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.

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.

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.

Productive Hobby Weekend

Well despite still not being able to get a successful print our of my resin printer, I had a good hobby weekend. I made significant progress with my Infamy Infamy armies.

I manage to rebase another group of 8 auxilia. They still need some flock and their shields repainted but they match the rest of the Auxilia better now. Next, I was able to base and flock a signifer, a cornicen, a legate, a centurion, and two Auxilia infantry. The two infantry completes a partial unit of Auxilia. I think i still need to repaint their shields to match but they are better. Then I was able to completely base and paint a medicus figure to be used in the games. It is one from 3D Breed miniatures. The figure is kneeling on the ground and has a wooden box of gear. I plan on buying some Donnington dead Romans at some point. One will be placed on the base with the medicus to show him doing his job. I am pleased with how this came out. He is based on a Flames of War medium base because that is what I happened to have at hand. Game wise, I don't think it will matter. I also started painting an engineer party that I had previously basecoated a few years ago. There is a armored figure as part of this group that probably shouldn't be there but he got a bit of paint anyway.

To complete my Romans, I need to get a few more movement trays and to paint one of the ones that I have. For the Romans, they are individually based on small 12mm square magnets. These stick nicely to the sheet metal movement trays that I am using. I have glued a small strip of wood to the front to be able to line the troops up against them. I would like to get a bigger one that I can use for skirmish or open order troops. But this is just an idea at this point.

I still want some Auxilia cavalry to round out the force. I am thinking I will get Khurasan Miniatures cavalry.I want to start with enough for two groups of cavalry and possibly expand them to four in the future. But for now, I have the figures needed for a base Infamy force plus some extra. I am getting closer.

For my British/Guals I also managed a bit of work. Most importantly, I was able to rebase a full group of levy and the group of slingers, a group of light cavalry as well as a few odd warriors that were just on washers. This gives me a fully painted force. I could use a few more leader types as I am not too wild about the ones I have but they will work. This gives me one group of Elites, four groups of Warriors, one group of levy, a group of slingers, a group with javelins, a group of noble cavalry, a group of light cavalry and command elements.

What I am missing are good movement trays for the Celts. The metal bases for the Romans works well. But the Celts are based on washers. I have a sheet magnet that I am trying to use but it is a fairly weak magnet. I have a thought. If I take a sheet of thin balsa wood and cut holes for the washers and glue the balsa to the magnet, possibly the miniatures would hold better. However, I think this will be prone to warping and curl the magnet. I just don't have a good option yet.

As seen above, I am starting to work on some terrain elements as well. I have the beginning of a limes fence that I printed over two printers ago. The prints are not great but serviceable. The plan is to Get these done and then print/paint some more. I ultimagely want 4 feet of it as well as some kind of gate for a trade road. That could make for an interesting scenario. I have a watch tower that I need to complete that will be perfect to have behind that fence. I know that there was a wall instead of a fence.

Midgard - Infamy Infamy and trying to sort it all out

Continuing in my efforts to not stay focused, I spend more time working on my Romand and Celts for Infamy Infamy. This is inspite having just received a wonderful new STL for my ACW naval forces that I need to print out. It is a model of the CSS Forrest, a former canal boat that was converted to a small gunboat for the Confederate Navy. I have run it through the slicer so it is ready to print.

For the Celts that I will use as Britons, I have a force that is shaping up. I have a group of six light cavalry, two groups of two charriots, a single group of ten noble infantry,one group of six slingers, one group of six javelin skirmishers, a group of noble cavalry, a mounted noble, two nobles and a standard bearer, four units of ten warriors, and lastly three units of ten levy. Also at the bottom of the picture is some purchased dead guals from Xyston that I have not painted yet. This force largely just needs basing. The levy needs more help. Some are just partially painted. I have in a drawer of shame three more groups of ten warriors in various states and another group of six slingers.

On the other hand, the miniatures are in much better shape for my Roman Auxilia. I have four movement trays completed that each will hold a unit of 8 Auxilia infantry. I have a group of bow armed Auxilia with a couple of extra figures. I have not made a movement try for the archers. I also have a couple more groups of Auxilia. I have one and a half groups based the same way. For command, I have a set of foot with a centurion, an optio, a signifer and a cornicen. I have another foot command set missing the centurion. All of these minis were from the old Corvus Belli ranges of Romans that i really like. Somehow, I don't have a centurion that I like for the second command group. I have one that I will probably paint and use. This one is in scale armor.

There there are the eBay purchases. I have a group that is mounted four to a small base that I will rework to match the others. Matching these, I have another group of four mounted in a strip and a command section mounted similarly. All of these will be rebased. I think I can get these done in a reasonable amount of time. That brings me to two more groups of Auxilia infantry. These are based in fours as well. But the shields and tunics are painted differently. They don't seem to match the others because of that. Also the shield design is quite different. I have painted the other shields to match that on display at the Saalburg Cohort Fort museum. I am not sure if I would use these are support from a different unit or repaint them.

