This is an old Grenadier sculpt by Julie Guthrie (I think). It is actually the first Ultima-inspired model I started painting. I began about a year ago, put it away, and brought it out again yesterday to finish it.
I picked this model because it has a surcoat to paint the ankh design. Without that, what would distinguish it as being the Avatar? I painted the silver serpent on the shield—another symbol from the Ultima PC game series. The shield color is silver, with the snake in a mix of silver and blue. I used Citadel acrylics, and varnished with Windsor & Newton Matt acrylic varnish.
I like the pose, but have decided to offer it up for sale. The model is a true 25mm, which does not mix well with my taller, hefty 28mm characters. Let me know if you're interested. It's available for $5, with $2.00 for shipping US First Class mail. I can ship to Europe too. I can take Paypal or a check. I plan on painting some villager models to sell on eBay, so this model may appear there in a few weeks time.
I finished painting my Roman auxiliary cavalrymen, so tonight I played a solo game of Song of Blades and Heroes. It has been a while since my last game, and I am still learning. So, I decided to line up the troops and slug it out. I used the forces detailed in my previous post.
I learned that if you are playing with a leader, it's important to keep him protected. I had two ranks of troops—warriors in the front and the archers and leader in the back. Yet, halfway through my game the only man in front of the Dacian leader was killed, leaving the leader open to attack. The cavalry man rushed forward, knocked him down in one turn, and finished him off in the next turn. The panicked Dacians ran for it, getting slashed as they fled. They still out numbered the Romans, but were scatered and leaderless. They were too spread out to gang up on the cavalrymen, and their leaderless dice rolls could not activate them as easily as before. With their longer movement the Roman cavalry were able to reach the individual enemies, pairing up to reduce the lone Dacian's combat score.
I'm going to play another game with these same forces. Next time I'll try to keep the Dacian leader out of harms way, but within the maximum distance for him to command the other men. As the Roman forces have only 6 men, that leader does not have the luxury of hiding behind the lines. He'll have some protection by placing a model on either side, so only his front is exposed. I'll add a forest area and obstacles, so the Dacians have some cover. And the next battle report will be in depth, with pictures.
This week I finished painting eleven 1/72 plastic models from Hat Industrie's #8069 Dacians. I have photographed each of the eight unique poses. The standard bearer and spearmen in the above photo carry an oval shield as depicted on Trajan's Column. These models are holding their shields with a vertical hand-grip. This is an inaccurate, yet minor detail. Apart from one example from Doncaster, England, all the archaeological examples of Iron Age Celtic, German, and Roman shields have horizontal hand-grips.
Most of the models wear caps which appear on the reliefs of Trajan's Column (Rome) and the Tropaeum Traiani (Adamclisi, Romania). Both Roman monuments were built to celebrate Trajan's victory over the Dacians and their allies. The plaids and stripes common to Celtic clothing were probably also worn by the neighboring Dacians. However, I painted the tunics and trousers in solid colors. This is to set them apart from my Celtic models and to save time painting! I did paint a blue plaid design on the cloak of one spearman. That particular pose could work equally well as a Celt or German, although in terms of production quality it's a rather flat sculpt.
The set offers two archer poses. These are versatile models, as they could also be used as any number of Iron Age to Dark Age European archers. Very specific to the Dacian army are two men wielding the two-handed falx (falx is the Latin for any scythe-like blade). These would be the Bastarnae allies. The cutting edge was on the inside of the curve, so the fellow in the blue trousers is not holding his weapon correctly.
Here is a photo showing my spearmen's shield blazons. I used Trajan's Column as a reference. The ovals and cross design held by my standard bearer appears on the base and several times on the column. The remaining designs appear to be rather generic Roman motifs. Indeed, many of the Dacian shields on the column are nearly identical to the shield blazons held by the Roman auxiliaries. So, these may not be authentic Dacian designs, but they are the only evidence we have.
