Showing posts with label Auxilia Project. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Auxilia Project. Show all posts

Tuesday, 24 June 2014

Mustering

I have not one, not two but four large Roman-themed games coming up at the Wargames Holiday Centre this weekend, and have been raising and re-organising my Romans for the event. I believe Mark has a couple of spaces left, so if you are in the UK, and at a loose end...  

I've painted 6 more elements of cavalry, and also increased the size of most of my existing alae to 6 stands. I'll take some closeups later on, when I've finished flocking them. The unit in front represents the combined cavalry elements of my Batavian cohorts.  Smaller squadrons of Britons and Equites Cohortales are drawn up behind them. My favourites are the Batavians because they were some of the first 28mm Ancients I bought, back in 2004, and they have been expanded several times since then, and I've also gradually improved the paintwork along the way. They are Foundry Gallic cavalry painted as regulars.


Below are my re-organised archers, Western at the front and Eastern behind.  I now have seven units-worth of them.  In this latest organisation I added casualties and made some head-swaps.


Friday, 5 October 2012

Coh. V Dalmatorum


This is the last cohort of Romans I'll produce for a while; they are an auxiliary cohort I started just before Partizan, that I wanted to wrap up.  They are a bog-standard unit of auxiliaries of Dalmatian origin, all Black Tree miniatures, and, for once, almost exclusively* painted by me!  This is one of my favourite LBMS auxiliary shield designs.  As ever, pics are fully clickable.

They are my 15th auxiliary infantry unit and I now, albeit temporarily, have more auxiliaries than legionaries (something that very few wargamers can say!).  Once I have based one final auxiliary cavalry unit, I'll have hit my resolution target of 60 double elements of auxiliaries (414 minis), and I'll be able to move on to expand the legions.  I do prefer to paint auxiliaries to legionaries, though, I find them more varied and interesting.



*Three of Legatus Hedlius command figures crept in

Wednesday, 3 October 2012

Ala Gallorum Petriana, and 400K!

This is my second Ala of Auxiliary cavalry; the Petrian Gallic wing.  These were probably raised at the beginning of the first century, and served on the Vitellian side, under Caecina, in the 69AD war. After the war they came to Britain and were stationed in Northumberland and Cumbria for the next hundred years or so.


These were painted for me by Dr. Simon's excellent mystery painter, but I did quite a bit of highlighting on them, too, varnished and based.  Pics are clickable.  All the miniatures are Black Tree.  At 24 men, it is the right size for a Quingenary Ala, but as a wargames unit, it is a little unwieldy, and I shall probably make future units a little smaller at 18 figures, and consider them to be understrength.


In other news, the tracker ticked past 400K visits today!  Thanks very much for all your visits, so far, and onwards and upwards to the half million!

Wednesday, 26 September 2012

Cohors Hedlium

The official name of this cohort is Coh. I Cannefatium, but they will operate under the name of their prefect, Hedlius (I bought most of the minis, painted, from Legatus Hedlius).  They will be brigaded alongside my Batavians, who they joined in the 69AD revolt.


I finished them just before Partizan but this has been my first chance to take photos.  They are mostly Foundry Salehs with a slight admixture of Black Tree for variety.  In general I'm going to use Salehs for all my German and British-origin cohorts, and Black Trees for Danubian and other cohorts.

Thursday, 20 September 2012

More Auxiliaries, WIP

In the interests of breaking a recent slump in my posting, here are the early stages of my seventeenth auxiliary cohort.  They were underway before Partizan, and, although I currently need another cohort of auxiliaries like a fish needs a bicycle, I want to wrap them up and clear the painting table.


The nicely painted command figures are from the batch Legatus sold me; most of the rest came from a batch of dreadfully painted miniatures I foolishly bought on eBay.  I've blocked in most of the base colours, and they were coming on very quickly until I got distracted by another project, of which more, tomorrow....

Saturday, 14 July 2012

Mon Big Parade

Figgybloggy Greg organises an annual parade of miniatures to coincide with Bastille Day.  It only just dawned on me that today is the very day!  Vive la France!

Last year I posted my Early Imperial Roman Legion, and today I've decided to parade my mostly-new auxiliary forces in front of my newish buildings from Paul Darnell.  The pics aren't my best ever, but they do give an impression of what I'm up to.


