15mm Crescent Root European Buildings

Following my purchase of a Crescent Root European village four years ago:
http://tinmountain.blogspot.com/2015/12/crescent-root-15mm-world-war-ii.html
I have been keeping an eye on their new releases. These are great models and have the advantage of being pre-painted and assembled. The original 15mm MDF buildings are no longer available, but I purchased half a dozen from the new range European range which complements them nicely.

Here are two of the recent purchases side-by-side:

With a few close-ups showing some of the very nice detail, including recessed windows which is achieved by virtue of an inner and outer skin to the models, and terrific texturing on the walls:

I went with the option of a stone look on some and sienna on others, while keeping all the roofs to a slate grey to keep them consistent with my earlier purchase:

All the roofs lift of to reveal layers of flooring. While these do have the 'typical' lasered MDF appearance and are possibly not to the same level as earlier models, they will nevertheless be highly functional and are a welcome inclusion:

Some of the models are quite large and represent good value, although with freight and the unfavourable exchange rate between the US and Australian dollar the overall cost did start to creep up a bit. These last two are my favourites with what appears to be a large apartment block:

And another which is a row of shops with accommodation overhead:

In my opinion these are superb models and I know I'll be back for more once this range disappears and the next emerges (although I'm already thinking I could probably use a few of Crescent Root's industrial-style buildings in the meantime - hmmmm).

For those interested the Crescent Root website is:
https://crescent-root.com/pages/Product/15mm/15mm.html

15mm Poeni Cavalry and Generals

A quick post with three Carthaginian generals and four elements of Poeni cavalry, the latest to emerge from the production line. First the generals, with the figure in the middle one of three Hannibal figures I have purchased for this army:

The figures are Xyston, and it was nice not to have to glue on shields or spears for a change of pace:

The Poeni cavalry did require spears and the usual Little Big Men Studios shield transfers:

This figures will take the field in a game against some Ptolemaic Egyptians tomorrow. I was hoping to have the elephants and some Numidians completed to join them, but they may have to wait another week or two.

15mm Poeni Citizen Infantry

The Carthaginian citizen infantry in the DBMM army lists represent city militia or settlers and are therefore rated as inferior troops. The later Carthaginian lists allow up to two hundred and forty figures or sixty elements of these which is something I don't think any sane DBMM player would actually contemplate, so I thought I would purchase enough for eighteen elements and leave it at that.

I then took a second look at the Early Carthaginian list and happily realised that it is possible to upgrade and field eight elements as "ordinary" or average auxilia, something that will I believe prove to be much more useful. Of course I only realised that after I had stuck the buggers on to their original bases, but at least I hadn't got any further than that.

Anyway here they are, eight elements of auxilia and twelve of inferior spear:

The auxilia I would surmise are representative of the citizen infantry trained by Xanthippus in the First Punic War, a Spartan mercenary whom Polybius tells us was overheard to say something along the lines of "these guys are rubbish", and who the Carthaginians then put in command. Xanthippus apparently instilled in them such confidence that they finally beat the Romans at the battle of Tunis, after having suffered two previous defeats:

These Xyston figures are quite easy to paint, depicted as they are without armour and carrying little equipment:

Although I noticed that they are all supplied with the Xyston long Gallic-style shield which I'm not particularly fond of. Thankfully I had a few round shields left over so could mix them in, which I believe enhances the citizen infantry look:

As to the citizen spear themselves, I am quite happy with the way the turned out and, as usual, the LBMS decals do their job admirably:

And a final picture of both options together:

Now to complete some Poeni cavalry, and then on to some elephants.

15mm Carthaginian Sacred Band

One of the few units to be made up of actual Carthaginians as opposed to mercenaries, the Sacred Band were well-armoured citizen spearmen who fought in a spear phalanx. They were highly-regarded troops but were wiped out twice, once in Sicily against the Greek Timoleon who surprised them while crossing the Crimissus River and the second time in Tunis, after which they were never reformed. Consequently they are only included in early army lists, but are a more than useful addition for Carthaginian armies of that period:

The citizens forming the Sacred Band apparently equipped themselves with expensive armour, so I depicted them all with bronze armour and shields which is in line with some interpretations of what they may have worn:

The command figures were drawn from the usual Xyston Carthaginian command pack, although I selected those which looked earlier appearance:

The figures are as usual Xyston, with eight stands and thirty-two figures in all:

Next up will be some citizen spearmen, and then the cavalry, elephants and chariots to complete the army.

15mm Libyan Javelinmen

A quick post of a dozen stands of Libyan javelinmen I completed last week. These are again Xyston, although a little slighter than some of the others in their range:

Some of the poses are quite dynamic and really give the impression of a skirmisher about to let loose his javelin. All the figures are depicted with mohawks which has an ornament tucked through the front of it:

They remind me of North American natives, apart from the shields:

I am still not quite sure what the shield are meant to depict; possibly some form of hide shield with feathers attached at the top. I looked online and couldn't see any examples, so went with a brown hide look with white feathers attached:

Apart from one which I painted up as a pineapple:

That's the third unit finished with some Carthaginian Sacred Band figures currently on the painting table and nearing completion.

15mm Veteran Libyan Spearmen

Having completed eighteen elements of ordinary Libyan spearmen earlier this month, it was time to do them all over again, this time as the veterans which formed the backbone of Hannibal's army during his Italian campaign:

The figures are again Xyston and are represented in captured Roman armour and equipment. Given that there were an estimated 92,000 Roman troops killed or captured up to and including Cannae, there was no doubt a fair bit of equipment to choose from:

I used three main Little Big Men Studios shield designs and mixed them up a bit to give the impression of shields selected from three defeated legions:

I selected some of the later-looking figures from the command packs which I think match nicely with the rank and file figures:

That's another eighteen elements completed, although of course this unit will not be taking the field alongside the previously completed Libyan spearmen:

I have some Libyan javlinmen on the painting table at the moment, and am hopeful I'll get them completed and based within the next week.

15mm Libyan Spearmen

Following the completion of an Ancient Spanish army I decided to get stuck straight into some 15mm Carthaginians while I have the motivation to continue with the ancients theme. The first unit to be completed are eighteen elements of Libyan spears which really form the heart of the Carthaginian army list.

The figures are from Xyston as usual, with the shield designs again by Little Big Men studios:

I have always had a soft spot for the Carthaginians and do find it sad that the Romans visited such total destruction on them at the end of the Third Punic War such that very little remains apart from Roman accounts and some vague outlines of where Carthage once stood. I can imagine Hannibal being quite mystified as to why the Romans wouldn't surrender when he had them on the rack in the Second Punic War, but they weren't playing by the same set of rules:

There is a variety of LBMS shield designs based around their symbol for the goddess Tanit, along with various horse and palm-tree motifs:

The shield transfers are smaller than the surface of the shields themselves so I did my best to blend them in where required:

I have also made use of the Foundry north African flesh colour which appears a little darker here than in natural light, but I was quite happy with the result and think I will use it for the bulk of the army:

The command figures include a nice assortment of officers, and I have combined these with a standard bearer and hornist from the musician pack where hornists are the only musicians actually provided, and I have accumulated around twenty of them:

That's seventy figures completed in all:

I now have the same number of veteran Libyan spearmen to complete next. These are modelled with captured Roman equipment and look sufficiently different to justify the additional effort, even though I could conceivably have used the same unit and I don't think anyone would really have complained.