Lacking in this set is an armored commander. Esci's old barbarian set offers one pose in a Phrygian style helmet. Hat's Thracian set has two helmeted poses which could be shoe-horned into my Dacian army. A Hat or Italeri Celtic commander model might also be substitutes, but there really isn't an appropriate Dacian noble available in 1/72. A musician would also be nice, but again I will have to make do with a celtic model. In general, Dacians are not too common as wargaming miniatures. Old Glory Miniatures and the Foundry offer 28mm metal Dacians, but it's the better-known Celts and Germans that dominate the selection of barbarian models. Strelets will be releasing their own 1/72 Dacian sets, but for now Hat is the only manufacturer producing 1/72 Dacians. And what a nice set it is!
Peter Connolly wrote two excellent well-illustrated books on the subject of Rome's conflict with Dacia: The Legionary and The Cavalryman.
A lively debate about who fought with the falx on the Roman Army Talk forum.
I love 28mm metals. My closet is full of them. They're a joy to paint, but they're pricey! Supplying a 200+ model army will set you back quite a bit. A well-sculpted metal 28mm foot model costs in the neighborhood of US$2.00 - 3+ each. A couple 28mm plastic manufacturers have popped up recently, yet their models still come in at around $1 each. In contrast, a box of 40 or 50 plastic 1/72 soldiers costs anywhere from $7.50 - $11.oo. At the high end that averages to about 25 cents each. In this current economic climate the low price should appeal to everybody!
Relating again to the low price, 1/72 sets are easily within the budget of kids. They offer an expensive introduction to the hobby. I doubt that any kid old enough to paint and game with miniatures would try munching on them, but it's also nice that 1/72 soldiers aren't made of lead. I'm planning a game with my friend and his kids. It's reassuring to know that if some models are dropped, the plastic minis won't be as easily damaged as their larger lead fellows!
1/72 sets are widely available at local hobby shops (which often don't carry 28mm metals). The range of time-periods and the variety within these eras has really blossomed in the past 10 years. You can find well-researched, well-made 1/72 historic miniatures for nearly any subject these days.
Although not common in the US, 00 gauge model railroad supplies match up nicely with 1/72. I had been looking for plastic livestock to use in a Dark Age village raid scenario, and was pleased to find inexpensive cows, pigs, sheep, etc. from UK suppliers (eBay). This train scale is popular in England, so there is also a nice range of European model buildings appropriate for medieval to modern times.
So there ya go! Go out and buy some plastic!
I've been enjoying the skirmish wargame, Song of Blades and Heroes. This is meant to be a fantasy ruleset, but the human warrior list has all the stats one would need to play in a historic setting.
I'm setting up a little Roman cavalry vs. Dacian raiding party scenario. The premise is a unit of auxiliary cavalrymen have caught up with a Dacian raiding party. The basic army in SBH calls for 300 pts worth of troops. You can easily field two opposing armies with only two boxes of 1/72 plastic soldiers. I moved the army points up to about 420 in order to get a suitable amount of variety in troop types. I am using Hat's sets, #8069 Dacians, #8066 Imperial Roman Auxiliary Cavalry, and two models from #8074 Imperial Roman Auxiliaries.
I'm painting the models now. The infantry are mounted on 20x20 mm. square bases. The cavalry are on 20 x 40 mm. I thought about using circular bases, but these rectangles allow me to also use the models for Warhammer Ancient Battles. I can really sympathize with those that think 28m WAB models should be played on 25 x 25 mm bases. I can barely fit some of these smaller 20mm models on their squares!
I'm very fond of 1/72 scale plastic toy soldiers. 15mm miniatures are the standard for playing De Bellis Antiqitatus. I do have a 15mm Dacian DBA army in the works, but I much prefer painting the larger 20mm tall 1/72 guys.
So far I have two armies in this scale. Featured in this post is my II/49 Marian army. It's intended to be the army of Caesar. I painted it in the year 2000. I'm afraid the painting isn't to my current standards, so I touched it up a bit. This army is half Hat and half Italeri. The units: 4Bd General, one x 3CV (with the option of a 2LH), eight x 4Bd, one 4Ax, and one 2Ps. The bases are sized for 25mm models.
