15mm Republican Roman Army Completed

 This has been the main project for 2020, and really represents options for three DBMM Republican Roman armies from Camillan Romans, through Polybian Romans and the time of Scipio Africanus, to Marian Romans and Julius Caesar, Pompey et al:

This turned out to be more of a slog than I was expecting, although I knew there were a lot of them to get through and I wanted to complete them as I know it is unlikely I would summon up the motivation to return to them in the future:

All the figures are Xyston, and the shield transfers where used are from Little Big Men Studios. As one would expect with a Roman army, I needed a lot of shield transfers to complete the waves of legionaries:

There was thankfully some variety in the form of a bit of cavalry, the anti elephant wagons and the velites which I especially enjoyed painting.

I estimated this army to be around eight hundred figures, but the final tally was a little more as follows:

Foot and mounted figures        = 845

Horses, ox and flaming pigs    = 83

Wagons                                    = 7

Artillery pieces                        = 2

That gives a total of 928 figures, and I'll be very happy if I never paint another 15mm Republican Roman (although I do have the same army in 28mm in the pile which I suppose I must complete one day):

 

So that's the Romans done, and the second army completed in 2020. I'm now just putting the finishing touches on some WWII German ships, a batch of Gauls (which I also said I'd never paint again in 15mm), and have some 15mm terrain/camp pieces and three regiments of 28mm French cuirassiers to complete before moving on to a new project. There's quite a few to choose from in the lead pile and I am leaning toward some 28mm Renaissance at this stage, but I'll see where the mood takes me once I have completed the other bits and pieces.

15mm Italian Allied Cavalry

 I finally got there! The last of the 15mm Republican Romans in the form of eight elements of Italian allied cavalry:

These will help bolster the cavalry numbers in future battles when required, although they are rated as "Inferior" and will therefore be much more brittle than the "Ordinary" Roman cavalry:

Nice enough figures, although I did find that a few of them sat awkwardly on their mounts. After what must be close to 800 figures in this project though, I was just happy to have completed them:

I have a few bits and pieces to clear from the painting queue, and then I'll put my mind to which army to next drag off the lead pile, hopefully before the end of 2020. At least that way I can feel as though I got stuck into three projects this year, rather than having spent the bulk of the year just painting Romans!

15mm Republican Roman Command Stands and Artillery

The penultimate element to this army is the completion of a number of command stands and two artillery pieces. Firstly, a mounted Scipio Africanus figure:

And Gaius Laelius who was a great friend of Scipio and accompanied him on most his campaigns, commanding the Roman cavalry at Zama:

A rather youthful-looking Julius Caesar:

And assembled as a group, with one additional cavalry officer on a white horse in the event I need an additional general at some point:

I also completed two additional infantry stands, one depicting Crassus who was part of the triumvirate alongside Julius Caesar and Pompey. He is shown here wringing his hands, probably representing him at Carrhae which resulted in a massive defeat at the hands of the Parthians and the subsequent death of Crassus while he was attempting to negotiate a truce. A miserable end, especially as his son had been killed in battle, and with his head stuck on a spear the previous day.

The last stand depicts Vorenus and Pullo, two competitive Roman centurions who accompanied Caesar into Gaul. When they were attacked by the Nervii Pullo tried to take them on single-handed but was quickly surrounded, whereupon Vorenus came to the rescue. According to Caesar they fought their way back into the Roman fortified camp to the cheers of the Roman onlookers, killing many Nervii along the way:

Finally, just to round out the latest additions, two artillery pieces:

That now only leaves eight elements of Italian Allied cavalry to be finished in this project, which I should complete within the next week.

15mm Republican Roman Anti-elephant Wagons

 The DBMM Camillan Republican Roman army list allows up to six of these wagons and I thought they would be fun to do, so decided to include them:

I had originally only ordered six from Xyston Miniatures but, when I was putting them together, I discovered there was a wheel missing. I emailed Robbie ahead of my next order and he said he would send me the wheel, but instead sent me an entirely new model which was much appreciated. I couldn't very well leave it lying around so made it up along with the other six, albeit with a dodgy home-made replacement wheel.

The models themselves have a mixture of figures with bladed weapons, and one holding a stick with a burning wad on the end, all designed to scare Carthaginian elephants. For some reason, when I look at them bring back memories of that cartoon the Wacky Races:

They gain a +1 combat bonus for that purpose when actually used against elephants, but may also come in handy at some point as a defence against a cavalry opponent:

That being the case, I can't see them taking the field too often, but it will be nice to have the option to include them if required.

Only some Republican Roman generals, artillery and Italian allied cavalry to complete now, which should be within the next couple of weeks.

