.
Did they construct them as close as possible to 'the castle/fortress'....Just out of range from bowshot, so there was the minimum amount of effort to get them to the walls ?
I note that Leon has mentioned horses being used to pull them into position.......How did they protect the horses ?.....A 'turtle shell of shields'. :-
Cheers - Interested of Wales. :)
I thought that chewing goat was comon in your area Phil.
As to moving seige towers - slowly and carefully. If possible they were made from unseasond wood and covered in wet hides (Smelly).
The trebuchet looks about right, these things were huge, do a google for reconstructions, there are several about.
If you were looking to move the tower and to terrorise the defenders at the same time, you rounded up the local peasants and their families and offered the men the choice between pulling the tower and probably being killed by the defenders or watching their families die and then definitely being killed by the besiegers.
Quote from: Techno II on 29 November 2020, 08:00:29 AM
Now genuine questions.
How DID they move those siege towers ?.......Or....How many men did it actually take to shift them ? They must have weighed a huge amount.
Did they construct them as close as possible to 'the castle/fortress'....Just out of range from bowshot, so there was the minimum amount of effort to get them to the walls ?
I note that Leon has mentioned horses being used to pull them into position.......How did they protect the horses ?.....A 'turtle shell of shields'. :-
Cheers - Interested of Wales. :)
Trolls it's the only answer
Quote from: John Cook on 29 November 2020, 10:11:19 AM
Very nice. Can we expect something to besiege soon, such as a 10mm model of Jerusalem?
There has been an Ian Weekly model of Beaumaris castle in 10on ebay a couple of time recently . It went for £100
Quote from: Raider4 on 29 November 2020, 09:21:56 AM
Although the trebuchet looks . . . big.
What height's the platform on the tower?
They were quite chunky! I'll double check the different platforms on the tower but it's about 80mm overall height. This is a good vid of the working trebuchet at Warwick Castle, to give an indication of size:
Quote from: fsn on 29 November 2020, 09:45:44 AM
One way to move a very heavy siege platform was to sink one or more posts into the ground by the castle walls and loop heavy pulleys and ropes around them. The platform was then attached to the ropes, and it could be moved forward by oxen walking away from the battle. The siege tower inched closer to the fortress walls, but the muscle power moving it only moved farther out of range.
That's interesting, I'd not found that info and it makes a lot more sense. I'd read about manpower (loads of them and definitely more than the 4 we're supplying it with!) and horses pulling it, but of course the horses came into arrow range and were soon rather dissuaded from continuing in a forwardly manner...
Quote from: John Cook on 29 November 2020, 10:11:19 AM
Very nice. Can we expect something to besiege soon, such as a 10mm model of Jerusalem?
No plans just yet but it is something I'd like to have a look at. There's quite a few other companies making castles in 10mm I think, Kallistra has a lovely one and I think Blotz were making a modular set of walls/keeps?
Quote from: Raider4 on 29 November 2020, 09:21:56 AM
What height's the platform on the tower?
The three platforms are at 30mm / 50mm / 70mm heights.
So... I've repurposed a couple of these lovely little things to use as Cyrus' Mobile Towers as part of a 15mm Early Achaemenid Persian army !
(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kX2o5MxF3GE/X-SACRmHucI/AAAAAAAAEfA/tnPPIejI_CcgMmEbVOgx3zbgBwgn4XLIACLcBGAsYHQ/s703/IMGP4075.JPG)
(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ezczj3J4eEQ/X-SAD_ZmWQI/AAAAAAAAEfY/e8ZwIHdvdtohuStNBXmKDv_zLIK-nlkhgCLcBGAsYHQ/s636/IMGP4081.JPG)
(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZnM6wLoPuh0/X-SADIPzVqI/AAAAAAAAEfI/nOMxmOxX7xQ5zrI9_IYbnK5pQsfCUYRWQCLcBGAsYHQ/s670/IMGP4077.JPG)
Full details (and a link to download the wallpaper!) at https://madaxemandotcom.blogspot.com/2020/12/festive-persian-siege-towers-ok-its.html
That conversion and paint job proves we are all insane. Excellent stuff....
You've done a great job there 8)!!!
These siege towers look most impressive. I really like them. Great job! :-bd
But someone needs to explain the horses to me (I'm not an Ancients era aficionado). The horse team is longer than the draw bridge so clearly they can't drag the tower right up to the city walls. Not only that, the horses have side protection but no overhead cover and with the besieged city walls being higher than the horses, the defenders will be shooting down on them. So clearly it would be best to unhitch the horses, etc. out of range and then manually push the tower up to the walls. But if you unhitch the horses out of range, then there's no need for the side protection. I don't get it. :'(
Bah Humbug! :P
p.s. Should the horse team be placed behind the tower to push it rather than pull it? :-\
Westmarcher - Cyrus' towers were used on the battlefield.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Thymbra
Lovely models. Though those are odd looking oxen pulling them :)
Quote from: Ithoriel on 24 December 2020, 02:19:27 PM
Though those are odd looking oxen pulling them :)
Cyrus' clearly didn't have the same stuff in his "bits box" as I did when he originally put them together in 1:1 scale ;D
Quote from: Ithoriel on 24 December 2020, 02:19:27 PM
Westmarcher - Cyrus' towers were used on the battlefield.
Excellent! Who'd've thunk it?* :o
*well .... clearly one of Cyrus's pals. :-B
... so, the drawbridge is actually for leisure purposes ... like a diving board? :P
Nice use of CGI.
Quote from: Westmarcher on 24 December 2020, 03:25:02 PM
Excellent! Who'd've thunk it?* :o
*well .... clearly one of Cyrus's pals. :-B
... so, the drawbridge is actually for leisure purposes ... like a diving board? :P
I believe the originals (there were five or six of them) had something more like a balcony than a diving platform, possibly more than one tier of balconies each able to hold 20 archers.
I believe madaxeman can be said to have captured the essence of the devices rather than the detailed actuality. And very nicely done it is too.
Quote from: Ithoriel on 24 December 2020, 04:36:49 PM
I believe the originals (there were five or six of them) had something more like a balcony than a diving platform, possibly more than one tier of balconies each able to hold 20 archers.
I believe madaxeman can be said to have captured the essence of the devices rather than the detailed actuality. And very nicely done it is too.
I'm half way between being grateful to you for christening the "diving platform" bit of it, and dismayed that you have now encouraged me to spend the next few days hunting for a 15mm Persian infantryman in a diving pose... !
:-bd =D> :-bd =D>
;D ;D ;D
Quote from: madaxeman on 24 December 2020, 06:17:04 PM
.. and dismayed that you have now encouraged me to spend the next few days hunting for a 15mm Persian infantryman in a diving pose... !
=D> ;D ;D
I say, they are awfully pretty!
Excellent Tim!
Quote from: madaxeman on 24 December 2020, 06:17:04 PM
I'm half way between being grateful to you for christening the "diving platform" bit of it, and dismayed that you have now encouraged me to spend the next few days hunting for a 15mm Persian infantryman in a diving pose... !
I have to say I had imagined it more as a launchpad for the Persian equivalent of the Goblin Doom Diver. :)