Here's my general element. The aquilifer on the left is from Hat's #8051 Roman Command. This is a Punic War era model. To bring him up to the 50s BC I shaved off the model's greaves. I sculpted a bear pelt with green stuff and glued the shield to his back. Next to him is a Italeri centurion. Oddly enough, this model comes in the #6028 Roman Cavalry box. His scabard is on the wrong side for a centurion, but I liked the dramatic sword pose. He wasn't sculpted with greaves appropriate to a centurion, so I just painted silver over his shins. His helmet is painted the same way to represent the tin-plated or silvered bronze helmet common with the upper ranks. The cornicen and vexilifer also come from Hat's #8035 Roman Catapults set. I think the practice of knotting the lower paws of the bear pelt was specific to the early Republic, but that doesn't bother me at all.
The eight blade elements are a mix of Italeri #6021 Roman Infantry with Hat #8017 Republican Romans Princeps and Triari. The Hat models arrive with feather crests on their helmets. I trimmed these off and sculpted horse hair crests. The Itlaeri shields have a wing design sculpted on. I painted wings on the blank Hat shields to match. Four of the blade units are painted with white tunics and red shields. The other four are painted with red tunics and blue shields.
My one auxiliary element is a group of Caesar's Numidians. The three on the right come from Hat's #8020 Carthaginian African Infantry. For variety I added the javelin man on the left. He comes from Hat's #8044 Alexander's Light Infantry.
Pictured in the full army photo at the top: My 2LH element is made up of Hat's Numidian Cavalry. The 3Cv are Hat Celtic cavalry. The 2Ps are Balearic slingers from Hat's Carthaginian Spanish Infantry.
When I painted these 8 years ago I was still in my dad's tradition of using enamels. After washing the plastic I gave them a base-coat of matt black, then painted with Humbrol enamels. To prevent the paint from chipping I brushed white glue on the outside as if it were varnish. This has done the job quite well, but it gives the models a glossy finish.
My new technique does away with oil paints. I know some use white glue as the base-coat. I have tried this, but have found coating the model in black acrylic works just as well. Acrylic paint naturally has a bit of flexibility to it, preventing chipping. My plastic models are painted in acrylics, and varnished with Windsor & Newton Acrylic Mediums Matt Varnish. These models are so small I usually forgo painting shadows and highlights.
For the current Ancient Warfare magazine (Vol. II, Issue 4) I was asked to illustrate one of Polyaenus' strategems discussed in Murray Dahm's article, "Command by Example." The campaigns of Julius Caesar is the theme of this issue, so Murray picked out strategem 8.23.5, which describes Caesar's use of an elephant in fighting the Britains. This is especially intriguing since Caesar makes no mention of the event in his own writings. The illustration and highlights several points supporting the validity of Polyaenus' account, Murray's text provides points against.
I think this is just a fascinating debate, so I'd like to provide further background on the subject. First of all, my illustration of the Pompeii elephant figurine is after a painting of the object found in Peter Connolly's Greece and Rome at War. Initially Murray and I thought we should feature a speculative illustration of Caesar's elephant crashing through the Thames. Polyaenus states that the animal was armored and with a tower, yet there is very little evidence to suggest the specific Roman method for equipping their elephants. This Pompeii figure could have been made to represent an elephant from any number of ancient armies, but still I thought it was safest for the illustration to reference a depiction of a war elephant found in an early imperial Roman context. Connolly's book doesn't provide any detail on the find, but I imagine its provenance doesn't extend beyond "found at Pompeii."
The coin and the Polyaenus strategem about Caesar were discussed in a 1959 article, C.E. Stevens. "Julius Caesar's Elephant," History Today, Vol IX. Coincidentally, the dating of this coin was being discussed on Forum Ancient Coins just as we were working on this article in July. You can access the Stevens article through JSTOR. Most university libraries in the US have a subscription to this service. Or, if you contact me I'll be happy to email a jpg of the article. (It's only 2 pages).
