BigRedBatCave

Wargames Drought Continues

2012-01-25T23:16:00.002Z

I have been worked far too hard by my employers, and fear that it is now rather more than 3 months since my last wargame... However I have had time for modelling and have bought more than a few minis (especially Napoleonics), and painted quite a few too.

I have been very taken by some pics that Keith at Aventine sent me this evening; really great-looking Praetorians; I'll be having some of these! I've nicked a picture off their site, below. Lovely minis, and the officers are even better. They are in the shop, here.

Normal service on this Blog will be resumed in due course...

A Shwubbery

2012-01-11T20:56:00.003Z

A big box arrived from my Scottish mate John Smillie just before all my relatives descended upon me at Xmas, and I have finally, belatedly and guiltily, got around to opening it.

John packs his models extremely carefully, in polystyrene, and these trees arrived in tip-top shape.

There was a whole forest in the box. The trees are on twisted wire trunks, and mounted on pennies. I'll mostly use these as fruit trees, I think.

My favourite is this lovely stand of trees with multiple trunks. Thanks John! If anyone wants any reasonably-priced, top notch trees drop me a line and I'll forward it to John. Now John, cypresses....

I've not been posting here because (since Xmas) I've recently been posting on my other blog. Don't worry, I will be back to ancients, in due course, once I've finished basing some of the other Napoleonic stuff that is nearly finished.

2012 Resolutions

2011-12-24T23:28:00.003Z

Blimey, still Christmas Day (just) and I've already knocked my resolutions together. I trust everyone had a great time... and got suitable presents. I got a fantastic Napoleonic book, that I'll feature in another post, and the Osprey Campaign on the First Crusade.

In 2012 my primary project will be for my Early Imperial Romans, what I'm calling my sixty/sixty/one:sixty programme. This will involve building up my EIR Romans up to sixty cohorts of 8 legionaries, and sixty auxiliary cohorts/alae of either 8 infantry or 6 cavalry, which (with Praetorians and rif-raf) will give me around 1150 EIR figures, enabling me to fight a medium-sized 69/70 AD civil War battle, at 1:60 scale. To achieve this, I'll need to buy/paint and base something like an additional 400 miniatures over the next year.

My secondary project will be my new Napoleonic habit; first I shall finish my projected 100-man cavalry division, described on my other blog.

...and after that, whatever I fancy of several infantry formations I have underway. I'd like to think I'll have a complete infantry brigade by the end of March, and at least 2 more by the end of the year.

My third resolution is to paint a unit or two for Glorantha, which I've not really touched for 2 years. In particular, I'm minded to paint the Agimori (tall, desert-dwelling pikemen) that I sculpted and drop-cast the best part of 5 years back (below). They are pretty crude, but at 40mm tall they are almost literally men-and-a half. Those pikes need to be able to stop a charging rhino... I'd then like to do some more Praxian warfare, using Ian's bison and sable nomads, and my lunar war-triceratops and whatnot. Perhaps I might even finish the long-delayed high-llamas that we needed as mounts for that tribe...

This year I must spend far less than last, and must sell some miniatures from non-core periods, to raise dosh and clear space (be very afraid, my Vikings and Assyrians...). I do find selling stuff boring, when there are so many minis to paint and blog. :-(

Finally, this year I shall game more regularly; perhaps not weekly, but at least every two weeks.

That's the lot! If you have any resolutions, please do post a link in the comments, I'd love to see them.

2011 Review of my Modelling Year

2011-12-23T21:40:00.000Z

First of all, I think this will be my last blog posting before the holidays, and I'd like to wish everyone a very Merry Xmas, and a happy and prosperous New Year!

It's the time when I like to review last year's resolutions, and start to thnk about setting some new ones. Last year I said:-

"I've given some more though to what I'm going to paint this year, after the French Indo China, Ancient Germans/Laager and Marian Romans that I've previously mentioned as Q1 objectives. I've decided to concentrate on Early Imperial Romans, because:-

I have a lot of EIR units part painted, that I should be able to finish relatively quickly
I also have a huge amount of unpainted EIR lead so it will save me money
I really like EIRs and want to run a campaign; my favourite Roman text is Tacitus' Histories
They would look great for a big display game, in 2012

But will I be able to stick to my plan?"

The Q1 objectives were a mixed bag. I did briefly paint some French Indo China stuff in January, although I failed (yet again) to complete the pesky wagon laager which has not advanced on my to-do list since January 2009. My Caesarians have crept slightly forward, with the addition of a rather splendid cohort and some lovely command figures, from Andres.

My main objective for the year, the Early Imperials, has been quite successful. I completed my 240-man legion, and recently finished a smaller 80-man legion of ex-Marines. I also added around 80 more auxiliaries (with a similar number out to painters). However, there are still enough unpainted Romans left, to keep me very busy in 2012. I also finished not one, but two cohorts of A&A Middle Imperial Romans and a half a dozen units of Late Imperial Romans. In total I finished 22 units of ancients.

A new period burst onto the scene for me in May- Napoleonics. Recognising that this would become a very serious "habit", I started a new blog to document it, My Very Own Spanish Ulcer. It does take away time I'd love to lavish on ancients, but it's good to be learning about a new historical period, and the uniforms are nice. I miss shields, but there are still standards with eagles on! I am very taken with the Perry and Victrix plastics.

The number of my unpainted miniatures only rose by 101 this year, due largely to fewer purchases and getting quite a lot painted. I made a decision not to count unpainted Napoleonic plastic (which is just as well, as I must have rather more than a thousand of them!). The new period (with a lot of purchases of painted figures) made this my most expensive wargaming year, ever, and I will cut back next year.

Right, I'm off to wrap the presents- have a good one, everyone!

Cheers, Simon

I Aduitrix; Finished at Last!

2011-12-16T22:32:00.004Z

I've finally completed my I Adiutrix (assistant, supportive or rescuerdepending on who you read) legion. Thisforce was hurriedly recruited in 69AD from the marines sailors of the Romanfleet at Misenum, and fought bravely at Bedriacum, and later in Germany. I’ve read that many of the sailors may havebeen of Egyptian origin. Do, please, have a click!

This is the first of my new, smaller legions, of 80 figures in 10 x 8man cohorts, although it can also be deployed as three 24-man cohorts, forsmaller engagements. I’m going to splitmy 240 man legion down in much the same way, and next spring hopefully paint another 80man legion (perhaps even XXI Rapax, that gave Adiutrix so much trouble). Once I have 6 or so legions, I’ll be able tostart to think about re -fighting the larger battles of the civil war, or mylong-threatened Roman campaign.

The Legate, Orfidius Benignus, was killedin the fighting at first Bedriacum, in 69AD. I like the expression this mini (Below) has; it says arrogant patrician, to me.

I’veused as many Black Tree Miniatures as possible, but ran out of command figuresand so used some Crusader and Foundry to add a little variety; they fitted insurprisingly well. For the same reason, Idid some head-swaps and a little light conversion work on the legionaries. I’ve given them a variedselection of legionary and auxiliary gear, shields and weapons, as befits alegion newly raised in time of civil war. There are 3 optios in the rear ranks.

Ihave developed quite an affection for BTD; they paint up nicely. They are relatively cheap, too (but alas, not nearly as cheap asthey used to be).

Adiutrix WIP

2011-12-10T18:41:00.001Z

Last night I fixed shields to minis, and this morning I made up a new batch of bases and glued the minis to them.

I've made the bases slighty deeper than usual (25mm as opposed to 20mm), because I know that BTD minis, once they have shields attached, have a fairly large footprint. The deeper bases also enable me to adopt a slightly irregular basing style, as my concept is that this legion has been recently raised, and is less well drilled than others.

In this shot from the rear, I'm pleased with the effect created by the variety of the tunic colours.

Tonight I'll apply my BigRedBatGunk to the bases, and hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to start painting them; must be 3 or 4 nights of basing work ahead. It'll all be over by Xmas.

Boss Eyed

2011-12-08T00:06:00.001Z

If these look a little blurred to you, they do to me too; I've just finished my 5th long evening in a row on this lot of 86 shields. Session 4 painted the shield bosses, and session 5 the brass rims. I must reluctantly admit they still need at least one, and possibly two more sessions, before I can call them finished.

I am very bored. :-(

Scuta II

2011-12-06T00:05:00.001Z

A quick update on the shields; all the blue edging is painted in, and I've washed the new paintwork with satin varnish wth a little blue ink mixed, to give it depth. Unfortunately, the flash has taken out the detail in the photo; the shields are starting to look very good, in real life. 2-3 sessions more work is needed; bosses tomorrow, I hope.

In answer to today's questioners, I've been using my fingers to hold them, rather than sticking them to a base. Whilst being painted, the curved shields rest neatly over my left index finger, which is now Porcelain Blue, and lightly varnished.

Fabricae Scutaria

2011-12-04T22:52:00.001Z

...a quick post to show progress on the shields for my ex-Marines. I want to achieve an irregular look, and so I'm using a mix of 4 styles- oval BTD at top (as perhaps used on shipboard), BTD clipped scuta, a few round parma for the standard bearers and the bulk of the legion with rectangular A&A scuta (mix of round and square bosses). All of the designs are LBMS.

First I sprayed the shield backs brick red, then the fronts white (with a quick coat of gloss varnish to help the transfers stick). I then retouched the back of the shields with GW terracotta, anad cut out and applied the transfers. The next stage will be to extend the blue to the edge of the shields, then paint the bosses, rims, ink, varnish and so forth. Lots left to do, but good progress, this weekend, I reckon!

Sundry Ruperts and Tars

2011-12-02T14:27:00.001Z

I've finished the last 18 fiigures for my Naval legion; the offices (or "Ruperts" in naval parlance) are above. Models are a mix of Black Tree, Foundry, Crusader and Companion. You might be able to make out an Aventine dolphin standard, kindly donated by Keith. Not my best photo... they look better in the "flesh".

The photo of my optios and the last few legionaries ("Tars") came out rather better (above, all Black Tree). The faces have bags of character. Next I have to paint 80 shields...

