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Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Impetus Gallic army on parade!

This spring, I painted Mid Republican Roman, Pontic and Gallic armies for Impetus.  I finished my Gauls in May and wrapped up the project with a ton of pics.  Unfortunately, the pics turned out to be garbage (arg!) so this post went on the back burner until I could reshoot them. Photography is my least favorite part of this hobby but I finally got them lined up and photographed.  Here's the first and last muster of my Impetus Gauls before they left for a new home.  Boys, we hardly knew ya!

Naked Warriors:  These were easy to paint thanks to the great sculpts by Xyston-clearly a fit and trim bunch.  While sculpting the hills and cliffs with clay was a messy and slow business, the end results were decent!



Light Cavalry:  To my mind, the Impetus method of using one base per unit is genius.  Light horse looks like lights, do they not?  And you have the space to tell a story.
Medium Cavalry:  Looking suitably tough as they descend a hill to loot a camp near you.
Light Chariots:  Xyston doesn't do Gallic chariots so I grabbed these from Splintered Light Miniatures. I was very pleased with them, especially the shaggy ponies. Splintered Light is another top miniature modeler.


Javelinmen Skirmishers:  In Impetus, a skirmisher base is 20 mm x 80 mm. I doubled these up for the visual effect.


Warriors: 10 bases of warriors.  Xyston command packs have some heroic poses and the basing allows these figures to shine.  







While Impetus did not catch fire in our group, I don't regret this project for a moment. This was the most fun I've had painting minis to date.  I love the spacing and opportunity to tell a story on a single base. I love painting each figure with great care, knowing the basing allows the extra efforts to be seen.  I also love the game itself!  The only part I didn't care for was my armies sitting in boxes and not seeing the light of day.  To that end, I put my unused armies up for sale for an end-of-year reset.  Off went my gladiators and all 3 Impetus armies.  The upside is:
  • 2 gentlemen in Kansas City will use my Romans and Pontics for a tabletop adaptation of Command and colors.  
  • A gentlemen in Wisconsin will use my Gauls in his Roman v. Barbarian slugfests. 
  • A gentlemen in Kentucky will surprise his club with my gladiators on game night.
  • I'm getting a commission as well, which means I'm not done painting and basing Impetus.  
  • Lastly, I have funds for my next project.  On to the next thing!

33 comments:

  1. Monty, they are awesome! Great stuff.

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    1. Thanks Phil. I'd offer you a cup of the local coffee but don't want to get your blood boiling. ;-)

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  2. Great collection of well-painted figures. Impetus has not caught on in my group either despite my pleas to give it a try. To me, the large stand size offers the opportunity to both create dioramas and push less stands around the table. Two pluses in my book.

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    1. Its a shame we don't live within driving distance Add to that a decisive and fun game in 2 1/2 hours and you've got a good thing going!

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    2. It is a shame. There are, however, direct flights from MSP to GEG. My wife grew up in Edina so we do make it to the Twin Cities occasionally.

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  3. Top notch quality as always Monty! Glad thing worked out so well. Time to move on to some proper 28mm stuff right? :-P

    Really the details on those wee little shields are mind numbingly awesome!

    Jason

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    1. Funny you mention that. I'm pretty close to pulling the trigger on Saga. That will be a baby step in the 28mm direction.

      Wait till you see my Hungarians v2 with their heraldry. A sword, arm and a pierced heart, all on a 15mm shield.

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  4. They went to a good home and funded more shiny items my friend but they were beautifully done!

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    1. Thanks Fran! I always feel guilty about spending family funds on my hobby so now I have the $ to go big on my next adventure or two.

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  5. Hi Monty,
    They are wonderful, colors are great, and the bases are very nice to enhance the minis! My favourites are the chariots...
    Best,
    Phil.

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    1. Hello Phil! I do love the chariots as well. In Impetus, light chariots get a few dice for missile fire, which I quite liked.

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  6. Hi Monty,

    they are great !!!!!!
    the Xyston minis are fitting very well with your painting style and on the impetus bases they are full of movement;
    I definitely prefer the Gallic breed to the Garlic bread ;-)

    a new project ????? some foes to your Sertorius Lusitanian ?????

    Cheers

    Gilles "reporting from the former Gallic land ;-) "


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    1. Gilles!

      I've spent most of 2012 painting Xyston. But now onto something new. I've got a good start on my Hungarians and it looks like I'll be the very last gamer to paint and play Saga. We're going to have a demo this weekend and I'm quite sure I'll like it!

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  7. Chariots are ace, the the colours rock. Did you work off of white or black for the base coat?

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    1. Good question. Figs with chainmail and horses got black primer. All the rest, white. Yellow shields white primer and the rest black. I find that I can't commit to only one primer.

      For the Hungarian WIP, I'm using multiple colored primers for the 100+ horse figures. More on that later!

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  8. Really great army, and a pity the game never took off in your area. Im in the process of re-organising all my Xyston DBA armies, lots of messing about rebasing but it will be worth it i think.

    Steve

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    1. Yorkie, I think it's a big payoff and I hope you post some BEFORE/AFTER photos. Fewer figures per base means you might end up with a bigger army when your done. The key is to have an install base. I'll keep trying to create one in 15mm locally!

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  9. Here is a very beautiful Gallic army
    Congratulations and special mention for chariots

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  10. Replies
    1. Thanks Max. I had some pangs when I boxed them but now I'm eyeing what I'll do next.

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  11. Brenton is sad :(

    OK, I'm over it! What's next, what's next?

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  12. Very nice Gauls !!!

    Look realy grate with the impetus basing.

    Best regards Michael

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    1. Thanks Dal! Impetus basing is tops, by far!

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  13. Superb Monty. The new owner must be very happy indeed. I would have been very pleased to have them in my collection..... and already based for Impetus, even better.

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    1. Thanks Tarty! My miniature photography must not be too good because the owner started by telling me "these look better in person that the photos." I guess I should work on improving my skills in that area.

      If I lived only a few thousand miles to the east, I'd love to do an Impetus WoTR army to go head to head with yours!

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  14. Monty i really like your style of painting and the concept you put into distinquishing the unit types. well done.

    jack
    ladd

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    1. Jack, you son of a gun! I REALLY appreciate your feedback!

      I've got a HUGE lot of Saga figures coming. I found it cheap on BTown. I may be bugging you for advice on painting 28mm. Seeing as how you've painted the best looking Byzantine army THIS side of the Mississippi, I figure you are the man to see!

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  15. Well i finally got the Byz. Kav. done and finished the flocking too. Brent has mentioned a little bit of the SAGA stuff., i dug out a few items to kinda put together for it. Although i do not have the rules, i am intrigued by the system. jack

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    1. Hey Jack, I know its tricky but I'd love to get in a game with you some day. Impetus, Saga, Maurice. In 2013, we'll have to get together at Brent's and make it happen. And maybe talk painting.

      To future games!

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