Miros' Games

Game Report - Doctor Who

2012-03-07T22:45:00.003-05:00

I've finally downloaded the pictures off my camera of the Doctor Who Miniatures Game scenario I ran at the Siege of Augusta convention on January 20th.

The game featured a joint attack on a coastal UNIT base in Scotland by the Sea Devils and the Master. It was loosely adapted from one of the scenarios included in the DWMG rulebook. I had designed it for 6 players, but we squeezed in a 4th UNIT player.

Here is the table just after I set up the terrain. The Sea Devils entered from the ocean on the left of the table; The Master and a group of hypnotized thugs entered from the far edge; UNIT was spread around the rest of the table.

A shot from the beginning of the game. The Sea Devils are advancing up the beach and UNIT is moving to hold them. The Brigadier is leading from the front behind the middle clump of brush, Captain Yates is in the ruined building at bottom right, while Sergeant Benton is observing from atop one of the oil tanks.

The Sea Devils focused their efforts on the flanks. Here they are moving forward on the left flank while one of the Master's goons attacks the cottage from behind.

At the other end of the table, the Sea Devils are attempting to destroy the storage tanks. In the distance a Sea Devil is lurking next to one of the houses.

Late in the game, UNIT has fallen back towards the buildings. The Doctor and Leela spent the whole game in the HQ building working on an invention, which he completed on the last turn.

The Master is captured by UNIT. He had previously disposed of two soldiers on the ground floor but his luck has run out.

The points ended in a draw; UNIT's heavy losses were balanced by capturing the Master. Most importantly, the players had a good time and I enjoyed running the game. Thanks to Crooked Dice (the creators of DWMG) for sending me a bunch of DWMG/7TV postcards to hand out to players and passersby.

Jason

2012 Project #1 Completed

2012-03-07T22:01:00.001-05:00

It took me 6 days after posting my 2012 project list to complete my first project. I finished the 32 Axumite infantry March 2nd; the 4 mounted & 1 elephant were completed on March 7th.

I wanted to work on my Doctor Who project so I de-flashed 9 miniatures (6 guards and 3 other gunmen, all Copplestone) on Friday, then had to wait until Tuesday afternoon to prime them due to heavy rain and high winds. I also added a new project to my 2012 list: a 15mm Romano-British army. My friend Mike and I bought a bunch of Splintered Light Miniatures years ago and split them in half. They've been patiently waiting for attention ever since. I picked out 16 armored spearmen, superglued their shields on, and primed them along with the DW miniatures. So far I've painted the metal areas on the Brits and the base coat of black on the guns/boots for the 28mm.

Jason

2012 Projects

2012-02-29T12:06:00.000-05:00

Well, January and February have flown by. I spent most of January preparing the Doctor Who scenario that I ran at Siege of Augusta. I'll have some pictures of the game in my next post. After Siege, I started painting an Axumite DBA army that I purchased at the convention from Time Portal Hobbies. I finished most of it in 1 week, then illness/work/family intervened and I haven't painted a thing since.

I have spent some time thinking about my 2012 plans though. My first project is to finish the Axumites. Second, I have more Doctor Who miniatures to paint, either single character figures or small groups of 6. I'll be doing those in small batches throughout the year with the aim of having them all done in 2012. Third, I want to fill in some holes in my 15mm Hellenistic collection and already have all of the unpainted lead. Fourth, I have a 15mm ECW Royalist army that I started on in late 2010 but only finished a few units. I'd like to make some progress on that as well, but it depend on how quickly I proceed on the other projects.

I'm ready to start painting again and intend to get started this week. Thanks for reading my ramblings!

Jason

Doctor Who Project - Sea Devils

2011-12-30T11:11:00.001-05:00

I thought I'd get one last post in before 2012 arrives. This post covers my28mm Sea Devil force for my Doctor Who project. Despite appearing in only two stories over the years, 1972's The Sea Devils and 1984's Warriors of the Deep, the Sea Devils are one of my favorite monsters from Doctor Who. They are a race of sentient aquatic reptiles that went into hibernation in the prehistoric era to avoid a catastrophe caused by the Moon being captured by Earth's gravitational pull. Their 'alarm clock' failed to go off and their scattered colonies are still in hibernation. Their land-dwelling cousins are the Silurians, who have appeared in 1970's The Silurians, 1984's Warriors of the Deep and 2010's The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood.

My Sea Devil force consists of 26 miniatures, plus 1 allied Silurian. I bought about 2/3rds of them directly from Black Tree Designs and the rest on eBay. Three of them are from the old FASA line of Doctor Who miniatures. For these photos I divided them into 5 squads of 5, plus 2 leaders. I painted them at various times in 2010 and 2011.

I painted them in a color scheme similar to their appearance on the show with one difference; the clothing of the unarmored Sea Devils had a turquoise color on tv that I've never cared for. I substituted a metallic blue that was from a very old bottle of GW paint. I think it looks good with the skin color and is suitably aquatic. I painted their weapons with Ral Partha/Iron Wind Copper, and the skin is a base of GW Terracotta highlighted with Howard Hues Middle East Flesh. The armored Sea Devils are painted in P3 Black with a drybrush of Ceramcoat Charcoal Grey. The bases are painted with one of the Ceramcoat tans, I forget which one. When I initially based them I used sand from the beach at Charleston, SC. However the grains looked too big to me, so I substituted Woodland Scenics ballast. They were sealed with 2 coats of Krylon Matte Finish.

They are based on slottabases with metal washers underneath to provide balance and for use in my magnetic storage system.

You can click on the photos for close-ups.

First is the Sea Devil leader (l) and an allied Silurian (r). I painted the details of his armor gold in order to distinguish him from the others.

The first squad consists of armored Sea Devils, "Elite Group Two" for those of you who are Doctor Who fans.

The second squad of five:

The third squad of five:

The fourth squad of five:

The fifth squad of five. This one has an extra leader figure, with armor details painted in metallic blue to match the rest:

And just to show that I haven't just been shuffling around the same miniatures, here is a photo of the entire force together.

Thanks for looking!

Jason

28mm Buildings

2011-11-17T20:44:00.001-05:00

This post has pictures of two 28mm resin buildings I painted in late October/early November for my Doctor Who Project. Both buildings are made by Ainsty. I ordered from them for the first time last summer and they were great to deal with and shipped quickly from the UK to the US. I washed both buildings with warm soapy water and primed them with Krylon Fusion Black spray, followed by a thin coat of acrylic black to cover any areas that the spray missed.

The first building is a ruined cottage. It is being defended by a group of UNIT soldiers from a Cyberman who is just appearing around the corner.

The chimney is painted in several layers of Americana Heritage Brick. The wood beams are painted with a series of drybrushes: Vallejo Medium Camo Brown, then Howard Hues Colonial Khaki, then a light Ral Partha/Iron Wind Grey. The walls are Privateer Gun Corps Brown and the exposed inner wall bits have a drybrush of Ceramcoat Oyster White over the brown. The stone floor is painted with Ceramcoat Charcoal Grey, Ceramcoat Storm Grey and finally Ral Partha/Iron Wind Grey. I finished the model with a black wash and 2 coats of Krylon Matte Finish spray.

