Thursday, 20 June 2013

A tale of two Ptolemies

For last month's Raphia game, I found myself in the unusual position of having a commanding general too many. I never got around to posting the "finished" shots... 

The first Ptolemy IV, below, is from Polemarch, kindly donated by Jim Clarke, who commissioned the range.  I put him on a Foundry horse, asked Nick to paint him, and gave him a couple of Polemarch aides (painted by Raglan), an Aventine Standard and a Salute-giveaway Punic military advisor (very kindly donated by Jeffski off the WD3 forum).  I named this Ptolemy the Effete Youth.


I also wanted a Ptolemy with more military bearing; after all he did lead the bodyguard cavalry, in the battle.  The Dashing Commander below is an Aventine, with a Polemarch standard-bearer, again both on Foundry horses and painted by Nick Speller. The eagle symbol was used by the Ptolemies.


On the day of the game, I went with the Effete Youth, over the Dashing Commander.  The rest, as they say, was history...

Wednesday, 19 June 2013

Even more Caesarians

I'm just finishing off the command figures Nick painted for me (foreground), and working through a group of unarmoured legionaries that will add variety to the legion.  I'm also painting my first Warlords- some casualties- nice minis!


The red on the shields and on the unarmoured figures is mostly Halfords red primer, with washes of ink applied over it; I think they will look good, when completed (they are just blocked in, so far).  I'm going to use the Army Painter inks to add depth.


Sunday, 16 June 2013

Caesarian


I had a productive day yesterday, and the 90-odd legionaries above are now inked, varnished and highlighted.  The tarted-up eBay cohorts at the back now match Nick's at the front, much better.  Below, left, are Nick's command stands, and right some mere primed legionaries that I'm going to mix in, to add a little variety.  Red seems like a promising base colour...  I'm still mulling over what to do with the horses at the back.


I've decided I'm going to base four cohorts in the first instance, and, after an interval, paint the extra figures for another two.

Thursday, 13 June 2013

New Polemarch Scythed Chariots





Jim at Polemarch very kindly posted me these pictures of his new scythed chariots, which I believe  will soon (but I gather not quite yet) be available via Gripping Beast.  They had a gratifying number of points and sharp edges, which is very nice as some previous scythed chariots have tended to be rather blunt instruments!

I shall be having at least a couple, once they come out.  I don't yet have a Seleucid army but I do aspire to a Pontic...

Caesarian Legion mustering


A quick WIP shot of the new legion that I'm mustering.  I've been doing my best to bring the standard  of the eBay milites (left) up to those of Nick's (right).  At least the shields match, now!

Tuesday, 11 June 2013

Echecrates the Thessalian


Nick did a fine job of painting this Foundry mini as the commander of the right wing Thessalian mercenary cavalry, for Raphia (I based and added a shield transfer).  In the original battle, Echecrates somehow managed to turn the Seleucid wing and made a valuable contribution to the Ptolemaic victory.  In our game he also managed to turn the wing, but not, alas, before the battle had been lost in the centre.

Sunday, 9 June 2013

Alexander!


I've had these miniatures for 5 or 6 years, and I believe were painted by Andy Bryant; superb paint work.  Last week I was finally inspired to base them, but I need to paint three more to form a third rank of the wedge, and indeed a couple more wedges to go alongside them.  The rounded front edge of the wedge is to indicate the presence of a general.