"Chris" <chris.jolley@...> wrote:

> I have decided it is about time I bought figures so that my early
> nineties era Abbasid army fits the current list rather than
> borrowing from disimilar armies.
> Should the Zanj "east african slave troops" be distinctively
>(less?) dressed or should they be robed as any other C8th/9th
> century arab?

There are no references that I know of to Zanj troops being distinctively
dressed. There is one case where a black soldier in Abbasid service was mistaken
for a Zanj rebel, which suggests that they didn't have a distinctive uniform,
and possibly that they were a bit on the plain and scruffy side (since that's
what I'd expect from the rebels - that is by no means definite, though).

> Any recommendations for 15mm figures for both bow and blade
> elements?

If you want to go with an Arab robe-and-turban look, I might go for the Sudanese
from Legio Heroica's Crusades range - using the javelinmen for Blades, maybe
with the odd maceman mixed in.

A simpler version of the same style is Essex AEA 17 and 18, based on Ian Heath's
reconstruction of a Tulunid Sudanese guardsman - long shirt, helmet with turban
wrapped round it. Shows more of the head and hair, so they look a bit more
distinctively African than the first option.

The third alternative is a simple shirt and bare head, like the 12th-century St
Denis window figure illustrated in Heath's Crusades, in which case use the Zanj
javelinman from the Legio Heroica range, and/or Minifigs Z347 - I don't know of
an archer that fits this pattern, Minifigs Z346 is robed and turbanned.

I think personally I would go for the third option, as the Zanj were low-status
troops, paid less than other infantry. You could mix in the odd bare-chested
figure like Minifigs Z336 swordsman if you like, though I suggest this would not
be a common look. But as I say I am not quite sure what to do for a matching
archer.

> Also any recommendations for Faraghina horse archers and for
> ghulams - most ghulam figures seem to be aimed at crusade era?

As suggested, I'd go for Khurasan's figures here.

cheers,
Duncan