Above are the 13 cohorts of auxiliaries, the ex-marines of I Adiutrix and my first Ala of Auxiliary cavalry.  This is clickable!


Above front left, two British Cohorts, and front-right two German.  Behind them are the newly-prromoted marines of I Adiutrix.


Front left, beyond the tribunal, are two cohorts of Batavians, and behind them their cavalry contingent.  Front right are a cohort of Dalmatians and one of Noricans, and behind them Ala Siliana. 


Above left are two cohorts of Gauls, and behind them, their cavalry contingent.   Front right are a cohort of Raetians, and behind them a cohort of Roman Citizens and finally beyond them a cohort of Palmyran archers.

Finally, below a blurry shot of a very nice reviewing stand that I bought from Paul Darnell.


Next year, hopefully I'll stage a rather smaller but no doubt very shiny parade of Praetorians and associated troops.

Friday, 13 July 2012

Coh. I et II Sugambrorum


Latest recruits to the Army of Germania Inferior; two more cohortes peditatae from the Sugambrorii tribe, painted by Dr. Simon's mystery painter (highlighting and basing by me).  I'm now just about finished with Auxiliary infantry (have 13 cohorts), but may perhaps do one or two more cohorts before Partizan, if time permits. Do have a click, they look quite acceptable in closeup.


I love these (mainly) Saleh minis (if anyone has any sitting around unpainted, I'd love to do a swap).  I've mixed in a few Foundry and Crusader command figures, and a couple of BTDs.  The (ahistoric) unit standards are Aventines' Hercules (who the Germans worshipped), and a boar.

Tuesday, 10 July 2012

Coh. I Voluntariorum Civium Romanum Eq.



In the manpower crisis following the crisis in Dalmatia in 6AD-9AD, and Teutoberger Wald in 9AD, Augustus raised perhaps 30-40 independent cohorts that didn’t form part of the legions.  Some of these were entitled Coh. Ingenuorum Civium Romanum (free-born Roman citizens) or Coh. Italica Voluntariorum C.R.  (Italian Roman citizen volunteers).  According to Cheeseman, the former were recruited from Roman citizens, and the latter were recruited from freedmen, who were not eligible to serve in the legions.  These retained a higher status than auxiliary units, being paid a donative equivalent to that of legionaries, in Augustus’ Will.


Over time, it is thought that recruitment standards were relaxed and non-citizens were recruited (slaves or foreigners), who received citizenship after twenty five years service, as if auxiliaries.  Paradoxically auxiliary units that performed exceptionally well on campaign, were granted Roman Citizenship, which is why many have C.R. after their unit name.


I don’t believe that anything specific  is known about how C. R. troops were equipped, relative to other Roman forces.  From Instinct, I’ve chosen to give this particular unit, which was based in lower Germany,  the same red tunics I give most of my legionaries (rather than the off white most of my auxiliaries get), and a legionary shield design that LBMS conveniently makes to fit an oval shield.  I also gave them a legionary signum.


Most of the miniatures are Black Tree, except for the Centurion who is the Warlord mini that came with Hail Caesar, and two Foundry signifiers and a cornicen.  I did a little light conversion work including a couple of head swaps.  I particularly pleased with the way that the cavalry contingent came out, as all were badly painted, and some horses broken at the ankles, when I got them.  Unfortunately the photos aren't the best; they don't bring out the rich reds of the shields.  You'll have to come to Partizan to see them.


I’ve been basing a couple of regular auxiliary cohorts in parallel with these, of which more, anon.

Thursday, 28 June 2012

Ala Siliana


A recent article in Ancient History Magazine (Vol V, Issue2) suggests that the Sillian horse were originally of Gallic origin, from Lugdenesis (Lyons) but were based in North Africa from around 20AD.  Their original commander may have been an Equestrian named Gaius Silius Aviola, and his name may have stuck with the unit for the next half century, even as the original Gallic recruits were presumably completely replaced by North Africans.  All pics are clickable.


“The Silians had served in Africa during the governorship of Vitellius.  Subsequently summoned by Nero to be sent ahead to Egypt, and then recalled on account of the war with Vindex, they bided their time in Italy.”  Tacitus, Histories 1:70.
When the rebel General Caecina was approaching Italy across the Alps, from Switzerland, this unit, stationed in Northern Italy, promptly deserted the Othonian cause for the Vitellian (presumably because of their earlier connection with him).  They fought at Ad Castores and 1st (and possibly 2nd?) Cremona, and were awarded citizenship for their valour becoming Ala Siliana Civium Romanum.


