Two Dragons Productions 15mm MIX PAX, Saxons and Ansars, available from 18, Lipscomb Street, Milnsbridge, Huddersfield, W. Yorkshire, HD3 4PF

These figures are MIX PAX 10, Saxons and MIX PAX 16, Ansar. The MIX PAX give you a good range of 20 figures, excellent for skirmishes or DBA style armies or as extensions to larger armies. These figures also appear in "2 Dragons" standard range packs, 10 figures all in the same pose. "2 Dragons" full catalog is available for 3 pounds UK, P&P included. I will describe the figures and draw some of them, not to scale.

Saxons

AN2(s) Mailed warrior in cloak and helmet advancing with sword and shield. An amount of reveiling on this one. Lively though.

AN3(s) Peasant advancing with spear and shield. Boar spear, shield well up. Good.

AN4(s) Kneeling mailed warrior with spear and shield. Boar spear, nasalled helmet, dagged byrnie.

AN5(s) Mailed warrior with spear at the ready, crouching behind shield. Boarshead style - boar crest on helm too. Extremely song seax at his belt. Ewart Oakeshott in his "Dark Age Warrior" (Lutterworth Press) states that the average sax or seax: (Anglo Saxon spelling) was from 150mm to an average of 535.4mm (21 inches) from point to hilt. The hilt was to one side of the blade. Here is the general Saxon shape, followed by the Frankish and Scandinavian, all useful about the farm as well as cutting people! Gretter the Strong had one from Thorfinn, son of Kar taken from a barrow. He used it in preference to his sword Aettartangi! The bills are all similar to the Greek kopis, which Oakeshott thinks the weapon was "descended" from.

AN11(s) Warrior in fur waistcoat and ornamental helmet, kneeling behind shield with spear. Ile shield is lower than the base at the front so some careful mounting will be needed. The spear head is bound to the shaft.

AN12(s) Warrior in quilted jacket, cloak and helmet crouching behind shield, spear at the ready. Good detail.

AN13(s) Bareheaded warrior standing casually with spear and shield unarmoured. Still probably a select Fyrd man, tho' could belong to the Great. Spear of almost pike-like proportions in scale. Certainly for long range shoving - not throwing or stabbing.

AN14(s) Barechested warrior in fur waistcoat, advancing with spear and shield. A good many of these needed for your "army" with AN 13(s). A Saxon definition of an army was 8 to 30 men. A "great" army was too many to count!

AN15(s) Unarmoured warrior swinging sword, with spear and shield raised. It's a seax. Dynamic pose, but it's difficult to fight with a spear and shield in your left hand. He'd probably have taken out one enemy with the spear first used the seax.

AN21(s) Huscarl wearing short mail shirt and "Coppergate" styled helmet. Shield raised, axe ready to swing. Huscarls or Housecarles form the nucleus of the King's army, loyal to death to him and each other (cf. Srenton "Anglo Saxon Engly" O.U.P.) The Coppergate helmet refers to one dug up at York (Jorvik). I'm sorry, but I don't think many Saxons used this size of axe with one hand, with a shield in the other - a shorter helved one yes, and the axehead is quite correct in shape. "About the same size as a modem felling axe" (Oakeshott, "Dark Age Warrior") and used with two hands, the shield on the fighter's back.

AN22(s) Spearman wearing large cloak and "Benty Grange" style helmet, resting on shield and spear. Boarspear type. The pose is good and the cloak reminds me of the one on the statue of Alfred the Great in Winchester.

AN23(s) Bowman nocking bowstring, wearing cap. Bundle of arrows in his belt. This was the time to watch out for your fingers, easily pinched between string and bow stave! Excellent pose. Saxons regarded bowmen as a nasty nuisance - a bow was good for hunting, or murder - but poetic names were given to arrows all the same.

AN24(s) Unarmoured skirmisher with a sling. An excellently modeled figure, full of movement.

AN25(s) Not sent.

AN31(s) Mailed Huscarl swinging large seax. "Spectacle" helmet, splined shin defenses. Could be a Thegn of the King's Gesidas.

AN32(s) Mailed heavy spearman. Huscarl thrusting overarm. Large seax at his front, angled for right hand quick draw.

AN33(s) Medium spearman in cloak and soft cap, at rest. Oops - not sent.

AN34(s) Medium spearman in helmet, at rest. Good plain figure, nasalled helmet. You'll need lots.

AN35(s) Medium bowman, recovering spent arrow from ground. A really "alive" figure. A "still" from action. Some archers stuck their shafts in the ground, pile down, so he could be taking the last one.

Ansars This range compliments Bob Delaney's "Victorian heroes" with fresh new designs included. These representations are of Arab and Fuzzy Wuzzy - tho' at this time Fuzzy had shaved their long locks and assumed the jibbah with it's false colored patches. The Arab and Fuzzy different figures are indicated on the list.

VE(e)31 Ansar (Arab) advancing, sword ready. Patches on the jibbah clearly delineated.

VE(e)32 Ansar (Arab) charging, swinging sword two handed. The long straight sword up over his right shoulder, shouting. Remember these fellows once broke a British square with these swords.

VE(e)33 Ansar (Fuzzy) hacking, two handed sword. Sword raised over his head. African features.

VE(e)34 Ansar (Fuzzy) charging with sword raised, carrying hide shield. Really rushing forward. An excellent model.

VE(e)35 Ansar (Fuzzy) advancing with sword and wicker shield. More cautious than 34, but purposeful.

VE(e)36 Ansar with face covered (by his burnoose) slashing backhanded with sword, carrying hide shield. My favorite figure amongst this group. The pose is so well-observed, leaning back using his whole body behind the blow.

VE(e)37 Ansar with face covered, wicker shield, about to swing sword. A real "Good-bye to all that!" if he connects.

VE(e)38 Ansar (Arab) stood (sic) ready with sword and shield. You get a random mix of shields if you buy a 10 pack with these. I can't stand (!) the misuse of the word "stood" - past tense of stand. The figure is "standing" because he's doing it now, His shield is on a bit of sprue.

VE(e)39 Ansar (Fuzzy) advancing with wicker shield, sword raised. Sword hand up by his right ear, head thrust forward at an aggressive angle. Negroid features.

VE(e)40 Ansar (Fuzzy) kneeling with sword in hand, ready. "Nursing" the sword almost. Looking down as if gathering himself for another rush. Drawings now, not to scale.