I've been on a bit of a DBA kick for the past three years or so, but before that I used to play a lot more of the related fantasy rules, Hordes of the Things. With Dark Alliance having put out a set of Mummies a few years ago, it had always been at the back of my mind to pick some up and fit them in as a fantasy complement or opponent for my historical Egyptians. However, I wasn't quite sure I wanted to build the whole army out of mummies, and my first thought was to fill them out with some of the Caesar Undead. Sadly, these are long out of production and I have been unable to turn up any at a reasonable price.
However, earlier this summer, I had a little brainstorm while looking through my collection of unpainted figures. I have a large stash of Atlantic Egyptians that was gifted to me some years ago; I haven't painted many of them because they're a little tall and thin compared to the Caesar figures that make up most of my armies. However, looking at their thin, almost gaunt features and slightly odd postures, I wondered: could I just paint them as zombies of some kind? Turns out, yes, I could.
The next issue was army composition. I decided that I wanted to base it on a DBA army so that I could use it for either set of rules. The question was, who is:
- An enemy of the ancient Egyptians
- Not an army I already have available
- Matches the available figures as far as troop types and weapons
In the end I settled on the I/17a Early Hyksos list as the best fit for my criteria. Their army has a core of fast Blades and a Light Chariot general, with some lighter supporting infantry.
The LCh general. In Hordes of the Things, he might be a Rider or Knight, but likely a Hero General. The chariot and horses are from the venerable
Atlantic Egyptian Cavalry set; lacking mummified or skeletal horses of the proper size I attempted to paint these as recently reanimated. The charioteer and his two followers are Dark Alliance figures; one has been converted into a standard bearer.
Four units of mummy warriors as 3Bd (probably still Blades in the HotT version).
Three units of
Dark Alliance Anubis Army warriors as 3Ax. These end up being rather imposing; about 7 feet tall compared to regular humans, so to class them as mere Auxilia seems perhaps a little dismissive. In HotT they'll probably be Warbands instead.
Two stands of bow-armed mummies as Psiloi - probably Lurkers rather than Shooters in HotT.
One stand of zombie infantry as 4Ax. In HotT they might get played as Spears instead.
A solid Horde (7Hd) or another psiloi (Ps) round out the army. In HotT these will be a Horde and another Lurker respectively.
I had originally hoped to have these done by Halloween (for which they might seem a more appropriate subject than Christmas) but better late than never! There still might be a few more HotT unit options waiting in the wings, but at least the DBA version of the army is ready to take the field - perhaps in the new year once my usual opponents return from the holidays!
