Tuesday 20 April 2021

Peloponnesian War - Spartan Command - 28mm Wargames Foundry


This was a delight to paint up. This vignette is from the Wargames Foundry Spartan Officers set, with one figure from one of their command sets.  


I have never painted up an animal sacrifice scene before so this was something new for me!   According to the Osprey books that I used as reference material, the Spartans placed great importance on the pre-battle sacrifice.  One of the Osprey books has a wonderful illustration of such a scene going on  with a  storm of arrows landing around them!  


Given the importance of the scene, I decided that this had to be Senior Command stand and they had to be fully engaged in watching the outcome - no matter what else is happening on the battlefield!


The drably dressed Helot slave boy provided a nice contrast to the powerful figures in the scene.


The  relative simplicity of the Spartan clothing and equipment meant that I could invest a little extra time in texture, highlighting and lowlighting.




The officer above is clearly a little more concerned about something and with sword drawn and shield ready, he is prepared to defend the ceremony attendees - perhaps he has seen the Athenian light troops drawing nearer and preparing their bows and slings.


I used the Victrix dory/dorata instead of the Foundry supplied wire spears.  The two were a world apart in detail and for a vignette like this I really wanted the best for the figures.


A few more photos of the whole composition are below.  I often see command stands as a necessary evil.  I always like to use commanders in games with command and communication taking central importance.  However, I'm always short of troops and I normally find that I would rather be painting lots of troops instead of a few commanders (who need extra time investment in details).  

These Spartan's were a lot of fun to paint and to experiment with the composition and I didn't regret the time spent on these one bit.




Stay tuned for the next instalment!  I'm working on several things at once and I've no idea which to post up next!


















 

























14 comments:

  1. Very, very cool Spartan command/vignette, Jason! I just love the transverse crests on the helmets - the iconic Spartan look.

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    1. Thanks Dean, Yes the crests of the commanders really do set them off, very iconic.
      Best wishes,
      Jason

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  2. Replies
    1. Thanks Ray, I'm glad you like them.
      Best wishes,
      Jason

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  3. The Ancient Gods inspired you Jason, wonderful vignette!

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    1. Perhaps so Phil! :-) Thank you for your kind comment.
      Best wishes,
      Jason

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  4. Outstanding command group Jason

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    1. Thanks Keith, I'm glad you like them.
      Best wishes,
      Jason

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  5. Cracking Spartan command Jason!

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    1. Thanks for your kind comments Cyrus. I really enjoyed painting this command set.
      Best wishes,
      Jason

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  6. Excellent Spartan command vignette.

    Cheers, Ross

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    1. Thank you Ross, I'm glad you like them.
      Best wishes,
      Jason

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  7. That is very cool. You did a great job. 😀

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    1. Thanks Stew, I always like to put a little bit of extra time into the command sets - time consuming but worth it.
      Best wishes,
      Jason

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