AHPC XV Submission #9 - Roman Gladiators for 'Arena of Blood'

My ninth submission was a selection of Roman Gladiators from Crusader Miniatures that I plan to use with Wiley Games 'Arena of Blood' rules. In the past I have played gladiatorial combat with a variety of rules, some which were very complex regarding planning your attack or defence, while other required special dice to play, or a hex grid area. 'Arena of Blood' is a fast game that requires no measurement, and still provides a wide scope for both tactics and strategy. DaveV and I have taken the game to two games conventions so far, and the people who join in the game found it easy to learn, and fun to play. I will be running the game at PrairieCon at the end of May.

After some initial play testing with other members of the Fawcett Avenue Conscripts, we found that we didn't have figures for all the different types of gladiators available in the rules. A quick order to Crusader Miniatures filled the gaps for most of the types we were missing.

The figures were cleaned up of any mould lines, etc. and glued to some hexagonal bases that I picked up at Historicon. The two mounted gladiators and one of the velites all required a small javelin that I made to a length of florist wire. I added a layer of fine sand with PVA glue, and then primed them with Vallejo Desert Tan using an airbrush. I mounted the shields onto some popsicle sticks using some blue tack to hold them while priming, and painted the back side. The gladiators were painted using a variety of Vallejo and Army Painter acrylics. I made a point of varying the skin tone on the figures to present the different ethnic groups that became part of the Roman Empire using Flat Flesh, Cork Brown, and Chocolate Brown. Once the main figures were completed, I mounted the shields and then painted them. When everything was done, I finished off with a wash of Army Painter Soft Tone. Here is the final result.

"Ave Imperator! Morituri te salutant."

Murmillones & Crupellarius - A Murmillo was a heavily armoured gladiator wearing a fish crest on his helmet. Murmillones were typically paired with a Thraex opponent, but occasionally with the similar hoplomachus. A Crupellarius was the most heavily armed gladiator, whose armor consisted of a lorica segmentata, manica on both arms, and high segmented greaves up to the thighs. The helmet was typical for ancient Roman gladiators, completely covering the head and face with only small openings for the eyes and mouth.

Murmillones (1,3,& 4) and Crupellarius (2)

 Secutores & Scissor - The Secutor ("Pursuer") developed to fight the retiarius. The helmet of the secutor covered the entire face with the exception of two small eye-holes in order to protect his face from the thin prongs of the trident of his opponent. The Scissor fought using a weapon consisting of a hardened steel tube that encased the gladiator's entire forearm, with the end capped off and a wicked semicircular blade attached to it.

 

Scissor (1) and Secutores (2 - 4)

 Thraeces & Hoplomachi - The Thraex's weapon was the Thracian curved sword. They were introduced as replacements for the Gaulish gladiator type after Gaul made peace with Rome. They commonly fought murmillones or hoplomachi. The Hoplomachus was Romanised Greek for "armed fighter". He was equipped with a gladius and a very small, round shield. He also carried a spear, which he would have to cast at his opponent before closing to hand-to-hand combat.

Hoplomachi (1 & 2) and Thraeces (3 & 4)

Eques - Early forms of the eques gladiator were lightly armed, with sword or spear. They had scale armour; a medium-sized round cavalry shield (parma equestris); and a brimmed helmet with two decorative feathers and no crest. Later forms also had greaves to protect their legs, a manica on their right arm and sleeveless, belted tunics. Generally, they fought only other equites.

Provocatores & Dimachaeri - Provocatores were the only gladiators protected by a breastplate (cardiophylax) which was usually rectangular, later often cresent-shaped. They fought with a tall rectangular shield and the gladius. They were paired only against other provocatores.  The Dimachaerus (Greek διμάχαιρος, "bearing two knives") was a type of gladiator that fought with two swords. They were referred to as fighting against a hoplomachus class gladiator.

Dimachaeri (1 & 2) and Provocatores (3 & 4)

 Velites & Sagittarius - The Veles (pl. velites - "skirmishers") is presumed to have fought on foot, armed with a spear, sword and small round shield (parma); this also assumes that the type was named for the early and lightly armed Republican army units of the same name. The Sagittarius was an archer whose main weapon was the bow.

Velites (1 - 3) and Sagittarius (4)

 Thanks for stopping by.

AHPC XV Submission #6 - Early WW2 French Motorcycle Troops

 

My sixth submission for AHPC XV is a group of reinforcements for the early war French Division Légère Mécanique that I painted last year. To add to the tanks and motorized troops, I have added a small platoon of a headquarters and two sections on motorcycles. The figures are a mix of metal minis from Crusader Miniatures and 3D prints using STL files purchased from MyMiniFactory for a total of 24 foot and 23 'mounted' figures. I really liked the Crusader motorcyclist, which will be a good match for the dragons porté I painted. The 3D prints also go well with the metal minis, but I have two minor criticisms regarding the files: (1) 'slung weapons' have no slings, and (2) most of the carbines have the bolts on the wrong side.