Ancient Warfare

2011-11-30T21:35:00.001Z

As I was about to put the final brushstrokes on my final 18 marines, I was very amused when Ancient Warfare Magazine arrived this evening, with this on the cover. This chap is the spitting image of some of the figures I have on the table!

If you don't already subscribe, I'd really recommend this publication; it is an outstanding read, and there are always some pictures of McBride-quality. The research is of academic standards. You can subscribe, here...http://www.ancient-warfare.com/cms/issues/ancient-warfare-v-5.html

Thanks for all the visits!

2011-11-22T22:11:00.001Z

My counter trickled past 300K today, and I'd very much like to thank everyone who drops by here. I do love my blog, and my hobby, but I wouldn't bother to post if no one came along to look at the pretty pics, and have a chat. So... cheers!

I don't have a new photo today, so, by way of an intermission, here's a picture I took of some Lycian hoplites on a relief in the British Museum. It makes the Foundry hoplite shields look rather weeny!

Palmyran Archer Command

2011-11-19T16:17:00.001Z

I've never been entirely happy with the command stand of my cohort of Palmyran auxilary archers, and recently decided to replace their centurion (who has transferred to my Naval Legion) with an A&A command figure, from an eBay purchase, who has a much more Eastern flavour. At the same time I also took the opportunity to upgrade the pre-Silflor base. I'm very pleased with the outcome; although somewhat anachronistic, the new mini fits in very well (although, with hindsight, I might perhaps have given him a longer tunic).

Fabius Valens

2011-11-19T15:36:00.001Z

This command stand depicts Fabius Valens, one of the short-lived Emperor Vitellius' two principal sub-commanders (the other being Aulus Caecina Alienus).

Fabius Valens declared for Vitellius in 69 AD, and led the contingent of the latter's army that marched through Gaul, eventually rejoining with the German contingent under Caecina, to win the battle of Bedriacum. Valens missed the subsequent Vitellian defeat at Cremona, due to illness, and was later captured and executed whilst trying to open a "second front" in Gaul.

The best place to read about this campaign, which I believe is one of theancient campaigns most suitable for wargaming, is Tacitus Histories (which can be downloaded for free on Amazon. I have it on my tablet phone, for reading on the Tube!).

The general figure is one of Aventine's lovely models- they do no less than six different mounted Roman generals! The standard bearer is by Mike of Relic Miniatures, but I used a Foundry horse with it, as I wanted a horse in a standing position. Very conveniently, the vexilla is that of the V Alaudae, which formed part of Valens' army. I'm pleased to have managed to paint something by each of Relic and Aventine, as I don't get enough of their stuff finished.

This is the first of a small series, in which I plan to depict several more of the major protagonists in the "Year of the Four Emperors", for a campaign I hope to run next year.

The Final 18...

2011-11-14T22:37:00.001Z

I'm battling my way towards the conclusion of my Marine legion, which was, perhaps, a project too far. These are the final 18 of the 80 required minis. Painting will be finished by the end of next week, and basing should take around a further week.

In other news, I'm taking a sabbatical from TMP which has been eating up too much of my time, and sometimes could get a bit acrimonious; so apologies if I don't respond to any of your posts on there. If you have a blog about Ancients, I probably will be calling by, or you can drop me an email to keep in touch at the address on the front page, here.

Navy Lark

2011-11-10T20:39:00.000Z

21 more marines and a centurion for my naval legion; just 18 minis left to go, now! And the shields, and basing, of course. This time, I swapped a bunch of heads for the sake of variety. The centurion was nicked from a previous project.

Hello Sailors

2011-11-06T11:55:00.004Z

21 more ex-marines for Legio Adiutrix I; roughly blocked in. I've picked a different shade of blue, and carried out a few head swaps, to bring in a little variety.

Painting an 80-man legion from scratch, is a fair old job. When this batch is finished, mid week, I'll have 61 minis ready, and will be slightly more than half way to final completion of the unit, when one factors in shields, basing and "snagging". I really do like this BTD pose, rather nicely sculpted (by Woody now of GB, IIRC).

Marcus Clodius Balista, Dux Ripae

2011-11-05T09:10:00.001Z

Here rides Marcus Clodius Balista, Dux Ripae and later Praefectus Praetorio. He is a noble Angle by birth, hence the blond hair, unusual on a Roman. Although a barbarian, he rises high in the ranks of the Roman army at the time of Valerian and Gordianus, in the excellent Harry Sidebottom books. If you've not ready these, do buy them as soon as you possibly can... the first, essentially about the siege of Dura Europos, is the very best, but all are good. Harry Sidebottom has written the series of Roman novels that I would have written if a) I could write worth a damn, and b) I was an Oxford Lecturer in Ancient History!

This is another, slightly retouched mini from my fortunate US eBay purchase; a heavily converted Black Tree Miniatures Roman general, I believe. Curses; it has just occurred to me that he should be riding Balista's Pale Horse... the mount he is riding must be a "loner". I might even tackle him, again, later (see comments).

Coh. II, IIII Scythica

2011-11-03T20:32:00.002Z

I've finished my second Middle Imperial unit, a Cohort of the IIII Scythica. This legion was stationed in Syria, guarding the border with the Parthian and later the Sassanian Empires.

All the figures are from A&A miniatures, and some were bought painted on eBay, painted by a very capable painter (although I did the shields, with A&A transfers, and one hand painted). The shield design is based on the one found at Dura Europos.

I'm quite pleased with them! The tribune came out particularly well, do have a click. There are some shots here of the progress of the painting. I'll return to paint a third unit in a month or so.

Middle Roman Syndrome

2011-10-26T18:19:00.001+01:00

I mean, I just love this A&A range, but they take so long to paint! Twice as long as an EIR. It's the pteurges, and the edges around the armour. Look good though... but will I ever complete an army of them?

A quick WIP shot of the A&A Middle Imperials that have been on my painting tray for around a month; ready to base. I painted half, the rest (the better ones!) came from a lucky eBay purchase from the US. Various command figures are coming on, in the background. Watch this space...

New Toys

2011-10-22T16:24:00.001+01:00

Yesterday I took delivery of a lovely Roman fort from Paul Darnell; it is a beautiful piece of work! I especially like the gate tower, and the blue-grey colour he has used for the wood, which I shall nick for future projects.

There are 2 barracks with it, very simple, very nice, mostly foam-card and Wills pantiles. I might try to make some myself.

Paul is getting out of modelmaking, shortly, so this could be the time to commission that building you always wanted, from him!

Per Mare, Per Terram

2011-10-18T20:07:00.004+01:00

(The motto is of our Royal Marines; seems appropriate!)

20 more recruits for my rapidly-mustering ex-marine legion, I Adiutrix. This time I've gone with a pale (almost duck-egg) blue tunic. These are 20 more almost total repaints of an eBay purchase. I replaced all the original pila with new pila I made by cutting the heads off old pila, and drilling metal pins into them, so as to get nice, thin shafts. Bonkers, I know, but I shall do the same with all my pila in future! Only 40 minis to go, now... and 80 shields, still on order.

I'll now take a little while off this force, to finish the Middle Imperial Cohort that has been on my painting tray for a month. After that I may have a crack at the new Marcommanic-war Romans*, that I've just bought off Keith at Aventine.

*Very Late Early Imperial, one might call them. Or Very Early Middle Imperial, I suppose...

Rumble by the Rhine

2011-10-13T21:02:00.003+01:00

On Tuesday we played another Hail Caesar game, another battle between revolting Batavian and German auxiliaries, and their savage German allies, and a regular Roman/auxiliary force who were trying to relieve a small fort (one of Paul Darnell's lovely models, above, with some great buildings by John Smillie).

Above are my loyal auxiliaries; Britons, Gauls and Raetians, with some Praetorian cavalry. The legionary cohorts were deployed (below) off to my right, just beyond a small wood that turned out to be a terrific PITA.

Ianicus commanded the Germans. Above are some of the savage German warbands; mostly Dr Simon's minis. Below are his German and Batavian mutineers.

The battle started with Dr Simon seizing the vicus, just outside the fort, with his auxiliary archers, and (imaginatively) with dismounted legionary cavalry (you can just make them out in the photo at the top of the post). Ianicus countered by seizing the central wood (below) with his javelinmen.

This was an issue for us, because in Hail Caesar close order troops cannot enter a wood; we had nothing to pry the skirmishers out with. Moreover the HC proximity rule (of which more in a later post) required our legionaries to face the LI, even though they had no missile weapons that could harm them and could not even melee them. So the better half our army was useless!

I decided that the only thing I could do was move forward my auxilia to throw javelins at them. Meanwhile Ianicus was trying to manoeuvre around my left flank... click on the map, below, to see the situation at this stage.

After this I'm afraid it all went a bit pear shaped for the Empire. Dr Simon laboriously manoeuvred his legionaries around behind the wood on our baseline, and then behind my lines, to face the outflanking mutineers approaching from my left. Ianicus attacked with his Germans, and these, after a very tough fight, my surviving troops were pushed back onto Simon's columns and destroyed (a photo of the traffic jam is below). The legions might have still have recovered it, I suppose, but it was late and we called the game.

We found the rules very frustrating; the proximity rule, in particular, is badly worded, and we struggled with various other rules, plus the poor layout of the rule set. It is safe to say that Hail Caesar's "more friendly style of gaming" came under considerable strain, on Tuesday; it got competitive, and these rules just cannot cope with competitive!

Still, on the plus side it looked good, and played fast. The combat system is good, and I like the way that ordering works. We are starting to get a reasonable grasp of the core mechanics. Will have another crack in a week or so...

In the Navy...

2011-10-12T19:32:00.000+01:00

The next EIR Project I'm taking on, will be the first of the "small" 80 figure legions that I plan to use in my EIR campaign. This lot are the first recruits for I Adiutrix (auxiliary, or assistant) Legion, which was raised in 67/68AD from marines from the Classis Misenensis fleet, based in the Bay of Naples. Most of the marines would have been Egyptians, and very pleased with the opportuniity, as legionary salaries were rather more generous, than marine! Presumably there was a citizenship in it, for them, too, and possibly a patch of land on retirement. Highly motivated, they fought very bravely at Bedriacum, capturing the eagle of XXI Rapax.

