Late T'ang Chinese - Part 2 The Artillery

The Late T'ang Finally Get Some Artillery

The DBMM Revised Edition army lists get artillery, lots of artillery.

Whilst researching this list I found out that the Mangonel [also called the Perrier] was invented in China and headed west with the Avar invasions arriving in Europe by the 6th Century AD. Being fairly short ranged compared to the Onager it replaced because it was faster firing and safer to use than torsion artillery pieces. Eventually the larger Onagers became known as Mangonels too.

I had thought originally that I could use Trebuchet as the Art [S] but I discovered that it was invented in 12th C Europe and made its way East with the Mongol Invasions arriving in China during the 13th Century so falls way outside the date range of the Late T'ang list.

So back to the army list, it has:

Six Bolt Shooters Reg Art [O]

Two Stone Throwers Reg Art [S] - Large Mangonels

Two Stone Throwers Reg Art [I] - Perriers or Small Mangonels

The problem with DBM is the small basing sizes for artillery pieces which are 40mm x 40mm.

This means that 15mm scale pieces often don't actually fit on the correct base sizes. I tried to get round this by checking out various manufacturers models for the Superior artillery but none of then would do. I then came up with the idea of using 10mm scale models.

The Art O are actually 15mm Outpost Wargames Services T'ang Bolt Shooters with crew so I didn't need to worry about getting the correct scaled models.

The Art I are Donnington 15mm scale ART42 Early Perrier [Hand Pulled Stonethrowers] . I also had Old Glory UK 10mm scale SEG103 Mangonel which because of the smaller size are ideal to use as anti-personnel weapons so I painted these up as alternative models for variety. [I may sell these]

For the Art [S] Mangonels I ordered two Pendraken FAN-BAR7 Catapults [these are actually Mangonels]. For the single artillery crew figures I used spare Outpost Wargames Services STC5 Unarmoured Spearmen. I asked a member of the Hong Kong Society of Wargamers about the colouring of the T'ang Chinese artillery and if they wore uniforms and he said there isn't any documented record at all about the artillery or their crews. So I decided to give them a uniform appearance which I feel looks much more impressive on the tabletop.

The end result has given me twelve bases of artillery to use with the T'ang Chinese which covers all of their options.

Outpost STC16 Boltshooters - Reg Art [O]

Pendraken FAN-BAR7 Catapults - Reg Art [S]

Donnington ART42 Perrier - Reg Art [I]

Old Glory UK SEG103 Mangonel - Reg Art [I]