More Sword and Sandal

 I've completed work on the second of three Roman Fabii Clan Leaders. While doing the second I realised where I'd gone wrong with painting the shield of the first. Instead of painting the background red then drawing the design, I should have painted the shield with a very dark brown background, then done the design and painted round it in red. So I redid the first one's shield, which now looks a bit neater and I'm much happier with it. 

I've also repainted the shield and rebased the Crocodile Games Theseus figure who will be the Warlord of the Veii faction in this project. The shield used to have a dark blue background but the white is so much better. This pale blue colour scheme with white shields will contrast them so very nicely with the Fabii Romans, I think. 

Work continues apace on the final Fabii Clan Leader, a unit of Sodales (companions - hoplites, basically) and a unit of Clientes (client warriors) with bows. I'm enjoying this immensely. the large scale figures are a joy to paint! 

Sword and Sandal Movie Style Fabii Clan Roman Test Model

 I've always loved the 1960s Italian 'Sword & Sandal' movies - dodgy plotlines and wooden acting notwithstanding! years ago I bought a whole warband of Crocodile Games Wargods of Olympus Athenians to do a Sword & Sandal style force intending to set up a legendary antiquity campaign using Dragon Rampant at my old club but for many reasons that never happened so the models got put in a box. 

Fast forward a few years and I find myself hankering for some solo games at home, but with limited space so have decided to do two Dragon Rampant warbands using half-sized reduced model units. The theme will be the wars between Rome and the Etruscan city of Veii in the 5th century BC but with a Sword & Sandal vibe. Here's the test model for the Roman Fabii clan. The shield design was hell to paint and I'm not 100% happy with it, but as decals of this design aren't available to fit these Anvil Industry shields (or any other shields come to that!) I'm gonna have to stick with freehand! 

The model itself is beautifully sculpted and makes my 'dip & highlight' technique work like the proverbial charm! 

As I only need about 20 models per warband, I'm hoping this won't be too lengthy a project to get onto the table, although it's just one of three I'm simultaneously working on sporadically!

Silmarillion Noldor Spearmen

 Finally finished these ex-Grenadier Miniatures Elf Spearmen for Midgard. Love these old models! 

Silmarillion Noldor Archers

 Ex-Grenadier Miniatures High Elves based for Midgard and painted as part of the Warhost of Caranthir, son of Feanor.

Feanorian Hero for Midgard Silmarillion Elf Army

Here is the first hero base for my Midgard Silmarillion Elf army. The army represents the warhost of Caranthir the Dark, son of Feanor.

As it's a Feanorian army I have avoided my usual Elf colour scheme of blues, silvers and purples and have gone with a rich red scheme as befitting a son of Feanor. The two core colours are Foundry Madder Red (surcoats) and Foundry Brick Red (shields, cloaks). The yellows are Foundry Ochre.

The models here are Copplestone 1990s Elf sculpts, originally Grenadier Miniatures, but purchased from Forlorn Hope and Battlezone here in the Uk a few years back (and still available!)

The shield design was done on Pages on my MacBook using a star symbol, converted to JPEG, transferred to Word and resized. It was printed on plain white paper at 5mm width, cut out (VERY carefully!) and glued on. It's not 100% correct as a symbol and as Caranthir is son of Feanor, should be oriented as a square not a diamond. But diamonds look better, so diamond it is! 

Banner hand painted and features the star of Feanor plus Laurelin the Golden Tree of the Valar. 

4th Century BC Republican Romans - Antepilani (Proto-Hastati)

 The first of my 4th Century BC Republican Romans (Latin, Etruscan, Gallic and Samnite wars in Italy). Victrix plastics. These will be used for a home-written Dux Britanniarum variant and for the upcoming Midgard rules. 

Wargaming the Age of the Anglo-Saxons at Sutton Hoo

 We are now in a position to confirm the three games on offer at our second Anglo-Saxon wargaming event at Sutton Hoo... Huge thanks to Mogsymakes (James Morris & Chums), Peterborough Wargames Club and East Anglia Historical Wargamers for agreeing to be a part of our weekend.