These 20 BTD minis are a major repaint of an eBay purchase. They painted up really easily in 3 evenings, and I'll rebase when the other 60 minis are ready, in a month or so. Shields and transfers are on order...

My intention is to give this legion a very mixed look, as befits a newly raised legion in time of war, with tunics in white, beige and two shades of pale blue. I'll mix in the oval shields and javelins that recent ex-marines might have used*, with rectangular scuta and pila, and hamata with segmentata.

*The Mainz Principia reliefs depict what appears to be an unarmoured legionary light infantryman of Adiutrix I, with oval shield and javelins.

Under the Brush...

2011-10-11T18:14:00.000+01:00

These chaps will shortly become a cohort of Legio IV Scythica. They will have the mail coifs, scale armour and the shield from Dura Europos, and will form the second unit in my nascent Middle Imperial army. I don't intend this to be a huge army, but the minis are far too nice, not to have one.

On a different note, I'm very much looking forward to the slightly earlier Marcommanic Wars range of Roman figures that Aventine are producing sculpted by Adam who also sculpted the A&A minis. I will be starting a unit of them, just as soon as the officers and transfers are ready! They represent a sort of "missing link" between my Trajanic Legionaries, and the A&A Middle Imperials.

Battle of Arelate, Part III

2011-10-10T18:14:00.000+01:00

This third and final part of the After Action Review, focuses on the action in the centre.

Above is a view from behind the enemy's lines, showing their uphill attack against the Limitae and Bacaudae that formed our centre. The attackers were very numerous, well trained and armoured. Luckily our troops were uphill, and somewhat buoyed by the death of Majorian in his duel, so it was a relatively even struggle. The shields of the enemy Italian Field army made a brave display (below); all beautifully hand painted. I can make out V Makedonia in the second photo, below.

My immediate opponents, the Comitatus of the recently deceased, now divine Majorian, rolled a maximum 5 for combat on their average dice, so our Hero needed a good dice roll to break through them. Luckily Venus provided this (below), and we were soon galloping past the left end of the enemy infantry line, in the direction of Mediolanum!

With the gap clear, another of my cavalry units was then able to charge the flank of the enemy infantry, and roll up troops that were already exhausted by their struggle for the hill (below), and the battle was decided!

Below is the only shot I took of the far wing of the battle, where the light cavalry fought each other to destruction.

The game was very enjoyable, and I found that I had a fair grasp of the rules by the end. Simon was a great host, and out opponent, Dave, very sportsmanlike. The figures looked splendid (loads of converted 15mm figures, beautifully painted, sheer madness!) and I really covet a large army of Perry 28mm Late Romans, now. So it might prove to have been an expensive visit!

If you want to have a crack at the rules (which are well written, and beautifully illustrated with pictures of Simon's minis), you can download them for free, from here.

Battle of Arelate, Part II

2011-10-09T17:07:00.000+01:00

This is the second part of a three part write up of the game we played at Simon MacDowall's, yesterday. Part I is here. I'll apologise that it is rather Visigoth-centric; I had my work cut out and couldn't always follow what was going on in our centre and left (although there will be more shots of the action here, in Part III).

So you'll recall that our brave Visigothic horse were drawn up on the far right of the line, facing no less than 6 units of well-hard Germanic shock horse ((background, below), who were poised to drive our less numerous (and if I am honest, rather less effective) horse, from the field.

I had a cunning plan, though; use my foot to hold off the horse, and re-deploy all my mounted, behind their screen, to the centre, where they could hopefully hit the advancing enemy foot in their exposed flank. Below you can see me part way through this manoeuvre; the foot are advancing, and inclining to their right, to fill the gap left by my horse, and my horse are scurrying along, behind them.

We were very surprised when most of the enemy cavalry ploughed frontally into our infantry, (below)!

Luckily, they were driven back by our stalwart foot (the below view is taken from behind enemy lines). The heaps of rocks indicate the discomfort of the recoiling enemy horse, who were badly knocked about.

Below, I turn up in the centre, with my Comitatus and horse. The lines of infantry are on the point of clashing. The small unit of enemy horse, riding hell-for-leather towards my cavalry units, are the Comitatus of the dead Emperor Marjorian; sworn to perish in combat. The charging infantryman is a marker to show that I'm inspiring my own Comitatus, ready to charge.

And below the clash of impact. The fighting was heavy and I suffered a serious wound; this would have been enough to slay a lesser man, but had little impact on my ability to command (as I'd luckily rolled a 5 for command at the outset). Eventually we triumphed, and rode forwards over the bodies of the slain, into the gap between the enemy centre and their left...

Part III, tomorrow.

Batte of Arelate, 458AD, After Action Report, Pt. I

2011-10-08T23:47:00.000+01:00

Today I visited Simon MacDowall (rule writer and Osprey author) for a game of Comitatus, his rules written specifically for the period of the Decline, Fall, and Dark Ages. Simon has a fantastic collection of Late Roman figures, which are beautifully painted and based; I'm afraid my photos don't do them justice (all are clickable).

The scenario was based on a fictional invasion of Gaul, by the Roman Emperor Majorian, in 458BC. Majorian was attempting to reimpose Roman authority over various rebellious Gallo-Roman nobles, led by the would-be Emperor Marcellus and their brave Visigothic allies, led by Theodoric II, son of Theodoric I (of Chalons fame).

Above, I played said Theodoric, noble descendant of Wotan. Aside from my comitatus of mead-pledged bodyguards, I commanded four Visigothic heavy cavalry units and a large wodge (a Germanic technical term) of infantry warband. My troops are pictured above, and constituted the right wing of our army. Although I stuck the cavalry on the extreme right, I had a cunning plan for them, that would mean they would not stay there for very long!

Above are my Roman allies; that's Marcellus (played by Simon) at the rear, with his Comitatus, and my troops in the distance. The Roman infantry weren't very good Romans, scruffy Limitae and Bacaudae, mostly, very few decent troops amongst them. I was hoping that there would be rather fewer Romans, of both sides, by the end of the battle; lebebsraum, and all that.

Beyond the infantry, on our left, were some scruffy Alans, and other light horse types. A bit effete, I thought.

Majorian's forces were drawn up in a long line, opposite us. The scribes failed to record the details of the Imperial army (sorry no photo), but they were more numerous and of a rather better quality than our army (their general was a chap called Dave Allen). Their infantry centre was formed from the Italian field army, including well-trained and armoured Palatinae, Comitatenses and some particularly aggressive-looking Suebi. There were a host of shock cavalry opposite my wing; Ostrogoths, Rugians, Gepids and the dread Heruls. Opposite the light horse on our left, were enemy light horse, including Huns.

That's me in the middle of the unit, above. The game opened well, when I rolled a 5 on an average dice for my Command ability; I was nothing short of a military genius, and a great leader of men!

Since it looked like my Roman allies were somewhat outclassed, and would lose in a stand-up fight, their leader Marcellus (at my suggestion), bravely rode forth to challenge the Emperor to single combat. Surprisingly, the latter accepted and rode out, alone, before his lines.

First they threw javelins at each other, and missed. As they closed, Marcellus (left above) gained first blood, wounding Majorian, but the Emperor fought back and wounded Marcellus, twice, in turn. Marcellus recovered and wounded Majorian, again, and the two riders circled each other, bleeding from numerous wounds, fighting almost as bravely as if they were Gothic heroes. Finally Marcellus stuck a fatal blow and the Emperor was dead! This greatly encouraged Marcellus' command, and all the scruffy militia infantry in our centre gave a cheer (as their Morale rating climbed from average to high; this would be significant, later).

Tomorrow, I'll describe our battle plan and the early stages of the battle.

Somewhere along the Rhine...

2011-10-05T00:23:00.001+01:00

We played a Hail Caesar game tonight, using my Early Imperial Romans, and some of Dr Simon's Germans. It was a battle between revolting Batavian auxiliaries led by Civilis, and loyal auxiliaries and legionaries. I won't cover it in much depth, because it was a trial run and we plan to run it again next week, after which I'll do a write up. Pic's courtesy of Dr Simon's camera phone.

Above; concerned legionaries watch the advance of therevolting Germans, from the relatve safety of their watchtower (one of Paul Darnell's).

Some of Dr Simon's freshly rebased Germans.

A veritable phalanx of auxiliaries advance towards a single line of auxiliaries. The support rules are very important, and supported units had a big edge, winning almost all the combats. We debated removing the extra dice for supporting units, in favour of a bonus on the dice roll for units losing combats. May try that next week...

Above, a whole phalanx of German bodybuilders, hits the thin red line. A unit led by the war leader broke through the central legionary cohort, and disordered their second line.

Finally, below, a somewhat blown alae of Praetorian cavalry charged a Batavian Cohort in the rear, but the stalwart Dutchmen still managed to drive them off!

It was an entertaining, friendly game; HC worked out well. I think the rules will work well for my projected campaign.

More Praetorian Preparations

2011-10-02T18:17:00.000+01:00

I finished a few of the other minor conversions for my Praetorian cohorts; 2 optios on the left, and an aquilifer and a cornicer for a Praetorian prefect stand I plan make up (Sejanus, anyone? I'm a huge I Claudivs fan).

The two optios are lightly converted BTD figures, with brass hastile and spines added to their shields using a green stuff stamp. I've simply added manes onto the two Aventines on the right.

An aquila, I hear you say, but surely the Praetorians weren't a legion? This is true, they were 12 separate cohorts, but one does often see an aquila in the background behind Praetorians. My guess is that there was a Praetorian aquila that was brought forth when the cohorts were gathered together. If anyone has any info on this, I'd be very interested to hear it. This aquila is cut from one of the A&A Praetorians, it is quite like the ones one depicted in the relief (left).

I envisage raising a small Praetorian corps consisting of a couple of units of guards, a cohort of Vigiles Urbanes, the cavalry I finished earlier, and a turma or two of German Bodyguards.

