Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Royal Armies of The Hyborean Age: Army List (Aquilonia)

The following is directly taken from the rules of Royal Armies Of The Hyborean Age by Lin Carter and Scott Bizar. A lot of the specifics of coats of arms and some of the make up of the armies were purely creations of the authors. I presenting them here as they were written. I'm currently researching the original Robert E. Howard stories and will be making adjustments to the rules, just to keep it more in line with the Conan stories.


(Image used from The Hyborian Age)

Quoted from the rules:

Aquilonia - 3000 points

Probably the major power of the Hyborean Age. An Aquilonian army in the field could include up to 20% mercenaries. The following descriptions refer to the native portion of an army.

The Poitanian knights were the levy of Poitain and were known for their use of a two handed broadsword. These mounted knights would carry the heraldic device of Poitain on their shields and banners. This is silver leopards rampant on a red field.

The Aquilonian knights are the barons of Aquilonia and their mounted men-at-arms. These men would have their own coats of arms or would be in the coat of arms of a unit sub-commander who would be their own baron. They would use the aquilonian banner.

The Black Dragons are the mounted portion of the Aquilonian Royal Guard and would be characterized by black uniforms and plumes, silver armor and shields, and by a regimental device of a black dragon on their shields. They would have this dragon on a white field as their banner unless Conan is serving with the unit, in which case they would use the Aquilonian national banner.

The Bossonian Archers are the elite border guard from the Pictish frontier. They would wear green or brown earth tones and plain steel. No banner for this unit.

The Gundermen are pikemen from the province of Gunderland and would all be blonde. They would tend to wear dull colors and plain steel helmets and armor. Their baner would be the Aquilonian Lion.

Aquilonian foot is the bulk of the infantry and it is made up of the men-at-arms of the various barons. There might be contigents from more than one baron in a given unit. These troops would wear the coats of arms of their baron and carry his banner. In those units composed of troops from several barons the Aquilonian banner would be carried.

The Black Legion is the Royal guard on foot and would have uniforms like the Black Dragons.

Cavalry is 25-40% of the army . It's composition is as follows:
****A note on the abbreviations H,M,L=Heavy,Medium, Light; C=Cavalry; I=Infantry, P=Pikes****
Unit Designation -------Type -----Class ------ No. of Figs. ----% of Cavalry-

Poitainian Knights ------HC-------- A-----------12-----------0-50
Aquilonian Knights ------HC --------B-----------12 ----------40-100
Black Dragons --------- HC --------A ----------12-----------1 unit

Infantry makes up 60-75% of the army. The following is a breakdown of the units:

Bossonian Archers ---- - MI -------- A -----------24 ----------0-25
Gunderman-----------HIP--------A-----------30-----------0-30
Aquilonians -----------HI---------B------------24----------40-100
Black Legion ----------HI---------A-----------30-----------1 unit

I'm currently converting some miniatures to fit into what I think that an Aquilonian army would look like. I'm using Medieval Spanish knights, but I'm removing the heads and adding Russian Knights heads in it's place. These give it a more "other worldly" feel but still remain true to the book descriptions. I'll have some pictures up of a command stand. One figure will represent King Conan, with a standard bearer and a Black Dragon Guard. The conversions are complete, I just need to sculpt shields and paint them.

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