What have I been painting?

I've been spending some time trying to clear the loose ends on various projects in between painting the Quar. With my current Quar all painted up I thought I better post these before my memory fades. First up was the last 4 gladiators that I had. There was a Murmillo, 3d printed by Mitch, 2 Secutors and a Thraex from Crusader miniatures.

This brings me up to 18 Gladiators, 4 lions and a bear. I think I have most of the more common types covered. Probably just 1 or 2 more to complete the collection. Next up was a few bits and pieces for my Afrika Corps to represent the 609th Flak battalion for the Tebega gap scenario. There is a Sdkfz 10/1 SP 20mm and a Sdkfz 7/1 SP Quad 20mm AA. There is also an additional Quad 20mm AA gun.

The last things I painted up were 3 Scots Covenanter regiments for Simon. I do have a fourth nearing completion. Then I can paint up the lancers and dragoons and get them all posted off.

I'll be so pleased when the last of the ECW figures are done. I can hopefully make a start on my Republican Romans.

ECW and Gladiators

A bit of a mix bag as I plod on just trying to get some figures painted up while I still just don't feel like gaming at the moment. So first up is 3 more regiments of Pike and Shot for Simon. That makes 4 of the 10 completed. As he hasn't specified any particular regiments I have gone with very generic coat colours. That way he can use them as he wishes. That's the beauty of the civil war and that there is very little evidence of coat colours for the majority of the regiments. So 1 regiment in blue, the other 2 are in differing shades of brown.

 

After painting these it was another couple of Gladiators or my collection. Both figures are from Crusader miniatures, a Hoplomachi and a Secutor. This brings me up to 14 completed figures for my Ludus. I do have another 4 on the painting table.

In other news I have been looking around for a new project. I want to stay at 15mm as I prefer the look for larger battles. Sticking with the Basic impetus rules I have decided to paint up some Republican Romans, so an order has gone into Museum miniatures from their 'z' range. I also have a large number of Greek hoplites that I can re-base as well as some Hellenistic Greeks as direct opponents of the Romans. Should keep me busy over the summer months and into winter.

More Gladiators

Another three Gladiators to add to my Ludus as I try and cover most of the different Gladiator types. All three models are from Crusader miniatures. They represent the Scissor, Thraex (Thracian) and a Hoplomachi.

Scissor

Thraex

Hoplomachi

I just have another 6 models to paint as well as a plastic sprue to create a couple of the

Lighter Gladiator types.

Plugging away

Just a couple of figuresI managed to get finished this week. These are two more Gladiators, a Retarius and a slave. Both are from the EM4 miniatures range. Nice figures and can be bought as singles. That's a bonus as I only want one or two more specific Gladiators to finish the collection.

I went with lighter bases this time and prefer it. I felt the dark edging didn't match. So ended up doing the rest of theGladiators as well.

So what is left? I have a Murmillo, 3d printed by Mitch, 3 Secutors, a Scissor and two Hoplimachi to finish. I also picked up one of the Gangs of Rome sprues from Wargames Atlantic. Should give me enough parts for a Velire and a Sagittarius. The left over figures will be handy as extra slaves.

Another Gladiator and extras

Continuing with the Gladiator theme, I put some paint on another model. This is a female Murmillo gladiator that I picked up from Colonel bills. Nice and easy to paint up.

I'm now waiting on an order from Crusader Miniatures, a couple of packs covering Thracians, Hoplomachus, Secutors and a Scissor. I also added a lion from the Northstar range to the order. I also ordered a couple of gladiators from EM4, a Retarius and a slave for extra variety.

Now apart from gladiators you also need a few wild animals for the games, hence adding a lion to the order. It was after this that I remembered I had a few old lion models from Irregular miniatures, I think. I dug them out and also found a foundry bear. So the bear and a lioness completed. I also have 2 male lions just needing their bases finished. They do look a little on the small size and a bit rough, but why waste a model.

Now for actual games I decided to make a small board. You don't need a lot of space for the Arena of blood rules as there isn't much movement. So I decided to use a cake stand as a base, it has a diameter of 12 inches, so perfect. I covered it with a piece of old flocked sheet. As it was green I gave it a spray of chocolate brown, I then dry-brushed successive layers of terracotta, dull yellow and then pale sand.

basic cake stand

Covered in flocked sheet

After dry-brushing

Collection so far

In future I may add a base to the arena and build a fence to surround it for a provincial gladiator arena. I could even add a cage for the animals as I know Sarissa produces one.

Ave Caesar morituri te salutant!

So for something a little bit different after months of painting English Civil War and Afrika Korps I decided to dig these fellows out and give them a lick of paint. They are the last 6 Gladiators in my collection. The rest were painted up and sold off many years ago. I kind of regret that now. So with the club a buzz with getting some gladiatorial combat in, it was time to get them done. If my memory serves me right I think these figures were from Blacktree Designs, bought a long time ago. Still have a decent amount of detail and stand up well to more modern figures.

Dimarchaerus and Laquearius

Secutor and Bestiarus

Thracian and Samnite

With other club members painting up a few gladiators each, we should hopefully get some games in soon. For rules we will be trying out  Arena of Blood by Wiley Games. I'll also be looking to add a few more, probably from Crusader miniatures to fill in the gaps of the collection.