Higher Standards

2011-10-01T16:19:00.001+01:00

I've been planning a couple of cohorts of EIR Praetorians, for a year or so, but I've not been able to find suitable signifers wth the very tall and distinctive Praetorian standards.

Praetorian standards were taller than regular cohort standards, and much more highly decorated, with wreaths, images of the Imperial family, plaques and so forth. They were so heavy that, during one long march, the signifers were given permission to load their standards onto carts.

The closest I've come to suitable figures are these A&A Praetorian signifers. The figures are OKish; I don't like the later-period leggings or sleeves, but I may be able to conceal the former with greaves. I've removed the original tops of the standards, and lenthened them to the maximum height that will fit in my storage boxes. I've added a plaque to each, with a (rather crude) scorpion on it. They'll do!

I have a little more conversion work to do on some other figures, and then both cohorts will be off to Nick for painting.

Asculum OOB

2011-09-25T19:15:00.002+01:00

I've just started to get my mind around the Asculum game that various chums and I propose to run next year (probably at Partizan, in May).

Asculum 279BC was a classic Successor vs. Roman battle, which conveniently includes lots of pikes, legionaries, elephants and anti-elephant secret weapons. Plus it ties in nicely with the spiffing range of miniatures that Aventine are producing... Rule set likely to be Hail Caesar.

Below are the very broad brushstrokes of the OOB, based on the Pen and Sword "Pyrrhus of Epirus" book, scaled to 1/100.

Romans		Figures
Allied Legionaries	20000	200
Roman Legionaries	20000	200
Other allies	30000	300
Cavalry	8000	80
Anti elephant carts		8

Pyrrhics
Macedonian and Epirot pikemen	20000	200
Greeks	16000	160
Samnites	34000	340
Cavalry	8000	80
Elephants	19	8

		1576

My first thoughts are that, as it stands, it is very do-able as we have enough Romans (although not the leves), from Zama, and enough pikemen. We are probably only short of the Southern Italian and Samnite infantry, and cavalry.

My concern is that it doesn't give enough scope to use quite a lot of the figures that we already have painted; Craig and Aventine Keith, between them, already have a lot more pikes than we would need (let alone mine).

I'm somewhat tempted to up the ante by doubling up to 1:50 scale (keeping the number of nellies and carts fixed), even if it means that we have to use Carthaginians, perhaps, to represent some of the allies. I'll have to see how it goes; whether I can, perhaps, produce a Roman legion, or two, m'self...

Tarentines for Asculum

2011-09-24T15:39:00.002+01:00

The above are (mostly) Aventine Miniatures Tarentine cavalry, which are the first miniatures I'm painting specifically for next year's planned Asculum game. I've wanted some units of Tarentines for years, they are so useful for many Successor-era battles. Back in the days of WRG I used to use 3 small units of 4 Tarentines to pin the enemy so my Polybian legions could get stuck in; they won load of games for me, and have been a favourite troop type ever since!

I've mixed in 8 Foundry horses, and 6 Foundry Greek riders, just because I have them. The riders blend in perfectly; the Foundry horses are a tad larger, but go pretty well, too. Plan is to do 3 units of 8 light cavalry, and then see what Keith and Adam come up with for the heavies. The Aventine minis are lovely sculpts, with vrtually no mould lines.

Coh. I et Coh. II Thingummyjigum

2011-09-14T19:47:00.001+01:00

I've finished basing the two auxiliary Cohorts from yesterday. Unfortunately I've misplaced my copy of the SOA publication about the Year of the Four Emperors, which is a pain as I have been naming all my units, from that august work. When I find this, they will likely become some flavour of German or Belgian auxilia.

Both cohorts are BTDs, painted by Dr. Simon's mate, who did great work. I highlighted extensively, overpainted the shields around the nicely hand-painted designs, and washed with ink in a matt acrylic varnish. Basing for the two units took around 3 evenings. All pics are clickable.

Above, you can just make out the space where the unit's name will eventually go, at the rear of the command stand.

This brings me to 9 finished auxiliary cohorts, with 2 more with the painter, and one remaining here to be painted. Once all 12 are finished I'll focus on the auxiliary cavalry; I need lots of those, too!

Work in Progress

2011-09-13T20:01:00.000+01:00

I'm finishing off some Romans that Dr Simon's mate painted for me...

...and getting ready to paint the next lot of Romans.

This is pretty much standard in the BigRedBatCave. Most days I'm busy finishing off someone else's Romans! Even after these I must have 3 or 4 hundred to do. Daunting...

George's Rule

2011-09-07T21:20:00.004+01:00

Muswell Militia have recently started to play Hail Caesar and Black Powder. One problem with these rules is that it is possible to miss multiple turns, by repeatedly failing one's command roll. After George missed 3 turns in a row during a game of Black Powder, I came up with the idea of giving generals who fail their first activatation of a turn a marker, entitling them to a +1 on the following turn's dice roll, which should reduce the chance of multiple failures. I call this "George's Rule".

This is the Confused General from the cover of the DBA rulebook, who I've re-based for use in this capacity. He's scanning his scroll of Hail Caesar, trying to find a missing rule point, lost amongst all the pretty pictures and military anecdotes. ;-)

More Spiffing Romans

2011-09-05T19:14:00.001+01:00

I swappped some stuff with Einar-Olafson Painting's Andres around the same time as he painted yesterday's Command figures, and the figures he gave me included around 20 Copplestone Caesarians, around half of which were completely finished, and the balance at least 60% there. He has mentioned that he painted these some years ago, but the standard of painting is excellent (far better than I am capable of), particularly the shields.

I've done my best to finish the unit in a similar style. I painted a standard bearer, completed the unfinished minis (saving a few of Andres' unarmoured legionaries for a later unit), and based. Luckily there were just enough hand painted shields for the unit. Click to see the details.

One small departure on basing; 20mm depth just isn't enough to do justice for these Copplestone figures, so they are now the only unit in all my armies on 25mm depth bases. They won't be the last, I'll do this for the whole of the next legion (my third Caesarian).

I really like the subtle variations in the shield designs (above). Most of my Caesarians have plain shields, and I think of the figures with ornate shields, such as these, as being in the Praetorian bodyguards of leaders such as Octavian and Mark Antony.

These are by some measure my best-painted legionaries!

Spiffing Legion Command Stand

2011-09-04T16:28:00.005+01:00

These figures were painted for me by the highly talented Andres of EinarOlafson Painting, and constitute the command stand for my third Caesarian legion. I based. I think they are probably the best painted stand in my collection, do have a click...

They represent a Legate, Aquilifer and a couple of Tribunes. My photo isn't the best... but you can see he did a fantastic job; just look at the faces!

Do drop Andres a line via the above link, if you need something very special painted!

Megalopolis 331BC

2011-09-01T22:36:00.000+01:00

This week Muswell Militia re fought the Battle of Megalopolis 331 BC, using the Hail Caesar rules.

I picked this battle because it gave me an opportunity to field both my Spartan and Macedonian armies for the first time. I loosely based the OOB on Jeff Jonas' excellent Ancient Battles site. With 4 players, I volunteered to umpire.

George as Agis, and Dr. Simon, commanded the Spartans, defending a pass near Megalopolis (below). Their army consisted of hoplites, supported by light troops and a unit of heavy cavalry. All pictures are clickable.

Grant and Ian player Antipater, Alexander's regent. Their army (below) consisted largely of pikemen, supported by an allied phalanx of hoplites of rather doubtful enthusiasm, light troops and a unit of heavy cavalry (that in the event played little part in the game). Antipater was under time pressure as the superior Macedonian army needed to capture the ridge, by nightfall (turn 6 or a little after)

The Spartans, below, moved swiftly to occupy the crest of the ridge.

The Macedonian infantry advanced, in echelon (below), to meet them. The phalanx in purple on the extreme right was elite, and was led from the front rank by the aged Antipater. The Macedonian left (of less reliable allies) was refused. Is that the hand of Zeus?

The battle for the ridge was hard-fought. In the first round (below) the uphill Spartans seemed to have the better of it, but in the second the weight of the deeper (and slightly better supported) pike phalanx, with the inspirational Antipater fighting bravely from the front rank, told, and the Spartan formation disintegrated.

The Macedonian elite pikes turned and started to roll up the Spartan line. There was considerable confusion with the rules at this point, which didn't seem clear as to whether the Macedonians could turn through the 90 degrees required to the flank of the next phalanx.

With the battle turning against them, the Spartans advanced their cavalry (below), who were charged by the Macedonian's hoplites. This was a learning point for us, as it transpired firstly that the infantry became disordered by the counter-charging cavalry, and also that I'd given the scruffy Spartan cavalry the same stats as Companions (well hard!). It was Chaeronea all over again as the hoplites were forced back, shaken.

At this point it was getting late, and we called the game. The Macedonians had taken part of the ridge, and looked ready to turn up the Spartan line, but the latter's late cavalry charge had to some extent restored the balance. Perhaps a narrow Macedonian victory.

The game was very enjoyable. The Hail Caesar rules do give a very good game, but we are still experiencing some frustration with the way that the rules are laid out, which makes it hard to look up points quickly, in the heat of battle. We are gradually mastering them, though, and expect to play our third game next week.

Statue

2011-08-29T22:59:00.000+01:00

I was sorting through some old fantasy models recently and came across this; I gave it a quick repaint and will use it in an ancients game, soon, perhaps in a town. The model on the top is the Salute Hannibal from 2004, and the plinth is scratchbuilt. Could do with some lettering on it, really, and some distressing.

I'd really like some roadside tombs, as well. If anyone can suggest a source for any in resin or metal (aside from the Monolith ones), please drop me a line.

Equites Gallorum

2011-08-28T18:27:00.000+01:00

Here are the mounted contingents for my two Gallic auxiliary cohorts, one of which is shown here. The models are Black Tree. I like the riders, but the horses are a bit meh; very badly cast, and soft metal.

They were painted for me by Dr. Simon's painter mate. I then highlighted, stained, varnished and based. I lavished a lot of Silflor on them; 8 or so different varieties. I think more variety gives a more naturalistic look.