The second building is a Security Checkpoint. I am going to paint something on the sign but I haven't decided what yet. Two guards from Wolverine Security are manning the post. The majority of the building is painted with GW Fortress Grey; the blue sections are Vallejo Oxford Blue, which is also the base color for the guards' uniforms. The roof is removable which comes in handy during games.

Thanks for looking!

Jason

Even More Terrain!

2011-10-24T10:05:00.001-04:00

I have been working on painting all of the resin terrain I own for my Doctor Who project and have almost finished. I have 2 small pieces that nearly done. Over the weekend I primed 2 buildings, a van and a TARDIS. Then I will be finished. Of course then I will have to buy more!

All of the terrain pieces in this post are from Acheson Creations, purchased at the last few Cold Wars conventions. They were all washed in a dishwasher to clean off the mold release agent, primed with Krylon Fusion black spray paint, then a coat of black acrylic paint was brushed on. The ground on all the pieces was painted Vallejo Flat Earth and flocked green. Finally they were sprayed with 2 coats of Krylon Matte Finish to seal them.

All pictures have 1 of the 28mm scientists from my last post to show the scale. Click on the pictures for close-ups.

First is a group of oil drums pieces. The one in the middle is slightly different from the other two. I gave them a drybrush of Howard Hues Middle East Flesh for a rusty look, followed by a very light drybrush of Howard Hues Colonial Khaki and a black wash. Howard Hues paints are thick and great for drybrushing. They also last a long time without drying out, I have some that are over 10-15 years old. I 'borrowed' the color scheme from my friend and fellow gamer Mike Demana. For a lot of great terrain and miniature pictures & tips, see his website at http://home.earthlink.net/~mikedemanagames/.

Next are 2 more pieces of oil drums; these have a tarpaulin spread over the drums. I used the same paint scheme for the drums, while the tarp has several coats of Jo Ann Fabrics craft paint Olive Drab. I bought that color when I was considering the color scheme for my UNIT troops. It is thin and doesn't cover very well so this is the first time I've used it. Both pieces are the same and have opposite sides showing.

Below are 2 pieces of stacked wooden crates. Both pieces are the same but they are positioned to show opposite sides. I used 2 drybrushes of Vallejo German Camo Medium Brown, 1 of Howard Hues Colonial Khaki and a final drybrush of Ral Partha/Iron Wind Grey. They were finished with a black wash and 2 coats of matte spray. The colors look different, the right-hand piece is much darker. I painted them at different times so may have done heavier drybrushes on the left-hand one or even left off the black wash. I suppose it will add a bit more variety to the battlefield.

Next is another version of Acheson's oil drums (on the right) and a set of wooden barrels (on the left). I painted the barrels with the same wood technique as above but left off the final grey drybrush. The bands are painted with Ral Partha/Iron Wind Steel, one of my all-time favorite colors.

Last are 2 larger pieces, a dead tree and a standing stone. I originally bought the tree for use in a camp diorama for a 28mm Gallic army. As the army is still unpainted perhaps it will still be used for that someday! It is painted with the same wood technique as above. The standing stone was drybrushed Ceramcoat Charcoal Grey, Ceramcoat Storm Grey and Ral Partha/Iron Wind Grey, followed by the usual black wash.

I will have some free time this week to take pictures, so I may photograph another 15mm army, it's been a while since I've posted one of those.

Thanks for looking!

Jason

Doctor Who Project - Scientists

2011-10-20T21:46:00.004-04:00

Today's post features a group of 4 28mm scientists for my Doctor Who project. You can never have too many civilians/hostages/cannon fodder.

The miniature on the left is a Black Tree Designs (ex Harlequin) official DW miniature of Professor Kettlewell. He was the creator of the Robot in the first 4th Doctor story, 'Robot'. I based his clothing on scenes viewed on my ancient videotape recorded around 25 years ago.

I believe the other 3 miniatures were manufactured by Brigade Games, but I threw the packaging away a long time ago. I do know I purchased them in a pack from Brigade at Cold Wars 2010. The one with the blue blouse appears to be leaning to the right in the first photo but it is due to the angle of the shot.

Paints used were a mix of Vallejo, Coat d'Arms, Howard Hues, Ral Partha/Iron Wind and craft paints. The red and blue also have a wash of the original Citadel inks from the 1990s.

Click for a close-up view. Here is the front:

A rear view. Lots of white lab coats!

These were fairly quick to paint. I intend to get some more scientist types as I come across them. I have my eye on the 3 scientist set by Crooked Dice as they look very nice.

I took pictures of a bunch of terrain and my Sea Devils at the same time as these photos, so they will be the subjects of my next posts.

Thanks for looking!

Jason

Doctor Who Project - Security Guards

2011-10-05T10:20:00.000-04:00

This post covers a group of six 28mm security guards for my Doctor Who project. They are Artizan Designs figures, from their 1960s-inspired Kiss Kiss Bang Bang range. The packs I used are KKBB204 (Guards) and KKBB 206 (Guards II). I purchased them from Brigade Games at Cold Wars 2011. That is a quick turnaround for me!

I'll be using these figures for various purposes in my games, from security guards to mercenaries to unwitting tools of alien invaders.

When I was deciding the color scheme, I chose blue for the jumpsuits. Five of the 6 figures have a triangle insignia on the right arm, which I painted yellow. I am a life-long Ohio State Buckeyes fan, and their archrivals are the Michigan Wolverines, whose colors are blue and yellow. So it seems fitting to name this group of evildoers 'Wolverine Security'.

I used a variety of hobby and craft paints, including Vallejo, Ral Partha/Iron Wind, Reaper, Privateer, Howard Hues and Ceramcoat. The jumpsuits are Vallejo Oxford Blue, with a drybrush of Oxford Blue & White on top. The final step in painting is a black wash. My first application of Krylon Matte Finish spray resulted in the dreaded 'frost'. It was removed with a coat of brush-on gloss finish, followed by a repaint of the guns and boots. Two coats of matte spray under less humid conditions, from the same spraycan, and they were done. The figures are all based on slottabases, with metal washers attached on the bottom with epoxy for storage on magnetic sheeting.

I have mixed the 2 packs together and am not sure which figures came in each pack. First group of 3 guards:

Second group of 3 guards:

I like how they turned out. I may add some more figures to Wolverine Security in the future, once I have cleared some of my painting backlog.

For my games I use the Doctor Who Miniatures Game (DWMG) rules, available for free on the internet at http://www.drwhominiatures.co.uk/ and with an active Yahoo group.

Thanks for looking!

Jason

More 28mm Terrain

2011-10-04T22:16:00.000-04:00

I have finished some more resin terrain pieces for my Doctor Who project.

Before I get to the new stuff, I realized after my last post that I neglected to include a figure in the photos to show scale. So below is a picture with a selection of the boxes from that post, along with a 28mm Artizan figure.

