Men In Boxes

Here are 1:72 orcs from various manufacturers such as Caesar Miniatures and Orion/Dark alliance. Some are even Hat Industrie. These were based before for Warmaster, 2 figures to a base but since shifting my attention to Hores of the Things, I've decided to rebase some for a generic orc army, a Tolkien orc army and maybe another orc army version -- an AD&D one perhaps -- all for Hordes of the Things/Fantasy Impetus/DBx

(click the pictures above for bigger versions) The Manipular system was adopted at around 315 BC, during the Second Samnite War. The rugged terrain of Samnium where the war was fought highlighted the lack of manoeuvrability inherent in the phalanx formation which the Romans had inherited from the Etruscans. After suffering a series of defeats culminating in the surrender of an entire legion without resistance at Caudine Forks the Romans abandoned the phalanx altogether, adopting the more flexible Manipular system. For the next two hundred years until the Marian reforms of 107 BC,  the Roman army was organized into three lines: the hastati, the principes, and the triarii. These were divided by experience and fighting ability, with the youngest soldiers in the hastati making the first engagement. Where resistance was strong this rank would dissolve back through the Roman line and allow the more experienced soldiers in the principes to fight. In turn, the principes coul...

( you can click the pictures above for  bigger versions) Principes (Singular: Princeps) were spearmen, and later swordsmen, in the armies of the early Roman Republic. They were men in the prime of their lives who were fairly wealthy, and could afford decent equipment. They were the heavier infantry of the legion who carried large shields and wore good quality armour. Their usual position was the second battle line. They fought in quincunx formation, supported by light troops.  Principes carried swords, or gladii, instead of spears. Each princeps also carried 2 pila, heavy javelins that bent on impact to prevent them being removed from the victim or thrown back Triarii (Singular: Triarius) were one of the early Roman military Manipular legions of the early Roman Republic (509 BC – 107 BC). They were the oldest and among the wealthiest men in the army, and could afford good quality equipment. They wore heavy metal armour and carried large shields, their usual positi...

( You can click the pictures above for bigger versions) Hastati (singular: Hastatus) were a class of infantry in the armies of the early Roman Republic who originally fought as spearmen, and later as swordsmen. They were originally some of the poorest men in the legion, and could afford only modest equipment — light armor and a large shield, in their service as the lighter infantry of the legion. Later, the hastati contained the younger men rather than just the poorer, though most men of their age were relatively poor. Their usual position was the first battle line. They fought in a quincunx formation, supported by light troops. Pitched battles would begin with the velites gathered at the front. The light troops would fling javelins to cover the advance of the hastati. The hastati were leather-armoured and wore a brass cuirass and brass helmet adorned with three feathers, carried an iron-clad wooden shield, 120 cm (4 ft) tall and a convex rectangle in shape and wielded swo...

 ( You can click the pictures above for bigger versions) Velites were light infantry and skirmishers who were armed with a number of light javelins, or hastae velitares, to fling at the enemy, and also carried short thrusting swords, or gladii for use in melee. They rarely wore armour, as they were the youngest and poorest soldiers in the legion and could not afford much equipment. They initially used hastae velitares , light javelins with tips designed to bend on impact to prevent it being thrown back, similar to the heavier pila of other legionaries. They fought in a very loose, staggered formation like most irregular troops. They did carry small wooden shields for protection though, and wore a headdress made from wolf skin to allow officers to differentiate between them and other heavier legionaries. Velites did not form their own units; a number of them were attached to each maniple of hastati, principes and triarii. They were typically used as a screening forc...

Italeri's 1/72 Saracens. I enjoyed painting these, especially the horses. This is the next set of matched pairs armies I'll be building -- The armies of Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi, more popularly known as Saladin , and the crusading knights of Richard III. they'll be based for Warmaster Ancients. The horses are all painted to depict different greys. Grey is a coat color of horses characterized by progressive silvering of the colored hairs of the coat. Most gray horses have black skin and dark eyes. Gray horses may be born any base color, depending on other color genes present. White hairs begin to appear at or shortly after birth and become progressively lighter as the horse ages. The color is most commonly seen in breeds descended from Arabian ancestors. Many of us unfamiliar with horses call gray horses "white." However, a gray horse whose hair coat is completely "white" will still have black skin except under markings that were white at birth and dark eye...

The boxes due for my undivided attention. I've cracked open two boxes of each of the Spanish, Numidian and Italian allies and just one box of the Celtic cavalry. A box of the Italian Allies have already been painted as can be seen here as well as a box of the Numidian Horse here and here . The rest have been cleaned, based and primed -- check them out here . The elephants had to be redone because my dog managed to reach the table where I was spray painting the figures. I just stepped in the house to refill my glass of iced tea and came out to a scene of utter carnage! Ben Tumbling, a gold askal took advanatage of the fact that I wasn't looking and chewed on 4 whole sprues of figures. Now, I have to look for suitable conversion for the elephant handlers. I'm planning to make half with howdahs and the rest with just riders. (War Elephants Box art taken from PSR)

The painted and varnished infantry and cavalry units of my Carthaginian army for Warmaster. Basing will be done soon. Click on the pictures above for bigger versions.

After much consideration, I've decided to use Miniart's Late Roman Infantry as the core models for my Mirkwood Elves. the figures are sculpted wearing a tunic over trousers, with some in scale or mail armor. A simple conversion with putty cloaks and hoods over the heads should do the trick in making them look more "woodsy." (Figure scan above is from PSR) I like the fact that the armor has a very "dark age" feel and that not all the figures wore any, perfect for depicting the lightly armed & mixed warriors of Mirkwood. Some of the figures are armed with the Dark Age Roman Spatha, a longer sword popular in this period, as well as a variety of spears and javelins. Each set has 8 archers (short bowmen -- perfect for Mirkwood since it was the Lorien elves who used longbows) in two poses which would again just require a putty cloak with a hood over the head. The set has a mixture of shields, both of medium size and of large, oblong ones. During the war agai...

* You can click the images for a bigger picture Europa Barbarorum describes these men -- the Dorkim Afrikanim Aloophim -- as "a force of extremely well trained and motivated soldiers whose purpose is to fight as a tough and seasoned heavy infantry." This was proven by their use in the momentous battle of Cannae. Here, they surrounded and slaughtered the Romans in what is today recognized as the classic double envelopment. The figures are from Hat Industrie's Set 8020 " Hannibal's Carthaginians-African Infantry" and are composed of four heavy infantry poses. However, only two poses were used for the units photographed here with the remaining poses used to represent other elite African pikemen such as the Aanatim Afrikanim Aloophim . Each box also has two lighter unarmored infantry poses and two Numidian javelinmen poses. These will be featured soon. As usual, these are based for Warmaster Ancients.

* Some pictures can be clicked for bigger versions The army of Carthage is slowly nearing completion with the Libyan Light Infantry as the newest troops to join in. There are only three poses in these units, two from Hat Industrie and one from Zvezda. The two figures from Hat are from Set 8058 Carthaginian Allies. The two models carry javelins & shields. From the description in PSR, Libyan tribesmen seemingly wore quite severe haircuts to distinguish themselves, and these two have ridges of hair down the center of their shaven heads. The Zvezda figure is the lone libyan in Zvezda's Set 8010 Carthaginian Infantry. It's a pity because I prefer the pose and sculpting of Zvezda over Hat's overly basic figures. The Zvezda Libyan even has an earring in his right earlobe and his shield and short sword are well sculpted. In addition, the Zvezda figure has virtually no flash while the Hat Industrie figures have some mold problems with one figure marred by a very misaligned fac...