I am very pleased with the final look. I think that they will fit in very well with my other EIRs, but they have taken me about half as much time to get on the table, as if I had painted them from scratch. The same painter has a 24 man Ala of cavalry from me, at the moment, and I'm really looking forward to seeing what he does with them.

Where I went on my Hols

2011-08-21T21:17:00.004+01:00

Just come back from a lovely break in a Provencal village, called Gordes. The view from our villa was lovely, and I include it because it struck me that it looks rather like the terrain I'd like to put together for our Partizan/Asculum game next year. I'm thinking that most of the terrain will be a flat plain (possibly a painted cloth), covered in fields with some olive orchards and vineyards. The table will be 5' deep and 20' wide. Wooded hills, like the one of the right of frame, will rise from the plains. The trees will mostly be scrub oak, pine and cypress. If time permits, I'll do some hills as backdrops on the baselines. Sorry the photo isn't very high definition.

Of course, if anyone has photos of the actual region in Italy, I'd be really interested to see them...

In other news, I'm going to temporarily suspend my Napoleonic efforts in order to finish and base 3 units of Principiate Romans that Dr. Simon's mate has painted for me; they don't need much work and should look very nice when completed. I also still have some lovely Marian Roman figures from Andres, to base...

Battle of San Pedro Junction

2011-07-27T20:18:00.000+01:00

We played our biggest Mexican Black Powder game so far last night; six players, 30-odd units and a train! Write up (and many more pics) on Dr Simon's illustrious blog. A jolly good natured game, accompanied by a fine bottle of Fitou (Muswell Militia Wine of Choice), brought by Ian.

Craig's New Blog

2011-07-26T18:17:00.001+01:00

Zama collaborator Craig has a new blog, called Watch that Flank, with some of his lovely minis on it; do have a look!

The usual Zama suspects are plotting a game, next year, somewhere oop North...

Hail Caesar; First Blood part le Deux

2011-07-22T22:11:00.010+01:00

So here is a quick recap after last night's post; the Flavians are advancing from the top of the page (mostly free moves because they are in columns on a road; they struggled to make any command rolls). The Villellian right wing has rushed forward and left wing is edging out of the olive grove; intending to hop over that ridge and rout the unwitting column of enemy legionaries. The Vitellian right can just be seen at the top of the photo; it has rushed forward in a right hook, flanking the Flavians.

So all the Vitellian left needs is a decent command roll; instead they get a double 6 (fumble!). Rolling a further 1, Ianicus consults the fumble table and... (below)

...rather more than half of his army routs off the table. Did we laugh? Did we hell!

Still Ianicus had three his remaining units on the right, and these tore into the Flavians, wth their cavalry catching a cohort still in March column (below, at rear). With a 9 dice to 1 advantage, could they rout it? Nope. Couldn't even beat it. The dice were taking a distinctly Flavian turn. However, they did manage to destroy a cohort of Flavian auxiliaries, and a numerus of skirmishers. Meanwhile, half of the Flavian army were still advancing in their original direction, toward the fleeing, unseen ambushers (failed command rolls).

In the following turn, however, the Flavians rolled a very low dice and were able to make a triple move to counterattack. Their legionary cavalry were able to hit the exposed flank of Ianicus left-most cohort, at the same time as a cohort of legionaries piled into its front. The very large pile of white skull casualty markers behind it, did not bode well for the reaction test; predictably they fled, and we called the game.

The rules worked well, in part because we are very familiar with Black Powder. I think the game would best be first played with someone who has played before. I umpired, and had to rush back and forth forward through the rulebook a fair bit, and had some difficulty finding things. There was also one point where we couldn't find what to do and had to make it up; I think this will happen a lot and an umpire would be no bad thing. But we did love the rules, and I am sure will get a great deal of use out of them. In particular, they are perfect for the Early Imperial Roman campaign I've always wanted to run, and will encourage me to finish the rest of the troops I have planned.

Hail Caesar; First Blood

2011-07-22T00:26:00.006+01:00

Tonight we had our first crack for the first time at Hail Caesar. We fought a skirmish, set somewhere in Northern Italy, between a Flavian force of legionaries and auxiliaries, and a Vittelian ambush consisting of tough British and German auxiliaries, and a unit of armed gladiators. The figures depicted around 3000 troops on each side.

Above are the 2 Flavian Generals and their forces. I could not fail to notice that one of the Roman commanders bore a strong resemblance to another illustrious Roman General:


Dr. Simon

Scipio Africanus the Elder

His co-commander was Chrispus. Their forces were deployed with the legionaries marching along the road in two columns, with cavalry and light infantry scouting ahead, and auxiliaries on their left wing (below).

The Vitellians were commanded by Ianicus (not shown). His ambushing forces were hidden behind a low ridge and in an olive grove (below). The gladiators are at the front, on the left, and the cavalry are in the background.

Tomorrow night I'll write an account of the battle which, it has to be said, was a blast.

Equites Legiones

2011-07-19T22:23:00.006+01:00

Legions in the Principate era had 120 cavalry attached who acted as messengers, scouts and who provide an escort for the Legate. In my 1:20 scale legion this equates to 6 miniatures, give 'em a click!

Equites legiones probably weren't terribly effective cavalry, perhaps not of the same high quality of the Auxiliary Alae, but the jobs must have been sought after as they were rather better paid than legionaries. Like the original Equites Legiones, my Equites will be brigaded with similar cavalry, such as the integral cavalry from the Auxiliary Infanty cohorts, to form bigger formations for use on the battlefield.

These are all Black Tree Design Miniatures, who make the best larger EIR cavalry (although beware, their horse moulds are shot, loads of flash). They were very nicely painted for me by a painter friend of Dr. Simon's, who is currently churning out a lot of EIRs for me. I added a little highlighting, an army painter wash, varnish, basing and the writing on the standard. Job done...

Big Men

2011-07-19T21:10:00.005+01:00

Here are some of the command figures from my recently completed XIIIIth Gemina Martia Victrix legion; the Aquilifer, Primus Pilus Centurion and Imagifer.

The Aquilfer (below) carries the legion's Aquila, or eagle. He is a heavily converted Aventine figure (some of the Aventine Republican figures are very suitable for later periods); the eagle is Foundry and I added the mane on the lionskin, not bad, eh?

The Primus Pilus Centurion (or first spear centurion, for "Rome" fans), below, is an unconverted Gorgon Studios figure by Steve Saleh, one of his nicest, I think. He has featured here before, but this is a marginally better photo than my last effort.

And finally, the Imagifer (below) carries the image of the reigning Emperor; in this case, Nero. Another Aventine conversion with a Foundry Imago kindly donated by Mr Allen Curtis.

I've still got to finish the mounted legate and tribunes, and have various lictors and other supernumaries to paint. But first I need to finish the effing French on my other blog... they really are doing my head in.

Tomorrow, I'll post a pic of the legionary cavalry....

Simon's Big Parade

2011-07-13T22:46:00.001+01:00

My friend “Gloarmy” Greg Privat has been organising a “Big Parade” online event on 14th July, coinciding, I believe, with Bastille day. For this reason, tonight (I can't post tomorrow) seems like a great time to post pics of my Early Imperial Roman legion, all together on the table for the very first time (all pictures click-able).

I started work on my EIR Legion when I first got back into historical gaming around 2005. The first cohort was originally a mix of Perry and Saleh minis, from an on-the-spur-of-the-moment eBay purchase. Comparing the two types, I found that I slightly preferred the taller Saleh minis, even though the number of poses was extremely limited, and there were no available cavalry. The Perry's were ruthlessly purged. I put together a 16 man cohort, decided that they would look better as 24 man cohort, and then that I needed 9 more of the same! I’ve added a couple of cohorts, and some supporting troops, each year. Around half the minis I pained from scratch, and the balance are repainted from eBay purchases.

So the 10 Cohorts; the 1^st Cohort (above, left front, and below, in closeup) are BTD, with Foundry shields, and the other 9 are Foundry figures, with some Crusader (and Games Workshop!) officers. The Foundry Caesarian range provided most of the signifiers and cornicers for the legion. All the shield designs are LBMS.

I recently added a couple of heavily converted Aventine minis as the Aquilifer and Cornicer (not quite finished, more anon), and the excellent Gorgon Miniatures Primis Pilus. The 1^st Cohort is only a standard size cohort at the moment, and I will ultimately replace it with a 40-man Foundry Cohort, to represent the larger Trajanic formations. I'll re-use the BTDs in another legion that I’m planning.

The Black Tree Roman cavalry are half decent sculpts. I recently had the 6 cavalry of the legion (above) painted for me by a mate of Dr. Simons, and he did a fine job on them, too. I merely gave them some highlights and a wash. The basing is not yet finished, so I'll post a proper picture in a few days time. The legion is very generously provided with artillery support (5 various ballistae), because I’ve always wanted to do the siege of Jerusalem. Maybe next year...

The legion represents Legio XIV Gemina Martia Victrix, that defeated Boudicca. Unfortunately my Tribunes and Legate aren’t quite finished; they have missed the parade. But I’ll post pics of them soon. Also none of my Auxilia are posted; they will be parading separately, at a later date, after I've based some reinforcements. Then I'll need to look at painting the Praetorians and some more riff-raff supporting troops, like these gladiators... I eventually aspire to a couple more legions and a similar number of supporting troops.

Not my Epic Arausio

2011-07-07T19:49:00.002+01:00

This is Dug Page Croft's epic Commmand and Colors refight of the Battle of Arausio. This battle, in 105BC, between invading Germans and Romans, ended in a terrible defeat for the latter, perhaps worse than Cannae in terms of number of casualties. It is thought to have led to the reforms of the Roman army, under Marius.

Dug's games are looking very impressive...

Apparently the Germans slaughtered the Romans in both of Dug's refights! If I remember correctly, they won when I played the game, too, some years ago. Warband can be pretty hot, in C&C.

Full Muster of Militiamen

2011-07-06T20:11:00.001+01:00

Out microclub, Muswell Militia, boasts that we can fit our entire membership in a telephone box; well not this week! No less than 5, yes 5, players were present for a very enjoyable game of Black Powder. In fact, we were only missing Gloarmy Greg!