Next are the new pieces I painted last week. These 3 pieces will form a small graveyard. They are all from Acheson Creations, purchased at Cold Wars 2010 or 2011. To prep them and to remove the mold release agent, I washed them in the top rack of the dishwasher (minus the heated drying cycle). Then I primed them with Krylon Black Fusion spray paint, followed by a thin coat of acrylic black.

I used a series of 3 drybrushes: Ceramcoat Charcoal Grey, Ceramcoat Storm Grey and finally Ral Partha/Iron Wind Grey. The exposed brick was painted in Americana Heritage Brick. The bushes were given a coat of Armory Medium Green and a wash of the original Citadel Green Ink. Finally I gave them each a coat of black wash, then 2 coats of Krylon Matte Finish spray.

I like how they turned out and will probably get a few more pieces from Acheson to expand the graveyard the next time I see them at a convention. A 28mm Copplestone figure is included for scale.

Thanks for looking!

Jason

28mm Terrain

2011-09-18T23:22:00.001-04:00

I recently painted some terrain for my Doctor Who project. As it is my first full 28mm project, I will need a lot of terrain. This post covers the first of several batches of resin terrain I have underway.

This first batch consists of assorted crates & boxes from Ainsty (http://www.ainsty-castings.co.uk/). I ordered a variey of items from them in July and received them quickly. Their resin pieces had little or no mold release agent on them, so I just gave them a quick rinse in warm soapy water. I then spray painted them with Krylon black fusion primer. After letting them dry overnight, I gave them a quick coat of acrylic black paint to cover any missed spots.

Before going any farther, I want to note that the method I used on these crates was borrowed from my friend Mike Demana (http://home.earthlink.net/~mikedemanagames/index.html). For a detailed explanation of how he paints wooden objects, read the July 27, 2011 entry in his Projects section.

After the black I used a series of drybrushes. First Vallejo Medium Camo Brown, then Howard Hues Colonial Khaki, then a light Ral Partha/Iron Wind Grey. I did 2 coats of the Vallejo brown because it is a thinner paint than the HH brown Mike uses and 1 coat didn't cover well enough for my liking. I then gave them a liberal coat of black wash (actually satin finish with some black paint mixed in). After a few days to dry, I sprayed them with Krylon matte finish.

The first picture is 2 large & 3 medium crates.

These 5 crates are smaller, and 3 of them have separate lids with guns inside. I painted the packing material grey, then off-white. I really like these and may use them as objectives.

Here is a picture from above so you can see the contents.

I am really pleased with how this first batch turned out. I have several buildings and a police van from Ainsty and a bunch of resin scenery from Acheson Creations that I plan on painting over the next month. Now that the South Carolina weather has cooled off a bit, I can spray outside again. I have some completed figures for my Doctor Who project that I will be taking pictures of soon.

Until then, thanks for looking!

Jason

Back in Action

2011-08-21T23:57:00.002-04:00

After a long hiatus this blog is active again. My painting this summer has alternated between bursts of activity and weeks where nothing gets done. Vacations, work, kids, all have absorbed my time. What I have painted has piled up waiting to be varnished for 2 reasons: with little free time, I want to paint, not spend time sealing; and the summer heat and humidity in South Carolina prevent me from using any sprays outside.

I did spend Saturday night clearing up most of the varnish backlog. Now I can get the figures based and clear some room from my workspace.

On the left are figures for my Medieval Ireland project: Scots pikemen, various Irish and English billmen. The middle is an army of Hobbits (Splintered Light figures) for HOTT. The right has 2 units (6 figures each) of commanded shot, one with yellow coats and one with blue, for my English Civil War Royalists. The 28mm figures in the front are for my Doctor Who project (l-r): a Sea Devil, 2 versions of the Master, the 3rd Doctor, 3 scientists and a Silurian lurking behind them. there are a couple dozen more Sea Devils in the storage tray underneath the sheet of styrene.

I have some armies lined up to take pictures of, so expect more posts soon. My painting plans for the near future include the last few foot figures for my Medieval Ireland project (already underway) and a bunch of terrain I bought this summer from Ainsty.

Thanks for looking!
Jason

Ancient Spanish

2011-03-06T23:19:00.001-05:00

This post covers my 15mm Ancient Spanish army (List II/39a/b/c 240-20BC in DBA). I painted it in several tranches over a number of years. The first 4 stands of scutarii were painted as part of a triple-size (aka Big Battle) DBA Later Carthaginian army in the early 2000s. Then in Summer 2008 or early 2009, I started painting 24 more scutarii. My idea was to add the Spanish to my Punic Wars collection, consisting of the already mentioned Carthaginians, a triple-size Gallic army, and a Polybian Roman army http://mirosgames.blogspot.com/2009/07/polybian-romans.html

and to be able to field 2 of the 3 Spanish sublists at once to use as allies of Carthage and/or Rome. I painted most of the base colors, lost interest in the project, and stored them in a box. Fast forward to Christmas 2010. Over the break I decided to try and complete some unfinished projects, starting with the Spanish. I quickly completed the scutarii, and then moved on to 6 stands of caetrati and 4 stands of cavalry. The last figures were completed on January 17, 2011 and they were based and flocked over the last week. The caetrati and cavalry are all Essex figures. The scutarii are a mix of Essex, Freikorps, Corvus Belli and Chariot. The original 4 stands of scutarii have been pulled off of their old bases and mixed in with the newer figures. I have some Baelaric slingers as well, but they will appear in a future post covering my Carthaginian army.

Not the fanciest army, but I am glad that they are finally done!

Click on the pictures for close-ups.

The first group of 6 scutarii:

The second group of 6 scutarii:

Six stands of caetrati skirmishers:

Two stands of light cavalry:

The figure in the front right has one of my favorite shields.

Two generals:

The entire army assembled (22 elements):

Thanks for looking!
Jason

Doctor Who Project - UNIT

2011-01-10T14:12:00.000-05:00

This post covers my UNIT force for Doctor Who games. UNIT (United Nations Intelligence Taskforce) is a multinational force whose purpose is to investigate extraterrestial/paranormal threats to Earth. UNIT's heyday was during the period of the 3rd Doctor and early 4th Doctor in the 1970s. They have made sporadic appearances since then, including in the new series. I use the Doctor Who Miniatures Game (DWMG) rules, available for free on the internet at http://www.drwhominiatures.co.uk/ and with an active Yahoo group.

My UNIT troops are painted in a mid-1970s uniform, though I have no qualms over using them in any scenario calling for UNIT, no matter the date. It is no coincidence that is the time when I first started watching Doctor Who as a young boy on WOSU, the local PBS television station in Columbus, Ohio, USA where I grew up. It is often said among fans that your favorite Doctor is always the first one you saw. In my case that was Tom Baker, the 4th Doctor. When I was in elementary through high school, WOSU showed Doctor Who on a regular basis, originally with one 25-minute episode each weeknight and a whole story on Sunday mornings. I have fond memories of watching while my mom cooked dinner and of getting up early on Sundays to watch. In later years, 1-2 stories were broadcast in their entirety on Saturday nights.