There is another set of Auxilia infantry that I picked up on eBay. These are based in strips of three. They look like they are skirmishing and are painted differently than my other Auxilia. They are all in poses of throwing javelins. I have a total of 16 bases of three. On Carole's blog (Hippolyta's Tiny Footsteps), her review of Infamy Infamy points out some of the struggles of the Auxilia. They are not allowed slings and if they are mounted as skirmishers, they cannot reform. Given that, I am not sure how I want to treat these. Do I make a skirmish base for them or mount them on infantry bases? This last set will likely take a back seat and be ignored for a while. I also have some unpainted Roman engineers. They are on the to do list.

I am still missing some things that i want for these forces. For the Celts, I absolutely want to have another unit of 10 noble infantry. I am trying to decide which manufacturer. Part of me wants to just buy the Old Glory Miniatures Blue Moon minis in chainmail. That would give me enough minis for three more groups. The shipping would be cheaper as they are US based. Way more than I need or wanted but possibly more cost effective than ordering from the UK or Europe? I am also leaning toward Stonewall Miniatures for the Celts and the Roman Centurions on their site. Still undecided. I am also in need of Auxilia cavalry. For these I may look at Khurasan. I would buy the Rebel Minis but they do not offer a command element. I also want a mule train and an engineer's cart. That should wrap up my needs for troops.

As to terrain, since I am doing this project in 15mm, I have trees, swamps, rivers and the like. I had also purchased a few items from the Warbases 15mm range. Including the mansio, a villa and another one of their buildings. I also have a watch tower. This should be enough to keep me busy for a while. I also have a Blue Moon celtic hut pack with civilians that I had bought. So that should be enough for raids on either side of Hadrian's Wall.

To expand the project, I would add some legionares. I am not 100% certain I would use them but they could be a nice addition. Most importantly, I need to get this game on the table a few times. I have not played a game for fun in a while. All my hobby time was spent playtesting scenrios. It will be good to try to get in and have fun again.

Reviewing Older Projects - Looking forward to Midgard

With the upcoming launch of Midgard Heroic Battles, it made me break out my miniatures from both Dux Britaniarum and Infamy, Infamy. Both projects I really loved but didn't get enough chances to play.

For Dux, I have three armies. A Romano-British, Early Saxon and a Pict force. The Picts are not even a complete base army. I have a base force for both the Romano-British and the Early Saxons. Most figures for all of these are Splintered Light. I have a few reinforcements that are needed still. The Romano-British do not have any heavy cavalry. I could use a few additional sections of warriors and levy to flesh them out as well. i will be fleshing these out with Splintered Light minis.

My understanding is that Midgard forces are larger than those for Dux and Infamy. So, i don't quite have enough to pull it off yet for the Dark Ages.

My Romans for Infamy are closer to being ready. I have five full groups of 8 Auxiliary Infantry ready to go. I started to work on some movement trays for them as well. I have 6 of 8 of a sixth Auxilia infantry group painted up. I have a group of archers as well. What I do have is additional Auxilia infantry that I bought off of eBay. These are based 4 to a base and are not the same as my other minis. I have enough for three and a half more groups. There is another lot that I bought that are based 3 to a base for a total of 48 more figures. They would need to be rebased. I can separate these and build out six more groups of Auxilia. I would want to repaint the shields on these to match my existing miniatures. Mostly as i was modeling a unit based on the Saalburg Cohort fort in Germany.

What I am lacking is Auxilia Cavalry to complete out the unit. I really don't want to paint up cavalry. I am too slow of a painter and horses take a long time for me. I am looking through the offerings on eBay and am thinking that I may end up just painting my own. Most have spagetti spears that look like they could break at any minute. I really like Rebel Minis figures. However, their command figures are not great. They have no cavalry command to speak of. Peter Pig is an option. Old Glory 15s and Khurasan are also options to look at. I will likely make Roman Auxilia Cavalry my next hobby purchase.

My Infamy Celts are another story. I have loads of figures. I purchased a few years ago a lot of celts that were painted. However, most are only partially painted. I rebased many of them. I am trying to get them sorted on movement trays. I have enough for a base force. I play on using them for both Gauls and Britons. The Chariots are in rough shape. Most have either broken or come apart. With some TLC, I should have a huge Celt army. I am missing some figures to complete out cavalry. Mostly a command element. I have tons of chariots that i could have enough for two groups of 10 chariots. If i can get the broken ones repaired. I did have some fun finishing a Celt light horseman last night. It was good to paint something other than a ship again.

So, what I know is, my armies are too small for Midgard. With painting time, I have a large enough Celt Army. I lack minis for all of my forces. I had purchased a set of armed Dark Age peasants for use with Dux but lacked stats with the rules to use them. I was planning on working on some anyway just beacause I think it would be fun to have some really bad troops on the field to defend a village or the like. I figure I can try to use them for Midgard.