Advancing Pike all together

Basing now finished, so I thought a quick shot of both completed units was in order.

Apologies for the quality of the image. These two units, together with another five similar ones, will form the core of the Seleucid Raphia forces. Back to the last batch of Arabs!

Pike for Raphia completed

Finished the other 16 pike to go with the 16 shown in my last post. Shields added; LBMS, designed for Crusader and trimmed to fit Aventine's rimless pelta. 

I might just paint the edges in blue to match the smaller design (albeit identical) used on the other 64 already painted in this "unit". The transfers were kindly donated by my Raphia co-conspirator, Mr Simon Miller (aka BigRedBat), who not only has a lead pile, he clearly has a transfer pile as well!

This gives me 96 in two units of 48 to match up with my World Famous Pink Pike. Still need to do the basing - obviously!  ;-)

That's the last of the pike I need for Raphia. Next up, more Arabs.

Pink Pike Finished

Here's the new 32 together with the original 64, making a total of 96 in two units of 48.

I need to do the same to my other unit of 64 Aventines and upgrade the equivalent of three more units of Foundry for our Raphia game in June.

I've also taken the liberty of taking a shot with my favourite command base ;-)

More Pink Pike WIP

Finished the painting added pikes and shields and stuck to bases. Just the groundwork and pike tips to do.

I'd also like to give Simon Miller (AKA BigRedBat) a big thanks for the LBMS transfers that he generously donated from his stock - saved me buying them!

I'd originally intended to use a transfer on the banners but realised they wouldn't fit! Only option was to paint something by hand.

Hopefully get them finished tomorrow and if I have time I'll take a few shots of all 96 together; that's two out of seven blocks needed for Raphia...

Heraclea at Partizan

The boards and figures were loaded into the car and we made the trip down to Kelham Hall near Newark.

We'd met up with Keith and Adam from Aventine the previous evening for a couple of pre-game drinks and it was good to see them again on Sunday. Also taking part in the game were Simon Miller (AKA BigRedBat), his son Harry and James Symmons.

We used Hail Caesar, tweaked by Keith, for our refight. Keith was a real Saint over the course of the day; he was the only one of us with more than a passing familiarity with the rules and he was frequently called on to direct we no-knowledge Tyros!

Various people took pictures over the course of the day and I'm sure many of them will be better than mine! Unfortunately, the lighting can be quite strange in the building and some of the shots look to have been taken through the early morning mist! Quite atmospheric.. (no pun intended).

The quality of the pictures is a bit mixed, but hopefully will give you something of the flavour of the thing before far better photographers get to show off their snaps. Enjoy!

 Pyrrhic deployment, with pikes in the centre, flanked by Tarentine hoplites and cavalry and light infantry wings.

 Roman deployment, just after they've (mostly) crossed the river.

 Close up of the cavalry and light infantry on the Roman right during the initial stages of the river crossing.

 Roman left flank

 Pyrrhic right centre.

 Pyrrhic right wing cavalry

 Pyrrhic left centre

 Close up of left flank Tarentine unit

 Keith and Simon (L-R) get stuck in on the Roman left flank

Close up of the scene.

Overall, a great day in great company. Although we didn't quite play the game to a conclusion, we declared a Pyrrhic victory following some pretty freakish dice throwing over the course of the day...

Advancing Pike Completed

At last! I reckon this has been about 10 weeks work to get to this stage, although I did paint a dozen thureophoroi in the middle to aid sanity. Enjoy!

And together with some friends (sorry, couldn't resist going for the massed rank effect).

Advancing Pike Batch 4

At long last - painting finished! Just the basing to do now....

I think I'll go with 60x60mm for these, with two ranks of 4. Should help protect the figures.

I've enjoyed doing these, but I'm looking forward to doing something a bit different. Hopefully Aventine will have some cavalry out in the not too distant. And some archers, maybe some slingers. Perhaps some javelinmen? Here's hoping!

Advancing Pike Batch Three and Counting...

Put the final touches to batch number three of my advancing pike. One more to go...

Can't quite see the trumpeter, so took another shot. Nice, simple modification of the basic pike figure.

Onto the last batch!

Hellenistic Command Stand - Updated

I wasn't entirely happy with one of the officer's shields; the transfer was just too small. A quick email to LBMS (thanks Steve!) and two days later the problem was solved; the old transfer painted over and a new, larger version in place. A bit of tidying up with blue paint and.....

Before....

Aventine Hellenistic Command Stand & How-to Basing Tutorial

I've just finished the command group below, using figures from Aventine. There's a couple of senior officer figures from different command packs, supported by their shield bearers, who are phalangites equiped with spears for "detached" duty.

I've tried to tell a bit of a story with this vignette. Each pair of figures represent the two pike units I've been working on for what seems like forever; the pink pike and the red boys. The idea is that the two commanders for each phalanx are having a conflab. They may just be talking about what they've had for lunch - who knows! Shield transfers from LBMS. My favourite is the phalangite with his shield slung across his back, lugging his officers shield around as well!



I also took some pictures as I based these for those interested in how I do it.

Figures stuck to base and railway ballast (from model railway accessories) stuck to base in random areas using PVA.

Rest of base covered in ready mixed filler.

All painted liberally with cheap craft paint (Burnt Umber).

Base heavily drybrushed with Vallejo Flat Earth and lightly drybrushed with Vallejo Yellow Ochre.



Various tufts added...

Followed by two lengths and colours of flock.

Advancing pike WIP

Here's a few pics of the above.
This is the first 16 figures of my eventual 64 man unit. I find 12/16 figures is about right for me as a painting batch; many more and I get bored, any less and I don't get anything like the productivity I'm looking for.
This batch has minimal red, the next will have red infill with white borders. The third batch will have solid red and I'm still undecided on the last batch.
These have been temporarily based with blu-tack so I can get some idea of how they'll rank up. The whole unit won't get based up until all four batches are complete, when they'll be mixed up to give some variety.
Shields transfers are of course LBMS.

Looking at the images, you'll note I need to work in getting the background in the right place....

Aventine Southern Italian Hoplites Finished

Finally!

These have taken quite a while to complete, but are now finally done. Finishing touches have included "dusting up" the shields, adding a few blood smears and one or two signs of battle damaged. Hopefully it works!

I'm pleased with how they've come out, but I'm looking forward to doing something slightly different and a bit less complex.

Pictures have been taken using my iPhone, together with a new mini studio that I bought for just under £30. It comes complete with two "daylight" spots, a camera tripod and all folds away into itself. It also comes with four colours of backing cloth, white, blue, red and black. A very neat piece of design - I'm impressed. Excellent value for money.

Bases are organised in groups of 16, with a command base for each. I've used a couple of alternate standards that are also offered by Aventine to give some variety to the lovely dolphin that comes with the range. I've also set up a full 48 figure shot that I think looks pretty impressive. I had to set them up three deep to make them fit in!

Pics below.