Friday, 1 January 2010

Resolutions Revisited

Last year's resolutions were to:-
  • 1. Finish the Pictish minis I promised myself I'd finish by the end of December, by the end of January. - I did manage this, bar a couple of standards; I really should take some photos.
  • 2. 2009 is declared "Year of the Early Imperial Roman Auxiliary"- I managed 3 units; a beginning; then I got diverted by the Zama project.
  • 3. ...except that I also have to finish the Celtic army- Which I more or less did but not the Wagon Laager, which would look rather stunning. 
  •  4. Develop a set of rules with Ian that enable me to use my 24-man units- Still thinking about these.  I did have a bright idea about them, only last week, that might help.
  • 5. Run a Roman Campaign- I did; it petered out around mid year, but I'll pick it up again.
  • 6. Buy less minis than I paint... LOL!- I only brought about 200 more than were painted (about 5-600, mostly by friends; thanks!) and spent far more than I had intended, or, indeed, can afford 
New resolutions for 2010:-
  • 1. Finish and deliver a stonking Zama game
  • 2. After that, 2010 is officially declared "Year of the Successor"; I need a couple of feet more phalanx, for a start!  And all those pretty Tarantine cavalry... and a whole circus full of elephants.
  • 3. Pick the Roman Campaign up again
  • 4. Develop the rules 4. above
  • 5. Prune purchases; paint lead mountain!
I'd like to wish a Very Happy and Successful New Year to all my Readers!

Thursday, 31 December 2009

A Happy 2010 to One and All (slightly in advance)!

May your paints never dry up in the bottle, your brushes keep a point and your matt varnish never frost!

Cheers, Simon

Sunday, 27 December 2009

Carthaginian Levy



These are the chaps I last showed on the 13th; all finished bar basing although I have run out of gloss spray varnish.  The were originally painted by Gloarmy Greg, but I've done quite a bit of work on retouching and on the shields.  Whilst they await their protective coat, I've started work on the shields for  the 48 Bruttians (Carthaginian allies from Southern Italy) Greg has painted for me who are to follow.

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.