Red Box 112 1/72 16th c. Moscow Infantry (ratniki) Set 2

Once the Mongol yoke was broken in 1480, the Grand Duchy of Moscow, or more simply Muscovy, saw enormous growth as a succession of able and aggressive tsars dominated and attacked neighbouring territories, becoming the principal Rus state. It’s many wars with neighbours such as Sweden, Poland/Lithuania and various khanates helped to maintain its military efficiency, while reforms and the introduction of new technology further expanded its power. By the end of the 16th century the territory was vastly bigger than at the start, with the absorption of the Khanate of Kazan and later moves into Siberia creating a vast realm that would at times be difficult to govern, but bringing many different peoples under the rule of Moscow.

The most prominent character of this century in Muscovy was Ivan IV, the ‘terrible’, and it was he who first created a professional, paid body of infantry, the famous Streltsi. Yet even after their creation, around the middle of the century, the bulk of the Muscovite foot forces remained levies raised mainly from the rural poor and urban militias, and most were armed with essentially medieval weapons. The word Ratniki in the title of this set merely means ‘warriors’, which simply distinguishes these figures from the firearm troops available in another set. Set 1 included the simplest infantry armed with spears, and this second set provides men armed with bows, axes and swords, essentially completing the picture of Muscovy infantry at this time. These weapons are quite varied here, but as far as we can tell everything is correctly done. Our one query was with the second bowman, whose bowstring is very obviously twisted. Alas there is little information on these troops readily available in English, but we have not seen such a bowstring before and can only wonder as to why such a large twist might have been desirable.

Specifications

• Contents: 40 figures
• Poses: 10 poses
• Material: Plastic (Medium Consistency)