The Siege

Since this was a kit, I’ll just quote what the good people at Andreas Miniatures had to say about their masterful sculpt. Before moving on, I would like to say I added two figures: The War Lord (SM-F25) and Arabian Warrior (SM-F13). The falcon Lord doesn’t add too much, but I wanted to paint him and the Peregrine; the Arabian Warrior was essential for a more balanced composition. The right side (sorry master-creators of The Siege) is way too barren and out of balance; all the action is around the left and middle towers. Even one lone Arabian warrior is probably not enough (no more Arabian warriors were available, I would have liked at least one more in that dry moat area). I like to think I added to the composition with some burnt logs (presumable from a stray fire arrow) and other environmental features (rocks, undergrown, shrubs, trees) and hopefully it will inspire other artists to try their hand at this beautiful, challenging, and rare jewel of the modelling world. I also took some artistic license by wounding Saladin with an arrow to the right shoulder and giving him a rainbow decorated cape. Saladin died in 1191, supposedly from Typhoid, so he obviously didn’t die from the arrow wound. 😊 The rainbow is a powerful Islamic symbol, denoting, among other things, the washing away of sins, a covenant with creation, and the separation of heaven and earth.

Lastly, since I’ve always admired Raiders of the Lost Ark, I purchased a mini-Ark-of-the-Covenant and placed it in the left tower. You can see it in a couple of the photos. My attempt at diorama humor, irony, and just being weird. It can also be a motivation for Saladin et al. to engage in the siege!

Copy reproduced verbatim from Andreas Miniatures modeling instruction booklet:

THE CRUSADES

The Crusades were military expeditions undertaken by Western Christian kings under the sponsorship of the Pope in Rome from the close of the 11^th Century to the close of the 13^th Century. The objective was to liberate the holy city of Jerusalem and free it from Islamic domination. In the First Crusade (1095-1099), the objective was achieved, conquering the holy city and creating the realm of Jerusalem as well as a series of Christian states and princedoms, such as Odessa, Antioch and Tripoli.

Following the Second Crusade (1147-1149) and the fall of Jerusalem into the hands of Saladin in 1187, the Third Crusade (1189-1192) was undertaken with the aim of recovering the holy places.

The other Crusades, there were a total of eight altogether, were no more than attempts to maintain the achievements of the first three, until the final expulsion of the Franks from the Middle East.

The kit in the next few pages is a general representation of the numerous sieges carried out on forts throughout the Third Crusade. The scene shows Saladin and his troops attacking a Templar fort around the year 1190.