The game went very quickly and there are signs that we are mastering the rules. We are now able to use all the available figures and bring the game to a conclusion in around 90 minutes. We used Dr. Simon's Mexican Intervention figures- there are rumours of the arrival of reinforcements and possibly a campaign setting.

I've been away because I've been very busy painting Napoleonics, but I'll be getting back into ancients for at least a week or so because I need to finish some Romans for Greg's "Big Parade" challenge on 14th July; I want to be able to deploy my complete Early Imperial Roman Legion, for the first time.

Not my Pink Pikemen

2011-06-12T10:52:00.000+01:00

My friend Craig Davies (who was one of the principle collaborators of last year's Zama project), has sent me some photos of some of the beautiful new Aventine pikemen that he has painted.

He says that the shield transfers he has used are LBMS, designed for Crusader, so are a little bit big, but they do go right to the edge of the Aventine shield with a bit of careful trimming.

He has based the colour scheme on this picture from the Vergina tombs:-

I think he has done a superb job! Lovely basing, too.

Hills part deux

2011-06-01T00:26:00.000+01:00

I've spray painted the six hills that I started yesterday, and some of them can be seen, below. They still need tufts and other vegetation added, which I'll do later this week. I'm really chuffed with them; a good result for a minimum of effort and no cost. Not like me at all...

The game shown is described on My Very Own Spanish Ulcer blog.

Hills

2011-05-30T17:39:00.000+01:00

I've decided to refurbish some old GW hills, to match my Zama Boards.

My plan is to partially texture them as above, spray them to match the terrain boards, and then add tufts for a bit of variety. The nice thing about these are that they are hollow, and so will sit nicely on top of my very textured Zama boards (which are currently doubling for Mexico, and which will very likely also stand in for Napoleonic Spain). If anyone can suggest where I can get some more (perhaps larger) hollow hills, please do comment below.

Sagittarii

2011-05-26T10:54:00.001+01:00

These are the chums of Tuesday's slingers; I painted 4 to match an eBay purchase (from Solway Arts and Crafts IIRC), and based. They were pretty quick to paint, using Army Painter. Mine are the ones with blonde hair.

I usually double-depth base my light troops, but did these in single depth so that they can support a (projected future) unit of legionaries.

250K Page Views! And some Slingers.

2011-05-24T23:42:00.001+01:00

A kind thank you to all my visitors; my page count (since March '09) slipped past 250K this afternoon! Please do keep dropping by here, and to my very new Horse'n'Musket blog, on which I next expect to post, tomorrow.

Here's a (clickable) unit of late Roman slingers I just finished. I bought eight painted on Ebay, painted four more to match, gave them shields based on a Notitia design, and based.

I converted 2 figures to have staff slings, or fustibalii, and you should be able to make them out, below. These started as spearmen. I repositioned the arms and made the slings with twisted fine wire and a tiny bit of greenstuff. They came out very well, I'll do more at some stage.

Ultimately, these will be in a separate army to my Late Roman Perrys, because they are rather larger minis, and I am nothing if not ruthlessly sizeist. I aspire to a second army of mixed Black Tree, GB and Muskateer, like Jon's.

My Very Own Spanish Ulcer

2011-05-17T23:48:00.001+01:00

I've started a new blog, that I'll split off posts about Horse and Musket Period games into; I've called it "My Very Own Spanish Ulcer", because I can see that this will constitute a painful distraction from Ancients...

So far I've bought around 400 Napoleonic Minis, mostly plastic, and I expect to start painting them up in 2 or 3 weeks time. I've some innovative ideas about how to roll out a French army for the Peninsula, very quickly.... more anon.

Exercitus

2011-05-14T09:39:00.007+01:00

Here's my small Late Roman Army, so far. I've collected three Auxilia, one (understrength) unit of archers, and some heavy cavalry.

There is a new unit of Heavy Cavalry, below (well a very old unit, really, I've owned it at least 5 years). Could someone remind me what the name of the unit below is? I can't see it in the Notitia. (Update: Terreblanche tells me they are the Schola Gentilium Seniores).

I still need at least one 48 man legio, and some light horse. And some skirmisher types.

I'm very taken with the Perry's. I would like another army in larger 28s, too, though. I will very likely end up with two Late Roman armies.

Leones Ivniores

2011-05-12T20:38:00.000+01:00

I've finished the Leones Ivniores, the latest unit in my small Late Roman army. I'm very pleased with how they came out; not the best photo, though (although clickable).

They are Auxilia Palatina, a cut above the first two units, the Martenses Seniores and the Armigeri Defensores Ivniores. Every man fully armoured! Hang the expense!

Tomorrow I'll post the other units.

Black Powder

2011-05-11T22:58:00.000+01:00

A quick post-play posting- tonight we played our second test game of Black Powder. It went well. At the moment, in order to get to grips with the rules, we have just been using infantry, but next week we'll add some guns or cavalry.

This bodes well for Hail Caesar, which shares a lot of the same mechanics, but which I've not yet tried, becuase I find the style in which they are written makes them hard to learn from the rulebook. Still I will get there...

Young Lions

2011-05-07T16:48:00.001+01:00

This is a clickable WIP shot of the Leones Iuniores, my latest Late Roman unit (Auxilia Palatina). The painting is just about complete, although they still need assembling, varnishing and basing. These have only taken six (albeit rather long) painting sessions; I only started painting them on Monday! I must be getting faster!

After these, I hope to knock up a few quick supporting units based around some Black Tree figures I bought painted on eBay, a few years back... and I'll need to pause to make up a big batch of bases, as I'm almost out.

Celtic Horse

2011-05-05T18:11:00.002+01:00

These are some cavalry I bought/painted around 6 years ago, recently retouched and with three additional painted by Nick.

The new 3 (below left) are the newer Gripping Beast Picts painted by Nick. Nick's painting is way better than mine, especially the shields, but I don't like the blocky style of the newer slighly larger Gripping Beast figures as much as the older, more naturalistic ones.

Nick really nailed the shields (can only see one, properly, below on the right). I was pleased with the way the windsock came out.

And now all together! Who's got the mead? Off to Cattraeth!

Arthur of the Votadini

2011-05-03T20:03:00.001+01:00

These lovely minis were painted for me by Nick Speller (I merely based them). I think they are some of Nick's finest work, especially the cloak and tunic on Arthur. Fabulous.

This particular Arthur will be a warleader of some post-Roman celtic cavalry, that I'll be posting shortly (I started painting the units around 7 years ago, finished them last week!).

Gotta love the hound, too. The Arthur model is one of Gripping Beast's finest, super work I reckon.

WIP Late Romans

2011-05-02T10:36:00.001+01:00

I'm still finishing off old stuff, and here are 24 Romans from 4 different ebay purchases, that I'll work on this week, who will become another unit of Auxilia. They are in a pretty shocking state... to be honest it would be better to strip them, and start from fresh, but I'm too lazy.

Tribunes!

2011-04-30T14:44:00.002+01:00

These figures were superbly painted for me by Andres of Einar Olafson Painting (the photo is clickable, and well worth it!).

Andres is clearly a fantastic painter! I'm going to have a very careful look at these, to see if I can inprove my own technique, although I know I can't do detail like he does. Then I'll base them as an army command stand.

There are some lovely pics in Andres's Gallery, I particularly rate this legionary (why don't I own any Roman mules? A shocking oversight), and this chap, who reminds me very much of the 1962 film Taras Bulba, that I saw over 40 years ago at my Grandma's flat in Cosham, near Portsmouth. And which I remember like it was yesterday.

I met Andres briefly at Salute and do hope our paths will cross again... If you want to commission anything he lives in Wales and can be reached at einarolafson@gmail.com

ps one of Andres other blogs, Softwars, has some astonighing 20mm scale Romans on it.

Nice day for a... white wedding

2011-04-29T10:53:00.003+01:00

My tickets to the Royal Wedding having been unaccountably lost in the post, I've decided, instead, to celebrate in my own very particular way, by posting (clickable) photos of my refurbished Hun detatchment. Whilst I watch on HDTV.

The figures are a real mix; mainly Chiltern, but with Essex, Gripping Beast and a lonely Curtey's Mongol. There is a single Roman in there, and when I expand this unit I'll include more "Roman deserters". Many of them were bought painted on eBay and have been retouched, others, pained to match.

Below is Attila, Scourge of God. Gripping Beast on a Foundry steed.

Here are the heavy cavalry, I'm planning to expand these to 18 figures in due course.

The horse archers (above) are based dynamically, firing as they cross the front of the enemy units. I need a lot more of these, but have unfortunately misplaced my box unpainted Huns, somewhere in the Lead Mountain.

This last unit is unusual; they are fantasy figures, designed and cast by my Scottish friend John Smillie, and I believe this is the only unit of them in existance.

I'm very pleased with the way the figures from disparate sources have come together. There are not yet enough for an army, but just about enough for a wing.

'Orrible Huns

2011-04-25T18:43:00.001+01:00

I've crudely painted the 6 Huns I mentioned in my last post, to match the crudely painted ones I bought on eBay and based a few years ago. When I flock the new miniatures, I'll taken the opportunity to "tart up" the older bases to my current standard, with additional Silflor and some drybrushing.

The figures are a mix of Chiltern (ex Whitecross) with some Gripping Beast nomads and a single temporally-displaced Curteys Mongol (rear right, a very nice mini).

I already own another dozen painted Hun heavy cavalry, so am starting to accumulate a useful force; at least enough for a wing. If the Society of Ancients pick Chalons for their game next year, I shall paint a whole lot more.

Happy Easter, one and all!

2011-04-23T10:49:00.000+01:00

A very happy Easter to all my readers and fellow bloggers!

The weather in the UK has been fantastic; I painted outside until 7, yesterday evening. The old climbing frame in the background, looks a bit like one of Paul Darnell's forts! The lilac is in bloom and looks fantastic. Today (Saturday) the weather is even better, I can't recall ever having experience such a run of beautiful weather in April.

