Imperial Roman Legionaries

This unit was a long time in the making as my painting time has been very limited in recent months, but I finally finished them and sent them off to their owner.

Here are 24 Imperial Roman legionaries from Warlord games, based, formed up and ready to go. These are plastic figures. Sorry the pictures are not quite as well focused as they should be, I didn't inspect picture quality closely enough before mailing these out, so this is the best I've got!

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.

10mm Painting article for Wargames, Soldiers and Strategy

I recently published my first ever magazine article, a look at my pretty straightforward approach to painting 10mm ancient/ dark ages models, in the latest issue (#67) of Wargames, Soldiers and Strategy. I've been slowly finishing off bases of late Romans and Goths, which I hope to use with the ruleset 'Impetus', and having received nice feedback and some questions from viewers I wanted to lay out the process I use for these. Check out the magazine if this interests you, and I can attest to the fact that there is much more of interest besides in this issue.

I'll also be writing another 10mm painting article for the next issue, detailing my approach to some more modern painting subjects, specifically camouflage uniforms and armored vehicles.

All of the models below are from Pendraken. The Roman infantry and cavalry are, of course, from their late Roman range, as is the command figure on the Gothic base. He comes from the 'Arthurian Personalities' set. Yes, I may have drafted King Arthur for the barbarians! The rest of the Goths are from their Anglo Saxon and Norse offerings.

28mm Imperial Romans - Warlord Games

So I'm moving to a new apartment this month, and it turns out that, besides the demands of a day job, few things can eat in to one's painting time more effectively than having to pack up all one's possessions and relocate them. I've not got much else done this month, but I wanted to get at least some pictures up, so here are some 28mm Imperial Romans from Warlord Games, which I painted for a private collector.

The shields are done with the transfers supplied with the set, which proved a little trickier than anticipated. The fit was good and they were easy to remove from their backings after soaking in water, but they did not want to adhere well to the shields themselves, the edges curling up as they dried. I tackled this problem by brushing on clear matt varnish, which both seeped under the transfer and held it in place, and took care of the glossy sheen.

Just 8 of them for now, but there will be more in the near future.

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.