My UNIT force consists of 42 figures; most are from the Doctor Who range manufactured by Black Tree Design. They were painted in batches from 2007-10. I only bought six of the regular soldiers directly from BTD, which came in the Invasion Earth box set; the officer figures also came direct from BTD, while the rest were purchased over a long period of time off of Ebay. There are a few figures from other manufacturers that I will note in the individual photos. Several manufacturers offer Falklands-era British that can be used as UNIT troops. For the purposes of this post, I have divided them into four squads, plus heavy weapons support and officers. They are on slottabases with metal washers underneath to provide balance and for use in my magnetic storage system.

You can click on the photos for close-ups.

The 1st squad of seven:

The 2nd squad of six:

The 3rd squad of seven:

The 4th squad of seven:

Support sections (l-r): a 2-man bazooka team (BTD), a 2-man machine-gun team (BTD) and a 3-man mortar team (The Assault Group, purchased from Scale Creep at Cold Wars 2009).

Officers (l-r): Sergeant Benton, Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart , and Captain Yates

This is actually one of the 4th Doctor's companions, Harry Sullivan, who appeared on the show during seasons 12 and 13 in the mid-1970s. He was a Royal Navy surgeon attached to UNIT. I found this figure in the UNIT box although he should be stored elsewhere, so I decided to take a picture anyway. Consider this a preview of the Doctors & Companions post!

The last squad consists of 5 SAS soldiers. I purchased them from Rebel Minis at the Cold Wars convention in the 2006-8 time period. They were painted in 2010.

Finally, here is a group shot of all 42 UNIT soldiers, plus the Harry Sullivan figure. This is the largest of my Doctor Who forces, which is just well. They need numbers, as the UNIT troops are normally outclassed in the DWMG rules by the various alien opponents. Although the DWMG does not have a point system, on the Yahoo group there are references to each alien being worth 'x' UNIT soldiers in order to balance scenarios!

I hope you have enjoyed this series of posts on my long-running project which is finally coming to fruition. Future posts will feature various Doctors and their Companions, civilians, the Sea Devils and everyone's favorite villains, the Daleks.

Jason

Pirates!

2010-12-23T00:57:00.005-05:00

This post covers my 15mm Pirate army. These figures have traveled a long and arduous path to being completed. The vast majority of figures are from Peter Pig, with a scattering of Museum Miniatures. I purchased the PP figures at Brookhurst Hobbies in Los Angeles while visiting my brother for Christmas in either 1997 or 1998. At that time, my gaming group was into 'Fantasy Rules 2', and I intended to build an army for that system. I painted around 25% of them in the early 2000s, then set them aside. Meanwhile, FR2 lost its allure and my group switched to the 'Hordes of the Things' rules. I have never been a big fan of HOTT for various reasons; it just isn't quite what I want out of a fantasy game.

So the Pirates sat in my closet until 2009, when I pulled them out of storage and decided to finish them. The last figures were completed in November 2009 and I built the stronghold in December 2010. I do still have a plastic ship model to use as a HOTT Airboat that I've assembled and put a basecoat on, though I still need to finish painting the details and build a stand for it. The ship may show up in a future post. The army is based for HOTT, although I rarely play. Perhaps they will see action at the HOTT tournament at Siege of Augusta in January 2010?

Click on the pictures for close-ups.

First is the entire Pirate horde. The entire force consists of 3xHeroes, 2xArtillery, 2xLurkers, 5xShooters, 1xBlades and 9xWarband for a total of 50+AP in HOTT.

Here are the 5 stands of musket-armed pirates (Shooters). The front center stand could serve as a General if necessary.

Two stands of ship's cannon (Artillery):

Blackbeard, accompanied by a female pirate, serves as a Hero General. Blackbeard is taller than all of the other PP figures which makes him suitably imposing:

Another Hero stand. These are both Museum Miniatures.

The left-hand stand is another Hero; the right-hand one is a Blade and could serve as the General if so desired.

I photographed the nine stands of common pirates (Warbands) in groups of three. Here is the first group:

The second group of three:

And the last group of three:

Two stands of shipwrecked pirates with sharks circling (Lurkers):

Last is the Stronghold. Long John Silver has retrieved the buried treasure and dealt harshly with his untrustworthy shipmates. The parrot on his shoulder is a nice touch.

Thanks for Looking!

Jason

Scots Isles & Highlands

2010-12-17T14:38:00.003-05:00

This post covers my 15mm Scots Isles & Highlands army, 1050-1493 AD (III/77 in DBA). It was painted over the summer/fall of 2010. All of the figures are from Feudal Castings, now sold by QRF. They have an excellent range of figures for dark age/medieval Scotland and Ireland. A few of the figures are from other FC ranges such as Vikings. I purchased some of these figures from Rudy Nelson at Time Portal Hobbies and the rest directly from QRF. Although almost all of the figures are armed with an axe, there are a lot of variations among the figures and they have a lot of character. Of the 48 heavy foot, there are 2 poses with 6 or 7 figures and the rest of the poses have 1-4 figures each. That made them a lot more fun to paint.

The Scots Isles & Highlands army covers the medieval Gaelic areas of Scotland. For a great historical article on the army, see: http://www.fanaticus.org/DBA/armies/III77.html

The DBA army list consists primarily or entirely of blades and is: 1x4Bd (Gen), 8x4Bd, 3x4Bd or 2x3Bw and 1x 3/5Wb. These figures will also serve as galloglaich for a project I have wanted to do for a long time, the invasion of Ireland by Edward Bruce in 1315. I have been working on a scenario for 4 DBA armies a side, and the number of galloglaich I will need is 12, exactly the number in this army.

Click on the pictures for close-ups.

First up is the general's stand (1x4Bd). Although this is a foot stand, I used a mounted figure for the general. This is the first time I have done this in a DBA army; I got the idea from a Visigoth army I have that was made by my good friend Mike Demana (see his web page at: http://home.earthlink.net/~mikedemanagames/index.html). I think it looks good and helps the general's element to stand out from the mass of similar-looking elements. As a fan of Celtic music I couldn't resist putting a bagpiper on the stand!

Here is the first group of 4 highland warriors (4x4Bd):

The second group of warriors (4x4Bd):

And the last group of warriors (3x4Bd):

Here are the clansmen (1x5Wb on the left, 1x3Wb on the right). The base on the right is borrowed from my Pre-Feudal Scots army.

Next are the 2 stands of highland archers (2x3Bw). The base on the right is borrowed from my Pre-Feudal Scots army.

Last but not least is a picture of the entire army assembled.

Thanks for looking! I'll be adding more posts over the holidays: 15mm Pirates and 28mm UNIT for my Doctor Who project.

Doctor Who Project - Cybermen

2010-10-26T13:31:00.003-04:00

The second force in my Doctor Who project to appear on this blog are the Cybermen. One of Doctor Who's oldest and favorite villains, the Cybermen were once humanoids who gradually replaced their worn-out body parts with robotics, ending up as emotionless cyborgs. They first appeared in 1966's The Tenth Planet, the last story of the First Doctor , and have appeared often since then. In some stories, they convert prisoners into more Cybermen. I would love to have some 'partially-converted' figures to use in games. If you know of any suitable miniatures, please let me know!

