Saturday, 26 December 2009

Things to Do for Zama...

With Xmas out of the way, a man's mind turns to war!  We've a lot to do before April.  I'll return to this page and cross things through as they are completed.


Essential things I am doing for Zama
Base 48 Numidians
Repaint/base 32 Velites
Paint and base 20 Spanish skirmishers

Finish and base 48 Bruttians (24 done)
Base 3 more command stands
Base 9 Numidian bodyguards
Paint and decorate 8 terrain boards

Desirable things I am doing for Zama
Make, paint and decorate 2 decorative end boards
Paint 6 dead elephants (4 done)
Paint casualty minis


Things other people are completing for Zama

4 Roman legions plus cavalry (2 done)

128 Carthaginian veterans
24 Numidian cavalry
Paint 4 dead elephants
Paint 2 Numidian elephants
Make a dozen olive trees


After Zama
Paint lots of elephants
Paint a whopping great phalanx
Paint soem Etruscans and Volscians
Paint the wagon laager
Paint more Roman Auxilia
How I want some Tarantines...

It'll be a busy year!  (Updated 13/2/2010)

Wednesday, 23 December 2009

White Figures on a White Background



Yesterday morning I found myself out in the back garden, standing in the snow, getting ready to prime some figures white.  This reminded me of another time, earlier this year, when I was out in the garden at night, priming figures black! 

I try not to think about the time I varnished some minis in the rain.  ;-)

Just in case I don't get the chance again before the 25th (but I probably will as I'm an obsessive blogger), I'd like to wish everyone a Very Merry Xmas!

Tuesday, 22 December 2009

Polemarch Cavalry- First Impressions!

I dipped a toe in the water last week, and treated to myself to a few packs of the new Polemarch cavalry, from Gripping Beast.  These have fought their way through the snow and landed on my mat this afternoon.  For a change, I've reviewed them against a seasonal red background!

I bought some of the neo-Tarantines, and also ome of the Antigonid Companion Troopers .  I'm not going to dwell on the historical aspects of the figures, other than to say they seem well-researched according to my (rather limited) knowledge.  I gather they are very closely based on the Montverts, which can't be bad.  Instead I shall concentrate on the figures, which can't be made out very clearly on the photos on the GB site.

First, here are the horses:-



I cautiously like these, with one reservation; the necks on two of the horses (the outer ones) appear fairly short to me.  I would not claim to be an expert judge of horseflesh but these are unusually proportioned, IMHO. 



Here is a Polemarch horse (centre) between an Aventine Horse (left) and a Foundry WotG horse, also by Steve Saleh (right).  The two Saleh horses have longer legs; the Aventine is broader in the belly.  In general the three would work together, but especially the latter two.



Above is the Antigonid Companion.  I've not attached his shield, but did establish that it would fit correctly.  A nice feature is that the shield hand is drilled out to take a javelin.  Less ideal is the fit of the rider to the horse; as JJ surmised on TMP, the cloak does not fit on the horse's rump and a certain amount of filing will be required if the rider is not to be pushed forward, as in the photo.  Moreover, the rider's legs appear to have been designed for a broader horse, and don't grip the mount as they should; there is quite a gap, in fact.  I will need to build up the saddle with greenstuff. 



Above is the Antigonid Companion from the side, showing how the cloak pushes the figure forwards.  It also shows an unfortunate mould line!  There is, unfortunately, a bit of flash and some mould lines visible on these models. 



Above is the neo-Tarantine.  Again the fit isn't perfect on the horse.  The left hand is held a bit close in to the horse which will make it difficult to position the shield, and will probably prevent the figure from carrying spare javelins, which I'd have liked.  The rider figure is nice, though.



Above is the neo-Tarantine from the side, leaning forwards because of the cloak.  I really do like this rider, despite the slight flaws mentioned above.

So in summary; the riders are rather fine, the horses I don't rate quite so highly but will certainly use.  The riders will fit on the horses but will need some work if you want them to sit properly.  The minis will need some preparation to remove mould lines.

Lest I give the impression that the cup is half empty, I should say that although I grumble, it is only because I care.  I am terrifically grateful that the range has come out, because it fills a huge gap in the bigger 28mm miniatures field.  I will certainly be buying more of these, and painting them, after Salute, and I await the arrival of the cataphracts with considerable anticipation!

Sunday, 20 December 2009

Aepycamelus Greens II


Here are the Aepycamelus greens I'm working on.  The main change since the last post is that I've started to flesh the legs out.  I also felt that the one on theleft was too long in the body, so I sawed a slice out of him, and stuck him back together!  This was fun and surprisingly successful.  I'm happier with him, now.

I am, however, experiencing a crisis of confidence over these greens.  Whilst I think I will be able to make them look reasonably good, they are, however, a bit big for my purposes, at 65mm tall; I really wish I'd made them 50mm tall, instead...  they are really 40mm scale rather than 28mm.  However I'm learning a lot, technically, as I go along with them, so I think that I will finish them (at least crudely) and then start over with a smaller armature.

Friday, 18 December 2009

For a Fistful of Pesos

The Muswell Militia Xmas game (see previous post) was another battle between a Mexican Government army (mainly French, but also including some Mexicans and Austrians), and sundry Republican rifraf.  The forces were broadly similar in size, including roughly 7 battalions of infantry each, 3 squadrons of cavalry and a couple of guns.  Both sides were trying to capture a village; perhaps, from the enthusiasm with which they later assaulted it, it  was rumoured to contain a paychest full of pesos...

This game was to be the second playtest of the rules which Dr. Simon is designing; all the figures are his, and there is info about them on his blog.



Above, on the left are the Government forces; I commanded the cavalry (left foreground) and a couple of units of infantry just beyond them, and General Georges the five units of infantry and the guns in the left distance.



Above is a closer view of General Georges' Government infantry and guns.  If I recall correctly, the majority were French, including the Legion.  The hacienda in the distance is my Roman villa!  Dr. Simon has included a lot of cacti on the bases, of various kinds, which help build the Mexican atmosphere.  The guns feature some fine succulents.



Above, commanding the Republicans were General Ian (furthest from the camera) who commanded a vertiable phalanx of revolutionary infantry and guns facing the village, and General David who faced (and marginally outnumbered) my wing.

 

Here is a closeup of General Ian's revolutionary scum who contested the village with the brave poilus.

 

Both cavalry wings included a lot of lancers; mine were mostly Chasseurs d'Afrique; I'm not sure what General David's (above) were but they looked extremely scary with lances as long as kontos! 

Tomorrow I'll run through the battle.

Thursday, 17 December 2009

Muswell Militia Xmas Game


Tonight we gathered for the last game of the year.  We had pretty well a full turnout of the local (as opposed to virtual) membership of Muswell Militia; the clubhouse was packed!  From left to right Wabby George, Dave, Dr Simon (who brought all the Mexicans), Ian and yours truly.

Dr Simon has written about the miniatures in his new blog.  An account of the battle (or should I say rout?) to follow. 

Aepycamelus greens


I have very much enjoyed sculpting dead nellie, this week, and so have decided to revive a long-abandoned project.  I've dug some old greens out of my drawer and, after some useful advice from TimeLine Barry, have reshaped the legs and bases to make them easier to cast.  The models are only "skeletons" at the moment.


They will hopefully, in spare moments over Xmas, become aepycamelus , an extinct breed of American cameloids who developed long necks to feed off leaves.  I have a plan for them...