Following my tinkering with the cheap box of the Victrix Theban Hoplites to produce some Theurophoroi type infantry for the Bactrians, I decided to have a crack at some cavalry figures. (Why not just use them as Theban Hoplites you ask? Well I don't have a lot of faith in the "wargamers' convention" that Theban hoplites wore this style of helmet - more associated with cavalrymen. However I am all for interesting looking armies, so I rarely mock openly! Also I already have plenty of hoplites...)
From coins and seals the Boeotian style helmet seems to have been a popular style (with Kings at least!) out in the distant edge of the Hellenistic world. Not a whole lot of information available so I am going to allow myself a LOT of latitude.
Unlike the infantryman conversion, where a swap out of the large hoplon shield can create create theurophoroi type infantry or pikemen, a cavalryman would require a donor body in the correct sort of riding pose plus, quite importantly, a horse. Before I became dejected at this thought or hacked up any metal miniatures, I remembered the box of Wargames Factory plastic Persian cavalry that I had bought in a fit of optimism last year. I had completed one miniature before disappointment in the finished product and irritation at the assembly process caused me to hurl them into the recesses of the loft.
Once retrieved I fished out the improbably large selection of sprues from the box. Rather than the typical four or five large identical sprues that we are used to finding in boxes of plastic soldiers, there are over 50 mini sprues. These include a bewildering selection of weapons; some clearly of Persian identity others more suitable for infantry (the large shields and pikes.) There is also a selection of horses heads to fit on the 12 bodies supplied. Although this should be a good idea for the sake of variety only some of them come with harness moulded on. The others will require some work with modelling clay or it could be painted on.
The riders come as separate legs, bodies, heads and each arm (I kid you not!) The sculpting for these isn't bad except the tunic on the thighs of the cavalryman doesn't quite work in the way that it sits over the saddle (also a separate part to glue in position on the horse's back...) Where the sculpting is best it is in the weapons and shields, presumably where computer digital design is at its strongest compared to the complexities of human / horse bodies and clothes.
My sources are the venerable WRG book "Armies of the Macedonian and Punic Wars" by Duncan Head which has 2 illustrations of what Bactrian Greek cavalry might look like. One is of a cavalryman who could be representative of any Successor horseman but with the addition of a combined bow and spear case carried on his saddle. Possibly from a guard formation is the suggestion accounting for the very "Greek" look of his equipment (except the bow.) The second is an armoured cavalryman again with a cased bow but this time with a long lance held in both hands. The text proposes this is what the bulk of the Persian / Greek cavalry would have looked like. This is great as there is a nice mixture of bronze (presumably) body armour but eastern style baggy trousers and long-sleeved tunic. What I find extremely unlikely is that these soldiers would have gone to war, as shown, bareheaded. A man shown hunting without a hat or helmet may not show the same bravado when facing armed opponents I suspect. A the very least a shady hat would be a requisite for spending all day in the saddle in the baking plains of Bactria.
My other reference is the 2 volume Montvert Publications "The Armies of Bactria" by Valerii P. Nikonorov. This is slightly more recent and covers a wider time span than just the Hellenistic period, which is quite useful for setting things in context. There are many sketches of coins and statues recording the surviving evidence which is useful to see and some colour reconstructions. The two cavalrymen shown are both again in muscle cuirasses. One has a sort of Pylos helmet and the other a round, large-brimmed hat, or a helmet in that shape. As the majority of the sketches of coins and sculptures are in something more akin to a Boeotian style helmet I will ignore this discrepancy.
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