My Cybermen force consists of 32 figures They were painted in 2008-2010. Eighteen of them are 28mm Black Tree Design and 14 are plastic figures from the 1980s Citadel Cybermen & Daleks box set. The BTD figures are a mix of different models, as the Cybermen have changed in appearance over the 40+ years of the show. It doesn't bother me to use them together though. The Citadel plastic figures are slightly smaller, but once based I think they look okay in separate units. I have included a comparison picture. This force is rather too big for a normal-sized game, so the plastic ones serve to bulk out the force for larger multi-player games. The difficulty in getting BTD figures nowadays makes the plastics a reasonable way to have a larger force. All of the figures are on slottabases, with metal washers underneath for use in my magnetic storage system. The washers also give the plastic figures some weight so they don't tip over. As stated in my previous post on the Sontarans, I use the Doctor Who Miniatures Game (DWMG) rules to play scenarios set in the 'Whoniverse'. They are available at http://www.drwhominiatures.co.uk/ and there is also an active Yahoo group.

Click on the pictures for a close-up.

First is the merciless Cybercontroller:

The 1st squad of 5 Cybermen (1980s Earthshock era figures):

The 2nd squad of 5 Cybermen (3rd-4th Doctor era figures):

The 3rd squad of 5 Cybermen (3rd-4th Doctor era figures). The front center figure has part of his helmet painted black to indicate he is a Cyberleader:

Next is the 2-man Cyberlaser team, the Cybermen's heavy weapons support These figures are not on Slottabases, but have had their tabs removed and are on a GF9 base. They are earlier figures from the 2nd Doctor's era, as can be seen from their more primitive design.

These are the 14 Citadel plastic Cybermen. They are unfortunately all in the same pose. The one in the front center has had part of his helmet painted black to indicate that he is a Cyberleader.

Here is the entire force of 32 Cybermen. The 3 BTD squads are lead by the Cyberleader, with the Cyberlaser team and the Citadel Cybermen supporting from the rear.

This is a comparison shot. The figure on the left is one of the Citadel plastics; the one on the right is an Earthshock-era BTD figure. The difference is apparent when they are next to each other, but separated into different units I think they look okay.

Thanks for looking!

Jason

Doctor Who Project - Sontarans

2010-10-24T14:43:00.007-04:00

This is the first in a series of posts on a project that I have been working on in fits and starts for years: a set of forces based on the long-running BBC program Doctor Who. My preferred rules are the excellent Doctor Who Miniatures Game (DWMG) which are available on the internet for free at: http://www.drwhominiatures.co.uk/. The website also has a lot of scenarios for both classic and new Doctor Who, and there is an active Yahoo Group for the game as well.

The first force to be posted are the Sontarans. The Sontarans are a warrior race of clones. They are one of the older villains on Doctor Who, with their first appearance in 1973's The Time Warrior and their most recent appearance was in 2008.

My Sontaran force currently consists of 2 squads of 6. Each squad has 5 clone soldiers, one armed with a laser rifle, and 1 leader. All of the miniatures are 28mm from Black Tree Design. They are mounted on slottabases, with a metal washer underneath for storage on magnetic sheeting. All were painted in fall 2010. Click on the pictures for a close-up.

1st Squad front:

1st Squad rear:

2nd Squad front:

2nd Squad rear:

The entire Sontaran Battle Group:

Next up: the Cybermen!

Hittite Empire

2010-06-07T13:55:00.002-04:00

This post covers my 15mm Hittite army. It includes enough troops to cover both variants of the Hittite Empire DBA list (I/24 a and b), from 1380 - 1180 BC. The Hittites ruled most of Anatolia and at times parts of Syria, Phoenicia and Mesopotamia. They fought many wars against the Egyptians (most notably at the battle of Kadesh) and other near eastern peoples. Their kingdom came to an end in the 12th century BC with the onslaught of the Sea Peoples.

The Hittites are the third and last of my biblical army trio to be posted to my blog. They were painted at roughly the same time as the New Kingdom Egyptians and Canaanites (see earlier posts) in 2004 or 2005. The Hittites are my favorite of the three for several reasons. I find their history very interesting. There are some spectacular ruins of their capital, Hattusas, at Bogazkoy in modern Turkey that I'd love to visit. Plus, their rulers had great names. My favorite is Suppiluliumas (reigned 1350-1322 BC). How cool is that name?

Click on the pictures for close-ups. Figure manufacturers are noted in each picture.

First is the usual picture of the entire army.

These are the archers (2x2Ps) and the subject levies (1x7Hd) from one of the many Anatolian or Syrian cities the Hittites ruled. The archers are from Falcon UK and the levies from Old Glory.

The spearmen (6x3Sp) are the backbone of the army. These are my favorite figures in the army. They are a mix of Essex (the ones with shields) and Falcon UK (without shields). The Falcon figures come with separate shields, but I chose not to attach them because they are holding their spear with both hands and I like how they look without the shields. They are wearing the typically bright clothing that the Hittites preferred.

This is the general's chariot from Essex Miniatures. The Hittite 3-crew chariots can serve as either a light or heavy chariot depending on which army list you're playing. The early period features all light chariots, with a mix of light and heavy chariots in the later period.

Here are the other chariots. The one in the middle is from Essex and the left and right ones from Falcon UK. As I noted in the post on my Canaanites, I often use one of their chariots as a Syrian subject when playing with the Hittites.

Last is the camp. This is one of my favorite camps that I've made and is newer than the rest of the army. I painted it in the winter of 2009-10. The Hittite king Suppiluliumas is being attended by scribes while in front of the royal tent. In the background, a column of slaves is bringing up supplies. The tent is from Baueda, the king and scribes from Museum, the slaves and the royal guard from Essex, the slave guards from Old Glory, and the ram's head standard from Irregular.

Canaanites

2010-06-04T10:26:00.004-04:00

This army covers the Syro-Canaanite or Ugaritic DBA army lists (I/20 a and b), which last from 1595 to 1100 BC. It is the second of the three biblical armies I painted at roughly the same time in 2004 or 2005 (the New Kingdom Egyptians and Hittites are the others). One of the advantages of these 3 armies is that they are all enemies and/or allies of each other, so there are multiple historical matchups available to play.

The majority of the figures in the army are Old Glory, from a DBA army pack purchased from Rudy at Time Portal Hobbies. There are a few additions, which I'll point out in the pictures as they appear.

As usual, click on the pictures for a closer view.

The first picture is of the whole army: skirmishers in front, followed by chariots, then the infantry behind.

Here are two 4-horse chariots (2xHCh). I use the one on the left as the general for the Ugaritic list.

These are the heavy infantry of the army (1x3Bd and 1x4Bd). I really like the curved sickle-like weapons they carry. These are Essex figures from their biblical Syrian range.

This is the mass of the infantry (4x3Ax). One thing I like about the army packs that Time Portal Hobbies sells is that Rudy always includes some 'command' figures. In this case, the left front element has a trumpeter and the right front one has a standardbearer. They add a lot of character to the army.

Next are the missile troops. There are 2 elements of skirmishing archers, 1 of formed archers, and 1 of slingers (3x2Ps, 1x4Bw). The formed archers are from Falcon UK.

