They are beautifully painted and composed, and so all I've done is to repaint and flock the base, so that they fit in with my system. I'm very pleased with them; now I want to get back to my Celtic army (but there are too many other things I need to do first...).
Monday, 27 January 2014
Redzedz' druids
I picked these up from Shaun, last year, along with some Goths that I will be basing later this week.
Friday, 24 January 2014
Somewhere just south of the Wall
Last night a full contingent of the Muswell Militiamen gathered for a second game with my emerging Late Roman collection. The Picts have crossed the wall, and are threatening a fortified Roman town. The Roman field army formed up in a long thin line in front of the town's walls, leaving the town behind them un-garrisoned. This latter was a decision that they would, all to soon, regret.
The Romans moved first and dashed forward, trying to take the ridge between the two armies. They only managed to get a toehold, though, before their movement activations ended. In the Pictish turn the northerners seized the rest of the ridge. They had a surprise up their sleeve, too; one of the stratagems they had drawn before the game indicated that one of their units, in this case the Saxon allied cavalry was off-table, lost. They diced to see if they would arrive, and where, and there was a collective drawing of breath as the cantered across the Roman baseline straight into the town, and commenced to loot the legion's baggage (below)! Presumably they had stumbled across an unguarded rear gate...
Above is a shot of the Pictish left, nervously awaiting the arrival of the Roman cataphracts, and below is the fighting for the ridge. Shortly after this shot was taken, the Roman unit in the right foreground had to turn around and march off, to attempt to assault and recapture their own camp!
Above, on the left flank, a unit of Roman skirmishers made skillful use of the terrain to hold up the advance of a Saxon warband (above), whilst a unit of auxiliaries contested a patch of newly-made heather with Pictish spearmen (below).
The game was very confused and very enjoyable. The thin Roman battle line broke up very quickly (below), with several veteran legiones making for (and capturing some of) the Pictish baggage, whilst doing their best to fend off flank and rear attacks. The Picts won by a fair margin, largely due to the instinctive looting abilities of their Saxon allies.
I've come away with a few more suggestions and rule tweaks, which I've been working on this morning. Mate Craig has very kindly sold me some beautiful Late Romans that I want to paint up before out next game, in a few weeks time, and I think we will play Longstreet again next week.
Wednesday, 22 January 2014
A modest Roman reinforcement
In last week's game, some concern was expressed about the relatively small size of the Roman Field army. For tomorrow's game a small reinforcement has arrived; the Equites Sagittarii Parthi Iuniores, a vexillationes comitatenses unit which has traveled all the way from Africa.
This unit, originally formed of Parthians, would have spent its time patrolling the borders of the Roman Province of Africa against nomadic incursions.
Three of these A&A minis were purchased painted to a high standard, in an eBay lot I bought from the USA. I painted 3 more to match, highlighted and based. Later I shall revisit them, and add small shields, painted with the appropriate designs.
This unit, originally formed of Parthians, would have spent its time patrolling the borders of the Roman Province of Africa against nomadic incursions.
Three of these A&A minis were purchased painted to a high standard, in an eBay lot I bought from the USA. I painted 3 more to match, highlighted and based. Later I shall revisit them, and add small shields, painted with the appropriate designs.
I bought a load of Muskateer Gothic horse this week. At some point in the future, it would be terrific to use them game the Vandal invasion of Africa...
Friday, 17 January 2014
Getting my Picts out...
Before 2005 I painted a fairly large Pictish army. This has languished, unloved, in storage for the last 8 years for want of a historical opponent. Happily, now that my Late Romans are quorate, they can take to the field again! I was pleasantly surprised to find that the painting is not as good as I do now, but not too shabby, either. The basing is similar to my current standard, and just needs a little TLC and tuftage to bring it into line.
Ian and Jay played a 100 point game using my rules. I won't go through this in too much detail, because I hope to run a similar game next week. A massed Roman attack in the centre, led by the elite Herculaini and Lanciarii Sabriences legiones, was inexorable and eventually split the Pictish army in two (below).
The Picts were unable to capitalise on their superior numbers, but came close to winning, early on, when a warband broke into the Roman camp. Unfortunately these settled down to looting (=several failed activation rolls) and were eventually routed by a flank charge from some Roman archers.
Neither side's cavalry got into the action, except for one late flank charge by the Gentilium Seniores. Below is the only closeup I took of a Pictish unit, which gives an impression of what they look like; they are a mixture of Gripping Beast and foundry, with some Old Glory and a few conversions.
I'll take more photos next week, when I hope to have the terrain looking a tad more Scottish. The rules worked very well, we had a good laugh, and this morning I've been able to polish a couple of sections, especially terrain placement and fortifications.
Wednesday, 15 January 2014
Iulianus, Centurion.
I will need a few singly-based "hero" figures, to use with the rules I am developing. This one is, I believe, a Warlord figure, from among the small collection that I recently bought off Saxon Dog. I've named him after Julian, a centurion who met his fate on the Temple Mount, in Jerusalem. Lovely paintwork... and a suitable reminder of the heroism expected of the centurionate.
Flavius Josephus, Wars of the Jews, Book VI
Saturday, 11 January 2014
Martenses et Lanciarii Sabrienses
The Martenses are an auxiliary unit from the Magister Equitum's Gallic command. They are pseudocomitatenses; border troops promoted to join the field army. Both photos are clickable.
The Lanciarii Sabrienses are another unit from the Magister Equitum's Gallic Command, but of higher status as, like the Herculiani, they are one of the dozen Legiones Palatina.
Both units are repaints of ebay purchases. They took perhaps 6 painting sessions each; I kept the basic colour scheme but did a good deal of overpainting. I'm really pleased with the "wear" I painted on the shields, especially on the Sabrienses. The Gripping Beast figures are very nice; the large shields are excellent, and there are a huge variety of poses that I hope to use in future units. They also work well, in terms of size and style, with the Muskateer range.
Luke Ueda-Sarson has a fantastic site featuring the designs of the Notitia Dignitatum. I have spent many happy hours clicking through it, and I would commend it to anyone who is researching a Late Roman army.
And finally, LBMS Steve has very kindly (and extremely promptly) created a beautiful new transfer for the Ioviani, the sister-unit of Thursday's Herculiani Seniores. If collecting Late Romans, please go forth and purchase some, and then perhaps we can persuade him to make some more Late Roman designs!
Thursday, 9 January 2014
Herculiani seniores
The Herculiani Seniores (Herculians) were a Legion Palatinae (guard) unit in the Western Late Roman army, that were originally formed from the VI Legion, from Illyricum. Brigaded together with the Ioviani (Jovians), who I will have to paint later on, they were usually in the thick of the fighting! Please have a click.
I have just consulted my Late Roman expert mate, who says they might well have retained an eagle standard; I'll remedy this a little later on!
PS I mixed in a few Crusader minis, to add a little variety. Although slightly stockier, they fit in very well!
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