28mm - Romano British Nobles - Victrix

I have had an interest in the Romano-British and Early Saxon history for a good few years now.  I always felt that I lacked knowledge in this period though.  One really positive thing about wargaming is that it soon has you diving for the books to obtain information prior to painting and playing!

I have now built up a small collection of books and inspiration came further with the purchase of 'Dux Britanniarum' by the Too Fat Lardies and the Warlord Games Arthurian supplement. I also bought Osprey's 'Dux Bellorum' to get another rules/knowledge boost. 

The biggest inspiration was probably the trilogy of books written by Bernard Cornwell set in this period called 'The Warlord Chronicles'.  I enjoyed reading these far more than I thought possible and I was sad to finish them. They were books that I genuinely couldn't put down.

With that inspiration burning, I ordered the Saxon and Late Roman sets of figures from Victrix.  I knew they were lovely sculpts and I was not disappointed.  The sets had so many choices and spare parts too.  In addition it was possible to create a large number of command figures if one so wished.

The command stand in the above 4 photos will be the primary leader, probably as a King for the Romano-British.  The image on the Vexillum is actually a combination of two Little Big Men Studio's shield decals which I have blended into one large image.  This was far more effective than painting a design and the Shields are so interesting, I thought this would be a good way to show off their splendour.

Above we have another commander and his horn player.  Again these are all parts within the packs (I can't recall if it was from the unarmoured or armoured sets, as I mixed and matched figures from both to create the look that I wanted.

This stand will command a 'division' for Hail Caesar, with my standard signifier of having two figures on the command base.  In other rulesets, the stand could command whatever is required. I'm also keen to give Midgard a try out, having never played with the rules yet.   I think this period will suit Midgard well (and indeed there is a Romano-British and Early Saxon set of armies listed within it).

I have to say that the Little Big Men Studios shield decals are quite beautiful and they really do set the figures off. 

The Victrix sets, both the armoured and unarmoured sets, give so many options for creating so many troop types, including Goths too.  I opted to use the Romano-British heads, which made sense to me, as well as a few Late Roman ones.   

The cloaks are intended mostly for Romano-British troops. I haven't seen any references showing these being worn over shoulder like this as a distinguishing feature, but I would well imagine the practicality of it.   I think if I was outside even this week in our wonderful British weather, I would most definitely want a cloak

More command stands below. I thought I would give this particular commander a Vexillum with my own attempt at painting a design on

The bronze scale armour makes a really nice change to the other armours normally seen.

An unusual thing for me these days, but this is a figure based singly!   Well this is the Romano-British Champion for use specifically in Dux Britanniarum rules.  These Champions play an important rule in the pre-battle stage as they attempt to boost the morale of their own watching armies as they duel with the Champion of the opposing army.  

The Bernard Cornwell books portray these events in great detail, and I really did feel that I needed to add a Champion to the ranks of my Romano-British!

I thoroughly enjoyed painting these. There are quite a lot of bits to the figures, but the work of assembly is so worthwhile as you do get so many options with each figure.  

I have been busy painting both armies too, so these are likely to follow on the blog in due course.

Indeed they have already taken their place in battle at the weekend. On the day that I finished my first Romano British armoured figures, they were taking their place in shieldwall at the Battle of Deorham 577AD later that evening.  

Unusually for a new unit they fought like lions and changed history by holding the ridge against the Saxons! Hurrah!  (This is where I remember that my ancestors were almost certainly among the Saxon invaders...awkward!).
 

28mm - French Napoleonic Artillery Caisson - Perry Miniatures

 

This is one of those models that looks really nice on the online catalogue, but I always ask myself - do I need it?   Shouldn't I buy another infantry regiment instead?

However, with the rule set 'General d'Armee' I now had the reason to add a French Artillery Caisson to my collection.  In this rule set artillery caissons really do play a part in the battle...and that was good enough reason for me!

Initially I was quite daunted to build it, but it went together really quite well.  Options in the kit allow the caisson covers to be open, showing the ammunition, or closed.  I decided to keep it closed as the whole model gives the impression of rapid movement, and I felt that closed hatches would prevent dust ingress and loss of ammunition when bounding along some long barren Spanish road!

I do rather like the unusual colours of the driver's uniforms.  It is a nice change to the dark blue of the gunners.  There were some quite good resources for uniforms and caisson colours online.  I did also use the Funcken books again (always so helpful).

I will be only too happy to increase my numbers of caissons should I add more French Artillery Batteries to my French.  It really adds something when it is placed on the board and is a lovely model in its own right.

