More Roman Cavalry

Over the weekend, I was going to spend time printing out the remaining ships of the North Carolina Mosquito Fleet. I successfully printed several of the vessels. However, I found that the pad that my magnetic build plate was starting to pull off and did while printing the USS Wabash. So another item that needs to be fixed.

While waiting for a print to finish, I looked through my lead pile. Apparently, I have found another stash of Roman Cavalry miniatures. This was an exciting discovery. These are all spear armed and have been mounted on painting sticks and basecoated in black. I will respray the horses in white. I also received my order from Old Glory 15s. This was less than exciting. It turns out that only four of the miniatures were spear armed. The other five are armed with a gladius. Making them not as useful to me. They also came with a round plume of somekind on top of their helmets. That part at least is easily fixed. They will still be painted up. I will probably only use two of the sword armed versions. Between the found miniatures and the purchased ones, I should have three full groups (Infamy, Infamy wise) of cavalry.

In addition, I found a nifty senator figure. This would be a good objective for the Celts to try to grab during a raid.

I have yet to make any progress on the Mansio or Villa. I cut a template for the main roof of the mansio to cut tiles for. I hope to get the roof done today.

Mile Fort and a New Ship

So I managed to get the printer working again and managed to print the CSS Appomattox. This was part of the North Carolina Mosquito Fleet. I purchased the https://www.wargaming3d.com/product/union-or-confederate-army-transport-1-600/ and got permission to modify it. I managed to add two guns and made it into a screw driven boat as the Appomattox was.

I hope to get a basecoat on the ship this week if possible. It should have a simple paint scheme. I kicked off another job to print out another vessel. This will be my second attempt at my Curlew model. Reviewing the book on the Curlew I believe the stern half of the ship is incorrect now. But it will still serve as a proxy until I can do something better. If I am able to get this one printed, I am pretty sure that I will be able to finish out the rest of the ships for the remaining elements of the North Carolina Moquito Fleet. The Union ships will be next.

The Mile Fort

I decided on a paint scheme and ran with it. I am not satisfied with the print job but think it is good enough at this point. Some pieces are better than others. I have added the pictures to the PayHip site.

I plan on ordering another group and a half of cavalry this week. I am deciding between the Old Glory and Rebel miniatures. Both come with a pack of 9 figures and have a look similar to what I have. I also did some work on basing some remaining figures that I had finished. I figure I need another hour to finish that off. I am close enought that I have pulled out my Celts to look and see what I can do for movement trays for them.

Painting More Romans and Other Projects

I managed a few moments to paint yesterday and finished a few figures. I painted the Decurion to complete out my cavalry command. I also painted a Praefectus on foot. I now have him based with two servants behind him. I think it looks pretty good. I painted an additional Optio and one more Auxilia as well. These all need basing. I am basing the Decurion on a round base to make him stand out on the table. I don't really have a standard for the leader figures for my Romans.

I took pictures of the above but they are all terrible. Once the basing of the above is done, I will be working on painting my Mile Fort. I think I will go with the sandstone look. After that, I think work on the Mansio and Villa would be next. I will save the watchtower for later.

I am looking forward to getting these miniatures out on the tabletop. I have an idea for a campaign that I want to run. The Briton/Celts that I have should be mostly ready. I have a base force that matches with the rules and some additional items on order. Both Romans and Celts need some more casualty figures painted.

ACW Naval

My North Carolina Coast campaign has warmed up again with some fixes to the printer. I printed a really nice version of the CSS Curlew. The front half matches the book description of the curlew. The back half should be more like a passenger vessel than what I have but it will stand in. As I was removing the support for the vessel, half of the front deck broke off. So the model ended up in the trash. I kicked off a print job for the CSS Appomattox as well. Will check on that when I get home from work. I think I will start printing these without supports. That should help. Once the miniatures are ready, I have several scenarios to try out. I need to ask the designer of the Dawn of Iron rules about how well his land rules are coming along.

