1,000 hoplites Review

 Having cleared away Newhaven and having all those hoplites I've painted this year lying around I thought: let's have a Garrison Hoplite Review...

 I originally planned to leave spaces between the units but couldn't get them all the picture.

There are slightly more than 1,000 of them, but who's counting?

With the exception of some of the Spartans and Thebans the front 6 ranks are all G3, next 6 ranks the cavalry conversion. Back ranks are various other Garrison hoplites - I haven't used any of my Minifigs hoplites in this Review, they are all Garrison.

The original set up didn't include my Asiatic Greek hoplites but left me a bit under 100 figures short for the full 1,000... so I thought 'why not?'

OK, so that would suit one target - I can field 1,000 Garrison hoplites; what next? Probably 500 each of G3 and cavalry conversion (must give it a code!)... so that would leave me another 400 figures or so to paint. Perhaps that would make a good 2021 target? Can't see me managing it though!

The Horse Regiment and other hoplites

Continuing with the 'big' units, this early hoplite regiment took twice as long to paint as the Late unit because of all that armour.

Basically scale armour and a white horse head on red background shield blazon.

It's a while since I've painted armour as scale - I used silver paint instead of steel because it shows up better.

I think the best I can say about the horse head blazons is that quality of the artwork is 'variable'!

Not exactly a Review, but having painted two full size (48-52 figure) units since the last Review, plus increasing the size of another from 24 to 48 figures, it seemed like a good time to put them together for a photoshoot.

Realistically the side view looks better. Note that there is another G3 unit in use as Carians so not here.

Shouldn't miss out the late hoplites - likewise, 2 48 strong units completed this year. Probably best to look at the box on the right as National/City contingents, the left box Mercenary regiments. Roughly 300 figures

 

So between the two blocks a bit under 600 hoplites.

A full size white bird hoplite unit.

 The early hoplites include a 48 strong unit, for the late hoplites I  went for a full size unit from the start - though actually did a few too many.

Which means I can field two 28 figure units!

Nothing else to say about them really, other than I painted full tunics on the musicians.

And the next 48 figure early hoplite unit has been undercoated...

And next, more early hoplites

 The late and early hoplites both being on the same mould naturally means that producing one results in making more of the other - so now a full G3 unit.

Starting to get together a reasonably sized force of this figure.

 

I thought 'might as well get the octopus thing over with'

An extra command element means I can field them as two units instead of one.

I've gone for a lot of blue for these - keep thinking green might have been better to match with the shields.

Wot? More hoplites?

 Well, yes. I did start doing a load of Persians, didn't like the colour scheme, did a few other things then got to doing hoplites. I suppose I must just like having a load of hoplites...

I've gone for a uniform look, all figures wearing the same red tunic and helmet crest and an octopus shield blazon.

It is known that soldiers in Persian armies were at least partially given clothes by the state - for the Cunaxa campaign Cyrus' forces were given red clothing, his brother Artaxerxes troops were dressed in white. I don't know how this worked - may just have been a cloak or a tunic.

I haven't painted these wearing a spolas - instead I've left them in plain tunics as per the mercenary Greek hoplites in Armies of the Macedonian Wars.