Pre-Islamic Arabs

I painted this Pre-Islamic Arab DBA army in the early 2000s.  I chose them because they can be an opponent for several of my armies including Seleucid, Abyssinian, Early Imperial Roman, Palmyran, & Arab Conquest.  In the current version of DBA 3, they are classified as list II/23a, Later Pre-Islamic Arab (Nomad version).

The miniatures are 15mm Essex.  They do not have a lot of visual appeal as they are almost entirely in white tunics/loincloths.  They were not much of a challenge to paint, but they did go quickly.

Seven elements of infantry armed with sword and spear (Bd).  I varied the poses on each stand, as there are a good number of pose variants, though you may not be able to tell as they are all dressed alike.

Two elements of Light Horse.  The one on the right serves as the General (he is in red).

An element of archers (Bw) in the center, flanked by two elements of slingers (Ps)

Four elements of Archers mounted on camels (Cm), with an element of camel-mounted scouts (LCm) on the right.  I added a second camel rider to one of the 3 camels on each stand for variety.

The entire army takes the field, looking for a town to raid.

Finshing Old Projects & Starting a New One

I started out the year well but hit a slump in the late spring and into summer.  In July I picked up the brushes again, then I took a week to demolish our master bath.  Fortunately for everyone involved, a contractor is rebuilding it.  I've also relocated my painting area to an old entertainment center/cabinet as our hobby/guest room is being converted to a bedroom for our third child due in January.  As those projects wind down I hope to start posting more frequently.

I have been trying to finish off everything on my desk.  Tonight I spent 2.5 hours sealing 98x15mm and 12x28mm miniatures.  I use a brush-on coat of black or brown paint mixed with varnish to add shading, then do a final coat of clear varnish or spray after it has dried.  I tend to do this in larger batches, but this one was huge.  Below is a picture.

On the left side, there is a 15mm Axumite DBA army (Feudal Castings).  On the right side, the front group is assorted 15mm Hellenistics (l-r): Egyptian phalangites, thorakitai, and some Asiatic archers and slingers.  The mounted figures are 2 prodromoi.  Behind is most of a Sub-Roman British DBA army (Splintered Light); only the 9 heavy cavalry are missing.  I still to need to add the shield decals.

The 28mm figures on the green board are all for my Doctor Who project: 6 Ogrons in front and 6 human guards behind.  The group of figures in the rear just had some minor repairs done.

Still in progress are a dozen 15mm cavalry, then I will be concentrating on a new project: a 28mm Scots army for Saga.  I've started prepping a unit of 12 levies; I need to glue their javelins on and they will be ready for priming.  I'm looking forward to painting the Scots, it has been a long time since I started on a new rules set.

Jason

Ancient Spanish

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

Scots Isles & Highlands

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.

Hittite Empire

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

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.