Negev 1948 Campaign

I had a request to dust off my old SOTCW scenarios for my Israel War of Independence scenarios. I decided to rerelease the original scenario set which was written for the Arc of Fire game system and used the Skirmish Campaigns format. I converted one scenario of it to IABSM years ago and did nothing else with it. In reviewing the scenarios, the maps are terrible. So i will redo the maps in Campaign Cartographer before releasing. I did one of the maps so far and it looks much better. I do want to finish the conversion of these scenarios to either Chain of Command or IABSM at some point. But probably not any time soon.

France 1944

I have been working on a pint sized campaign on an action that took place in Singling France in 1944. It presents an interesting set of challenges for how to present it on the table. It was a combined arms attack that would allow the players to each have a platoon sized element to work with. I am working out how to make them work as stand alone pieces or make them for a games day type of action where two tables would be going simultaneously and a reseve force would be allocated as needed for each side. There is some really good documentation on this small battle that I am working through. It has proved to be a fun research project.

Early Imperial Romans for Infamy Infamy

I think I am now at a point that i am only missing 4 figures for my Roman Auxilia. Three cavalry figures to round out the last group and a Cavalry command figure. All in all, some good work over the holiday week last week.

I managed to finish my Medicus figure by giving him a patient. The dead Roman is a Xyston model. The Medicus and box is from 3dBreed miniatures that I printed.

I finished a basic engineer cart. I may go back and give the cart an ink wash as it looks a bit too new. Or possibly place some form of materials in the back of it. But it is close enough for now.

The first of what will be two engineer groups is also done. One thought would be to make the base part of a Roman road. But I couldn't figure out how I wanted to show that. Still, they are complete.

Here is the core of my Auxilia infantry. I have six groups of 8 Auxilia. with a Cornicen, Signifer, Optio and Centurion.

I also have a group of 8 Auxilia with bows. While they normally would be separated out into separate Sagitarii units, the game calls for them to be a group. I have two additional bow figures as well. For some reason, I have two different manufacturers. I am not sure of the manufacturers. The ones in a loading pose are probably Corvus Beli figures. Not sure who the giants are.

I also have a spare command group with a Cornicen, Optio, Signifer and Centurion. I figure these may come into play with Midgard.

I have a senior command element as well. Two figures I can use as a mounted or dismounted Praefectus.

I also finished my cavalry figures. I have a group of 8 Auxilia cavalry, a half group of Auxilia Cavalry and a standard bearer. (can't remember the name of the cavalry standard bearer.) As noted above, i still need 3 more figures to flesh out the group and a command figure. Also in the picture are some support elements that were finished, a pair of pack mules and a scorpion with crew. All of these have their basing finished but I didn't take a picture of them yet.

I also have been working on a command base for the Praefectus. The plan is to have a shield bearer and a slave with a wax tablet standing behind them on a small Flames of War base. i have a replacement figure for the foot Praefectus that I need to paint. The two background characters are already painted. I also have most of a 3rd command group painted. I need to finish painting the Optio and get a good Centurion figure for it. I will likely giev the centurion a fancier comb on his helmet to signify him as a Primus Pilus or the like. I also have a seventh group of Auxilia Infantry ready to go. They just require a movement tray. The problem is, I have no idea if I cut the movement trays myself or bought them. I have the start of an 8th group of Auxilia Infantry. There are three painted figures on an old base that they need to be pulled from. I also have a lone Auxilia on a painting stick leaving just 4 miniatures to be purchased. But as it stands, I should have enough for a game.

I do have a number of Roman Auxilia in more skirmishing poses that are either thrusting with a spear or throwing one. The problem is most of the spears are either bent or broken. A longer term item would be to purchase some wire spears and replace them then base these to be an additional set of groups. If I were to do this, I would be coming close to having a 1 to 1 Roman Century worth of Auxilia. This is really not needed for either Infamy Infamy or Midgard. Still, it is something.

