The Decurio Maximus Minimus

Having introduced him over the course of the past few Dux Brit-related posts, I felt it was high time I actually told you a bit more about the diminutive British hero, Decurio Maximus Minimus!!

Maximus Minimus came into being when Rich Clarke from Too Fat Lardies came to P'boro' to run us through the mechanics of a game.

Basically, I had forgotten to bring the paperwork for the characters we rolled for in our first Dux game, so Rich simply suggested we roll some more. Now, I remembered the names of my Warlord, my Champion and one of my heroes, but when it came to naming noble number 2, could I think of what I had originally called him??? No I bloody couldn't...my mind went blanker than the traditional old Blankety-Blank Chequebook (for the UK viewers of a 'certain age' amongst you!) so I simply blurted out 'Maximus' and, promptly rolled 'snake-eyes' for physical attributes, thereby rendering him 'miniscule!!!' Cue uproarious laughter and Rich's suggestion that he should henceforth be named 'Maximus Minimus'!! Naturally, the title stuck!!

The trouble was, that now EVERYBODY wanted me to paint a specific figure for him, as all my heroes are prety stonkingly large chaps (most of 'em are Gripping Beast models). So the search was on!! Several kind folk suggested ideas, most of which were simply poor quality models that I didn't fancy painting...I even initially considered 20mm until I saw the state of all the Late Roman 20mm models out there...YUCK!!!!

It was then that I had me a brainwave!! I knew that, somewhere among  my several boxes of bare metal lurked the original Foundry 'Arthur' figure - a marvellous sculpt (I assume by one of the Perry twins) but one which is very significantly smaller than most models in all other Arthurian ranges (in common with all Foundry's Arthurian/Late Roman sculpts). So, I did some digging and, lo and behold, there he was!!!

A swift bit of 'scalpel-work' removed the horsehair plume that made him look far too tall and I simply stuck him flat onto a 40mm round base (all my other characters have these bases built up to make them look even more heroic) and I had my Maximus Minimus!!!!

Here is his story, from the pen of the scribe 'Publicus Librarius', our chronicler of the Annals of Linnius:

"Maximus Minumus is the 25 year-old younger son of a noble Roman family. He is of miniscule build and is renowned for being thrifty. He is named as a 'Son of a Honestiore' , so cames from a middle-class Roman family of some wealth and power. There are those in the kingdom of Linnius who whisper that it is his father's power and wealth that has gained him his commission in the army of the Tribune Andrucius. Consequently, the Decurio is determined to prove that he is a true soldier and is well-equipped to, some day, lead the forces of Linnius in battle. This is proving somewhat difficult, as he has lately been tasked with keeping command of the kingdom's levy - hardly a position from which much glory is likely to emerge! But Maximus is yet young and the day may well come when he steps up and performs feats of great valour for the kingdom!"

Here he is in all his glory, with some shots of him next to his commandewr-in-chief, the Tribune Andrucius, to give you an idea of the size difference!