In the case of the dismounted motorcyclists, I cleaned up the figures and glued them onto 1" fender washers. I then added some fine sand to the base with PVA glue. In the case of the 3D figures, these were printed by a friend of mine who has done a number of projects for me in the past. He did most of the cleanup prior to delivery, but I went over them again to remove any missed supports and make a few repairs. These were glued to popsicle sticks with PVA glue to give me something to handle while priming and painting. I made bases for all of them using the plastic from old restaurant gift cards. I can get three bases from one card. I did all the ground work on these bases separately and glued the motorcycles on once all the painting was complete.

All the figures were primed with Vallejo USA Olive Drab Surface Primer using an airbrush. The bodies of the motorcycles were left that base colour. I then painted the rest primarily with Vallejo acrylics (unless indicated otherwise) as follows: faces and hands - Flat Flesh; uniform - Green Grey; boots - Chocolate Brown; belt, pistol holster, and ammo pouches - Leather Brown; leather pad on helmet, chin strap, gauntlets, and motorbike seat - Army Painter Leather Brown; canteen cover - English Uniform; gas mask bag - German Camo Beige; saddle bags - German Camo Orange Ochre; goggle frames, engine and muffler - Army Painter Plate Mail Metal; helmet - Olive Grey; goggles strap, scarf, and jacket buttons - Tan Earth; goggle lenses - Army Painter Runic Cobalt; rifle stocks - Beige Brown; motorcycle tires - Black; pistols and metal on weapons - German Grey; highlights on SMG and LMG - Gungrey. Once completed, everything got the ol' "Army Painter Strong Tone Quick Shade" treatment. When that was dry, the motorcycles were removed from the popsicle sticks and glued to their bases with Super Glue. Here are the final results.

French motorcycle platoon mounted and dismounted

View from the right

View from the left

No. 1 Section dismounted

 

Platoon Headquarters dismounted

No. 2 Section dismounted

No. 1 Section on their bikes

No. 2 Section on their bikes

No. 2 Section on their bikes (flip side)

My one attempt to hand-paint a licence plate

French motorcycle troops halted while the officer consults his map

The last figure for this post is an officer that came from the box of Wargames Atlantic French Infantry that I painted at the beginning of the challenge. Rather than paint him in Horizon Blue, I have done him in colours appropriate for May 1940. 

Thanks for stopping by.

Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge XIV #3 - Early WW2 French

 

My third submission for the challenge was a selection of early World War 2 French tanks, transports, and troops of a Division Légère Mécanique (DLM), or Light Mechanized Division. They are something that I have been thinking about for a while, and they have finally come together in time for last winter's painting challenge.

 

First up are the armoured vehicles consisting of a mix of Char B1 bis, Somua S35, and Renault R35 tanks. The Char B1 tanks are 3D prints by the same friend who did my Polski FIAT trucks, while the latter two types are Solido diecast tanks that were repainted to give them a unified camouflage scheme. Historically the DLM tank battalions were equipped with Hotchkiss H35/H39 and Somua tanks, but I already had the R35s, so I went with that. The heavier Char B1 was not found in the DLM, but I always liked the look of it and added two to my French force. All the tanks were given a coat of USA Olive Drab surface primer using an airbrush. (In the case of the Char B1s, they got a coat of black primer first.) The brown and yellow were applied by brush, and then the whole tank got a wash of Citadel Agrax Earthshade. After the decals were applied, all the vehicles got a wash of Vallejo Model Wash European Dust around the tracks and road wheels.

 

 

The Char B1 served in the armoured divisions of the French army, the Division Cuirassée (DCr). It was armed with a 75mm howitzer in the hull, and a 47mm gun in the turret. Although well armed and armoured, it suffered from the design of a one-man turret, where the commander had to act as both loader and gunner as well. My two models are 3D prints done using an STL file I found online. There must be a flaw in the file because the right track system printed with the tracks misaligned so that they touched the fender at the back of the tank, and didn't sit evenly on the table. To solve the problem, I used a fine blade saw to cut off the right track, reposition it correctly, and glue it back into place using super glue and baking soda (or sodium hydrogen carbonate for the chemists in the crowd 😉). My friend used different resins in the two prints, giving one model more flex than the other. That was the first one where I sawed off the tracks, which worked fairly well. When I went to do the second model, pressure from the blade caused the back part of the fender to break off, along with part of the exhaust system. I still don't know where the missing piece went, and it has probably been sucked up by the vacuum cleaner by now. I was able to rebuild the missing area from bits and bobs from my box of scratch-building supplies. I also added radio aerials to both tanks, but I probably only needed to do that on one model. Radio sets were not distributed below command tanks in the French army.