Terrain:

I painted some test pieces of Hadrian's Wall. One in a gray stone pattern and one that is supposed to be sandstone. I can't really decide which one I like better.

I like how the sandstone came out. My wife likes the gray walls better. Still debating.

I have not done any more work on the existing Mansio, Villa or Watchtower yet. Hopefully soon.

Roman Cavalry

I managed to paint ten Auxilia Cavalry figures in the past two days. I am using Army Painter Speed Paints on the horses and they came out rather well. I still have to base them. I have settled on how I will base them. I cut up a magnet sheet and glued down each individual figure. This way I can make a magnetic base to put them on. I should be able to finish off the basing of these over the weekend.

I also managed to get the Engineers onto a large Flames of War base. They look like a work crew. I have also painted and based an engineer cart. It has felt good to get things done this week. I still have another set of engineers to paint up. I am still not sure why I have so many. I also have some figures that I will use for a rally point. These are slave figures that are holding a shield and have wax tablets to record the action. I will likely put these on a small Flames of War base. I also painted a scorpion and crew. These will go on a medium Flames of War base. Not sure it will ever see a game but I wanted one. The crew are legionaires rather than Auxilia but that is fine.

I also got some paint on a few pieces of the Hadran's Wall Mile fort. I am not happy with it and will likely try something else.

Roman Mile Fort

The Mile Fort that I put on my PayHip site as pay what you want turned out pretty good. I just received the pieces from a friend who printed them for me. I laid out the pieces on my desk and was pretty happy with them. I will likely get some more straight wall sections and two more L corners. I have also made a tower without the gate for the wall as well. But I want to paint out what I have first.

In looking at pictures of mile forts, I was looking at the images of the internal buildings. I decided to add an internal building to it.I have added it to the files. It is a rather basic one that would need additional work. I have no idea on how to make a pantile roof.... yet.

Anyway, this is where I am at the moment.

Roman Project Update

After having a change to sort through my found miniatures, I have a nice selection that have made their way to painting sticks for priming. This includes 10 dead Roman Auxiliaties, 13 dead Celts, 8 Roman Engineers, a Scorpion with 4 crew, three servants (holding shields and wax tablets), a mounted Decurio, a mounted Vexilarius, and nine Auxilia cavalry. This will round out my Roman force nicely. In addition, I have a Roman Engineer mule cart and two baggage mules. That should give me enough to field most of the support options for a game of Infamy Infamy.

There were a number of Celt miniatures in my find as well. There were some figures that would be useful as wailing women. just fully clothed. I also found some Celt civilians. These I believe are Blue Moon minatures that came with the village that I bought a while back. The village was nice but ended up on a shelf and never painted as I changed focus.

I have glued the pantile roof to the side sections of the Mansio. I am trying to figure out how to get the main roof done. I'm trying to decide how to paint these. I will duplicate that effort on the villa and watchtower as well. I am searching for videos that may help. I aam definitely going to rewatch an old video from Red Beard Baron on his Roman Houses. I may use this as the basis for all of it.

I received my PDF copy of Midgard over the weekend. I have barely started to read it. But I am interested if this could be used with Infamy to make for a larger campaign. Could be interesting.

I ordered some Celt miniatures a while back to add two units of Noble Warriors for my Celts. Those are still in the mail, possibly with my physical copy of Midgard. But the Celts are for later.

Terrain Time

I was able to spend some time working on my existing terrain for Infamy Infamy. I plastered the lower half of a watch tower. I finished the assembly of a Warbases Villa Gate. I also finished the assembly of a Warbases Mansio. I have started to put on some roofing material to match the watchtower. I have a few sheets of plastic tile roof that I am using. I plan on redoing the villa with that as well. I will also plaster the buildings and then base coat them. This gives some nice targets for a Celt raid.

