AHPC-First Entry

Happy New Year!   I'm really excited to be back as a part of the painting challenge.  Like usual I have bitten off way more than I can chew, but what gamer hasn't.  In past years I have tried to focus on a specific period and army this year is more of a potpourri.   I am going to try to keep the majority of may painting to a War of Spanish Succession project but I can already feel the pull from other projects. 

So far I have completed one 24 figure unit of French Infantry (the Narvrre Regiment).  In total I will have 3 battalions of the Navarre

The figures are all Front Rank.  Lovely figures but so much detail it slows the process down.  I really struggled trying to come up with a uniform look I liked.  I was aiming for a grayish white but after highlighting they are a little closer to white than I would like. 

Here is a close up of the command stand.  I am not a big fan of the all white Colonels color the french used. 

Sorry for the work table photography but the holidays have put additional demands on my time.

It seemed like a good idea at the time.

Just a few more hours until the kick off off of the 8th annual Analog Hobbies Painting Challenge!  What was I thinking? 

I really struggled coming up with a big project to paint for the challenge.  Its such a great way to stay motivated and complete a large army (or two).   I settled on painting some War of Spanish Succession troops and finishing up a few units for my Ponts from last year.

As usual time got away from me.  My priming and prep work is not as far a long as I would like.  I was able to paint two WSS test units which was a bit more of a struggle than I was hoping. But I think they look ok.    I just hope I will be able to paint the rest much more quickly and with less second guessing. 

Here is a look at the mostly primed units ready to go. As you can see the cavalry is not primed yet.   Hope to get to that  over the holiday.

I think I may have bitten off more than I can chew this time.

Its that Time of Year Again!

The Catch Up Post

Since I missed posting last week and rather than posting a single massive update I decided to break this weeks posting into two more manageable updates.   The works shown here was actually completed in the prior week 

Last week I worked on finishing up the last of the Romans.   Once I got the the hang of the shields I was able to really burn through the cohorts.

The first cohort is 24 figures.  Most figures are Wargames Foundry but they are led by an outstanding centurion from Warlord Games.

 .     

 

I had to pull him out to show him off.  I really like the dynamic pose.

The second cohort is 18 figures

All the figures are Wargames Foundry

The third cohort

I believe the Centurion leading this unit is from First Corps but I may be wrong.   I really like him so I pulled him out to show him off.  



Here is the fourth and final cohort of Romans.

 

Finishing the last of the Romans was a real milestone for me.    As part of the challenge I was able to complete 3 "legions" of 5 cohorts each.   Pictures of the full units will follow next week.  I am really looking forward to pulling them out.

The total for last week was 78- 28mm foot

The Catch Up Post Part Deux

With the legionnaire infantry complete, I was able to move on to some fun command figures this week. 

I was able to complete 5 command figures for my Caesarian Romans.  They are from a mix of manufactures.  The mounted standard bearer is from first corps.  

The Imperator figure on the white horse is from Warlord Games.   I really enjoy the figure although his right arm in the 'hailing" position did  give me trouble when trying to glue it.   I may be re-basing him on a larger base to resist the temptation of picking him up by his arm.
Since I am complaining,  the mounted standard bearer's standard is about 2 millimeters too tall to fit in the box I have set aside for them!

The portly Legate on the right is perhaps of of my favorite figures of all time. Not only have he had a few too many door mice he also has a bald spot.  I love it when miniatures manufactures add these type of "real" characters.    Not every roman general looked like Russell Crowe.

Finally a close up of the third Legate.   

With the Roman leadership taken care of I decided to push on and add some Numidian Light horse allies. The Numidians are a mix of Wargames Foundry, Warlord Games and Navigator.  I think they mix fairly well although the Navigator horses are not very attractive they do add character to the unit.
 

Here are some close ups.  The skin tone was a challenge and I am not completely happy with the results.   I have another 10 or so Numidian light horse to paint so I may try a different process.
 

This week I was able to complete 25-28mm cavalry.  

