More Archers... and some group shots

Well, I'm taking a break from working on an essay to post this little bit of an update. Last night i put finished off the basing on these guys, the second base of Black Tree Design archers. These are the last of the 'Romans' for the Patrician Roman Basic Impetus army, the rest are Barbarian foederati.

On my first archer base I had all of the tunic details as blue, that's before i decided for the army would have an eclectic non-uniform look. These guys have a mix of colours, so do look a little different to the other base. I really aim for having each base standing as an individual, so trying to make this look different from the first base with the limited poses (4) of the BTD archers was a bit of a challenge. I bent the arms of these guys a little so they look like they're firing at a longer range, while the first archer base were firing straight forward. Anyway, i'm quite happy with the result.

I've also put below some pictures of the force as it stands at the moment. So far i've got

1 x Command base (foot)
1 x CL [light cavalry] base (Hunnic mercenary archers)
1 x CP [heavy cavalry] base (Equites Catafractarii Ambienenses)
1 x FP [heavy infantry] base (Petulantes Auxilia Comitatenses)
1 x FL [light infantry] base (Defensores Seniores Pseudocomitatenses)
2 x T [archer] bases

I must say it's actually starting to look like an army, and I'm pleased with how well the villa fits in with the feel of the army. I really need to get started on a terrain mat, as the sheets of cardboard I use as a backdrop for the photos is now too small!

My orders from Aventine, LBMS and Gripping Beast/Musketeer all arrived this week, all the suppliers have been great, the Gripping Beast guys even upgraded the shipping to courier free of charge!
In my uni work down time I've been busily at work cleaning and undercoating, Laura and I have started watching Mad Men, so i've been doing lots of work in front of the telly.
I must say I'm really happy with the Aventine horses. I love the GB rider figures, but their horses have never looked 'right' to me. The Aventine horses look great with the Gripping beast riders, and they're about the right side for the small horse breeds available to the Late Romans.

Once this essay is over and done with, I'm going to get started on a CP base of Late Roman heavy cavalry. I'm still cleaning up the Musketeer Goth cavalry and the GB Franks which I'll need to complete the Patrician Romans. The Roman heavy cavalry are cleaned and primed, and they are essential if I'm to field a Late Roman Eastern or Western army in addition to the Patricians. Hopefully i'll be able to knock these over relatively quickly and get some pictures up soon.

Oh well, back to HIST1052: Australia and the World. :)

Home on the (Anatolian) range

Well, it looks like University is back into full swing. I've already completed one assessment for my Early Roman Archaeology class and have got four more due in the next fortnight. I really had expected that the student lifestyle would be a lot more laid back than this. :/

Anyhoo, I've been plodding along with the last base of Roman archers, I'm actually hoping to put the finishing touches on them once I've posted this.
I finally got my tax return, and that which didn't end up going in loan repayments was sent off to the lads at Gripping Beast, Aventine and Little Big Men in return for a plethora of Late Roman, Barbarian and Sassanid Persian goodies. Andy and Darren at GB were particularly helpful, they happily allowed me to mess around with the composition of their army deals.
My plan for the next six months or so is to paint up the following:

Late/Patrician Romans

1 x CP (Equites Scutarii) 4 GB heavy cavalry per base
1 x CL (Equites Sagitarii) 3 or 4 GB armoured horse archers per base
2 x CL (Equites Illyricani) 3 GB javelin armed cavalry per base
1 x FP (Auxilia Comitatenses) Another 10 figure BTD/GB Heavy infantry base, this time the Celtae Seniores.
1 x FL (Auxilia Pseudocomitatenses) Another 8 figure BTD Light infantry base, the Romanenses this time.
1 x Mounted Command stand - GB General, Standard bearer and musician.

Barbarian Foederati

1 x CP (Gothic Cavalry) 4 Musketeer heavy Goth cavalry per base
2 x FP (Franks) 10 figure GB Frankish heavy infantry per base

Sassanid Persians

1 x Mounted Command stand - GB General, Standard bearer and musician.
1 x CP (Pushtigbhan) 4 GB heavy armoured cavalry with kontos per base
3 x CM (Asavaran) 3 GB Parthian Horse archers per base
1 x FL (Daylaimi) 8 GB Light Infantry per base
2 x FP (Leves) 10 GB Heavy foot per base
1 x EL (Elephant) 1 Aventine Elephant and crew per base

In order to field the full Basic Impetus Sassanid army, I still need to get a base of archers, but it's a decent start. From Steve at LBMS I've ordered the fantastic Sassanid banner sheet along with a bunch of shield decals for the Franks and the Sassanids.

So, while waiting for tax and now for the figure orders to arrive, I decided to have a crack at some terrain. I've wanted to build a Late Roman villa complex for a while, and had collected a fair bit of research info. I dug that out, along with some foam-core board, corrugated cardboard and blue foam and set to work.

As my armies will focus on the conflicts in the East between the Late Romans/Byzantines and Sassanid Persians, the villa i envisaged would have been able to be defended, but also home to a high status landowner. To achieve this, I made sure that besides the main gate and a small side door, there were no doors or windows which would allow an enemy to break in. I've left the roof of the long building to the right of the courtyard loose, with a view to eventually detailing the interior. The stone work under the portico is all from blue foam, using a method stolen from the terrain maestro Theomar Pius. The cobbles are a textured card i picked up from a local Spotlight sewing store in their wedding invitation section. I think they came up well, and i'm planning on building a few stretches of Roman road using them. The tiles are corrugated cardboard sheets, which i lightly scored across the 'grain' with a sharp scalpel then crushed down with a pencil along these lines. I think they look quite effective.

Oh, and i almost forgot. The pictures are taken with my new camera, a Canon IXUS 120IS. I must say I'm really impressed with the picture quality.

The base size is just within the basic impetus size limit of 20U (or 40cm square). This base is about 30cm by 35cm. I used the same basing style I've been using for my army, so hopefully they all tie in. I'm really quite happy with the result, and am now enthused to build a few roads and perhaps even a Sassanid Persian building of some description. Zoroastrian Fire Temple anyone?


I'm currently taking on commission work. All enquiries please contact me vie email, fiene.ben@gmail.com.