Showing posts with label Ballistae. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ballistae. Show all posts

Saturday, 19 March 2011

Quattor Ballistae Magnae

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.

Sunday, 13 March 2011

Onagri

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...

Thursday, 3 March 2011

Assorted Ballistae

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!

Saturday, 26 February 2011

More Ballistic Still

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...

Thursday, 24 February 2011

Even More Ballistic

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.

Saturday, 19 February 2011

Going Ballistic

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!

Thursday, 22 January 2009

Roman Artillery


These are cart-mounted Ballistae that, whilst strictly part of my EIR Army, I sometimes use with the Caesarians. They were surprisingly time-consuming to assemble...

Tonight I have been basing my final Pictish unit and rebasing some Pictish and Viking archers, and sticking more bits of yet more carts together.