I bought the full villa set from Warbases. With the gate completed, it looks pretty good. I will probably glue the separate buildings together and then plaster them. That should allow for a better join between the buildings.

The Mansio and its out buildings were a bit tricky to get together. There are internal floors but I don't believe I have them built correctly. I will likely try to base this and possibly the villa above too.

The watchtower was the building I purchased first and have done the least with. The plastering looks bad at the moment but I am hoping that it will give some texture to the model when I paint. While looking for a base to put my Roman Engineer work party on, I made a discovery. I found a number of figures that I had purchased and forgotten about. I now have enough Roman cavaly for at least one group. I thought Roman Cavalry was in groups of 8 but I reread the rules and see that they are in groups of 6. I found 8 Auxilia cavalry. Four had plain helmets and four had a small plume. I was able to cut off the small plume so all of them match. These 8 cavalry are old Corvus Belli figures. I also found some additional command figures that include some figures to support the commander. Then there was some cavalry command figures from another manufacturer. And a few more Auxillia infantry that have separate weapons. Not sure of the manufacturer.

This project is slowly coming together.

Engineers

I was able to get a few minutes of painting done. The Engineer team is coming along. I have a few minutes more painting to do and then I will have to base them. I am thinking of basing them as a group since they are less of a combat unit and more of a target or objective. All in all, I was happy with the progress. I need some more movement trays. I am still not happy with the movement trays for the Celts. I am wondering if there is a stronger sheet magnet that I could use other than the ones that I have currently. I also finished flocking the recently based group of Auxilia. At this point I have enough for two painted armies for Infamy Infamy. With possibly enough support for Midgard.

I am having a friend print out the mile fort for me with a few extra straight lengths. I will doubtlessly need more of the straight lengths. Once I replace the FEP on my printer, I might be able to print those myself. If I get two more of the "L" corners done, I can make a fort like Lochmule or one of the other smaller German Limes forts with it as well. It should prove to be fairly flexible and a good piece of terrain for the table.

I purchased a while ago, a Mansio, watchtower and Villa from Warbases in 15mm. The Watchtower and most of the Villa is assembled. I need to get around to painting it. Somewhere I have some round Celt Huts that i purchased as well. This should give me plenty of terrain to get started with. But the one item that I would like to have that was all across the Roman Empire is a bath house. I have an idea for how to make one. The original idea was to 3d print one but it would be a large building. This may end up just being a dream and never pan out.

I will start making my Briton force commanders up soon. The thought is that it is a raiding party that has come over the wall to attack the settlements below the wall. This is why I want the fort and walls. Hopefully, I can get a game in soon.

TinkerCad and a Roman Mile Fort

I have been messing around in TinkerCard and looking to make my own take of a Mile fort on Hadrian's Wall. I still need to make some doors but I think I may scratch build those with some scrap balsa wood. It turned out pretty well. The nice thing is that it could be used for a small fort on the German Limes as well by using additional corners instead of the T intersections. One part that i missed on was I have both ends of the pieces having an a raised portion on the battlements. That means when they are joined, they will have an odd looking battlement in places. Having not printed this yet, I don't think it will make that big of a deal. I need to make some buildings for the inside of the fort.

I decided to design my own after looking around and finding several others that were not exactly what I was looking for. Honestly, the old JR Miniatures fort was the one I really wanted. But with this i should be able to print out as many straight pieces as I want to stretch across a table for the wall. I built it for 1/100th scale (15mm miniatures). (Sadly, the corner pieces do not fit on my resin printer.) The way I made the grooves for the stones left come cavities inside the model that show up in Cura. It probably won't be a problem but who knows. To simplify printing in resin, I could make the hollow. But I haven't yet. The hardest part of the model was getting the stair case done. Fortunately, there is a few nifty sites online about how to calcuate making stairs. That helped a good bit.

If anyone is interested, I will drop this on my PayHip site as a pay what you want item.