Qin Dynasty Infantry
There are only two sculpts for these unarmoured archers. Here I've based them as skirmishers. The Qin Dynasty used both archers and crossbowmen as skirmishers.
Heavy armoured archers. These guys are formed into tight formations to rain down arrows with their bamboo bows. Two different sculpts, again.
The ancient Chinese had a primitive crossbow that has a simple copper trigger mechanism. They are not as powerful as those used by Europeans in the Middle Ages, but served the same function, allowing troops to shoot without as much training as archers.
I saw a painting of a Warring States crossbow in red, and decided that it would be a nice colour for my crossbowmen. The only drawback is that there is only one sculpt for these guys. There are several for the unarmoured crossbowmen.
I am not sure if these picked troops are supposed to be convicts, volunteers or elite troops. The shield design is taken from an archaeological find of a Chu state laquer shield, featuring a Dragon and a Phoenix on it. Little squiggles with a black pen seems to have done the job.
Troops armed with polearm dagger-axes. I simply call them halberdiers, although I don't know how these weapons compared with later European medieval and renaissance polearms. These appear to be designed for pulling charioteers and horsemen off.
I am not sure if they carried shields as there are various theories exploring why the Terracotta soldiers did not have shields. Since these guys have such lovely sculpts, I decided not to cover them with shields.
Oddly enough, Essex has decided to sculpt them with a headdress, as compared to a simple topknot on the rest of the regular troops. The only other figures with such a headdress are the chariot drivers and officers.
Last but not least, the stalwart spearmen. These guys are similar to the halberdiers except for their topknots. Their poses make them look neat when ranked up, while offering slight differences in posture.
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