Roman camp

Baggage/camp for my Impetus Mid-Republican Romans.  It was fairly boring until I added the dogs.  It's true what you've heard...dogs make everything better, including camps!  Hopefully, they'll help keep the barbarian hordes away from the  Roman baggage.  Tents by Baueda, figures by Xyston.

Cretan Archers and Balearic Slingers are queued up for painting next.  As mercenaries, these units are very portable and appear on many of the Mediterranean  army lists during this period. The 5 legions I've painted for Impetus plus velites and cavalry put me across the line for a 300 point MRR army.  Before I build the Roman list out any further, I'm going to paint another 300 point army for Impetus. So for now, I pronounce the Roman project finito!

Visuals are an important aspect of tabletop gaming.  Part of what drew me to Impetus is the visual aspect.  I wanted to see what a 15mm Impetus based army looked like on the tabletop compared to my Field of Glory based armies.  I put these guys out against my Carthaginians and I have to say, I'm pleased with the results!  Velites in the 1st line, Hastati in the 2nd and Principes in the 3rd line.  All in all, I think this is a fair representation of what Legions drawn up for battle might have looked like during the Punic Wars.

Next week, I'll start posting on my 28mm Gladiator Project!

Roman Cavalry and Velites, Impetus style

Progress on my Impetus-based Mid-Republican Romans (MRR) came to a screeching halt when I discovered I didn't have enough bases for the figures I painted up. Trips to 2 local gaming stores failed to turn up what I needed so I turned to the net and put in an order with Litko Game Accessories.  And waited.  And waited.  I love their product but I hate the 3-4 week wait.

Roman Medium Cavalry:  During this era, Roman cavalry was generally "not the equal" of their opponents. I'm trying to mince words because I don't want to jinx my first and only Roman cavalry unit!  Essentially, these boys will be fodder on the battlefield.  

Velites:  If you know how to properly pronounce velites, congratulations!  You're the rare bird who's had the benefit of a classical education that includes Latin. As the skirmishing arm of the Roman legions, velites were composed of the youngest and poorest soldiers, armed with a short sword, javelins and a wooden shield.

For the photograph, I stacked all 5 units of Velites together.  In a game of Impetus, each base operates independently.  As a painter, I appreciate that 4 figures represents an entire skirmishing unit!

You've probably noticed that velites wear an animal's head or a bit of fur in lieu of a helmet.  I did tell you these guys were poor, right?  Before you comment on their fashion sensibilities, everyone on THIS side of the Atlantic should remember that American frontiersmen were also in the habit of wearing animal hats, bits and fur on their heads as well.  I propose that Davy Crockett was not just King of the Wild Frontier, he was also the penultimate velite!

Up next will be my Roman baggage.  In Impetus, armies are accompanied by a baggage train which is represented by a rectangular base on the battlefield.  On the base, you can create a small diorama of a camp.  Loss of the baggage costs you 3 points, which is a step towards your army breaking.  While somewhat predictable, I'm creating a fortified Roman camp to represent my Roman baggage.  After that, I basically have a playable MRR army!

Ottoman Heavy Artillery

These Ottoman Heavy Artillery minis are from Venexia Miniatures and they'll help port my Later Ottoman Turks into Field of Glory Renaissance.  Bruce is busy painting up a Cossack army and we'll give FoG Renaissance a go later this year.  I found a US distributor for Venexia and bought out their entire stock of Ottoman artillery.   There's something about the freakishly enormous wheels on these. Once I saw them, I knew I had to buy them and paint them up!

I painted the metallic areas on the wheels and frame in black and then painted silver over the top, thin enough to leave a thin strip of black as a shadow. It worked to good effect, given how much metal is on these monsters.  I used Devlon Mud to blacken the ends of the brass colored barrels to give the appearance that they've been in heavy use. There's a ton of detail on these figures and such excellent molding give a painter the opportunity to shine.  One day, I'm going to have to paint up a Venexia army.

Lastly, I want to share some photos that came to me from a blogger from Istanbul named Artar. Remember the line from the movie Crocodile Dundee when Paul Hogan is threatened by a tough guy with a switchblade? Paul says "That's not a knife!" and whips out his enormous Bush Knife and says "THIS is a knife!"

Paul Hogan looks over my Later Ottoman artillery and says "That's not Ottoman Heavy Artillery.  THIS is Heavy Artillery!"