I haven't posted for the last few weeks because I have been concentrating on a new project - 6mm ancients. Partly driven by an old desire, and partly inspired by my pal DaveG as well as some of JonathanF's recent blog posts on his excellent 'Palouse Wargaming Journal', I decided to take the plunge and get myself some classical Greeks from Baccus. Baccus have a vast range of splendid ancients and I got enough for two armies with the aim of recreating Peloponnesian strife between Athens, Sparta, Thebes, and what-not. So as soon as the various hoplites, peltasts, psiloi, and chums were delivered I set about building my armies. However I must say that it is taking much longer than I expected. With 6mm Napoleonics, the painting process is quite fast due to the uniformity of the colours used. With ancients, however, the many varied colours and lack of uniformity translates into a lot more time consuming process which honestly took me by surprise. Not to mention the decals to be applied to each and every hoplite shield ! Anyway, no use complaining. The only solution is to get stuck in and carry on. Some pictures below with a few sample units. Many more still to come......
 |
| The units finished to date |
 |
| Phalanx detail |
 |
| Bolt throwers deployed in front of peltast unit |
 |
| Archers supported by heavy cavalry |
 |
| Javelin psiloi providing skirmish cover to phalanx |
 |
| Another phalanx closeup |
 |
| Phalanx from right flank. Note leading two ranks with spears in attack position. |
 |
| Haven't decided on a ruleset yet but second edition Impetus is a hot candidate |
The riot of colour looks wonderful. I know what you mean with the disruptive painting caused by a wide colur palette, I am doing some Saxon 1066 and it is the same with them. Your shields are most impressive.
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot Norm. Baccus also supply the shield decals. Great quality but as you can imagine they are very fiddly to cut and fit which contributes even further to the time consumed. However the end result is well worth it. Would love to see your Saxons when ready.
DeleteI’m not a big ancients player but totally agree that non uniform troops take longer to paint. Bit the effort is well worth it and those troops have come out really splendid. They look very pretty! 😀
ReplyDeleteI’m also looking at impetus II as a rule set so I’ll be curious what you think.
Thanks Stew. Apart from Impetus, we’re also considering Age of Hannibal and Legio (downloadable for free at http://legio-wargames.com/legio-vi-6mm-ancients/4537030767). It’s still very early days so it’ll be some time before we can get down to some serious gaming.
DeleteTh various splashes of color make these armies pop! Splendid work!
ReplyDeleteImpetvs is a solid set of rules but I find Commands & Ancients works perfectly for 6mm armies!
Thank you Jonathan. Yes the colours are very nice but quite a headache ! Hopefully a Spartan army will take much less time, being much more uniform with their crimson attire and bronze covered shields. Well, their hoplites at least !
DeleteWill have a look at Commands & Ancients - thanks very much for the tip !
Sorry, I meant to type, Commands & Colors: Ancients...
DeleteHi Mike. I've only just discovered this. Your Greek army looks amazing. Hmmm. Got me thinking now.
ReplyDeleteThanks and welcome aboard! Unfortunately the project's on hold right now but it will definitely be picked up again at some point once I get the Ancients muse back!
Delete