28mm Roman Tribune - Relic Miniatures

Here are a few views of a figure I just finished painting, a Roman tribune from Relic Miniatures, whose line of 2nd Punic War era Romans is starting to grow.

The figure wears a bronze breastplate and leather shoulder piece, with layers of linen armor strips below the waist and at the shoulders. He carries a hoplon shield (with a boar device I cut out of a transfer from LBM) and distinctive spear.

Lots of detail, and all of it crisp and well defined.

28mm Cataphracts Command - Relic Miniatures

In the course of their eastern conquests the Macedonians encountered very heavy cavalry of a type used for generations in Persia, and which the Greeks called "kataphractoi", meaning "completely enclosed". Not only were the riders themselves covered from head to toe in heavy bronze armor, but their horses as well were similarly protected. Recognizing a powerful tool, the Seleucids especially incorporated these units into their forces.

Cataphract cavalry were slow moving but extremely powerful, well suited not only to breaking the strongpoints of the enemy's line of battle with a momentous charge, but also to remaining in close combat, protected by their extensive armor, where other cavalry would have been put at a great disadvantage by masses of infantry.

These figures are 28mm models from Relic Miniatures, and are fantastically detailed with ornate helmets and many, many-pieced suits of armor. The standard bearer wears a metal face mask. The standard itself is part decal (the wreath element I cut from a LBM transfer) and part freehand (the eight-rayed sun and the border lines).

More of Hannibal's Veterans - Relic 28mm

As a further step toward liberating Italy from the overreaching Romans, and restoring a rightful order to the Mediterranean world, I have added 4 more Carthaginian veterans from Relic Miniatures (28mm) to the unit. As many of you are already aware, after his initial victories in Italy Hannibal equipped many of his men with captured Roman equipment, so these gentlemen wear Roman chain mail, two Roman helmets, and all of them sport large Roman shields, or "scuta".

I've hand-painted the shields with a variety of Carthaginian symbols - except for the second from the left. His has retained a Roman design to make the origin of the equipment all the more obvious - and hopefully giving just a little bit of a taunt to their opponents.

28mm Thorakites - Relic Miniatures

It's a slow process for me these days, with a lot of other things keeping me from painting, but my unit of Seleucid thorakites from Relic Miniatures is growing in proportions.

These are the four figures I've just added to the unit. I've given them North Star spears and made the javelins from some hollow brass tubing, the end of which I pinch in some pliers and then shape with clippers and a nail file. For a couple of them I've also added an arrow or two caught in the shield. I trimmed some short lengths of thin brass rod, attached shaped slivers of wood for the feathers, and inserted it into little sockets in the shield made with a pin vise. I have no illusions about them being sturdy attachments, but I figured it would be alright if they just lasted long enough for me to take some photos.

The shields again are hand painted, though it seems Relic is working to make some transfers with Battle Flag for these types of shields.

28mm Thorakites Command - Relic Miniatures

Having been absent from this particular genre for a little while, it is really good to be painting some 28mm ancients again. This set is Relic's Thorakites Command, my first foray in to Successor armies.

The Thorakites themselves are interesting subjects. As a troop-type, they are a fairly late development in the Macedonian/Successor style of warfare, a late evolution of the supporting troops that the iconic phalanxes relied on to guard their flanks, protect them from enemy skirmishers and whittle down the enemy ranks with javelins (when I start in on the rest of the unit the soldiers will carry both spears and javelins, to show their versatility).

They were well-off men, as their equipment was expensive, and between the cost and their late arrival on the scene, they were not employed in very large numbers. From what I hear only the Seleucids ever deployed them in bulk - so I've given them great big Seleucid icons on their shields. After the arrival of the Romans in the Greek theaters of war the similarity between Thorakites and Roman-style infantry were noted, and some referred to the former as "imitation legionaries", assuming that they must have been derived from their western neighbors. However everything I've read suggests that they are in fact of indigenous Macedonian/ Successor evolution.

Well, here they are. I didn't have any relevant transfers for the shields, so I've painted them by hand. In time these guys will be the command element of a larger unit. Stay tuned!

 And here are some closeup shots of these personalities:

Gauls and More Gauls - Relic 28mm

 Here are another couple batches of 28mm Gauls from Relic. The first group of four is their Gallic Warriors set, and the second their Gallic Swordsmen. Great sculpts as always from Mike over there.

Shield transfers are from Battle Flag, and bases are Litko.

28mm Gallic Veterans from Relic

The latest figures I have completed are Relic's Gallic Veterans. I've added the command figures to the mix, and you can see a variety of views of them below. Shield transfers are from Battle Flag, and they are on 20mm Lithko bases.

25 mm Gallic Veterans Command from Relic

I've just finished Relic's Gallic Veteran Command, my first foray in to the world of Gauls who, it turns out, are a lot of fun to work on.  Lots of colors and interesting patterns, especially plaids. These figures have a lot of character sculpted in to them. Jacques for one, over there on the right, seems to have taken up a rather grisly hobby. You have to wonder what his friends and family think of that. 

The shield transfer is a decal from Battle Flgas (http://www.wargametransfers.com/gallic--celtic-shields.html) and can be purchased on Relic's website along with the figures. I had not used these before, having experience only with LBM transfers. It didn't take me too long to get used to these though, and I am very pleased with them. They have the excellent benefit of remaining moveable for a little bit after they have been applied, so they can repositioned if you have something misaligned. I like to cut them in half and apply the two parts as separate pieces, then paint up the gap of the the shield spine.

25 mm Relic Iberian Chieftain

 This happy looking fellow is an Iberian chieftain in 25mm, from Relic. He carries a typical Spanish sword and the caetrati, a small buckler with a bronze boss, suited for close combat but offering little protection from ranged weapons. The Iberian tribes were renowned for their abilities to fight fast moving guerrilla-style engagements, which frequently gave the Romans so much grief, and a very small lightweight shield would be a good choice for such tactics. The disc armor over his chest is typical of a well-to-do Spanish warrior of his day, but boasts lavish silver ornamentation showing his status as a chieftain.

Another crisply sculpted creation from Relic, and a joy to paint!

Last of the Relic Carthaginians

 I've done up a few more Carthaginian veterans from Relic, to finish out the set of eight, and thought I would put up some pictures of the group.

 

As long as you angle up the arms of folks in the rear rank, everyone fits together nicely.

Once again I've done the shields freehand, starting with some Roman designs on two of them and adding ornamentation over them. The Carthaginians took over captured Roman equipment, so I wanted to make them look explicitly like they had had previous owners. 

Next up for me is a large bunch of Gauls, so stay tuned!