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...
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...
Good to see a post on the legion cav, as they tend to get overlooked.
ReplyDeleteHi Paul, I posted this by mistake! Was intended for tomorrow, LOL.
ReplyDeletepretty nice cav figs, well done.
ReplyDeleteI am painting some auxilliary cavalry at the mo myself. They won't look as good as these though.
ReplyDeleteJ
Very nice!!!!
ReplyDeleteDidn´t they have to buy all the tackle and saddle etc?? and maybe even the horses food??
Cheers
paul
(sorry, I went into a trance and fogot to add..)I seem to remember reading something about it...to qoute a line "my history is a little hazy "
ReplyDeleteYes I think you are right, Paul. But there must have been more money in it, because the roles were sought after; the Batavians went on strike, demanding that they should be allowed to have a higher proportion of cavalry in their unit.
ReplyDeleteThere'a very good Society of Ancients publication that reconstructs the pay rates of most of the Roman army, there were huge variations between troop types and ranks. The sailors and marines that became I Adiutrix, for example, doubled their salaries.