Tuesday, 13 January 2009

Battle of Mutina

...so, we left our Roman Campaign on the battlefield of Vercellae (101BC), where a final desperate German charge personally led by King Boiorix of the Cimbri, slew Sulla and wiped out his entire command.

Although the day went to the Germans, Marius' forces were able to retire to the Roman camp in good order and subsequently retreated, leaving the Cimbri in temporary control of much of Cisalpine Gaul.

In our campaign, the Cimbri have gathered a further confederation of tribesmen and are now advancing along the via Aemilia towards Bononia and the Apennine passes giving access to the Roman heartlands.

Marius and Catullus, both re-elected as Consuls for 100BC, have gathered a new Roman and allied army and advanced to meet them; tonight's clash will take place immediately to the West of Mutina, also on the via Aemilia. The new force is built around a core of Marius' veteran legions, but includes many recently levied troops and mercenaries recruited from North Africa.

Should the Romans fail to stop the Germans at Mutina, tonight, it is likely that Bononia will fall and that the Germans will be able to force the Apennine passes and threaten Rome, itself....

Monday, 12 January 2009

Scratchbuilt Wagons

So I knocked a couple of wagons together, and whilst they don't look bad, the prospect of buying some more, ready-made, from Irregular or Front Rank is looking increasingly appealing. It just takes tooooo long to make them, even when using scavaged/purchased parts as I did with these (and in all honesty I don't think they look as good as the bought ones):-



In parallel I've been collecting figures for the project, and I have around 50 so far. They are a far less military bunch than the normal stuff I paint... to get them I had to end my long vendetta with Foundry. I was pleased with the purchases, because although the prices were very steep, even in the sale, Foundry had upped the pack sizes so I got some useful minis I didn't expect.

Friday, 9 January 2009

Big Plans, Little Progress

I seem to be very good at buying figures and much less good at painting them! I'm now in for £169, with 116 figures bought and not one finished, and it's only January 8th! I'm also not very good at getting around to taking photos; hopefully I will tomorrow.

So far I've half painted 9 Picts, and based two regiments of 24 and 10 respectively. :-(

My big spring project involves wagons and carts; many wagons and carts. I've stripped my bits boxes and found a Minifig cart and wagon circa 1974 and improved them with Irregular Miniatures wheels:-






Also a Citadel adventure wagon c1990, and a Front Rank wagon from year before last:-



On the basis of a back of a fag packet calculation, this leaves me at least 10 vehicles short of what I need, and wagons aren't cheap! Happily Irregular Miniatures is a great place to buy bits and bobs, cheaply:-


I've ordered 5 carts and wagons from Ian Kay at Irregular, and a load of wheels for scratchbuilding. Let's see if that will do...

Sunday, 4 January 2009

More Resolutions

7. Collection must be cash-neutral in 2009 (I'm off to a bad start here, as it is only the 4th of Jan and I've spent over £100 so far).
8. Take more photos!

Wednesday, 31 December 2008

New Year Resolutiuons

1. Finish the Pictish minis I promised myself I'd finish by the end of December, by the end of January.
2. 2009 is declared "Year of the Early Imperial Roman Auxiliary"
3. ...except that I also have to finish the Celtic army
4. Develop a set of rules with Ian that enable me to use my 24-man units
5. Run a Roman Campaign
6. Buy less minis than I paint... LOL!

Happy New Year All! Simon

Monday, 8 December 2008

Thureophoroi


These is a photo that I've had lurking for a while; my first 2 units of Greek Thureophoroi, beautifully painted by the very able Nick S. The figures are mostly Foundry peltasts, although the command stands are from Crusader Miniatures Rank and File Range. The shields are all Old Glory (my first ever OG purchases); I replaced the Crusader shields, because I wanted distinctive shield rims, which are very characteristic of Thureophoroi.

My concept is that they are regulars (hence the all white shields); I'm planning two further units of scruffier Thureophoroi, and I'd ideally like to expand all four units to 24s, which is my favoured unit size for infantry. Thureophoroi are such a common troop type, I'm astonished that it took so long for someone to make them in bigger 28mm!

Thursday, 4 December 2008

My First Phalanx!


This is a photo I took of my first phalanx. I painted about 2/3 of the figures, but 24 of the nicest minis at the front were painted by Andy Bryant.

The beauty of the dust cloud is that it makes the unit look bigger than it is; there are around 60 minis in the units, but they look like around 80 (most of the pikes protruding from the clouds don't have figures attached).

I'm part way towards a second phalanx but they are in a queue behind a whole lot of Romans.