Friday, 11 March 2016

Pyrrhus of Epirus


Above is Pyrrhus of Epirus at the head of his companions. Pyrrhus was the general rated by Hannibal as the second best of all time (after Alexander the Great), although he was slated by the Argives (boom boom!).

These are the superb Aventine Miniatures Pyrrhic range- super sculpts, especially the man himself at the front. Incidentally Aventine now stock my rules, should you want to add a set to your next order.

Pyrrhus was painted by Tilman Moritz of LAF and his companions by Redzed. The basing is a clever innovation of mine- the same minis can be deployed in line or wedge as preferred.

So why is Simon basing Pyrrhus when he should be basing Ptolemy, I hear you ask? Well the plan is to make duplicates of the central stand so that the same unit can be used in a variety of different battles each time with a different commander (Ptolemy, Antiochus, Eumenes etc.). This way I'll get maximum use out of the lovely unit!


Monday, 7 March 2016

Slings and arrows...


I had been fretting about not having enough archers for Raphia and my other games in April, so I finished and based up three new units (above). When I got round to putting them away, I realised that I probably hadn't needed to worry - I found no fewer than 15 units of Greek archers and slingers (below)!  :-)


Saturday, 5 March 2016

Fritigern Reiks


Here is Fritigern, Reiks of the Thervingi, and his comitatus. These minis were painted for me some time ago by Redzed Shaun, who did a superb job. I've only just got around to finishing the basing. The minis are all Footsore, ex Musketeer.

One day I want to refight Adrianople and these are just the chaps for the job! In the meanwhile, they will lead the Gothic charge at the Wargames Holiday Centre in late April. 

Wednesday, 2 March 2016

Raphia roundup


I've been working hard on the Raphia game and I thought it might be interesting to share the deployment plan (above, clickable) and for me to review what is left to do. The battlefield (including the dunes at the edges) will be fourteen foot wide. The Ptolemaic phalanx (and supporting infantry) will be 8' 8" wide (2.6m). I have the majority of the troops I need painted and based, but there is still a deal of ground to cover. 

Troops not yet painted include:-

  • 48 Silver shields
  • 48 Thureophoroi
  • 24 Thracians 
  • 24 Galatians
  • 9 Ptolemaic lancers

There are also the following to do- these are substantially painted but not finished or on based:-

  • 20 Seleucid lancers
  • 96 phalangites
  • 48 Greek mercenaries
Troops on bases but needing grout/flocking
  • 336  phalangites
When finished, these will add another 2' to the pike phalanx and 2' of supporting infantry to the host.


I also need to finish and base the following by the week after Salute for a Leuctra game; half of these are painted but most need spears, finishing and basing.

  • 145 Thebans
It's going to be a busy March and April!

Tuesday, 1 March 2016

Raphia Elephants

No, not ones made out of twisted straw but rather of tin and lead!


Here are the four new elephants for the looking Raphia Game. All of the elephants and most of the crew were painted by mate Shaun McTague although I added some detailing, notably the skin pigmentation, washes and based them. All of the photos are clickable!

Three of the elephants are superb Aventine Miniatures and the fourth (on the right) is a solid lead beast from Timeline Miniatures with an Aventine howdah and crew. She weighs an absolute ton!


Above and below, Shaun did a magnificent job on the drapery.


I have finished these with a Pyrrhic vibe- later I plan to get some specifically Seleucid armoured elephants painted up, with proper red ears.


Above, Indian elephants tend to fade to pink as they get older; think bald patches. These are very old nellies, being part of Alexander the Great's own herd, passed down to Pyrrhus like family heirlooms through several generations of Successor owners. 


The elephants are escorted by Wargames Foundry javelinmen that I bought from Steve Marshall.


Last but not least the tusk-less cow (above) is a Timeline Miniatures model with an Aventine Howdah. I think of her as Mrs Jumbo and that is, of course, Dumbo behind her. At the battle of Beneventum the Pyrrhic elephants panicked after such a cow became concerned for her calf and rampaged back through their own lines.

There will be 11 elephants altogether in the Raphia game. Because there is no room for baby Dumbo at the Salute Inn, the battle will instead be fought exclusively at the Wargames Holiday Centre over the weekend after Salute (22nd-24th April), along with the Sabis (thousands of Celts; I bloody hate Celts!), Leuctra (with a spanking new Theban army), the vast Cremona 69AD game and a Late Roman bash. A weekend at the Wargamees Holiday Centre is a very fine experience, indeed, and Mark tells me he still has a couple of places left... you can book here.

Monday, 29 February 2016

The To the Strongest Wales Open May 21st 2016


Mate Ross Broadstock is organising a To the Strongest Tournament in Cardiff on May 21st. I will coming and hopefully even playing!

The scale is 28mm- if you don't have an army Ross, friends and I will be able to loan you one. Because no re-basing is required, it is a great opportunity to dust off that WAB or DBx army that hasn't seen action for a year or two. I will assist with writing your army list. There will be a trophy and prizes.

Please contact Ross (at) figurepainting dot co dot uk to register - I look forward to seeing some of you in Cardiff!

Wednesday, 24 February 2016

Polybian Roman army list


With lots of help from mate Millsy I've published a rather spiffing extended Polybian Roman army list for To the Strongest!  This has a lot of pictures of the minis in my collection within it, many of them Aventine Miniatures painted by Redzed.  You can download it for free from here.