A Gallic chariot

 

Well, of course I was going to look at making chariots for the Gauls...

I literally used things that were just lying around! The chariot sits a bit high off the ground, any future ones I'll probably use smaller wheels - possibly Rose 20mm artillery wheels. On this particular chariot body the axle is a bit further back than I like.

Size comparison with the Airfix chariot.

Construction... for the sides I just used a couple of pieces from an Airfix chariot. I'm not sure what the body of the chariot was from - either Khmer or possibly the 28mm AG/AB Range of  Celts. Could even finish up making future chariot bodies totally from scratch.

25mm Garrison Assyrian 4 horse chariots

Well that one took a while to finish...

Some of the paintwork was done using my new pens, for example the light blue in the white triangles on the chariot cab.

Also some of the decorations on the rein dividers. These paints are going to prove very useful in the future!

25mm Assyrian chariots

Don't think I could get away with more chariots in the Shem army!

Line chariots, so simplified paintwork compared to the generral. The etched pattern on the side barely shows in real life!

I've kept them as 3 man chariots - probably should have made them 2 man, just preferred 3. However, rather than use the spear figure I've gone for 2 archers.

Might (probably will) do a general and chariot unit as 4 horse 3 man chariots as well. 8 new Assyrian chariots should do for now.

 

At some stage I must do the dozen cavalry I need to finish off the HoTT Shem army!

'The Ancient War Game' cover figures.

Although most of the figures in the book are Garrison, the cover features a load of 'new' Hinchliffe figures. Happily, those figures have been part of my own collection for a number of years...

The cover includes 3 units: chariots, open order Immortal archers and close order Immortals.

There are 3 chariots on the cover - no idea which ones from the photo.

Well, apart from this one, which is pretty obvious...

Frontal view of 3 of the others...

Back view of the other 3.

There are 30 Immortal archers on open order bases - though these were based by Harry, not Grant.

30 close order Immortals - I'll do other units as this series continues.

(Posted before but probably still best to include a picture of the cover):

I've started more units of Xerxes army; that series will intersperse with these over the next ??? or so.

Indian Army Review 2019

The logical end of the November mass painting spree...

Not as big as some of my other armies but quite reasonable.

Inspecting the first chariot unit...

Second...

And third...

Along the line of javelins.

The archery Corps

And finally the cavalry

The 2 horse chariots came with a 1 man crew - I've replaced them with a 2 man crew.

Medium cavalry units - in blue, so could possibly substitute for Kushites.

The EHC came part painted. 'Actual' EHC in an Indian army should be Kushans, basically a Parthian cataphract figure on a half armoured horse. Not something I'm going to quibble about!

These elephants show the flesh tones issue - figures all came ready painted though I painted the elephants.

Chariot of the Apocalypse

There are still a lot of individual or small groups of  figures in my collection I don't seem to have covered yet. One of these is a model in the RAFM Demons of Darkness range - number 3705, the Chariot of the Apocalypse. (Actually, thought I had but can't find it so....)

Painting style a bit different from my current block painting efforts. Could probably touch up the chariot wheels.

One thing I like is how the charioteer's head turned out

It's one of those figures I'm not sure about. Not convinced I like the horses for instance. Quite happy with the painting though - comes under the heading 'once upon a time I could paint'

Tin plate Assyrian chariot based.

Says it all really. I've also based the 'Carthaginian' Assyrian light archers.

Shown together with the first one I painted.

Being line chariots instead a 'general' I've used a much plainer style for the chariots.

The archers go to form two units of 12 and fill in quite a gap in my Minifigs Assyrian army.

Still quite a lot of figures to be based, including another 48 Indian archers.

Meanwhile I decided to to upgrade the early Greek hoplites with the white bird shield blazon to 48 (nearly finished), plus completed another 48 Indian archers, and have undercoated a unit of Saitic heavy cavalry (slightly modified PB Indians on Garrison horses) and another 24 Indian javelins.

Indian 4-horse 6-crew chariots.

So, at 6 days three chariots took twice as long as that load of infantry and cavalry - though to be fair I have based them.

Mainly because I took a bit more care and also added more detail to them.

Plus it does represent 18 people and 12 horses - takes a lot more than 2-horse 2-crew chariots.

View of the crew - shield designs total fantasy but look good. I may end up doing a javelin unit with a similar shield design.

Likewise the chariots - pure fantasy but I like them!

Spain v the Celts - double DBA-ish Part the Second

Second phase of the battle as in second session - so  I've also reset the tree counter!

Scene at the end of movement in Move 5.

Another river proved no obstacle for the Celts - both rivers threw a 1, could have made a difference on the other flank if it had proved uncrossable on a 6. Really, though, on this flank nothing much happened!

The Spanish forward hill is starting to get a bit surrounded by Celts...

While the other hill awaits the onslaught. The Spanish general and other cavalry are meanwhile fully occupied.

The battle for the Spanish left continues...

Move 6 sees the Spanish advanced hill looking a bit fragile as it's completely surrounded.

And... the onslaught starts on the other hill.

And... The Spanish left is a bit crumbly.

End of the move see dead warbands and auxilia all over the place. Mostly warbands.

The position is pretty even at this point - both sides have lost 7 elements. The Spanish are a mix of troop types, the Celts are all warband! Mainly due to frontally charging Auxilia on hills.

It isn't as even as the casualties imply though - the Spanish left flank is about to go under.

Meanwhile there is a clash of generals. The Spanish general is actually Carthaginian - ex-Harry bodyguard, and the fact they are on palominos suggest he painted them - think Harry likes palominos. Don't remember where I got the general from, could have been Harry.

Closer view of the Spanish left at the point of contact.

Closer view of the Spanish left after contact - LI pushed off the edge of the world and cavalry pushed back without being able to go anywhere.

Lots of infantry dying on a hill.

View from the Spanish right...

View from the Spanish left... At which point the Celts had lost 8 elements, the Spanish 12. More importantly, the Spanish position didn't seem to be viable so battle over.

An interesting battle. I tried to play it as a battle rather than a wargame - as a competition wargame I wouldn't have launched the warbands against the hill the way I did here and I would have held the Spanish left back rather than go for the river line. I would possibly have been a bit more aggressive with the Auxilia on the second hill. Might even re-run the battle doing that sometime. It was good finding out the way the terrain affected everything - good battle.