The Shield, Dacian edition

Painting shields for ancient armies can be a challenge, with the first question being "what should the shields look like?"  For some armies, the painting trail is well established. There's a wealth of material on Roman shields for color and style. Iberian shields? There's a baseline for colors and geometric styles. There's lots of reference material for Greek and Celtic shields as well. Dacian shields are a different story.  I looked at the Little Big Man Studios website for ideas, and also Trajan's column.  What I found was unpaintable in 15mm.

Then I stumbled across an old post on the Iron Mitten blog. Secundus drew highly stylized animal figures for his Celtic shields, much like the Uffington White Horse. Animals were worked around the shield boss with an elongated neck,  or legs, or antlers. Following the trail Secundus blazed, I painted one animal figure, then another and another.  BINGO!  It's simple but looks quite nice in 15mm.

Javelinmen: Medium foot javelinmen make up the backbone of my Dacian army.  They're undrilled average impact foot.  Like most "barbarian" foot in Field of Glory, they must disrupt the enemy at impact or else struggle in melee. Dacian foot is portrayed as javelinmen because archaeological evidence reveals many spearheads & javelins but not many swords.  Then again, Emperor Trajan may have had his legionaries collect all the Dacian swords after subjugating them.

Skin tones for the shirtless lads was done with 2 highlights. The Dacians are one of Old Glory's best  lines. Great sculpts, very little cleanup required and a huge variety of poses.

Skirmishing Javelinmen: These skirmishers have a crucial role in my Dacian army.  Falxmen are vulnerable to missile fire as they carry a 2 handed falx and no shield.  I'll need the skirmishers to protect the falxmen from missile fire until they're ready to go in.

Archers: Medium foot archers have a roll to play in my army as well.  I'm going to run my javelinmen warriors in large 12 base units.  6 bases of archers can provide rear support to 2 large units of javelinmen. My javelinmen need rear support and a general leading from the front to have a prayer against legionaries.

During Trajan's campaign, it was reported that the Dacians placed well-camouflaged archers in trees to snipe Roman officers.  I figured green was a good color for tree-sniping archers.

Sarmatians & more

In Field of Glory, Dacians can take a Sarmatian ally to field the superb Sarmatian lancer cavalry. That gives the Dacians cavalry equal to or superior to anyone else in period.

My heart briefly sank at the sight of 36 riders without lances or holes in their hands for the same. Out came the Dremel and in less than 30 minutes, I was done. Note the superb Ancient Warfare magazine, vol VI, issue 2 featuring Trajan's Dacian wars.  This magazine is a treasure which I find to be inspirational and informative!  The artwork is superb as well.  

Bastarne Cavalry: They're quite average for the period.  If I field them, it'll be to provide rear support. These bright geometric patterns were my first idea for Dacian shields. I wasn't thrilled with the results here so I'm striking out in another direction.

Light Horse: There might be a place for light horse in my Dacian army.  If so, these fellows are ready to serve, and swerve, when called upon.

I've been looking for inspiration in painting Dacian shields since the day I got this army from Old Glory.  The Dacian shield patterns found on Trajan's Column are unpaintable in 15mm and I did not like my first try above.  Looking for Plan C, I found inspiration at the Iron Mitten blog. Stay tuned!

Dacians, a warband you don't meet every day

I'm painting up a Dacian army for our next Field of Glory (FoG) campaign.  Me falling for another lost cause is a bit predictable. "Barbarian" armies fare poorly in FoG but that doesn't stop me from falling in love with a new one every year. I loved the story of Sertorius in Hispania so I painted Lusitanians.  I loved the stories of the Celts and painted 3 Gallic armies to prove it. While most of the Dacian's story is lost to time, what's left is riveting. That's how I knew that it was true love! Let's hope it's a love that lasts.

I'm using Old Glory figs for my Dacians.  OG doesn't post pictures of all their ranges on their website so I was reluctant to put an order in.  Out of the box, I was pleased to see the Dacians are one of their better lines. The figures are well sculpted with lots of variety.

Dacian Falxmen:  Dacians can field up to 24 bases of falxmen in FoG so I painted up all 24. The downside is that they're unprotected Medium foot.  The upside is they're cheap as chips for superior foot with a heavy weapon.  If they survive the impact phase with legionaries, they'll be even in subsequent rounds of melee. Watch the face of your Roman opponent as you trade bases and he remembers falxmen cost 7 points a base and legionaries cost 14!

The falxmen were primed with Army Painter Brown Leather followed by block painting in an earthy and tight palette. Vallejo's sienna wash went over the base coat. Vallejo's wash is currently my favorite as it goes on thick and stays put. The last step is applying highlights. For shirtless fellows, I used 2 rounds of highlights on the skin as it did make them pop.

So about that backstory, the Dacians were a collection of up to 15 tribes in what is now Romania.  Located in and around the Carpathian mountains, they possessed abundant mines and resources, including hordes of gold.  In the lectures "Rome and the Barbarians," the Dacians are described as skilled stonemasons, metal-smiths and miners.  All 3 skills were crucial in their wars against the Romans. Their kingdom lasted from 82 BC until the Roman conquest in 106 AD.

The story goes hot when King Decebalus assumes the throne and unites the tribes. Cassius Dio described him as  "a man shrew in his understanding of warfare" who "judged well when to attack and chose the right moment to retreat."  His raids across the Danube and into the Roman province of Moesia culminated in the Roman Governor Oppius Sabinus being killed in the field.

Emperor Domitian and his Prefect of the Praetorian Guard, Cornelius Fuscus, traveled to Moesia to put things right.  Fuscus drove the Dacians back across the Danube and followed them through the Iron Gates. At the First Battle of Tapae, he was ambushed along with Legio V Alaudae. The legion was annihilated and Fuscus killed. The Dacian king received his name Decebalus after this battle, meaning as strong (or brave) as ten men.

Domitian launched a second expedition in 88 AD.  According to Dio, the Dacians slew a great number of Romans while suffering serious losses themselves.  Facing multiple threats, Domitian offered terms that were stunningly generous. Decebalus became a client king of Rome with a stipend of 8 million sesterces per year. He was also provided Roman engineers, craftsmen, and war machines. Decebalus used the Roman stipend and engineers to build new defensive fortifications in the mountains and to reinforce existing ones.Clever man, that Decebalus, as the Romans wouldn't let him rest after such generous terms.