Grit of War

Hey Guys

Thanks for all of your support and readership of this blog, and JQ has done a great job in doing the last 3 entries. Well, he has handed the reins over to me, and I hope I can contribute to the blog well.

For this post, we will be taking a couple of looks at Imperial crossbowmen:



Next to handguns and rifles, crossbows provide a solid punch that surpasses that of a normal bow. However, it restricts the movement of the crossbowman, who has to remain in the same spot to reload and aim his crossbow for the next shot. Therefore, effective deployment of such crossbowmen would work to expose enemy forces to as much bolts from crossbow regiments, and minimize the time the regiments spend moving to their ideal location. Easier said than done, and some Imperial commanders just prefer gunpowder anyway.

One of the details that continues to intrigues me is how the helms and faces appear on these 2 figures. They have a very gritty look to them: the soldiers have their faces covered with grease and smoke, as they resolutely follow their orders and load up their crossbows for the next volley. War is glorified to those who have never been in one, and it is almost always disillusioning and depressing to those who have went through the war. War is never clean, and those who have their faces stained by war know first hand the true meaning of the slight difference between life and death on the battlefield...