John Kistler's 2007 book, War Elephants also takes on this little controversy. My local branch didn't carry this book, but I got a hold of it though interlibrary loan. It's an easy book to find, but you can also view the pages on amazon.com. Ramon Jiménez's 1996 book, Caesar Against The Celts speaks of the elephant issue, but the scholarship of that book has been criticized.
I do recommend reading War Elephants. I borrowed it to research for this illustration, and kept it to read afterwards. The book includes the use of war elephants into the modern era, but I didn't read past his account of ancient times.
The oop Ral Partha ettin model I bought on eBay arrived this weekend. I had expected to strip it and re-paint, but the paint job is actually not bad. So, the photo above was not painted by me. If at some time I do decide to re-paint, I'll replace this photo and correct this text so you'll never know someone else's painting work was pictured here. Muuuwaaahaaahaaahaaa (evil laughter).
"Travelers in the forests of our land have oft been fooled into thinking they have drawn near to a group of fellow explorers when they encounter an Ettin, for these two-headed monstrosities have been known to carry on heated discussions with themselves. An Ettin invariably abandons its dialogue when it hath the chance to attack an adventurer."
Multiple-headed trolls receive frequent mention in Scandinavian stories, yet the two-headed monster with the name, "ettin" is not common in European folklore. There is a traditional Scottish tale of the Red Etin (spelled with one "t"). This monster had 3 heads and does not seem to appear outside of this one specific story. Two-headed ettins have long been a staple of the Dungeons & Dragons world. Doubtless, this monster is another example of the writers of the Utima series looking to D&D for inspiration.
The reader does not directly encounter an ettin in Tolkein's books. However, reference is made to the existence of multi-headed trolls.
There is another probable allusion to ettins in the place-name, "The Ettenmoors," a mountainous region north of Rivendell. This is an area known to be populated by trolls.
Mirliton makes a very nice two-headed orc that could very well be an ettin. I'm not sure how big it is. I'm getting one the next time I make an order.
I have always had a special fondness for 1/72 plastic toy soldiers. My dad collected them which is how I was introduced to the hobby. They're great for building large, yet inexpensive armies.
One of my many unfinished wargame projects is an army of Iron Age British to play WAB. I'm following the sample Barbarian army given in the WAB rulebook, using 1/72 scale plastic models from a mix of manufactures. I started with an old box of Revell Celts. In real-life horned helmets were not as common as these models make it seem, so I simply trimmed off most of them. In fact, helmets in general were quite rare in Iron Age Britain. On Oct 20th I posted some close-up photos of these guys.
I am also using Celt models from Airfix, ESCI, HaT and Italeri Gauls. Most of the dated Airfix figures are unusable, but the standard bearer and archers are quite nice (see above). The Airfix chariots are in need of some converting. The solid wood wheels are definitely no good, but they were easily be replaced with spoked wheels from the Egyptian chariot set made by the old company, Atlantic. I will have to post a photo of the conversion made. Hat make much better chariots, based on more recent archaeology. PlasticSoldierReview.com doesn't give the best review of Hat's Gallic warband, but I like them.
I have yet to actually play a game of Warhammer Ancient Battles, so I am looking forward to completing this army (if that ever happens!). Most wargamers prefer 28mm or 15mm metal, so I'll have to make another 1/72 scale Roman army to fight these Celts. I actually met a guy who was working on his own 1/72 plastic barbarian WAB army, but I don't think he is any closer than me to finishing.
It's Diorama-rama! As a child I was captivated by the toy soldier dioramas found in the museums my dad brought me. Fort Ticonderoga, NY has some nice ones. Many have a little button, when pushed activates a sound recording to describe the scene. My diorama lacks the audio, but it's equally charming.
Since I am primarily a collector/painter, my models are more likely to be found in diorama shelf, rather than the game table. The base is a 1/2 in. thick piece of hardboard cut to fit the shelf. The background is a piece of canvas held in place by that blue or white sticky putty stuff you can buy to hang posters on the wall. The background starts on the surface of the base, extending up to the top of the shelf. It curls a bit on the bottom, so what I should have done is extend the canvas down to the bottom of the shelf, behind the base.