Alae (or “wings”) in this period would have had a theoretical strength of around 530 men, organised into 16 Turmae (“swarms” or troops) of 30-32 men each.  In 1:20 scale, I think that the best way of representing this is a unit of 24 figures that can be split (if necessary) into 2 or 4 subdivisions.


These Black Tree minis were very nicely painted by Dr. Simon’s mystery painter.  I retouched and stained some of the horses, and highlighted the riders, then based.  I gave them an Aventine Vexillum with LBMS transfer and a spare Foundry Imago.  I’m very pleased with how they came out, particularly the hand-painted shields, which make a bold splash of colour.  These will be supporting the Vitellian cause on 2nd September, at Partizan, by which time I need to paint/retouch/base another 48 various cavalry and around 150 infantry... gulp.

Wednesday, 13 June 2012

Coh. I et II Gallorum Eq.

I've finished Cohort I Gallorum, and the repaint/rebase of Cohort II and the Equites (mounted contingents) of both cohorts.  I scruffed the shields up a bit, too.  All pics clickable!


Below is a view of the cohorts from the rear.  These are cohorts of Gauls, and accordingly I've tried to give each a mild gallic flavour with boar and cockerel standards, and chequered cloaks.


Below is a closeup of the cloaks, I gave around 1/3 chequers.  I also went with different shades of metal in the helmets and muddy cloaks.


All the minis at Black Tree, and are not too shabby, given a little careful painting.

These are part of my continuing auxilia project- I'm now up to 10 auxiliary cohorts, more than half of what I need to re-fight some of the larger battles of 69/70AD.  Hopefully I'll have these and a few more cohorts to parade on Bastille Day (for Greg's Big Parade).  I'm currently working on an ala of cavalry.

Tuesday, 29 May 2012

Gallic Auxiliary Reinforcements


My least satisfactory Auxiliary Cohort is the II Gallorum (above, front left).  These were an eBay purchase and fall a little short of the quality of my other units, so they are getting a refurb which involves partial rebasing, some detailing, and a lick of overpainting on the shields.  At the same time I am painting a second cohort from scratch.  All the minis are from Black Tree Designs; not brilliant but quite serviceable.

When they are finished the two cohorts and their associated cavalry contingents will constitute the Gallic wing of my auxiliary project.

Wednesday, 14 September 2011

Coh. I et Coh. II Thingummyjigum


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!

Sunday, 28 August 2011

Equites Gallorum

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.

Sunday, 12 September 2010

Coh. I et II Bataviorum Eq.

I'm delighted to have finished basing my second Batavian Cohort and the cavalry detatchments of both Cohorts (below).  All pictures are clickable.


The second cohort (below) is broadly similar to the first cohort.  Most of the minis are a re-paint from an eBay purchase, with some BTDs and a couple of Crusader minis thrown in (I really love their cornicer,  please remind me next time I am critical of a Crusader sculpt).


Below is the veteran 1st Cohort, from early last year.


And finally, below are the combined cavalry detatchments of the two cohorts.  Each of the Batavian cohorts had 4 (later 8) turmae of cavalry, that could be grouped together to form substantial cavalry forces. 

I'm pleased with the below; I took an old cavalry regiment (another eBay purchase) of Foundry Caesarian Celts, whipped the shields off, replaced a couple of minis with BTDs, and all the shields with shields nicked from my Foundry Ancient Germans in order that they would match the infantry.  I tarted up the bases and horses a bit, and they look the biz.


So now, with 7 cohorts painted, I'm pretty near to finishing the Auxiliary infantry expansion programme, and I've made a small start on the Auxiliary cavalry, of which I'll need another 66.  Gulp.

Sunday, 15 August 2010

Batavian Progress

Here are some progress shots of my second Batavian cohort.  I've finished repainting (below) the 15 minis I bought on eBay; they have come out very nicely, indeed, and the fact they were bought painted probably saved me 4 or 5 nights work.  In the background is the first cohort; I judge that the reinforcements are a little better painted.


Below are 9 other miniatures that will add a little variety; Crusader, Blacktree and Foundry.  They should be finished tonight or, more likely, tomorrow.