28mm Peninsular War - French Command Stands

 

After the post of the British command stands last time, it is only fair to show the French.

Here we have a French General de Division.  I haven't based the General on any particular character but I have used the Perry Miniatures figure of Marcognet from pack FN14 as the main leader.  He is accompanied by his Adjutant-Commander and an Adjoint.  I have tried to create as believable a vignette as I could to try to bring the stand 'alive'.

I had to do some learning as to what differentiated a General de Division to a General de Brigade's uniform. This did involve some purchasing of Osprey books and also the assistance of my old faithful Funcken book which has been my source of essential information for so many years now.  I think I purchased that one with a postal order in the mail when I was about 13 and it has served me so well since! 

Below we have the first of two General de Brigade stands that I have painted up.  The command figure is based on the Foy figure in set FN15. I should say that all of the figures are Perry Miniatures.   He is accompanied by his ADC.  As usual, I base Divisional commanders on a larger base with three figures and Brigade Commanders with two figures on a smaller base.

I was just thinking that I didn't need to do any conversion work on any of these figures to make them suitable for the Peninsular, but actually I did. The ADC below has had new longer tunic tails made from paper to replace his short tailed coat.

Below is the other General de Brigade. This one makes me smile each time I look at it. He is a real character and rewards some extra attention to facial detail.  Something has got his blood up for sure!  His figure is General de Brigade Campi from FN15 also, but again he will be a generic Brigade commander for me. 

He is accompanied by his Adjoint. Now this particular figure is one of my friend Ian's favourites from the Perry range and I have to say that I agree that it is one of the best.  In this the Perry's really pulled off an fabulously imaginative figure of the Adjoint using his horse saddle as a rest for his telescope.  It really sets the stand off as a vignette and you wonder whether what he has just seen off to the flank has set off his General into a temper!

I thoroughly enjoyed painting these and they rewarded the extra time that I spent trying to get the small details right.  I still have a few more command stands to paint, but I fancy a move away from gold braid for a bit!

28mm Peninsular War - British Divisional and Brigade Commanders

 

Like many wargamers, I invest a lot of time in painting up units for the table and take great satisfaction from ticking off another essential battalion as completed. These battalions do after all, take us another step closer to being able to play a game.

This does leave commanders as an after thought, or simply something that doesn't quite get done until you really have to do it.  That's my experience anyway.  Commanders also always need that little bit of extra work, big feathers and plenty of gold trim often ensures that, but there is also that need to add some character detail too.

So, after completing enough Allied units for a small game, I thought it was time I really got on with the commanders for both sides.  I have done the French too, but as Blogger seems to be back to posting pictures in reverse order, something that it has never been able to sort out, I decided to make life easier for myself and split the posts up.

This is the British Divisional Commander and is built up from figures from three different sets from the Perry Miniatures range.  The Major General is from the set for Pack, Kempt and Halkett.  This set (BH-03) is probably meant for the Hundred Days campaign and is with the initial catalogue listings which appear to be for that campaign.   The other two packs were BH106 - Colonels in Bicorne and BH151 - Mounted ADCs.

I decided not to use use the figures as named personalities as such, which eased trying to find portraits to get hair colour and detail correct (such as I did with Waller from my ECW post of some years back).  I did encounter another issue though and that was the change in how General ranks were worn, with the change in regulations.

So, aiguillettes had to be carefully trimmed off and smoothed, new epaulettes had to be created from plastic putty and while I was at it, I decided to create riding boots and breeches to replace their overalls, just to give it that earlier Peninsular campaign look!

I liked the addition of the campaign coats but felt that I needed to adjust shades of colour when two personalities wore them.  This seemed to work well, and I was pleased with the result.

I mixed and matched officers and ADCs to try to create a story with them, and to try to get them to interact with each other, whether to a greater or lesser degree.  The ADC below is being given clear instructions by the brigade commander.

I decided to keep the cavalry overalls on this particular ADC as overalls were worn in theatre, but just not as the generic item seen in the hundred days campaign.  The general also has his overall trousers on too.  It helps to make a difference between command stands.

I really enjoyed creating and painting these almost as command vignettes.  Deciding on what seemed to work with composition and modifying figures to adjust uniforms for the Peninsular was the trickiest part. After that the painting was very enjoyable.   French Commanders to follow.

Ps....Hmmmmm the post has been up for nearly 20 hours and there have been no views on it recorded. I wonder if Blogger got up upset with my criticism of the photo synching!  Weird!  Hopefully its just some kind of glitch!