Showing posts with label raphia phalanx. Show all posts
Showing posts with label raphia phalanx. Show all posts

Sunday, 3 February 2013

Starburst

No, not the confectionary (which I still think of as Opal Fruits), but half of the shields I need for the Egyptian portion of my phalanx, mostly with the classical Macedonian starburst design (clickable).  The concept is that these are cheap wooden shields covered with felt (or perhaps locally available Egyptian linen or cotton), with designs painted on, for the cheap, emergency, wing of the phalanx.


I've used the excellent Little Big Man designs, from two different sheets, and painted some plain white shields to go alongside them.  I've distressed them, somewhat.  I think the black and alternate red designs give a nice variety to the designs, and Steve of LBMS has very kindly offered to make up a new sheet for me.  I'm about 10 days away from basing up the next 2 units.

I love putting on shield transfers, I find it very relaxing.

Friday, 1 February 2013

Rear rankers


I've finished (bar shields) another batch of 18 pikemen, this time rear-rankers for the Egyptian phalanxes.  8 were painted and kindly donated by Craig, and I just needed to add pikes, and painted 10 more in a similar style.  I absolutely love the unarmoured Foundrys, they are a pleasure to paint!  The chap in the blue chiton is a pleasing conversion from a hoplite, who actually looks quite Egyptian, rather than Macedonian.

Behind are 21 more Polemarch phalangites, at an early stage. 

If anyone has any of the Foundrys in the straw hats, I'd love to buy or swap for them, a dozen or so would be very useful, indeed.

Rear rankers does sound unfortunately like Cockney rhyming slang...

Saturday, 26 January 2013

Chalkaspides

Chalkaspides is the term used to describe the bronze-shielded phalangites, in Successor armies.  You may be familiar with the related term agyraspides which indicated silver-shielded guards, and leukaspides, which may have been applied to white-shielded reservists (although Nick Secunda has recently challenged this).


These are the first two completed chalkaspides units (of an eventual five) for my Raphia phalanx.  They are in "Sidon" helmets, my absolute favourite Successor headgear, which marks them out as later Successors.  "Sidons" crop up on the eponymous stelae from Gaza, and in a scene on the Palestrina mosaic.  Stephane Thion tells me that the type may have become general in the later Successor period, and that I might therefore be able to use them as part of a Pontic army.


The miniatures are a mix of Foundry (30%) and Gripping Beast (70%), with mostly Foundry shields gained from a swap with Allen Curtis. 

This gives me 3 complete units of the 12 that I need, although I have got quite a few other painted and part-painted minis ready, waiting for comrades to be painted.

Friday, 25 January 2013

Machimoi

Tonight I'm finishing the flocking of the first two line phalanx (photos to follow tomorrow), and tomorrow I start work on the first two native Eygyptian Machimoi phalanx. These will include a number of unarmoured, recently recruited Egyptians, pressesd into service by Ptolemy's leading courtier, Sosibus.


To this end I was very lucky that my Raphia partner in wargaming crime, Craig, very kindly sent me a dozen painted minis, and Shaun aka Redzed, has just most generously chucked me 48 more unpainted, unarmoured minis!  6 of Craig's painted minis are above (the finished ones), mixed in with 6 part painted from ebay, and 6 unpainted. I now need to paint 27 Polemarchs, and add new pikes to 57 more more I bought off Gareth Lane.  Busy, busy, busy!

I'm still on the lookout for the phalanx characters in straw hats, if anyone has any to swap.  I also need lots of the 100mm Foundry steel pins.  If anyone has any spare, I would very happily swap for the 100mm North Star pikes, which I have bags of.  Please email me at the address above.

Sunday, 20 January 2013

Pikeys


These are the latest fruits of my Successor Pike mania; the units imaginatively named Phalanx 2 and Phalanx 3.  They are varnished and just need basing/flocking.

I've cut all the pikes to slightly different lengths, and they aren't all upright; I like this effect.

I started to paint the units around 3 years back, but have pulled the stops out over the last month.  I'm trying to paint 18 a week, but falling just a little short... but I think I can catch up due to recent purchase of Raglan's phalangites and getting some blocked in by a professional. The minis are Polemarch (mostly) and Foundry.  I really like the Foundry mini in the Sidon helmet, it paints up beautifully.

Just 384 left to do...  :-)

Monday, 31 December 2012

Pikemen of various hues


Like buses, pike phalanx seem to come in threes.  Yesterday, Simon MacDowall posted his splendid Silver Shields, and I see that tonight Craig has just posted his proud Pink Pikemen (so numerous that he can't capture them all in one photo frame!).   Here is the left-most unit of my own forming Successor phalanx, the Libyan.

Their position on the extreme left of the phalanx, next to the guard units, suggests to me that they were considered more reliable than the local Egyptian phalangites.  They were led by Ammonius the Barcan.  His name sounds Punic; could there have been Carthaginian mercenaries present amongst them?  Raphia was, after all, fought in the same year as Lake Trasimene... 

The phalanx is a recent expansion and repaint of a repaint of an eBay purchase.  The purple linothorax must be due to the availability of Murex sea-snails along the Punic Coast (or could alternatively be due to me being too lazy to change the colour).  They are a real mix of the various Foundry pikemen.

Anyhow I'm delighted to squeeze these into 2012.  I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a very Happy New Year!