Tuesday 22 January 2019

Gaesatae

The penultimate block of troops for this project, the Gaesatae were apparently not a tribe as I originally believed but more a group of warriors who lived in the Southern Alps and probably hired themselves out as mercenaries. The term 'gaesatae' appears therefore to refer to many of them being armed with a spear, rather than any tribal nomenclature:
I have completed 101 figures in all, with 99 of them based here across 33 elements of three figures each, and two left over for basing with the dozen chariots I have left to complete:


















They are depicted, as Gaesatae usually are, without clothing. This is following the battle of Telamon in 225 BC where they collectively decided to throw off their clothes and charge naked at the Romans:


















This was apparently to throw fear into the Romans, and Polybius states there may have also been a practical reason in that they didn't want to get their clothes caught in the brambles that were growing on the slopes of the hill atop which the Romans were positioned.


















Either way, it probably seemed like a good idea at the time and appears to have been pretty much a one-off. It did make painting them a lot easier than the rest of the Gallic army, although they still required four layers including a wash for the flesh-tone:


















With the command and standard-bearer figures there are a dozen different poses, including a handful holding severed heads, and they all look suitably fierce. The Gauls were apparently quite fond of collecting the heads of their enemies which they used as trophies to decorate their dwellings, probably far more interesting than some of the things I have seen people bring back from their holidays and put on display in their living rooms:


















Only a dozen chariots and a few late additions in the form of  a dozen armoured cavalry left to go now. The chariots are almost completed apart from a slight hold-up with the chariot riders in that they are supplied with a random assortment of warriors, but when I unpacked them I discovered they had all been supplied with Gaesati warriors. After some deliberation I incorporated the chariot riders into the Gaesati warbands to keep them all together as a single contingent, and ordered a couple more packs of soldurii which I am hoping will better look the part.

12 comments:

  1. Outstanding effort Lawrence - that's a huge output and they are painted and based beautifully!

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    1. Thanks Keith, it has given me a bit of a head-start on output for 2019.

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  2. Handsome units, great job on these fierce warriors!

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    1. Thanks Phil, the way they have been sculpted makes them really look the part.

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  3. That is an impressive bunch, mate. So how is the heatwave treating you in Brisbane?

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    1. Thanks Mark. The heat is ramping up a bit here and we had 35 degrees today. Not as high as the southern States, but the humidity is worse and that is what saps you. I always dread summer in Queensland, but the other nine months make up for it.

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  4. Great looking bunch of headhunters! Lovely work on their skin tones!
    Best Iain

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    1. Thanks Iain. I wanted to put the extra effort in on the skin tones as there was a fair bit of it showing on these figures.

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  5. Very well done. I dare say if any of us tried charging nekkid, the enemy would likely die laughing! :-)

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    1. Yes, a brisk walk at best, which would give them plenty of time for ridicule.

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  6. Great looking army Lawrence. Congratulations on a job well done.

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    1. Thanks for that, I was quite pleased with the way they turned out.

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