Last are the rest of the chariots. The center and right chariots are Old Glory. The left chariot is by Falcon UK and is from their biblical Syrian line. The crew in that one are my favorite. I often use 1 of these chariots in the Hittite army as Syrian subjects or allies.

New Kingdom Egyptians

2010-06-03T11:58:00.002-04:00

Here is my 15mm New Kingdom Egyptian DBA army. This is one of the classic popular armies, sometimes it seems like everyone has one. Who doesn't picture Yul Brynner in 'The Ten Commandments", Ramesses II vs. the Hittites at Kadesh, or the Egyptians beating back the invading Sea Peoples? It contains all the options to cover both variants of the army list (I/22a and b) which last from 1543 to 1069 BC. I painted it in 2004 or 2005 as part of a set of biblical armies which also include Hittites and Canaanites (those armies will be the subjects of my next posts). It contains a mix of figures from various manufacturers.

Here is a picture of the whole army:

These are the close fighters (3x4Bd). The stand on the right is Essex figures and the other two bases are Chariot.

Here are the archers (4x4Bw). The base on the left are Nubian mercenaries from Chariot. The next stand are Chariot Egyptians and the other two are Old Glory Egyptians.

Next are more mercenaries. The base on the left are Libyan javelinmen by Chariot (1x2Ps), the middle one are Sea Peoples from Old Glory (1x3Wb) and the right-hand one are more Nubian archers from Essex (1x2Ps).

The chariots are from Essex (3xLCh). I dislike painting chariots so this was the hardest part of the army for me to finish.

Next up is the general, also from Essex (1xLCh Gen).

Last is the camp. It is a resin piece I bought at a convention but I do not remember the manufacturer. The civilian passing by are from Chariot.

Armies for Sale

2010-03-06T16:22:00.004-05:00

NOTE: ALL OF THESE ARMIES HAVE BEEN SOLD. THANKS FOR LOOKING!

Below are pictures of some 15mm DBA armies I have for sale. They include all options, are on magnetic bases, sealed with matte finish and have never been used. All prices include shipping in the US; extra for international postage. E-mail me at miros AT sc DOT rr DOT com if interested.

As usual, click on the pictures for close-ups.

1. III/51 Norman: 1x3Kn (Gen), 5x3Kn, 1x3Kn or 3Cv or 2Lh, 1x3Kn or 3Cv, 2x4Sp, 2x2Ps or 3Bw. $158

2. IV/7 Early Crusader: 1x3Kn (Gen), 3x3Kn or 4Bd, 5x4Sp, 1x2Ps or 3Bw, 1x2Ps or 3Cb, 1x5Wb or 2Ps. $165

3. IV/5a Sicilian: 1x3Kn (Gen), 3x3Kn, 6x2Ps, 1x3Ax or 4Sp, 1x4Cb or 2Lh. $115

Jason

AVARS

General and Heavy Cavalry (1x3Cv Gen, 4x3Cv)

Light Cavalry (2x2Lh)

Slav Infantry (4x3Ax, 1x2Ps)

NORMANS

William the Conqueror and Knights (1x3Kn Gen, 5x3Kn)

Cavlary and Light Horse (2x3Cv or 3Kn, 1x2Lh)

Infantry (2x4Sp, 2x3Bw, 2x2Ps)

EARLY CRUSADERS

Bohemond of Taranto/Prince of Antioch (1x3Kn gen, 3x3Kn)

Dismounted Knights and Pilgrims (3x4Bd, 1x5Wb)

Spearmen (5x4Sp)

Archers and Crossbowmen (1x3Bw, 1x3Cb, 3x2Ps)

SICILIANS

Roger I of Sicily (1x3Kn Gen, 3x3Kn)

Infantry and Light Horse (1x4Sp, 1x4Cb, 1x3Ax, 1x2Lh)

Light Infantry - Norman archers on left, crossbowmen in center, Muslim archers on right (6x2Ps)

DARK ELVES

Crossbowmen (3xShooters), Infantry (3xBlades)

Cold One Riders (Hero or Knight General)

Cavalry (3xKnights)

Magician, Hero/General, Behemoth

Winged Demons (Flyer)

Cauldron of Blood (Stronghold)

Catalan Company

2010-02-27T21:03:00.000-05:00

This is a 15mm Catalan Company DBA army I painted during 2009. Although it is far from a strong army in DBA, even against its' historical opponents, I really wanted to paint it for 2 reasons: the history and the miniatures. The core of the army, the almughavar infantry, consists of the new Eureka 300 club miniatures range; there are 19 different poses and they really give the army a lot of character.

I found the history of the Catalan Company fascinating. The Company formed out of the War of the Sicilian Vespers. They were left-over soldiers who had fought for Aragon. They fought as a mercenary company for the Byzantines and the Romanian Franks from 1302-1311, before seizing much of Greece for themselves. For more information, read Ramon Muntaner's 'Chronica', available on the internet. Muntaner was a participant in the early days of the company and is a great primary source. For a modern book, I recommend Kenneth Meyer Setton's 'Catalan Domination of Athens 1311-1380'. I found a copy at my local university library.

The army list is: Catalan Company, IV/60, 1302-1388AD: 1x3Kn (Gen), 1x2Lh, 6x4Ax, 2x2Ps, 2x4Ax or 2Lh.

Click on the pictures for close-ups.

First up is a picture of the entire army:

The general's figure is painted to represent Don Alfonso Fadrique of Aragon, the eldest (and illegitimate) son of King Frederick of Sicily. He was Vicar-general of the Catalan Company from 1317-1330 and led the Company during the height of its' success. The other 2 figures are painted with Aragonese heraldry from medieval rolls: the standardbearer as Le Viconte de Ille and the other figure as Le Viconte de Villomur. The standard bears the arms of the Aragonese kings of Sicily. Essex figures, 1x3Kn (General):

Below is the first group of almughavars, the Catalan mountaineers who formed the core of the company. There are 32 of them in the army, and with 19 different poses there is little duplication. The standard bears the arms of Aragon. The side pictures give a good view of the various poses, with plenty of spears and javelins. Eureka Miniatures, 4x4Ax:

Next is the second group of almugavars. The standard bears the arms of the Duchy of Neopatras, which was conquered by the Company in 1319 and added to the Duchy of Athens. The Duchy of Neopatras was in southern Thessaly. Eureka Miniatures, 4x4Ax:

The mandatory element of light horse are Aragonese jinetes. Essex figures, 1x2Lh:

The 2 elements of light archers represent local Greek troops who have taken service with the Company. Essex figures, 2x2Ps.

The 2 optional light horse represent Turks who have taken service with the Company. You could use Albanians for the later period of the Company's history. Tabletop Miniatures, 2x2Lh.

The camp depicts a Company detachment returning home through a pass in the Greek mountains after a successful raid. They have loot, captives, and even some sheep. This is probably my favorite of the camps I have made. It has many layers of craft foam on a styrene base. The figures are from a variety of sources. The knight at the head of the column is Le Viconte de Roquebertin.

