Comission - Late Roman Infantry

Well, it's been some time since i've posted anything on here, but i've actually been really busy painting a whole hodgepodge of stuff. I've completed, not an any particular order:

- 2 bases of 28mm French Foreign Legion (Askari miniatures i started over a year ago!)
- Some 20mm Second World War Hungarian infantry and armour for IABSM
- A 1/72 Airfix Battle of Britain Spitfire, 70th anniversary and all that.
- A 15mm Flames of War SdKfz 251/1D - for Ebay
- First 20 figures of an ongoing Late Roman commission.

I've also got my marks back for uni, and i must say I'm very pleased. All up, out of 8 subjects taken this year I've managed to score 5 high distinctions (85%+) and 3 distinctions (75-85%). Laura has taken to calling me übernerd. :)
I believe the term is well-chuffed. :) Bring on second year - although i'm more than a little apprehensive about going on my first prac in a Central Coast high school. Heres hoping i don't get one of the rough ones. :/

Pics of all the painted stuff will be coming up soon, but for this update iv'e got some images of the first batch of commission Romans. The client is building up Julian's army for the battle of Strasbourg in 357 CE. I'm not 100% sure what basing system he is using, but to my untrained eye it looks like FOG. I've gone for a more muted basing style than my Impetus Romans, trying to give the impression of a location near the rainy Rhine river.

These are all 28mm Black Tree Design figures, the heavy infantry is the Primani Legion, the archers are the Sagitarii Iuniores Gallicani. I've taken the shield patterns from the Notita Dignitatum and they are hand painted. I've also strung the bows with very fine gauge wire and added arrows made from iron needles. Overall i was really happy with them, and so was the client. Next up in the commission is another 12 man Legion, the Fortenses, and an eight figure light infantry unit, the Exculatores Britanniciani. I'm aiming to have these done by the end of the month.

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. :)

And now for something completely different..

Gratuitous Monty Python references aside, I'm back!

Well, it's been a mighty long time since I've posted anything on here but better late than never, right? Well, full time study has turned out be a lot more time intensive than I had anticipated, and most of my time has been devoted to study rather than painting. Still, both Laura and I have managed to pass the first semester with flying colours and I'm now on my mid year break.
I never really did manage to get back on the proverbial painting horse with the Napoleonic 1809 project, and consequently that project has been shelved for the time being. I do apologise to those who were looking forward to whatever it was i was working on, but some day I'll get them finished. I have a feeling it was my efforts to perfect Non Metallic Metal that finally broke my morale :(

My modern history course was on medieval Western Europe, starting with the fall of Rome and going through to 1500. Apparently this is now modern history! Still, i'm definitely not one to complain as this era of 'Late Antiquity' is a personal favourite of mine. I've had a bunch of figures sitting around for a WAB Late Roman force which i purchased a few years ago, only to loose interest without painting a single figure. I swear i must have miniatures related ADD.
Anyway, with my interest piqued in this period i decided to dig these out and paint up an entire force for the much lauded Dadi & Piombo rule set Impetus. Going by fantastic reviews from the Wargames Journal and Neil from meeples and miniatures, these look to be great fun and a fast play set. I also have to admit that my decision to go for Impetus was in a large part influenced by the fantastic little dioramic bases popping up from time to time on TMP and the SD Forum.

I'm hoping to avoid disappointment by initially setting my sights low. I've only got a Patrician Roman force for Basic Impetus planned. This force breaks as follows:

2 x Heavy Cavalry (Roman Cataphracts and Gothic Foederati)
1 x Light Cavalry (Hunnic Mercenaries)
3 x Heavy Foot (Roman Auxilia Palatina and Frankish Foederati)
1 x Light Foot (Roman Pseudocomitatensis)
2 x Roman Foot Archers

Now, on to the good news. I'm actually some way through this force! I decided to do up a bunch of archers first, followed by a mostly decorative generals base. Inspiration came from a bunch of ospreys, the warrior series on horse and foot soldiers and the superb series on roman military clothing. I also heavily delved into an online copy of the Notita Dignitatum and WRG's Armies and Enemies of Imperial Rome.
Without further ado, here are these first two bases. Note the lack of NMM. :) The shields are hand painted, the archers are all from Black Tree Design (BTD) and the General's base is a mix of Foundry, Gripping Beast and BTD. I think they work well together.

I've actually completed two more bases and am almost done with the third, but i'll break it up over a few posts. For now, please enjoy and feel free to leave comments.

On another note, after a fair bit of consideration I am interested in taking on commission work, both as I've now got a fair bit of time to paint and to supplement my pitiful student income :) So anyone interested please contact me at fiene.ben@gmail.com