Hello!
Heir of Black Falcon wrote:Not sure how we know the two figs in this set belong to any faction, except perhaps the guy with the BF shield. They all seem to use the same breastplate torsos at this time regardless of the faction.
Nope. Mounted knights were wearing all the same breastplates. Footsoldiers were usually clearly distinctable.
Speaking of the year 1990, when the Battle Dragon (heck, "Dragon" *hint*) was released, we get the following soldiers (pics=links):
6018
6042
6059
6059
6081
The figs from 6018 are very similar to the figs from 6085 Black Monarch's Castle
one,
two. So there is no doubt these guys are Black Dragon soldiers.
The lion crest on the 6042-fig speaks for itself.
The red guys from 6059 are not sooo similar to the 6085-figs, however, their overall complexion is clearly not blackfalconly, plus they are manning a wall bearing Dragon shields. (Okay, that seems like a weak argument, considering the 6018-dilemma.) The concept of chainmail torso colour and leg colour being the same was later on used in 1491 as well, also clearly Black Dragon soldiers.
The blue guy from 6059 makes me wonder: What were they thinking? Anyway, there were other soldiers wearing this breastplate, look up 6016, 6017, 6041, 6049 ("Crusaders"), so maybe they just wanted to transfer this concept to Black Falcons as well, in order to create more variety.
Granted, chainmail on Crusaders never became common. However, the two kinds of footsoldiers in 6081 both show very similar colour-combos, so it's easy to accept those chainmail-guys as Crusader soldiers.,
To sum it up: Lego wanted to create variety. So they used all the torsos, legs and helmets they had at a time and mixed them up in a reasonable way. (Except for the blue 6059-guy, alas!) In my as always very humble opionion they still managed to create distinctively recognisable figs belonging to the several factions, with some vague exceptions. Well, everybody has a bad day once in a while.
I never got the feeling any of the kingdoms in the 80s were actually on one side all the time. More like a medieval free-for-all.
In the meaning of "allies in wars" I totally agree. In the meaning of "member of the same tribe" I disagree. Black Falcons are Black Falcons, "Crusaders" are "Crusaders", Black Dragons are Black Dragons, and so on.
Bye
Jojo