Iron Mitten is painting some Batavians, too.  His are perhaps a little earlier in period and, judging from the cartoon, will have oodles of character.  I also aspire to doing an earlier cohort along the lines of these; one day...

Sunday, 8 August 2010

Coh. I Raetorum


So here is my latest (clickable) cohort of Auxilia, on patrol in the countryside.   These are Raetians (from the area covered by modern Switzerland/Southern Germany); I've painted them up as Cohors I Raetorum because this unit ended up as part of the British garrison.  They are armed with the gaesum, a barbed spear with a metal shaft, becuase I wanted to paint a unit that looked distinctive compared to my other units.


The miniatures are mostly lightly converted BTDs and Foundry Caesarians (I'm rather proud of their greenstuff  shorts), with a Crusader tribune.   Terrain is by my mate John Smillie.  

Below are the final 6 stages of the painting process.  I'm really pleased that I managed to finish them in 10 sessions, however some of them were quite long sessions!  This is extremely fast work by my standards.

Session 5 - Helmets- paint and highlight
Session 6- Paint spearshafts, scabbards, baldricks, cloaks plus highlight
Session 7- Paint spearheads, highlight, borders on cloaks, silver decorations, swordhilts, crest on tribune.  Wash with Army Painter Softtone
Session 8- Gloss spray varnish minis, selectively matt varnish minis.  Attach shields, glue minis to base
Session 9- Texture base,
Session 10- Paint bases, weathering on shields, stick on Silflor tufts, static grass

Saturday, 7 August 2010

Batavian Intermission


This afternoon I'm finishing the basing of the Raetians, who are looking very fine.  However, my enthusiasm for all things Auxiliary continues unabated, and I'm hoping to finish one more unit before my hols.  This will be Cohors II Batavorum Eq., comrades of Cohors I which I painted last year, and my 6th unit of auxiliary infantry.

I bought 15 minis on eBay which are painted to a fair standard.  They will need to be substantially repainted but which will give me a head start.  The other 9 minis are a mix of Black Tree, Foundry and Crusader  to add a little variety.  I also intend to do a little work on Cohors I to help it to better match some of the succeeding units.

Monday, 2 August 2010

Raetian Auxilia III

My Raetians are coming on...


I'm 4 painting sessions in, on the 24 miniatures.

  • Session 1 paint/transfers on shields
  • Session 2 base coat on mail (a 50/50 mix of black and Boltgun Metal)
  • Session 3 tunics, base and highlight, shorts, base and highlight
  • Session 4 flesh, base and highlight

I probably have another 3-4 sessions to go, plus a couple for basing.

Tuesday, 27 July 2010

Coh. II Brittanorum Eq.

The I and II Brittanorum were Roman auxiliary cohorts, raised in Britannia some time after 43AD.  They probably fought with Vitellius in the 69 AD Civil War (most of the auxiliary units I've modelled so far are from the garrison of Britannia).


Above, I have finished 16 additional Auxilia to match the 8 spare from May, which has enabled me to form a Cohort II Brittanorum.  I intend that both British cohorts will ultimately become Equitata, so each will need a contingent of 6 cavalry.  If anyone has any spare Foundry Caesarian Gallic cavalry, I'm in the market for a swap!

The figures are all Foundry Saleh's except for the command stand which has a Crusader centurion and cornicen (I am sometimes somewhat disparaging about Crusader, but these are very nice minis) and Foundry Copplestone signifer and imagifer.  This time I remembered to sculpt knee breetches on the latter three, so that they match their comrades.

Here is the original cohort, the I Brittanorum:- 


The next cohort will be the Raetians (see previous post).  I've also decided that I'll also need to paint, down the line, another cohort each of Gauls and Batavians along with their integral cavalry contingents.

Sunday, 25 July 2010

Raetian Auxilia II

Here are the Raetians, again, primed and ready to go.  I hope to be able to paint them in around 7 sessions, as they should be the amongst the simplest Roman figures to paint because of the whopping great cloaks.  But I still have 2 or 3 sessions basing sessions remaining to complete the British Auxiliaries, so I hope that they will be finished  in around 2 weeks time.

On the subject of primer, I used a can of Army Painter and an not at all pleased- despite my best shaking,  the minis have an unfortunate gritty texture. I actually had to wash them to get surplus powder off them! I'm going to do some careful testing to establish whether is the product, or the heat. 

I'll be using the excellent LBMS transfers and have some here, left over from an earlier project.