On the painting table are the 6 part-painted Huns I mentioned recently and 4 previously-painted Huns, for style comparison purposes. The old Huns are pretty scruffy by my standards, tatty sculpts with average eBay paintjobs. However I think I can make the bases look good, so hopefully one won't notice the minis, too much. And they are scruffy Huns, anyhow, lather lacking in sartorial elegance! There are also 7 Roman command figures that I seem to have developed "painter's block" over.

The Gallipoli game at Salute 2011

2011-04-22T18:02:00.000+01:00

This was one of the most impressive layouts I've seen, and my photos (taken on my phone) don't nearly do it justice. What got me was the 3 dimensional quality of it; it looked like it had been carved from a massive block of foam. It turned out it HAD been carved from a massive block of foam! It rose 2-3 feet from the sea at the front, up into the hills at the rear. I chatted with the designer and manufacturer, from Grand Manner (curses have forgotten his name), and he explained that he had based it on topographical maps of the area.

Aside from the mass of it, the detailing was great (figures too). I could make out the strata in the stone in the side of the cliff. Top job!

I was daunted by the quality of it, could never produce something like that myself. I didn't hear if it won an award, it certainly should have. There are some very much better pics of it here.

Martenses Seniores

2011-04-21T17:24:00.001+01:00

And here is my second Auxilia unit, the Martenses Seniores, another Legiones Comitatenses shield design. Again, lovely shield painting work from the anonymous eBayer.

Again I've based them so that I can deploy them in line (above) or cuneus (below). Pics are clickable.

Inspired by the period, I've decided to paint up half a dozen huns that I prepped and undercoated around 2 years ago. There is nothing sadder than a primed figure waiting to be painted, and gradually getting more and more chipped... I'll be ready if the Society of Ancients pick Chalons for next year!

If anyone wants to swap some unpainted Foundry Late Romans, I'm after some...

Armigeri Defensores Iuniores

2011-04-20T22:04:00.000+01:00

Not my finest photo, but here is the first of my 2 new Late Roman Auxilia units. The shield pattern is loosely based on the Armigeri Defensores Seniores, but I think of these as a unit of Auxilia. Stunning work on the shields, which I bought on eBay along with the majority of the figures (I painted 8 figures to match).

I've based them so that the line curves back slightly at the ends, so that the unit is somewhat "bow" shaped. The reason for this is that, when I take the middle two half depth elements and put them at the back, it gives the unit a wedge-shaped appearance, which I think of as a cuneus. The idea for this came from reading Simon MacDowell's excellent Late Roman Osprey.

The original painter did a great job with the decorative patches, but I hope that I have had a fair crack at matching them on mine.

I've now got 4 Perry Late Roman units; the start of a small army. I could do with a Legione, next, but have lost the remaining figures I have, somewhere in the Lead Mountain.

I'm back!

2011-04-20T00:42:00.000+01:00

I've not posted for a week or so after a break in Paris and Salute.

Gloarmy Greg and his wife stayed here over Salute, which was great, and it was also a lot of fun meeting some of my fellow bloggers in the flesh at the show, including (but not limited to) Iron Mitten, Saxon Dog and Andres of Einar Olafson Painting. I chatted with James Morris about his beautiful Ethiopian set up. Also met Nick Speller and gave him some more stuff to paint for me, and Paul Darnell who delivered a pretty piece of terrain which I'll photograph later. Saw local boy George Moraitis. Also met lots of others (apologies if I missed you)! I helped Greg with his very pretty Memoir '14 game, but not nearly as much as I should have (sorry Greg).

Of the games I saw, my overall favourite piece was the Gallipoli terrain, which was simply the finest bit of terrain modelling I've ever seen. Astounding! Saxon Dog/Paul Darnell's game and Ethiopia were very impressive, too.

I didn't spend much money, except on a copy of the Hail Caesar, rules which are presently giving me an unfortunate sense of deja vue, as they rather remind me of Warmaster, which I never took to. Except they includes recipes for cooking milk-fattened nails, which Warmaster certainly didn't. I have a serious hunch I may regret the purchase of the rules... but I suppose I might give the snails a go.

I finally finished basing the Late Romans tonight; photos to follow, tomorrow I hope!

Very Late Romans

2011-04-08T18:34:00.002+01:00

I bought 32 of these boys 4-5 years ago on eBay, and they have finally made it to the front of the queue. The shields, in particular, are beautifully hand painted (have a click!). I've painted 16 figures to match (at the back), and later will add spare shields that I had the presence of mind to buy, at the time, from the seller, to round out my first two 24-man Auxilia. I'm also planning to rebase the 16 minis of the right, which look a little bit too regular (and my basing has improved).

They are all Foundry minis, sculpted by the Perrys. A lovely range, just a tad on the small side for my tastes. Some day I might replace them with bigger GB or perhaps the new Muskateer minis.

Not my Epic Guagamela III and Final Part

2011-04-02T20:29:00.003+01:00

...being the remainder of Dug's game 1 (all pictures clickable).

In the above, it looks to me like the Persians in the centre are pressing forward onto the Macedonian pikes- not something I'd fancy, personally!

Elephants' graveyard.

Companions pushing forwards, in the centre.

Above, the Companions are well forward, and one of the phalanx blocks seems to be half way to Babylon, already. I wonder whether the chariot is Darius?

Final shot of the battle above. I understand that the Macedonians won by a fair margin, and the following 2 games, too! Looks like the players had a fun day.

Not my Epic Guagamela II

2011-04-01T19:21:00.002+01:00

Some more photo's of Dug's excellent game. There are an awful lot of elephants in the Guagamela scenario; rather too many, in my view. But they look good...

And my favourite two closeups... the pikes, in particular, look brilliant! It is the first time that I have regretted that my own pikes are all vertical.

Not my Epic Guagamela

2011-03-31T20:32:00.002+01:00

At the Society of Ancients Game Day, last year, one of the players was a chap name Dug. Dug caught the C&C Ancients bug very badly, indeed, and barely a day has gone by without a few photos of one of his games thudding into my Inbox.

His latest game is the Epic Guagamela scenario. Apparently they managed to fight this huge battle three times in a single day!

Below are some photos; the closeups were taken by Mark, who also played at Zama. Dug has an impressively large collection of minis... I also rather envy his large gaming shed. You don't tend to get gaming rooms like that in London. :-(

Above is a closeup of the Persian hordes. The Macedonians do look somewhat outnumbered!

I shall post a few more photos as they come along...

Coh. I Legio Secunda Traiana Fortis

2011-03-28T20:11:00.003+01:00

My first Middle Imperial Roman unit (pictures clickable; worth it for the LBMS shields...). I bought these painted on fleaBay, painted one more mini to match, replaced the shields and rebased. Whoever originally painted them was very talented. I aspire to a small army... some II Parthians, Lanciarii and a unit with the Dura Europos shield.

My impressions of the A&A miniatures are very favourable. I've ordered (and received) some more. Minis that look somewhat dubious on their Website, are actually very nice in the hand... Most or all of the Romans were sculpted by Aventine Adam, I believe.

Now I can't decide whether to paint another pretty unit of MIRs, or some French Napoleonic artillery, by way of a change. Tough call...

Can a man have too many Romans?

2011-03-24T19:44:00.001Z

This is the first of a number of Middle Imperial Romans units that I intend to paint. I bought 23 of these, nicely painted, on eBay, and painted one more to match. I've taken them off their WAB bases , retouched and removed their shields (they had oval shields, which feels wrong with Segmentata). I've given them Black Tree Scuta, becuase I feel the A&A are a little irregular in size. I hope to start basing, tonight...

I will be doing a Late Roman army too, lots to do...

200 Followers!

2011-03-22T19:52:00.000Z

Welcome to everyone who has signed up as a follower, and a particular welcome to "The Man Cave", who is number 200!

I've run out of catapults for the moment, but include a picture here that I've shamlessly nicked from the net, of the ballista I'd like to build next. Well, like this one, but a bit bigger.

Quattor Ballistae Magnae

2011-03-19T14:44:00.004Z

Here are the rump of my Roman artillery pieces; 4 large scorpions (all pictures are clickable).

The first 2 are my favourites, 20mm scale Zvezda plastics with BTD and Foundry crew.

The bases are coffee stirrers of varied thicknesses, stuck onto thin metal plates, scribed with lines, painted and magnabased. My concept with the planking is that I can use them in towers, or in siege fortifications. The yellow shield is the design I've picked for my second legion.

The second pair (below) are from Black Tree Design; rather simpler, but serviceable.

I like their loaders with the long bolts (below).

I have got quite a lot more Ballistae of various sizes (mostly smaller), but I want to press on with my legion command figures, and paint a few Napoleonics.

Onagri

2011-03-13T17:42:00.005Z

I've finally completed my pair of onagers, the heavy siege artillery for my Early Imperial Roman Army; although they currently lack opponents with a city wall! However should the Parthian enemy* ever trouble the Eastern Frontier, they will come in very useful.

The models are Black Tree Designs, and the crewmen a mix of Black Tree and my beloved Foundry Salehs. The first shots below are of the the catapult for my XIIIIth Gemina Martia Victix Legion, and the later shots are of the catapult for my projected second EIR legion. All pics are clickable.

The onagers are protected against counter-battery fire, by anachronistic gabions (resin, from eBay).

Above, a tribune grimly surveys the lack of damage to the enemy's walls.

I added greenstuff and wire slings to the BTD weapons, and made some shot, too.

I'm very taken with LBMS's yellow shield design, which is just as well, as I'll eventually need to fit 240 more!

And finally the second onager, from the front.

I've almost finished the rest of the artillery crew; should be able to post them next weekend. Then I'll get onto the senior officers for the legion.

*I do aspire to a Parthian army, and have started to buy some minis...

"Whilst the Balance of his Mind was Disturbed"

2011-03-05T09:27:00.001Z

Early this week I was scoffing painkillers like smarties, whilst browsing eBay, and I did something I would never normally consider; hit a "buy it now" for an army in a new period.

