Wednesday 30 September 2020

15mm Republican Roman Leves

The forerunner to the much more capable velites, the leves were tasked with forming a skirmish line in front of the hastati. Unarmoured and without shield they are rated as inferior in DBMM, but at the cost of one point per element it is possible to field a lot of them. To that end I have completed twenty-eight elements or fifty-six figures, although there probably won't be that many occasions when they will all be fielded together:











As with the remainder of the army, the figures are all Xyston. Possibly not the most interesting but as detailed as the subject matter allows:





















There are four different poses in each pack of eight figures, and I have tried to vary that a little more through use of four different tunic colours:































That's the bulk of the main infantry now completed. I have some Cretan archers off the production line next, followed by a penal legion utilising captured Gallic equipment. By my reckoning I have now completed exactly six hundred figures toward this army, leaving me with around two hundred to go. 

To keep myself sane I have also commenced work on the first dozen of a couple of hundred GHQ WWII ships I have had languishing on the lead pile for a few years now, and hope to be able to post a few photos of them within the next month. 15mm is small enough, but sticking cranes and painting lifeboats on 1:2400 ship models is most definitely a change of pace.


14 comments:

  1. More excellent work, Lawrence! You really are a painting machine. I look forward to following progress on your WWII fleets.

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    1. Thanks Jonathan, and apologies for not having replied earlier as I hadn't realised that Blogger had automatically switched the comments on await moderation.

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  2. Well done Lawrence, great looking units!

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  3. Lovely looking skirmishers, although I wouldn't think they'll last long on the field of battle!
    Best Iain

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    1. Thanks Iain, Yes, definitely the Ancients equivalent of cannon fodder.

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  4. More nice work here Lawrence - those Xyston figures really are great figures. 1:2400 ships though - nah! Too small and to be honest, I don't really like naval gaming.....I like people involved in my games, not just machines!

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    1. Thanks Keith. I'm hoping to revive the old Auckland Wargaming club set of WWII naval rules, and that they were as much fun as I remember them being forty years ago.

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  5. Now Lawrence, our age, with failing eyesight and patience I do have to question why 1:2400 ships. It rather reminds me of a friend of ours, a certain Mr Drumm, who took pains to point out the detail on his 2mm Carthaginian elephants to his then fiancée, now wife, who replied “they are blobs dear, blobs.”

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    1. I was only thinking about Steve the other day. A really nice bloke. Yes, but the other side of the failing eyesight coin is that even an average paint job can look great without glasses.

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  6. They've come out well, and should serve as generic javelinmen across many centuries. The lack of a shield is odd, though!

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    1. Thanks Peter. As someone explained to me, in DBMM the lack of a shield is what causes them to be rated as inferior. I know I would have been looking around for one if I was forced to face Hannibal.

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  7. Gee....you are pumping these out so quickly that I thought I had already commented on this post Lawrence...but I see it was the previous post! Another lovely batch of Romans.

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    1. You had Keith, and I hadn't realised that Blogger had stopped the comments and they were all awaiting moderation. Thanks for making the effort again!

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