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Thursday, August 1, 2013

Commanders, camp & the whole Gallic army

At the finish line, I realized I didn't have any naked Gallic commanders so I put in an order for Xyston Gaesati.  The Xyston figs are a touch bigger than the Old Glorys but they seem to mix well enough. I love painting Xyston and considered doing this army with their figs, but .75 a figure is spendy for a large 15mm army.  If I were to paint Gauls again, I'd use the Blue Moon line.

Now, about the fellows with clothes.  Other than Lady Godiva, horseback riding and nudity don't mix well. It's also possible that the fellows with pants suffer from a condition known as "never-nude."  Lastly, the historical accounts of Galatians fighting naked says "all but the tribal leaders generally fought naked." There you have the truth of it.  Even in 250BC, management preached from the "Do as I say, not as I do" gospel. Some things haven't changed in 2,000 years!


The Gallic camp is composed of an Essex cart, Old Glory civilians, a Splintered Light dog and a Xyston Gaul.  It was a full-on sweep of my shrinking ancients pile.  


I can't wait to bring the Gauls down to The Source for a game.  I don't expect to win but I do hope there'll be a good amount of walk-up traffic and comments.  When I'm losing badly, those visits can be the best part of a game. To put it another way, my friend Klay once said, "Monty loses a lot but his armies always look great running away!"    

Saturday is the local ReCon in Coon Rapids.  I plan on going early and staying late for a full day of gaming. Last time I went, a fellow introduced himself by saying, "Aren't you the guy who keeps the Twin Cities Gamer blog?"  I almost fell over from surprise to meet someone reading my blog AND recognizing me from my avatar. If you're a local reader and you're going to be at ReCon, look for me at the Saga tables. And game on!  

35 comments:

  1. Wow! Now that's what I call a horde! At least if they were Mongols; what's the collective noun for Celts, I wonder...?

    Never mind, these guys look like they could give any Hellenic strategos or Roman military tribune pause for thought. Extremely impressive work, and I particularly like the camp vignette.

    And BTW, 'never-nude' IS a recognised medical condition; just ask Chieftain Tobiarix there!
    ; )

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    1. Big LOL! I'm going to remember that one and use it at the gaming table. Thanks Ev!

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  2. Great looking Gallic army Monty! Good luck with your Saga games.

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    1. Thanks Cyrus! I have big plans for my Normans, in my head at least!

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  3. Great job, very impressive, I am sure you will win.

    John

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  4. Great looking army. I hope you enjoy looking at bare backsides! You're going to be seeing a LOT of them over time... ;-)

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    1. Millsy! Well, I'd like to pretend this is my attempt to bring the fairer sex to the gaming table. We have all sorts of half clad female models. This army goes out to all of the ladies in gaming land.

      Plus, when I win, I'll taunt my opponent mercilessly that he lost to to men without pants, shoes or a shirt. How low is that?

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  5. That's one impressive army Monty!

    Christopher

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    1. Thanks Christopher! In Field of Glory, you do need quite a few figs to field an army.

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  6. Not only do they get clothes, but they get armour, too! That's just not on.

    I reckon there should be a meeting of the Naked Warrior Collective to discuss health and safety conditions!

    Very nice to see them all together with command and baggage as well. Good luck with this army, Monty!

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    1. Thanks Rosbif! While our eras are 2,000 years apart, I suspect our W-L record and passion for the game are very very similar.

      I sure could use some of your British rockets with this bunch!

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  7. Fantastic looking army Monty! It's a veritable horde or pure naked awesomeness. Very impressive.

    The extras are very nice too!

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    1. Thanks Jonas! Now that I'm done, I can't wait to scale back up to 28mm and Saga.

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  8. Your friend said your armies look great running away. This one will be a bit surprising for the opponent when they run away :)

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    1. Oooh, good one. If you don't want to look at 200 backsides, better go easy on me! Love it!

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  9. Greate looking commanders and camp!!! Impresive looking army !!!!!!!! Love all the warband, i never got around to paint that manu for My ancient british.

    Good luck with the saga gaming at recon

    Best regards Michael

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    1. Michael, thank you! I owe you a debt of gratitude. When I started up painting historicals in 2010, I found your blog and painting style inspirational. I've always loved your use of bright colors and highlights, and I think it shows through a bit here.

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  10. That's just plain impressive, Monty. Your eyes must be aching!

    FMB

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    1. Marcus! Truth be told, it did become a chore during the last leg. This batch of OG warriors were badly flashed, amd it was just painful to waste so many hours cleaning up. Then came the hard part! ;-)

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  11. Have a good one and some luck as well Monty!

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    1. Fran! Thanks, and if you could, tip a beer for me this weekend. I THINK it might bring me good luck. And it won't hurt you even if it doesn't, right?

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  12. Hi Monty,

    Par Toutatis ! Congratulations for this GREAT paintwork!
    remind to your friend that it was called the "Age of Iron" not the age of nudity;-) use the best tactic of the Gauls: shout him some good taunting before the clash of arms and roll as many 6 as you can!;-)

    have a good weekend with plenty of funny games!

    Cheers

    Gilles " author of Management for Dummies" and co-author of " fifty shades of undercoat" ;-)

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    1. Gillies, I will take your most excellent advice and put it to full use. When the dice gods love you, it's an easy game!

      I need to ring in and see what's on your painting table. I got a huge batch of NK Egyptians in 15mm recently. When I get to them, I'll be looking to your beautiful NKE in 28mm for inspiration!

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  13. Monty, you display a lot of Gaul (sic) in completing such a naked project.
    Well done! They will look good in whichever direction they run.

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  14. Andrew, thanks! I can't wait to show off the terrain I bought from you down at ReCon tomorrow. Great stuff, sir!

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  15. Outstanding Monty.

    I'm sure you'll get heaps of positive comments at the con!

    Craig

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    1. Thanks Craig! I just saw your Gettysburg blog and wow, great looking troops. I have got to paint up some ACW and get in some FnF some day.

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  16. My oh my, you must be proud of that army. Great work Monty!

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    1. Thanks Jonathan! They're my new favorite. I'm fickle like that.

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  17. Incredibly massive army - very impressive, Monty. Best, Dean

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    1. Thanks Dean! 15mm does lend itself to a large and fairly quick collection.

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  18. What a cool collection you have. Massive army!!

    Tom

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    1. Tom, thanks so much! I must say, anything I do here is dwarfed by your herculean efforts and accomplishments. Your amazing collection has me wishing I lived in or near Texas! ;-)

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