More 15mm Arab Conquest Swordsmen and a Few Slingers

I feel as though I'm stuck on a rat-wheel of Arabs at the moment but nevertheless have managed to complete another forty-four elements of Arab swordsmen, this time with four to a base to represent 'blade' as opposed to the earlier twenty-eight three-to-a-base elements of warband:

That's one hundred and seventy-six swordsmen completed in this batch, and two hundred and sixty in total including the warband:

Since they are the same figures as the earlier warband I won't linger on them too long, but here are a few pictures of the new recruits:

Needless to say, I was glad that there was so much variety in the figure poses with eight different poses:

I also managed to complete ten elements of slingers, which make an appearance in the Arab Conquest army list but will also be useful for the forthcoming Ghurids, which I swore I would never do until Phil from Toy Soldiers Studio https://15mm25mm.blogspot.com/ put the idea in my head and which I then found I couldn't get out:

Just a small group of twenty figures but again with a satisfying amount of variety:

That makes three hundred and eight-two figures completed for January and February so far with another thirty-seven nearing completion, which is my best start to a year ever and the momentum would have continued if I hadn't dropped an army containing two hundred early Carthaginians and their allies on its end while trying to get the A3 storage box out of the back of my car. 

They had just suffered their worst defeat ever after my gaming partner lost five 50/50 melees in a row by managing to roll nothing but ones against our opponent's fives and sixes and resulting in five holes in our line, only to be followed by two more in the next round. So when I first heard the clatter of lead upon lead, my first thought was 'serves you right, you bastards', until I realised how much work would be required put them back together. Eighty shields and around sixty spears and javelins detached, numerous paint chips plus half of the wire traces I had originally painstakingly attached to the chariots broken off:

If you can imagine putting three hundred figures into an A3 box, shaking it a little, and then thumping it on its end, that is roughly the effect. 

I took me around eight hours but things now do appear to be back as they were. To be honest, it wasn't the worst experience as I again got up close and personal with the figures again.

Now on to the last of the Arab cavalry, which I hope to have completed by the end of March.

15mm Medieval German Crossbow, Bow and Foot

While I have been enjoying significant progress on my ECW project, the arrival of a recently placed order with Khurasan meant I had to return to the Medieval Germans to complete that project. I knew that if I didn't, then it would be left hanging indefinitely and I do want to be able to field the Germans at some point over the coming months. 

Strictly speaking, I didn't really need the additional troops as I had already completed the core and most options for the DBMM army list, but more detailed reading meant I had to have these particular options, just in case. All part of the obsessive nature which I am sure many wargamers identify with, and my storage boxes are full of "options" which have never again seen the light of day.

First off, twelve elements of mercenary crossbowmen:

Lovely figures and I really hadn't intended to paint any more crossbowmen after having painted so many for the Spanish and French, but thought the Germans deserved their own contingent:

There are four different poses which is, as usual from Khurasan, perfect for four figure bases:

There is an option in the DBMM army list for some light bowmen. The nice thing about these is that they can stand behind certain other troops and add a +1 to dice rolls. Given that they only cost 2 points an element, in a typical 400 point army list they should provide a useful option:

Not the nicest figures in the Khurasan range I have to say, and perhaps some of their earlier sculpts as there was a fair but of flash, but they are functional enough:

Next, on to the foot. These are more of the same figures which I completed at the end of January, although the latter were based as 'knight-killers' whereas these troops will unfortunately be rated as 'Inferior' if and when they make the table:

I painted the shield designs the same as the earlier knight-killers as most troops were raised from the same cantons:

 

While I was in the clearing-up frame of mind, I also managed to complete two medieval organ guns from Essex miniatures:

I had actually completed the crew a few months earlier and they had been languishing in my 'completed, but yet-to-find-a-home' pile, so it was nice to at last complete the artillery piece they deserve:

Last, but not least, I recently found myself short three early Carthaginian chariots in our 'Biblical' games. I placed an order for three more to bring the total complement to eleven, and completed them last week as a C-in-C, sub-general and ordinary chariot:

 

This little segue reminded me how much I enjoy painting Xyston figures. And how bad I am with lighting when taking pictures:

That's about it for now. The above notwithstanding (a word not used enough, in my opinion), I have a few more German medieval figures to do, before returning to the Royalist ECW regiments.

15mm DBMM Camps

 The holiday period has been quite productive to date, and to round out 2020 I managed to complete some camps for use in DBMM ancient games. 