Pre-Feudal Scots

2009-12-27T21:38:00.000-05:00

I painted this army in 2006 or 2007. All of the figures are 15mm from the Feudal Castings Scottish range, with the exception of the mounted general and his escort, which are from the Essex Dark Ages range. This was my first experience with FC figures and I found them very easy to paint.

There are 2 sub-lists to the DBA army list, with the only difference being the choice for the general's element, cavalry or warband in the earlier period vs. cavlary or knights in the later period.

Pre-Feudal Scots
III/45a (846-1051AD): 1x3Cvor 4Wb (Gen), 1x2Lh, 1x4Wb, 5x3Sp, 2x3Sp or 3Wb, 2x2Ps.
III/45b (1052-1124AD): 1x3Cv or 3Kn (Gen), 1x2Lh, 1x4Wb, 5x3Sp, 2x3Sp or 3Wb, 2x2 Ps.

As always, you can blow up the pictures by clicking on them.

General with nobles (1x3Cv or 3Kn), I used an early version of St Andrew's cross on the general's shield.:

General with Thegns (1x4Wb Gen and 1x4Wb). I used a LBM banner for the general's element, it had a Scottish look to me with the celtic-style cross:

Light Horse (1x2Lh):

Spearmen (4x3Sp):

More spearmen (3x3Sp):

Galwegians (2x3Wb):

Archers (2x2Ps):

Entire Army:

Goliath's Horses

2009-12-27T20:20:00.001-05:00

Wow, what a long time between posts. Well, I have been painting, I just am not the best photographer and I find it hard to find time to set up and take photos of an entire army at once.

Anyway, this post is an update on one of my current projects and also a figure review. I have had an Avar army since the days of WRG 7th edition, originally painted around 1991 or 2. It has always been one of my favorites. I have slowly updated it over the last few years and recently decided to add 2 new command stands. So I purchased a pack of Khurasan Miniatures Avar Command, which contains 2 generals and 2 standardbearers. The riders have nice poses but the sculpting is only average and not quite as detailed as the Essex Avars, and are roughly the same size. This isn't the clearest photo, but you can see the size comparison (l-r: Essex Khazar, KM standardbearer, KM general, Essex Avar):Before I go any further, I should note that each of KM's ranges are done by different sculptors (listed on the KM website). The other KM figures I own and have seen are very well done. However their Avar horses are on steroids! Essex horses are not exactly underfed, but the KM horses make them look like ponies (l-r: KM, Essex, KM, Essex):

The riders look way out of scale when mounted. My solution was to mount the KM riders on some spare Essex horses I had. They are currently being painted and when they are done the whole army will appear on the blog.

Polybian Romans

2009-07-24T14:01:00.000-04:00

This is one of my newest armies. I painted the entire army during a week in March while my family was out of town. I already have several of their historical opponents so they fill a hole in my collection.
Most of the figures are Old Glory. Two of the hastati stands and one of princeps are Essex, while the camp is by Baeuda. I have 3 more stands worth of unpainted OG triarii I will paint someday so that I can also use this as a Camillan Roman army.

The Roman consul and his cavalry escort (1x3Cv Gen & 1x3Cv):

The velites (2x2Ps):

The hastati (3x4Bd):

The princeps (3x4Bd):

The triarii (2x4Sp):

The camp consists of 2 pigs being set alight and aimed at the enemy. There is a story from Megara in Greece about flaming pigs being used to frighten enemy elephants, while the Romans used squealing pigs against Pyrhhus' elephants.

Last is a picture of the entire army:

Vikings

2009-07-24T13:36:00.000-04:00

I am back after a long break between posts. I have been working on several projects recently, including Vikings. My Vikings have a long history. I first painted them circa 1991-3 for use with the DBM rules as an allied contingent for a West Frankish army. I had 13 stands of heavy infantry and 4 of bowmen). Recently while looking at the DBA army lists I realized that by painting 18 foot and 3 mounted and doing some rebasing, I would have enough stands for all 4 of the DBA Viking sub-lists, which cover Vikings and Leidang from 790-1280 AD. At Cold Wars in March I purchased 1 pack of Essex huscarls, 1 of bondi and 1 of mounted huscarls from Wargames. As a bonus, Essex has redesigned their figures since the 90s and the poses are all different now. I also dug out 2 archers and a mounted general from my stock and set to. It was fun to try and match my painting style from back then; some things I do the same and some differently. I also took the opportunity to fix a few broken spears, chips, etc.

Now I am the proud owner of a Viking horde: 11x4Bd (including general), 9x3Bd (1 stand of berserkers doubles as a 3Wb), 3x3Bw, 1x2Ps and 1x3Kn (general). They are all Essex figures except for 2 of the archers which are Feudal Castings. The 1x7Hd and 1x4Sp in the Leidang lists can be borrowed from one of my other armies. They should make good opponents for my Pre-feudal Scots who will be featured in an upcoming post. To top it all off I bought a lovely Viking longship from Neldoreth to use as a camp.

Shieldwall (11x4Bd - the stand with a flag is the general):

Raiders (9x3Bd):

Archers (3x3Bw & 1x2Ps):

General (1x3Kn):

Viking longship camp:

Entire army:

Almughavar Sneak Preview

2009-05-04T20:23:00.000-04:00

My friend Mike keeps asking me to post a picture of the almughavars that I have been painting. Below are some shots of 4 of them fully painted, but not based yet. They are from the new 15mm Eureka line of almughavars; there are 16 different poses of line troops, plus an officer. standardbearer and hornblower. I am using them to build a Catalan Company army for DBA. A full army pictorial will follow when the rest of the army is done.

Early Hungarians

2009-05-04T00:30:00.001-04:00

Today's post features my newest army, Early Hungarians. The army list is: III/67bb (1103-1245), 1x3Kn Gen, 1x3Kn, 1x3Cv, 3x2Lh, 3x4Sp, 2x3Ax or 3Bw, 1x2Ps. I painted them on and off during 2008, finishing the knights and basing the army in Spring 2009. They had their debut at Cold Wars 2009 in the Midnight madness tournament, going 1-1.

I built the army to depict the reign of King Andrew II (1205-1235). I wanted it to be contemporary with my Medieval German and Teutonic Order armies. Andrew II actually invited the Teutonic Order to Hungary during his reign, only to forcefully expel them in 1225. The army could also be used for the reign of Andrew's successor, Bela IV, who fought the Mongols.

I used a mix of figures from different manufacturers and will comment on them in the notes to each picture.

First is the usual shot of the whole army. The camp is a scratchbuilt piece made by my friend Mike Demana, campbuilder extraordinare, and given to me in 1995. Check out his excellent website at:http://home.earthlink.net/~mikedemanagames/index.html

Below is King Andrew II of Hungary and his escort. The king bears the royal arms of Hungary. The goat's head on the left-hand knight was taken from a list of medieval hungarian emblems. Hungarian heraldry used a lot of stripes, and I used them throughout the army. The king and knight on the right are Gladiator/Black Hat, the other knight is Tabletop.