I now own 5 battalions of Victrix Napoleonic French Line and 3 regiments of Hussars. The minis I bought are quickly painted, using army painter I'd judge, but not badly executed and good value for money. With a little TLC they will look fine (nothing like as good as RTB's or Saxon Dog's, though!). Mon ami Greg is also pursuing a similar project, nice painting there, too. These are the first modern plastics I've owned; disconcertingly light. But nice.

My plan is to round this force out with some artillery and a regiment of heavy cavalry, and use it with Command and Colors Napoleonics. My intention is that this will only ever be a side project to my ancients...

Assorted Ballistae

2011-03-03T19:49:00.000Z

Just in case you thought I'd emigrated, I've finished the various warmachines and their bases , but not the crew and accessories which need around another week...

In other news; some very pretty miniatures just arrived from Aventine, mostly intended to join my Romans. And I did something madly impulsive on eBay this week, that I will probably be regretting in a day or so... Simon goes plastic!

More Ballistic Still

2011-02-26T11:04:00.003Z

Latest WIP shot; bases are mostly painted, and should be finished tonight. You can just make out the troublesome slings (still green) on the onagers.

I dreamed again, last night, of an even larger ballista; of which, more anon...

Even More Ballistic

2011-02-24T20:20:00.001Z

A quick WIP shot of my siege train. All the catapults are now strung and primed. The 15 or so crewmen (not shown) have had their based trimmed off and have been primed (once painted, they will be pinned into the planking on the bases). I've built up the soil around the bases of the onagers at the back with greenstuff, and will be overcoating with BigRedBatGunk later tonight.

This all took a surprising amount of time! The slings on the onagers (can't be seen from this angle) took an hour or so, alone.

The Zvezda ballistae are superb models, my favourites at the moment. I also love the anachronistic gabions.

Going Ballistic

2011-02-19T13:33:00.002Z

So there I was, getting ready to paint the command figures for my legion that I assembled last week, but instead, I've spent a week assembling 6 large ballistae, that I will probably never use in anger.

Front left are 2 beautifully detailed plastic models from Zvezda; to the right two heavy scorpions from BTD, and at the rear 2 whopping great onagers, also from BTD. Some of the metal models had missing parts which I've replaced with matchsticks and greenstuff. I've also mounted them all on coffee-stirrer planks, which should work for the field, or in towers.

The onagers are quite possibly later than my EIRs, but what the hell; I've added to the anachronism by placing them behind c17th gabions. I mean, the Romans could have built gabions, couldn't they? I'd imagine gabions would provide useful cover agaisnt counter-battery fire. And they are lovely little resin castings which I have been itching to use.

Looking though my bits boxes, I have at least 12 more small scorpions and 6 small onagers. I also have an old plastic 54mm Britains catapult that I intend to rebuild into a whopping great 28mm stonethrower. Clearly I will need to work up some siege rules!

Cohors IX et X, Leg. XIV Gemina Martia Victrix

2011-02-13T18:19:00.002Z

This weekend I've managed to finish the last 2 cohorts of my EIR Legion, the XIIII Gemina. Above is the IXth...

...and here is the Xth. All photos are clickable.

Both units are largely built of the same 3 poses of my favourite Saleh Foundry minis. I painted half from scratch, and repainted the other half from an ebay purchase (I notice that I still have a bit of snagging to do on a couple of faces).

...and now both together.

I am really delighted to have painted all the 240 legionaries; next I need to paint a few personality figures, some more artillery and the legionary cavalry, and then I'll have the legion complete and can take a photo.

Then I'll start another one. ;-)

Primus Pilus

2011-02-12T14:06:00.003Z

This is a lovely miniature that was generously sent to me by Hank of Gorgon Miniatures. He is now Primus Pilus (senior centurion) of my almost-finished legion.

I'm very chuffed with him. Thanks, Hank!

Conscripted Aventines

2011-02-12T12:03:00.000Z

I was casting the lead-mountain around for some personality figures for my legion, and I came across some lovely figures from Aventine's Republican range. Luckily, Roman centurion and the standard-bearer gear didn't change much into the early Imperial era. I've lightly converted these for what I need, by giving them Foundry standards and green-stuff lion skins, and replaced the centurion's leaf-shaped sword with a pilum.

These are very classy figures which I'm looking forward to painting!

Praetorian Prototype

2011-02-10T19:38:00.002Z

Whilst my final 2 EIR cohorts grind grimly onwards towards completion, I've started to think about the next unit I'll paint, a cohort (maybe two) of Praetorian guards.

Most of the unit will be the Foundry Saleh Praetorian in the above pose, with a few other minis mixed in for variety; some surprises, I hope. I've decided to paint coloured bands on the pila, as one sees bands on carvings of praetorians (I hope this is a wargaming first), and give him a white horsehair plume. I'm a big fan of the LBMS shield design.

Here's the back; nothing controversial there. I will go for red, as I think it is a suitably military colour. I can see Praetorians wearing brilliant white for parades in Rome, but not out in the field.

If anyone has 8-12 of the above figures spare, I'd love to buy them or swap for them, as I'd really like to be able to paint 2 cohorts.

WIP shot

2011-02-05T14:45:00.000Z

The last 18 minis are almost finished. Above, I'm in the process of painting the black-primed shields white, ready to take the LBMS transfers. I'll put a coat of varnish over the white, tonight, which will help the transfers to adhere.

I've been surprised how much more quickly I can paint the legionaries, relative to the command figures. It's easy to get a production-line going with them. They are lovely figures to paint.

I don't suppose anyone has a spare Foundry Praetorian standard bearer I could swap for, please (for another project)?

Tirones

2011-01-29T17:32:00.001Z

The final 18 new recruits (or Tirones) have arrived for the last 2 cohorts of my legion, and are spray primed and ready to go. I've almost finished the 8 command figures at the front; I estimate it'll take 2-3 weeks to finish the unit.

I have just remembered why I like to get others to paint my minis for me. ;-)

Legionary Cohorts IX & X, WIP

2011-01-23T18:53:00.002Z

These are roughly half of the legionaries for the final 2 cohorts of my first EIR legion; they are a substantial repaint of an eBay purchase. Tonight I start on the second, harder half of the job, the 25 legionaries that I need to paint from scratch. Roughly 3 weeks work, I reckon.

I just love that LBMS shield design....

Equites Singulares Praetoriae Command

2011-01-22T12:14:00.001Z

This week, I've finished the command stand for my Praetorian cavalry. All pics are clickable.

The riders are BlackTree, shields trimmed down from Warlord Games, horses A&A, and transfers VVV. I'd like to thank Steve from the WAB Forum for sending me the Wargames Factory standard (I'm not 100% sure it is historic, but it looks great!). Allan Curtis is sending me an imago, which I'm going to use with another, cavalry Ala that I intend to start in a month or so. A full cavalry Ala in 1:20 would have 24 figures and would look very fine, indeed, on the table.

The A&A horses, which I think were sculpted by Adam (now of Aventine) are superb.

Here are all the Praetorian cavalry, deployed together; a fine sight! I'm very enthused with the Black Tree cavalry riders and have ordered an awful lot more of them.

Romans are Red

2011-01-17T00:42:00.000Z

A quick in-progress shot of the figures that I bought on eBay, and which I amcurrently retouching. It takes a fair bit of time to tart up two dozen even quite respectably painted figures! It'll take a lot longer to paint up the other 2 dozen figures from scratch. Happlily, the original painter, like 90% of all others that paint Romans, went for red tunics.

In the backgroung are the 3 figures for the command stand of the Praetorian Equites. Steve Marshall from the WAB forum has kindly sent me some nice Wargames Factory standards (perhaps of dubious archaeological provenance, but very pretty). If I can find a suitable imago I may stick this on top of the same pole. Allen Curtis is sending me one, but I want to use that with the next cavalry unit I'm planning...

Tin Soldier vs Black Tree Design Romans

2011-01-16T11:16:00.003Z

Someone was asking on TMP whether BTD Romans fit with Tin Soldier's. I have a few Tin Soldiers and have shot a couple above (2&4) next to some BTDs (1&3).

I think one could just about get away with it, although I find the Tin Soldiers crude by comparison with the BTDs (big heads and stocky legs; something of the dwarf about them. And that horn!). Having said that, I have 6, they are painted and I might just base them up.

Equites Singulares Praetoriae

2011-01-14T22:27:00.002Z

I've finally finished my Praetorian cavalry (except the command stand, which I hope to start this weekend). The riders are Black Tree and the steeds A&A; shields from Warlord Games, spears North Star and transfers VVV.

I'm really pleased with them. I think the BTD rider figures are very nice (especially the helmets, have a click), and I plan to paint an awful lot more, especially as the proportion of cavalrymen in a Roman army was rather high. Most of the others will be scruffier equites cohortales, though.

Viet Minh Heavy Weapons

2011-01-13T21:04:00.002Z

I've finished the heavy weapons company for my Viet Minh battalion, some others of which can be seen here. It is now around 100 men strong. I had better write some rules, soon! All pics clickable.

Here are the four maxim guns, from Liberation Miniatures, and very nice they are, too.

Here's a closeup. Happily they are very similar in size and style to my Platoon20s.

...and here are their two 81mm mortars (one captured American, and one ex-Russian supplied). Mostly Platoon20 minis, with some light conversions and one Liberation figure. I'm rather taken with the signaller. Who needs radios, anyhow?

Mystery Solved

2011-01-12T00:21:00.000Z

I came across my 30 missing BTD cavalry, tonight, hidden in the back of a box. Embarrassingly, the command figures I thought BTD had failed to send me in September were with them, so I've bunged BTD an apology, and an order for another 21 cavalry which should give me plenty to be going on with...

Tonight I played a second game of Command and Colors Napoleonics, which was even more enjoyable than the first. We played the second Rolica scenario, which has just about the roughest terrain I've ever seen in a C&C game. I managed to win, playing the heavily outnumbered French, which was very pleasing! Some lucky rolling was involved... top game.

Next Project

2011-01-10T09:29:00.002Z

These are going to be the final two cohorts of my EIR legion. Half are an eBay purchase; not too badly painted but need some work, including LBMS shield transfers The rest need prepping. I've also got the Gorgon Primus Pilus figure that Hank sent me some time back; should fit in very nicely!