Vorenus and Pullo

My submission for the Character Theme Round is Centurion Lucius Vorenus and Titus Pullo.  While they are probably best know as the main Characters in HBO's fantastic series called Rome they were actually based on real people.   In Caesars commentary of the Gallic Wars he mentions both as rivals competing for Primus Pilus of one of Quintus Cicero's legions.

If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend watching the HBO series and if you haven't read it, read Caesars commentary's.  Hes a master of self promotion and may have actually invented the humble brag. 

The figures are both by Warlord Games.   Really nice figures, clean with dynamic poses. 

Here is Lucius Vorenus



I really like the Titus Pullo figures a dynamic thrusting pose.


 


Here they are side by side.

I really appreciate the character packs Warlord has been developing.   I love their Marcus Crassus figure I painted earlier.   I just wish they would make some different body types.   I dont want all my officers to be Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson.

The Last Legion

Happy Friday!    My installment this week is the last cohort of the bullheaded legion and the first cohort of the last legion. 

I saved the first cohort of the Bullheaded legion for last.  Its 24 figures strong compared to the others that are 16 (soon to be 18). 

 

The last legion I plan for paint for a while has changed a bit.  I had planned to go with black shield and dark yellow lightening bolts.  The test shields came out ok and I was ready to go, but then I came across the stars and bronze idea on the internet.  New and shiny always wins!

I was able to paint 42 figures this week. As usual all are Wargames Foundry

Slinging More Bull

Hi All.   This week I spent more time on the bullheaded Romans.  I was able to knock out three 16 man cohorts.   The shields are pretty easy to paint its just a matter of getting the symmetry right.

Some of the cows have longer horns than others but I figure that's nature right?

I completed one cohorts of the bullheads last week with the 3 this week I only have one more cohort to go for the half legion.

My big crisis came this week when I considered what they would look like on the table.   Four ranks and 4 files just doesn't look right for Romans.   I will be adding 2 more figures to each unit and go six files and three ranks.

My second big change of the week is the lighting used to take the photos.  I went with 2 compact florescent natural lights.   I liked the compact florescent bulbs so much I switched over in my painting lamp.  For those of you who are as impatient as I am, the light looks terrible until they "warm" up.   I tried them a year or so ago and gave up right away because I didn't wait for them to come to full brightness. Once warm they give great light!

All the bullheaded Romans are from Wargames Foundry's caesarean range.  I am a big fan of the range but at today's prices it would be an investment to build an army of them. 

Here is the first cohort of the week.   (I think officer int he red cloak is 1st corp and not Foundry)



Heres the second cohort of the week.   These are all Foundry


 

And the third cohort


 


My final figure for he week is Warlord Games Marcus Crassus.    I love how dynamic the pose is.  I am not sure if he would be my vision of Marcus Crassus but I think he will make a great looking legate.

Here is a group photo




I was able to complete 49-28mm figures this week.

AHPC post

  This week I was able to finish the last of the 6 pike blocks for Mithridates VI army.  Its a bit silly that I painted them for his army, since he only used them in the first Mithridatic war.  On top of that, they where they were consistently crushed by Sulla.

   While it is not the most robust force I do like Mithridates early efforts building a Roman beater.  He was willing to experiment and adapt.  Following his defeat by Sulla he went home to lick his wounds and raised another army.   The second time around he abandoned the pike block and built an army based on imitation legionaries, if you cant beat them join them.

  There are 32 Wargames Foundry figures that makeup this block. Learning my lesson from the earlier 5 the pikes went on, After, the painting was done.  I am proud to report no injury this time around.  This unit was a little trickier, it did not have the shields with cast on designs so I had to wing it. 

Here's a view from from the side and rear. 







 And the obligitory close up




The second unit I was able to complete this week is a unit of 12 Companion style heavy cavalry.

I saved the easiest for last.  I was also able to knock out a unit of 10 Greek light cavalry.  There is really not much to these guys so it was a nice break from the more detailed figures.

I think this week I have 32 foot and 22 horse.  Next week things will slow down as I am switching gears and moving to Romans.  Looking back over the last 30 days I was able to stay more focused than last year.  If I can keep up the pace I think I am on track to meet my challenge goal.