From HarryV Libyan Skirmishers (180 Points)

 Hey everybody, 

This week's submission is 36 28mm Libyan Skirmishers for my Carthaginian Project for a total of 180 points. These Libyans were recruited from the nomadic, tribal peoples of the vast region of Libya. 

 

These guys are made from the Warriors of Carthage box from Victrix, along with fellows from the victrix peltast set and other random sets to make up the numbers. You only get 12 in the warriors of Carthage box, so numbers needed to be found elsewhere. Fortunately you get extra Libyan heads so conversions are easy. 

Hannibal had around 2,000 of these warriors in his army from my research, so at a 1:50 scale that gives 40 models, so I am about 4 figures short, but oh well. 

I couldn't find my stash of surplus round shields and did not have enough in the packs to give them all round shields. Therefore some of these fellows have picked up thureos shields from Carthage's substantial armories. Of course, after priming them I found my extra round shields. 

Some of these Libyans also have acquired/looted helmets as well. This was mainly to make up for the lack of Libyan heads I had available. 

Our limited sources of these gentlemen describe them wearing exclusively red tunics, along with wild and shaved hairstyles. I believe the hairstyles would have been unique to each tribe, however the victrix set only has one expression/face per hairstyle, so the different tribes are mixed together for modeling purposes. 

The victrix warriors of Carthage box is a little frustrating as it combines three very distinct troop types in one box. I would really prefer separate kits for the different troop types, like a dedicated box just for Libyan skirmishers. now that I am out of Libyan heads I can't really make any more of this troop type. Also you only get one head per hairstyle, where you would think the skirmishers recruited from a tribe would be grouped together all with the same hairstyle. 

These are all for the "To The Strongest" Ruleset. 

Next up are many more infantry along with more heavy cavalry which will be ready towards the end of February. Following that I have some really cool stuff (I think) for the Carthage project which will remain a secret for now. 

Every time I see HarryV in the title I expect to see HYW English, but I am more than satisfied with these Libyans!  Excellent work on kit bashing, painting and basing these skirmishers.  As Phil Barker would say, do not discount the humble light infantry skirmisher with javelins.  These troops are. both cheap and effective.  In one of our TtS games, Irish beardless youth managed to get round the flank of the Roman legions and win the day.  I got a chuckle out of your shield drama (been there) and the issues with the heads.  FYI, I know some gamers have used Perry Mahdist plastics as greek javelin men, so maybe's there's another source for you.  I am hoping that the promised "really cool stuff" includes Heffalumps.

 

From NoelW: A quick second post - Libyan Javelinmen (70 points)

My first post was to complete an army. My second, to start one.

As a Christmas present I was given this:

I've wanted a Roman army for some while. This will be the start of their opponents.

I've been collecting Romans for the last few months whenever I've come across them second hand or in sales. In this way I've now 48 Caesarian Romans, around 100 Imperial Romans, enough Late Romans to start an army of them - and not a single Republican Roman. So I guess my Carthaginians will face non-historical opponents. But I'm not that concerned. Romans are Romans, surely?

This Victrix box is a great start for Carthage: 62 figures for less than £30 (and quite a bit less, if you shop around). These consist of 24 Veterans, 24 Liby-Phoenician heavy infantry and 14 Libyan javelin men. So here are the javelinmen, my first foray in this direction:

A close up:

(I've just noticed the red spot on his chin. I think that's an artefact of the photo, but I'll have to get the figure back out of the box and check. Maybe I'm repainting already!)

I rather like the hide shields that I've seen on some other gamers' Libyans, so that's what I've gone for here. Some work better than others. The brown and white in the next photo is probably a bit more pleasing than this black and white, but from a distance they all look quite convincing.

And the whole mob of fourteen.

I was quite pleased with these. And, thanks to Curt's advice, I think the photos this time are a tad better.

Fourteen figures at 5 = 70 points. And that's my first Squirrel point, too.


G'day Noel,

Wow that was quick getting a second post in so soon after your first. You'll be making serious inroads into your target in short order if you can keep this pace up!

I'm a huge fan of *anything* Carthaginian so you've hit a sweet spot for me with this entry. I'm also really pleased to see you've painted the flesh tones in an appropriate shade as opposed to the darker tones you sometimes see for Libyans.

Your colour scheme is also really appealing with the block of red/brown tunics to tie everything together paired with a mix of animal hide shields. Very effective indeed!

These speedy chaps earn you a further 70 points. Looking forward to seeing the next batch of troops for the new army.

Cheers,
Millsy