For anyone not acquainted with DBMM, camps add a morale bonus when included in army lists but must be kept out of harm's way as they can have the opposite effect when sacked by an opponent. 

This provided me with an opportunity to use left-over figures and to employ them alongside some Baueda terrain pieces, which I particularly enjoyed painting. First up are a couple of Roman legionary tents accompanied by two Xyston Roman civilian figures (well, three if you count the infant clutching his mother's left leg):

Next up a Praetorian tent. Looking at it now, the woman holding the baby could be asking "Have you seen Regulus? I have something I need to tell him" while the other woman with her hands on her hips could be saying "Yes, he's my husband, and I think you need to tell me":

The Praetorian tent is an example of why I am so fond of Baueda models as the detail is just right, making them fun to paint (although the Dullcote appears to be a little reflective in this photo):

Here are the remaining civilians from the Xyston Roman pack who have formed a circle and grabbed the nearest clubs and spears to protect the family pig and chickens:

I also had a spare Julius Caesar, Brutus and Cicero figure left over from the Julius Caesar Xyston personality pack, so decided to place them on a stand together. 

This put me in mind of a school trip to see an amateur performance of Julius Caesar when one of my schoolmates shouted out "Look out, he's behind you" at the pivotal moment. It was a little unfair to the actors and he got the cane when we got back to school for his troubles, but it was funny at the time:

Next up are a couple of Forged in Battle stands, with a shepherd and a fellow tending some cattle and a goat:

Finally, a Baueda field kitchen with figures as supplied:

And two versions of the Bauda 'Camp Cooking' set:

The thing I like about these last few elements is they can be used for ancients right through to medieval, when I finally get around to completing a few of those armies I have ahead of me in the pile.

Well, that's about it from me for 2020 as it's New Year's Eve here in Australia. Thanks to all who have viewed and commented throughout the year, and I wish everyone a happy, healthy and productive 2021.

More 15mm Gauls

When I completed my Gallic army at the beginning of 2019 comprising just under 600 figures, I swore I'd never paint any more 15mm Gauls, so here they are:

Fifty-two figures in all, including 48 warband. I essentially did this because I had based all my previous Gauls on 20mm deep bases which was the mandated size for earlier revisions of DBMM, only to subsequently find this had been reduced to 15mm in DBMM 2.1 which is the later version our group plays. Rather than re-base the whole lot at this stage, I decided to do a small batch who can now form the first rank of future encounters:

I found the chariot down the back of my painting desk three or four weeks ago, just in time for it to join the queue. That means I now have a baker's dozen, although the chariot rider on this model is from the Xyston Gaesatae range whereas all my other chariot riders are clothed Gauls. If I was that chariot driver I'd probably be doing what he's doing, keeping my eyes fixed firmly ahead and not turning around suddenly in case I got a faceful of bare arse:

That's definitely it for the Gauls now, and just about it for ancients for the time being apart from a few DBMM camps which I should have completed within the next couple of days.

15mm Republican Roman Army Completed

 This has been the main project for 2020, and really represents options for three DBMM Republican Roman armies from Camillan Romans, through Polybian Romans and the time of Scipio Africanus, to Marian Romans and Julius Caesar, Pompey et al:

This turned out to be more of a slog than I was expecting, although I knew there were a lot of them to get through and I wanted to complete them as I know it is unlikely I would summon up the motivation to return to them in the future:

All the figures are Xyston, and the shield transfers where used are from Little Big Men Studios. As one would expect with a Roman army, I needed a lot of shield transfers to complete the waves of legionaries:

There was thankfully some variety in the form of a bit of cavalry, the anti elephant wagons and the velites which I especially enjoyed painting.

I estimated this army to be around eight hundred figures, but the final tally was a little more as follows:

Foot and mounted figures        = 845

Horses, ox and flaming pigs    = 83

Wagons                                    = 7

Artillery pieces                        = 2

That gives a total of 928 figures, and I'll be very happy if I never paint another 15mm Republican Roman (although I do have the same army in 28mm in the pile which I suppose I must complete one day):

 

So that's the Romans done, and the second army completed in 2020. I'm now just putting the finishing touches on some WWII German ships, a batch of Gauls (which I also said I'd never paint again in 15mm), and have some 15mm terrain/camp pieces and three regiments of 28mm French cuirassiers to complete before moving on to a new project. There's quite a few to choose from in the lead pile and I am leaning toward some 28mm Renaissance at this stage, but I'll see where the mood takes me once I have completed the other bits and pieces.