Next is a side view of the general's element so you can see the flag.
Next up are more shock mounted. The element on the left is Hungarian knights (1x3Kn). Their shields bear a crescent, more stripes and a bull's head. The left figure is Tabletop, the other two are Black Hat/Gladiator. The element on the right is Croatian heavy cavalry (1x3Cv); the right cavalryman is Essex, the other two are Old Glory. A side-shot of of the mounted.
The light horse make this army different from most medieval European armies. The center and right-hand elements are Magyar horse archers. The element on the left is Cuman light horse. The Cumans were used as mercenaries by the Hungarian monarchs. All of these figures are from Gladiator/Black Hat.

Next are the Hungarian spearmen (3x4Sp). These are a mix of Gladiator/Black Hat, Essex and tabletop figures. The shields are painted with typical Hungarian designs, including lots of stripes.
Here is a close-up of the spearmen from the side.

Next are the Croatian foot (2x3Ax). These are Thistle & Rose figures, sadly no longer available. They are part of a huge Croatian army I painted in the early 1990s. King Coloman I of Hungary became ruler of Croatia in 1103 and many Croatians served in the Hungarian army. I am particularly fond of these troops as my family is Croatian.

The rest of the Croatian foot in the army are archers (2x3Bw and 1x2Ps). These are also

Thistle & Rose figures, except for one Old Glory figure (middle figure on left element) and one Gladiator/Black Hat figure (right figure on middle element).

Thanks for reading!

Jason

Italian Condotta

2009-05-04T00:13:00.000-04:00

This post features an Italian Condotta DBA army. The DBA list is: IV/61 (1320-1495), 1x3Kn (Gen), 4x3Kn, 1x2Lh, 2x8Cb or 2Ps, 2x4SP or 4Pk, 1x4Cb or 4Ax or 4Bd or 2Lh, 1x2Ps or Art. The majority of the figures are from Mirliton with a few exceptions: One stand of Psiloi are Essex, the Light Horse are from Museum and some of the Knights are from Essex. I enjoyed painting the Mirliton figures, they have excellent detail and I look forward to painting more someday.

I painted this army in 2005 or 2006. It is painted as a Florentine army of the early to middle 15th century. I chose Florence because my wife had a great time in Florence on our honeymoon. Despite liking the army, somehow I have never used them in a game; I hope to change that soon.
First up is the full army shot.

Next is a close-up of the general (1x4Kn Gen). The red fleur-de-lys on a white field was the Florentine coat-of-arms.
Here is a side-shot to show the Florentine coat-of-arms.

Next are the Knights (4x4Kn). It is fast to paint knights without shields or heraldry!
The Light Horse (1x2Lh) are mounted crossbowmen.

Below are the pikemen, I really like these figures (2x4Pk or 2x4Sp).

Next are the Crossbow elements (2x8Bw). These are my favorite elements in the army. I normally don't care for 8Bw, but the visual of the crossbowmen behind a line of spearmen with pavises is fantastic. I often take a lot of time to paint heraldry, but this army was a pleasant surprise. I painted all of the shields in one pass, one after another, with no mistakes. This is the only time that has ever happened to me!

Below is a side shot so you can see how the spears project out from the pavises.

Here are an element of regular crossbwmen (1x4Bw) and a bombard (1xArt).

These are the optional infantry (1x4Ax and 1x3Bd).

Next are the handgunners (2x2Ps). The front element are Mirliton figures and the back element are Essex.

Last but not least is the camp, a section of Florence's city wall. It is a JR miniatures piece mounted on plastic.

Thanks for reading!

Jason

Late Imperial Romans - West

2009-04-26T21:54:00.001-04:00

This DBA Late Imperial Roman (West) DBA II/78a army depicts the forces of Julian (aka Flavius Claudius Iulianus) at the battle of Strasbourg in 357 vs. the Alamanii. I worked in France one summer and was in Alsace near the battle-site. At this time Julian was Caesar of the West; he did not become Roman Emperor until 361. Also known as Julian the Apostate, he was the last pagan emperor of Rome. I was inspired to paint this army after reading the historical novel "Gods and Legions" by Michael Curtis Ford, which covers the life of Julian. The primary source used to identify the units present was Ammianus Marcellinus; a number of secondary sources were also consulted. Shield patterns are taken from the Notitia Dignatum. Most or all of these units would have followed Julian to the East for his campaign against the Sassanids in 363, so with the addition of another 4Kn element it could be used as a LIR East army as well. Figures are 15mm Old Glory. It was painted in 2007. All shields are hand-painted.

On the left are the Scola scutariorum secunda (1x3Cv); on the right are Julian and the Scola gentilium seniorum (1x3Cv General).

A close-up of Julian and the Scola gentilium seniorum.

The Equites catafractarii (1x4Kn)

The Legiones Palatina: (l-r) Pannoniciani seniores, Primani, Moesiaci seniores (3x4Bd).

The Auxilia Palatina: (l-r) Batavi seniores,Cornuti seniores, Brachiati seniores (3x4Ax).

The Equites primo sagitarii on the left and the Equites Dalmatae Passerentiaci on the right (2x2Lh).

Skirmishers: the Fortenses on the left and the Celtae seniores on the right (2x2Ps).

Balistarii (1xArt)

The Roman camp. I modeled it as a Roman watchtower on the Rhine frontier to go with the army theme of Julian's campaign of 357 in Gaul which culminated in the battle of Strasbourg.

Palmyrans

2009-04-25T20:18:00.000-04:00

This is my first blog post. I hope to use this blog to share pictures of my wargaming armies. I have many painted armies already so there will be a mixture of new projects and old armies which have never been photographed before. The bulk of my collection is ancient or medieval, though there is some fantasy, 19th Century and 20th Century as well. My miniatures are primarily 15mm. I do have an ongoing 28mm project for a Doctor Who game, but I will save that for a future post.

First off are my Palmyrans. The ruins of the city of Palmyra are in the Syrian desert. During Roman times it was a powerful city that made a failed bid for empire in the Middle East under Queen Zenobia in the 3rd century AD. Below is a group shot of my Palmyran DBA army, II/74b: 1x4Kn Gen, 3x4Kn, 2x2Lh, 4x4Bw, 2x3Bw or 2Ps. I belive they were painted in 2006. The 15mm figures are all Old Glory, purchased from Rudy Scott Nelson at Time Portal Hobbies, except for the camp, which is a Donnington Zenobia with an Essex tent and palm tree.

Below are the 4 cataphract elements (4x4Kn), the backbone of the army. Each element has a uniform color used on the horse barding and helmet tails. The general is the front right element.
Here is a closeup of the general. The standardbearer is carrying a red draco.
Next are the Palmyran light horse (2x2Lh).
The foot part of the army consists entirely of archers. The 4x4Bw elements are regular Palmyran city bowmen. The maroon and turquoise uniforms are inspired by frescoes showing Palmyran troops.
Next are the irregular archers, either 2x3Bw or 2x2Ps. I used a bit of maroon or turquoise on these but they are mostly in white.

Last but not least is the camp. It features the famous Queen Zenobia on a camel, along with a tent and palm tree. Her fate was to be paraded through the streets of Rome in chains after being defeated by the Emperor Aurelian.