 

The Somua S35 was considered a 'cavalry tank' in the French army, and was one of the main tanks in a DLM. It had good speed, adequate range, and a gun powerful enough to destroyed any enemy tank it was likely to encounter. Like the Char B1, it had to deal with the problems of a one-man turret, as well as poor mechanical reliability. Its suspension system was too weak, too complicated, and the cast armour made it difficult to repair in the field.  The models are Solido 1/50 diecast that I purchased years ago, but as I acquired them individually off of eBay, they had two different paint schemes. One was sold green, while the other had a random green and dark brown camouflage pattern. As well, one of the tanks was missing the gun mantle off the main gun and the turret machine gun, so I scratch-built replacements. Now they look like they belong to the same unit.

 

The last pair of tanks are Renault R35s that saw service with the French Bataillon de Chars de Combat (BCC), as well as some that were sold to Poland and other countries. It was armed with a low velocity Puteaux cannon. Again, it suffered from a one-man turret, and rather slow speed. Some of the men from the Polish 10th Motorized Brigade, having escaped to France, saw service in these tanks in May 1940. These are also Solido 1/50 diecast models picked up from eBay when they were still fairly inexpensive. One was originally solid green, while the other had a green and tan camouflage pattern on it. I prefer the look of the three colour green, brown, and tan, although all the various colour combinations were used in 1940.

 

 

 

Now we come to the transport part of this submission starting with six Laffly S20 TL trucks designed to transport a squad of Dragons Portés, or motorized dragoons of the DLM. These are again 3D prints done by my friend from an STL file I found online. The file generated a very detailed model, but one that may not stand up to the rigours of the wargame table. My friend said he broke off the two side mirrors and the windscreen while trying to get the first print he made free from the supports. Afterwards he adjusted the files to remove the support problem, and the rest printed successfully without any issues. I also managed to snap off a side mirror, and a rear tire of two separate models while prepping them for painting due to rather fragile axles on the models. Once again I resorted to the super glue - baking soda combination to get a strong repair. I also scratch-built replacement mirrors using some florist wire and a small plastic disc made using my leather hole punch. All the models were primed black, followed by a coat of USA Olive Drab. The seats were painted using Vallejo Tan Earth, and the whole truck got a wash of Citadel Agrax Earthshade, followed by Vallejo Model Wash European Dust around the wheels and fenders.

 

 

While I was working on the other vehicles. I remembered that I had a Tamiya 1/48 model kit of a Citroën Traction 11 CV staff car sitting in a box in the basement. I originally wasn't sure how I wanted to paint it up, but in the end I decided to add it to my French force. It was an easy kit to assemble, and I painted most of the exterior using an airbrush while the parts were still on the sprue. From unopened kit to complete vehicle in less than a day.

 

 

 

At last we come to the troops, in this case Dragons Portés. All of these figures are very recent acquisitions from Crusader Miniatures. We will start with a platoon of three squads and a platoon headquarters. Each squad consists of ten men, including a man carrying a Fusil-mitrailleur Modèle 1924 M29 light machine gun, and his No. 2 holding spare magazines. All the squads have an extra figure armed with a Viven-Bessières rifle grenade cup discharger, as this is one of the options in the Bolt Action rules. One of the squad leaders is carrying a MAS-38 submachine gun.

 

Finally we have have some support weapons consisting of two Hotchkiss machine guns, a Hotchkiss 25mm anti-tank gun, an 81mm medium mortar, and a 60mm light mortar. At some point I want to add some ammunition boxes and spent casings to the bases, but I didn't have anything appropriate in the bits box. That will have to wait until some point in the future, but for now I am calling it done.

 

 For painting up the Dragons Portés, I followed the guide below from 'Flame of War' fairly closely since I had all the necessary colours in my inventory. Two exceptions are that I used USA Olive Drab instead of Gunship Green on the vehicles, and I used Army Painter Leather Brown instead of German Camouflage Orange Ochre on the soldiers' ammo pouches and Y-straps. After the figures were painted, they got a coat of Army Painter Strong Tone Quickshade. As mentioned in my previous submission, this leaves the figures with a glossy sheen, but I will eventually spray them with a matt coat.

 

 I hope to add some motorcycle troops to this formation in the upcoming painting challenge. Stay tuned.