Spanish for Saga

Or alternately, "out with the old, in with the new." I discovered Crusader Miniatures El Cid Spanish well after I'd painted my Spanish warband using Gripping Beast Normans. I fell in love with the Crusader figures the first time I saw them.  With so much history to paint, it seems silly to repeat a project but that's whats happening here.    

After putting in an order with Crusader, I set about locking in my new color scheme.  My GB Spanish were done in yellows & reds. I tried yellow and black on these Spanish footmen for a test run. Overall, I'm pleased but I'll take the yellow down a notch.  

I'm using a desert basing that matches my Moors so the two can be used against each other in Hail Caesar.  In Saga, I can swap individual figures back and forth for a nice Reconquista look to the warbands.   

With 33-41 horses to paint, I dug out a tutorial on the Metal Mountain blog for the oil wipe method.  I was thrilled with the combination of speed and shading I achieved so the oil wipe method is a lock as well.

I'm blessed to have a buyer in Chicago for almost all of my 15mm & 28mm painting. After a few emails, my Spanish/Norman/Breton/Strathclyde warband was on its way to the Windy City.  The buyer owns a gaming store so these fellows will see the table quite a bit.  It makes me happy to know that something I've painted is put to good use. If you're ever in Chicago and you see these lads out, send me a picture!

Spanish for SAGA

Spanish are my favorite faction in SAGA, thanks to their cerebral battle board.  It takes time to master their subtle plays and even then, I've just scratched the surface of possibilities this last year. A bonus for running Spanish is you can drive opponent mad with cries of "Iberia!" and "Santiago!" any time you throw the dice.  Guaranteed good times!

I stalled on my way to the finishing his warband due to the number of mounted figures (49). With winter break and some dedication, I just managed to finish them. The Spanish are on my short list for the SAGA Grand Melee at Adepticon in April.

Jinetes: 40 Jinetes (warriors) means I can run a warrior heavy warband.  With an armor of 3 in melee and shooting, you have to work  to keep these lads alive.  They'll shine each time you active them for shooting and during your opponent's turn with Iberia. These are Gripping Beast Norman warriors buffed with greenstuff. You can save yourself the trouble by buying Gripping Beast Spanish, or Perry or Crusader Miniatures Spanish.  All ranked up on the table, 40 mounted warriors is an impressive sight!

Caballeros:  In a balanced build, 2 points of mounted hearthguard gives your Spanish some muscle.

Levy:  Spanish  can take levy bow, javelins or crossbow.  When I take levies, I choose javelins for the ability to move and shoot in the same turn.

Foot warriors/foreign mercenaries:  The Spanish battleboard is made for mounted units, meaning foot warriors are an expensive afterthought.  In some scenarios, you need foot warriors for occupying buildings and terrain, and that's what these fellows were painted for.  They can serve as a Dogs of War Foreign Mercenary unit or simply foot warriors.

Warlord and Bard: You'll notice my warlord has a desert basing scheme.  I had planned to repaint all of my Spanish bases to a desert theme. When I pulled them up to the painting table, I blinked. Instead I'll repaint El Cid's base to match his warband.

I hope you all had a great Christmas holiday.  My son and daughter were home from college and it was great to enjoy Rock Band, family board games and movie night once again. Life is good!

An Elephantine Drop

aka "Eureka, I finished the Punic Wars project!"

Carthaginian Elephants: I painted 5 with Carthaginian motifs and 5 without so they could port to a Pyrrhic army.  The ellies didn't have much in the way of skin folds so I used a triad of greys to paint wrinkles in.  Elephants are the natural centerpiece of the Carthaginian army and I think these can shoulder that burden.

Carthaginian 4 horse chariots:  The chariots are for the option of running an Early Carthaginian army.

Carthaginian Armored African Veterans: A close look shows them kitted out in Roman gear. I painted the black shields with white palm trees, making them the original Afrika Korps.

Carthaginian Heavy Cavalry: They'll lock up the Roman Cavalry to the front while their Numidian allies ride around to the flanks and rear.

Libyan Javelinmen & Balearic Slingers: Few though they are, they'll tie up the enemy skirmishers.

Up next is the Spanish arm of Hannibal's army.  The Spanish are my favorite War & Empire sculpts. As is traditional with the ancient Spanish, you can have a bit of fun with bright colors.

Round Shield Cavalry: The Spanish lights are a colorful bunch.  Even if they don't win in skirmish, they'll look marvelous riding around on dressed up ponies.

Long Shield Cavalry: The heavies are ready to rumble!

Heavy Scutarii: They'll challenge the Roman Legions in the open ground and on a good day,  maybe even push them back.

Spanish Slingers: Because you can never have too many skirmishers.

Medium Scutarii:  The nice thing about basing 3 figures per base to represent medium foot is the lads get to have a bit of elbow room.

I can check "paint a lot of figures in a short period of time" off my bucket list. If you're looking to paint up ancients in 15mm, take a look at the Forged in Battle collection. We lost Covus Belli's ancients months ago so its a relief to see West Wind step into the breach.  Along with a deep bench of armies, they have great color items up on the builds accessories page.  Things like engineers, villages, villagers, temples, ramps, siege towers battering rams and more!  

I'll  be on the road shortly. A little rest for the eyes and then, back to it with SAGA and Bolt Action projects.    

Mustering Sertorius' Lusitanians

Rebel Roman general Quintus Sertorius is one of my ancient world favorites.  He waged a brilliant six year guerrilla war against Rome, at times driving them out of Hispania.  Badly outnumbered, he inflicted stinging defeats on the Romans and nearly captured Pompey. After reading Philip Matyszak's superb Sertorius and the Struggle for Spain, I was primed to paint the Spanish again. Without further ado, here's Sertorius' Lusitanians, version 2.

Lusitanian Scutarii: In L'art de la Guerra, the Sertorius option allows scutarii to be upgraded from impetuous swordsmen (not too good) to impact swordsmen (better!). That reflects Sertorius turning the Lusitanians into a well-drilled army.  In game, the scutarii are better in terrain and fight even at impact with legionaries.  They don't have equal staying power in melee as medium foot have less cohesion to lose than heavy foot. And of course, legionaries armor helps in melee as well.

Large Shield Cavalry: Spanish medium cavalry that can be taken as elite.

Small Shield Cavalry:  Light horse are a nuisance in ADLG, just as in Field of Glory.  Having had my camp sacked by light horse twice in my first two games, I'll field my own as a counter.

Caetrati: Light foot javelinmen have a role in this army.  They'll challenge in terrain, skirmish and then make way for the main battle line.

Burning Carts:  In ADLG, the Spanish can take burning carts, which are treated as Scythed Chariots in combat.  I couldn't fit a cart & team on a 40mm x 40mm base so I used a light chariot instead.  The fire is a bit supersized, making it hard to miss on the tabletop.  I'll field burning carts because they're cheap, look cool and might annoy my opponent.

Commanders:  No ancient army is complete without command stands.  I HAD to sneak a priestess on one of the stands.

Camp: The challenge with a camp is telling a story in a 120mm x 80mm footprint. Over the years, I've gone from dreading camps to having fun with them. Sertorius was famous for hitting the Romans when they least expected it. The fabulous variety of Corvus Belli figures and tree bark made the whole thing go.

The last piece of this army is Sertorius' legionaries.  I'm painting a Late Republican Roman army as a foil and I'll port some of the legionaries over to Sertorius when I'm finished.

If you'd like a quick read on Sertorius, take a look at an old post I wrote here.  If you want a deep dive, I highly recommend Philip Matyszak's Sertorius and the Struggle for Spain.