Red Box 144 1/72 17th c. Ukrainian Peasant Infantry

Every country had its peasants, and the Cossack communities of Ukraine were no different. Indeed, many such were the descendants of peasants that had fled from neighbouring countries where they faced serfdom or oppression, and while they may have found more freedom in their new home, they did not find wealth. Still in times of trouble all able-bodied men might be called upon to fight, so the majority of most Cossack armies were made up of what might be described as peasant infantry, men who were not registered or paid to fight, but would be required to grab whatever weapon they could and muster ready for action.

Naturally the peasants had limited access to weapons, and usually did not have any sort of a lord that could provide these for them. A couple of the more fortunate figures in this set are handling muskets or carbines, but these would have been few, and most of the weapons here are either blades (swords, spears, axes or agricultural blades attached to poles) or impact weapons. Both come in various forms here, but the impact weapons are the more unusual, including some flails and a couple of men holding what look like branches or large animal bones as clubs.

Specifications

• Contents: 53 figures
• Poses: 17 poses
• Material: Plastic (Medium Consistency)