Cohortes Praetoriae

These are the two cohorts of Praetorian guards that I needed for the Ad Castores game.  There were 9 cohorts of Praetorians in the Othonian army, but only 3 were sent northwards, initially, to resist the surprise transalpine Vitellian invasion.

Most of the miniatures are the single Foundry Saleh pose, which luckily I love.  They were superbly painted for me by my friend Nick Speller.  I do love the striped pila shafts he painted...  I added the shield transfers, some highlights, varnished and based them.  The grimacing Optio in the front rank is a Black Tree conversion, and the cornicen and signifer are converted A&A's.   I'm particularly proud of the standards, which I extended by a cm or so, to make them suitably imposing.  The shield transfers are, of course, LBMS.  

Since originally sending these off to be painted, I've picked up some 3 dozen more unpainted Praetorians, and I'm minded to paint another cohort or two, so that I can use some of the lovely red LBMS transfers.  And after all, at the battle of Cremona, there were Praetorians on both sides!