Aztec Wargaming and Building and Painting an Army

A friend of mine, someone more fond of painting figures than researching them, recently purchased a large quantity of 15mm Aztecs and other Meso-American figures from the same period. One day he sent me an e-mail saying, "Why is this Aztec veteran warrior (essex 15mm figures I believe) sporting a large chicken on his head?"

As you can see, in the top row, second, from the right, is a man with "a bird on his head."
 In 15mm scale, this large bird could easily be mistaken for a chicken.

Well, I can't resist that sort of question so . . . here's some of what I uncovered while seeking an answer to the question.

They were called "pamitl"

According to Wikipedia (Okay, not the perfect source but good enough to begin research especially when you follow the footnotes) Pāmitl: The identifying emblems that officers and members of prestigious warrior societies wore on their backs. Similar to the Japanese sashimono. These were frequently unique to their wearers, and were meant to identify the warrior at a distance. These banners allowed officers to coordinate the movement of their units.

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Apparently the figure was not an Aztec but a Tlaxcalan (different ethnic group that fought the Aztecs and allied with the Spanish) and it represents "quetzol totol" sometimes written as "quetzoltotol" (who is apparently different from "quetzelcoatl" (sp?) and I forget the whole thing but you may recall that the Mexican flag shows an eagle killing a snake and I think it's tied in with that whole story somehow ("quetzelcoatl", as you should know from your ancient astronaut shows if nowhere else) is the winged serpent of Meso-American mythology. (Remember, this was written off the cuff. If I were going to do extensive research on these people, I'd try to develop more of an understanding of their philosophies.)

Cool and Useful Links for Wargamers

An archived copy of a portion of an on-line Wargamers Guide to Aztec Armies and gaming

If someone is able to help me out and track down the author, that would be great.

https://web.archive.org/web/20100804003949/http://www.chronofus.net/wargames/

https://web.archive.org/web/20050908030248/http://www.chronofus.net/wargames/aztecs/AztecShields.pdf

This is a more updated, yet still not current, version of the material.

https://web.archive.org/web/20110418005854/http://www.chronofus.net/php/viewforum.php?f=3

Another gaming and painting guide

https://balagan.info/painting-guide-for-an-aztec-army

https://balagan.info/painting-guide-for-aztec-and-texcalan-shields 

A Spanish language website with good information and illustrations and several entries on the subject

http://lacasadelosdardos.blogspot.com/2016/08/insignias-militares.html?spref=pi

https://historum.com/threads/historical-armies-illustrated-the-aztec-empire-contemporaries.47720/

A forum with several well-researched illustrations of Aztec and other Meso-American warriors

https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C33&q=pamitl+aztec+warfare&btnG=  

A well researched 37 page Spanish language piece on weapons and warriors of the Aztec Warriors
https://publicaciones.defensa.gob.es/media/downloadable/files/links/R/E/REVISTAS_PDF718_1.pdf#page=12


A well-illustrated English language piece on the subject
https://thelastdiadoch.tumblr.com/post/122176185680/aztec-warriors-otomi-and-the-shorn-ones

Books for Sale

If you buy these books using these links, you support this blog. I have read the bulk of the books below (I have not read "Aztec Warrior -1325-1521" or "Aztecs and Conquistadores" but feel confident recommending Osprey products on this subject) and highly recommend the ones I have read.

FINALLY

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