15mm Republican Roman Cavalry

 The Republican Romans did not have much cavalry, and six elements' worth are enough to cover most variants of the army lists over this period:

While keeping the shields the same to give them that regular appearance, I gave them a variety of cloak colours to mix things up a little:

As with the rest of the army, the figures are all Xyston and are a mix of sword-armed and javelin-armed poses:

I have another four or five command stands to complete along with half a dozen Italian allied cavalry, which will give me all the required variations:

Next in line however are some anti-elephant wagons, for something a little different. I'm hoping to have the Romans completely finished over the next few weeks, and am already looking forward to getting stuck into a fresh project as the Romans have become a bit of slog. I have around forty or so armies in the pile, and am leaning toward a 28mm Renaissance Cossack army to oppose the Turks I completed the year before last, or a 15mm Teutonic medieval army which I am confident will get some table time next year. Either way, it will be nice to start something new.

15mm Republican Roman Italian Allies

Thankfully nearing the end of this project, it was time to get stuck into sixteen elements of Italian allies:

These guys are Oscan javelinmen, which probably acted more as skirmishers but are based here as auxiliaries. Either way, they are Italian allies and look the part, with their distinctive helmet regalia:

There weren't any Little Big Men Studio decals to fit these shields, so I applied a fairly simple red colour with some basic weathering for the shield designs. Given that these were regular troops, I think it ties them in together well enough:

The paint was barely dry on them when they took the field for their first game, as part of a Camillan army against a Phyrric army in a game which ground on for five hours before we had to call a halt (in pretty much the same manner as Phyrrus's historical conflicts). The Camillan's had the slight upper hand with the Italian allies performing very well, always gratifying when fielding a new army for the first time.

Next up, some Roman cavalry, and then hopefully a few anti-elephant wagons.

15mm Republican Roman Incendiary Pigs

'Incendiary pigs' is not something I have cause to type often, and I would guess that they will only be making very occasional appearances on the gaming table. That said, I thought I'd add four elements to the Republican Roman project, if only to round out the Camillan army list:

While dousing pigs in combustible pitch, setting them alight and then driving them toward the enemy is no doubt an inhumane thing to do, I wouldn't have thought that it was particularly effective either. At least not as effective as driving stampeding cattle or flaming ox carts toward the formed ranks of the enemy. 

In DBMM they are treated as one-shot artillery, albeit they are the last to be deployed and so can be lined up against a target of choice. However, at seven points an element plus an additional ten points to use an 'unusual troops strategem', they do seem rather expensive when normal artillery, which can be fired multiple times, is only eight points. 

At least they are something a little different, and the Xyston figures are as usual very nice. I must have used eight different shades on the flames, from yellow through to smoky grey, as I was concerned (as I have mentioned elsewhere) they might otherwise just end up looking like pigs running around with German flags on their backs:

University has now ended for the year which means study is over until March 2021. Hopefully that means I'll be able to increase my painting output, although 2020 seems to have been quite productive on that front anyway.

Next up, Italian allies in the form of some Oscan auxiliary infantry.

15mm Republican Roman Penal Legion

The penal legion was hastily raised from convicts and slaves after Cannae, and equipped with Gallic equipment most likely captured at Telemon nine years earlier. I have read various accounts where they were used as fodder, but given the choice between the promise of freedom and having to spend the rest of your life as a slave or in debtor's jail, it probably seemed like a good way out for the six thousand or so who volunteered:

I was wondering if there were any Gauls among Hannibal's allies who may have lost a shield or helmet at Telamon, and recognised it being carried by one of the penal legion. Very unlikely I suppose, but I would not have liked to have been an untrained slave up against an angry Gallic warrior if it did happen:

The figures are as usual Xyston, with the shield transfers from Little Big Men Studios:

That's sixteen elements in all completed. Given that they are rated inferior I'm not sure how often they will be used, but they are nice to have to give the army a little variety:

Next up, some incendiary pigs which, although cruel and inhumane in practice, makes an appearance in the early Camillan Republican Roman list.

15mm Cretan Archers

 A quick post on the latest unit completed toward the Republican Roman army, this time a sixteen-figure unit of Cretan archers, and a quick apology for not having replied to people's kind comments as I hadn't realised that they were all being diverted to await moderation:

I liked these figures a lot, mainly because they are quite dynamic but also because they are single-piece castings so there was no messing around gluing on spears or shields:

Also, being only sixteen figures I was able to complete them within a couple of days, so it was fairly instant gratification:

I'm putting the finishing touches on some WWII British ships which I should complete within the next couple of days and hope to post shortly, and which has also been a welcome break from the Romans.