When I saw "Empire" as one of the theme rounds, I realized that I already had figures primed and in my queue for the AHCP that would work well. These are very limited edition figures that my friend Chris had sculpted and cast to celebrate his Facebook group for wargaming conflicts among the ancient Maya reaching 500 members; only 100 sets were cast, and each comes with a little laminated certificate. He was kind enough to gift me set # 52, and as far as either one of us are aware, this is only the fifth painted set in the world. He still has 48 sets left if anyone reading this decides they're interested.
These figures represent King Itzamnaaj Balaam III, "Shield Jaguar," and his aunt/wife Lady Xoc of the city-state of Yaxchilan. Shield Jaguar was born sometime in 647 CE, and assumed the throne on the 23rd of October, 681, reigning until his death on June 15th, 742 - dying at the age of 94-95, and reportedly having still led troops into battle into his 80s. His marriage to his aunt was likely done for political reasons, to cement support for his reign among the nobility. His named heir, Bird Jaguar IV, was born to his second wife, Lady Eveningstar, and a ten-year succession struggle took place following Shield Jaguar's death between the families of Lady Xoc and Lady Eveningstar before Bird Jaguar eventually took the throne.
These figures are specifically sculpted based on the image of Shield Jaguar and Lady Xoc that appears on Lintel 24, a spectacular piece of carved limestone commissioned by Lady Xoc for a building that was probably her private home; the Lintel currently resides in the British Museum, and is considered one of the best examples of Mayan art, showcasing the king and queen with minimal abstraction and a high degree of realism.
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| By Michel wal (Own work), CC BY-SA 3.0 |
Lady Xoc is depicted kneeling in the midst of a sacred bloodletting ritual - having pierced her tongue with a stingray spine, she now draws a thorn-studded cotton rope through the opening. The rope absorbs the blood and channels it down to a box of paper sheets on the ground in front of her. The bloody paper will be burned and the will of the gods divined from their smoke. This sort of ritual was normally restricted to the king himself, so her being shown performing it shows just how much political and religious power she wielded.
King Shield Jaguar holds high a torch, illuminating his wife as she performs this ritual.
You'll notice they're on 40mm bases; as I'd noted in my previous post with Maya figures, I'm looking at Mana Press' game "Tribal" to use these with. King Shield Jaguar is on a 40mm base per the rules' suggestion for placing a warband's leader on a larger base, while Lady Xoc is on one for her to serve as an objective token for the game's scenario generator. I've built Shield Jaguar's base up with a few layers of cork and also added a bit of plastic foliage, tying him in to the jungle terrain I built in 2025.
While Yaxchilan was not an empire, nor were the Maya people particularly unified at the time King Shield Jaguar reigned, he and Lady Xoc do represent a step on the road to empire, culminating in the Mayan trade empire centered on the city of Chichen Itza in the 10th century, so I feel comfortable counting them as my "Empire" bonus round entry.
Two 28mm miniatures plus the 50 bonus points for a bonus round comes to 60 points. No additional Squirrel points added to my total at this time.
Squirrel Points: 2 (Modern Horror, Maya)
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