Monday, 22 February 2010

Not my Triarii!

In fact these are Craig Davey's new Aventine Triarii,  for his Roman legion.  The command pack isn't painted yet, but I'd hazard that they are under the brush, right now.  I really like the painting style and the bold vermillion ed he has used.  The crests are very jaunty; I'll do mine the same (eventually).



 
 Fabuloso!

Sunday, 21 February 2010

Mission Statement

I suffer from mission creep, more than most collectors.  I have decided that I had better focus, at least within broad limits.  For ancients, I'm therefore going to concentrate on:-
  • The time: Roughly 400BC to 400AD; Peloponnesian war to the fall of Rome
  • The place: The Mediterranean basin, France and Britain (and later Germany/Dacia)
  • The next army: Pyrrhics (and finishing off various part-painted units from the EIR and Polybian eras).
Once Zama is out of the way I'll therefore flog off some non-core bits, such as my Viking army, which is little used for lack of an opposing army.  Below is an old pic of some of the Vikings, next to their fjord:


I do also have a small Assyrian army, which I'll keep because I think it'll look great once completed, and because I recently bought some great Biblical-era terrain.

Saturday, 20 February 2010

Bletchley Battle Day; 8 weeks today...

 
It's not less than 8 weeks to the SOA Zama Battle Day at Bletchley, and I've decided that I now don't have time to start any fresh miniatures, so the above casualties minis will be my last, which is a pity as I'd like to have a lot more.  I still need to finish and base 100 or so minis that Greg and Nick Speller* have painted, and make the boards.  

*Nick has painted the Spanish and Scipio at the top of the frame; I've mounted them on temporary bases whilst I varnish them.  The final 2 dead nellies are on the right.

Friday, 19 February 2010

Le Dead Nellie

Mon ami Greg Privat has painted his dead elephant for our Zama game (each of the main contributors is painting one, and we'll randomly swap them on the day).

 
Greg's elephant is very spectacular, and he's done a lot of conversion work on the piece, giving it a squashed tower, padding and a chain headpiece. Luvverly work!

 There are some more pics, and progress pics, on Greg's Gloarmy blog, which is always worth a visit.

Thursday, 18 February 2010

Viva Espana!

I received an unexpected package in the post from Nick Speller today, containing the Spanish cavalrymen for my Numidian General's bodyguard.  He's done a fine job on these, as ever!   The minis are Companion, Foundry and Crusader, mounted on whatever horses I could find; a couple of the Aventine horses mixed in very nicely.  I added rosettes, medallions and fringes to some of the horses, for a Spanish flavour.  Ole!

 
I'll base them over the next week, and post a proper picture when they are done.  They may well become my nicest cavalry unit.

Wednesday, 17 February 2010

And now for something completely different...

I played a 1941 Western Desert game last night, with Ian "Erwin" Notter, using adapted Memoir '44 rules (you can see Rommel's "hand" in the background).  We commanded roughly a brigade each. 

 
These minis are absolutely ancient; when I last played with them, Consul was but a gleam in his father's eye.

I launched an attack on the right, then an attack in the centre.  Here my lancers are about to bravely charge the enemy anti-tank screen (successfully as it turned out, although they had all perished by the end of the game).  

There was gratuitous destruction, with more than half the total troops on the table slaughtered, before we called it a night.  The central ridge changed hand half a dozen times.  At one point a panzer company broke through to the British gun line, but was destroyed by the gunners firing over open sights.  I think I may have gained a moral victory...

Tuesday, 16 February 2010

Not my Dumbos

A couple of my collaborators on the Zama project are painting up their dead nellies.

 
The above is Craig Davey's poor beast; I very much like the way he has positioned a wounded velite and a dead Carthaginian next to it.  Both poignant, and also has a sort of "yin and yang" symmetry.  Top stuff!

Greg Privat of Gloranthan Army is working on one, and has gone for a very grand approach indeed!  This link goes to his post; I'd strongly recommend having a look!   Greg has also started painting the last few Bruttians for the Carthaginian army, and some casualty figures.

I've got my last 2 on bases, and will start painting them shortly.