Furore Legio

 Hey all! It's been a while, huh? I'm gonna try and update this blog more. I let it lapse in general and the Covid-Time hasn't helped that at all. The upside of going nowhere and seeing few people are that I've been steadily chewing through my backlog of miniatures and projects. First up, I thought I'd share some better pics of my Roman army. 

I've always wanted a Roman force in miniature, and I've tried a couple of times in my life and always been side-tracked by other projects. But this time, due in no small part to the excellent plastic kits by Victrix, I persevered. I built the army to work with my own rank and flank game, Shieldwall, but I think it can easily be adapted to other games like Impetus, Hail Caesar, or Warhammer Ancients. 

The Legion in all its fury...err... Glory!

The army General marker. 

A unit of Praetorian Guard - Heavy Infantry

Three units of Legionaries - Heavy Infantry

Two units of Equites - used as either Light or Shock Cavalry

Two units of Peltast Skirmishers. It was fun to use water effects on these bases and try to great a bit of a diorama feel to them.

Two missile units - one is a Long Range and the other Powerful. The scorpions are Warlord plastics and the archers are by Wargames Foundry. 

Shieldwall tracks hits on units, and this gives me the chance to paint some
of my favorite models that I never get to use - casualties!

I plan on starting a Gallic army for these cats to battle against - that'll be one of this year's upcoming projects. I figure by the time that I finish them, I might be able to play a game in person again! Hope you are all doing well and hanging on through this time. Here's hoping I keep up with this blog more. 

Cheers!

The Legion Grows!

For the Glory of Rome!

The last few weeks have seen me nattering away on my new Roman project. I've managed to complete thirty of these sculpts from Victrix Lmtd and its all starting to look like a little force now. I'm building the army with the intent to use them with a heavily modified version of Neil Thomas' One Hour Wargames rules (I'll post the mods up sometime soon) or Basic Impetus. Right now I can use these as three separate units in those games, or I could form them into a large single unit for something like Hail Caesar.

Unit one has a Centurion and associated command units. 

Unit two is all infantry, with the front rank advancing.

Unit three is more troops advancing under watchful eye of an Optio in the back rank.

I'm super happy with how these guys are shaping up. I'm not really going for historical accuracy - more of trying to create the Roman army that I've always wanted in my head. The next unit will be a ten man unit of Praetorians, mostly because they are fun models and will look really cool in a unit. I've also got some archers winging their way across the Atlantic from Wargames Foundry, so I'm looking forward to adding some missile weapons to the force. 

Cheers!

Back to Rank and Flank

Looks like some of my future projects are a return to games involving mass ranks of troops organized in blocks. Its a good place to return to, and its been a while. First on deck, I finished up my first unit of Early Imperial Romans. I have mounted them on a 120mm x 60mm base, and I really like how it lets everything breath and have room. The basing size is compatible with the Impetus rules system, but I think I'm aiming to build the army around a heavily modified version of Neal Thomas' One Hour Wargames rules.

These are Victrix plastic kits - Roman Legionaries Advancing. I've got three more blocks of these cats to do.

I also drifted back into Oldhammer this week by completing a fourth unit of High Elf archers. The command group is cobbled together, but overall I think it works. Also of note in this unit: the archer on the viewer's right is the first ever model my girlfriend has painted. She sat down to try it out and under my cruel tutelage managed to do an amazing job for her first ever mini!

This unit brings me to 40 archers in the army. 

On deck are more Roman infantry and a classic Tiranoc Chariot that's been begging for some attention. 

Cheers!

"Alea Jacta Est."

The die is cast. 

I have always wanted a model army of Early Imperial Romans. I've tried twice before to build a Roman army - once with Italleri plastics in 1/72 scale and once with Old Glory metals in 28mm. Both times I enjoyed painting them, but got side-tracked with other projects. A few months ago, I picked up a pair of sets of excellent Legionaries by Victrix and they've been sitting in my "To-Do" pile. This week I managed to assemble some and start painting them. 

These models are from Victrix's Legionaries Attacking set. 

Starting with a red priming coat, these guys paint up super quick! I also made some custom shield decals in Photoshop and printed them out on waterslide transfer paper. It takes some extra cutting to make holes for the shield bosses, but I think its really worth the end effect. 

I've got two sets of 25 guys each, so I should be chewing through them for a little bit. But right now, I'm 1/10 of the way through them and already planning for my next purchases. I'm unsure what basing scheme or rules set I'll be using, but I'm definitely leaning towards something Mass Battle-y. 

I also managed to get the last of the weapon options for my Warlord Titans painted up this week. Now everything I own for Adeptus Titanicus is completely painted. Huzzah!

A Sun Fury Plasma Annihilator and Arioch Power Fist for my Legio Mortis Engines.

The Mori Quake Cannon for my Legio Gryphonicus. 

I've also been doing some paper craft hobbying - terrain for Adeptus Titanicus and two whole armies for the Thirty Years War. I'll share more on those projects as I can!

Cheers!