Monday 1 April 2013

Commanders for Chalons

Huns, Goths and Late Romans, oh my!
First up, the Huns.
These figures are by Foundry.
I bought three packs of these guys, and got another with the Foundry deal on multi-packs.
I painted them to be as bright as possible.  After all, the generals are going to get the pick of the looted expensive silks.
Each pack had two horsetail standards included - one with a single tail, and one with three.
I made two of each.
They will serve for Attila and two sub-generals, plus another one for Sangiban the Alan.
I know he's meant to be Caucasian, but what the hell, I got the figures anyway, and nobody will notice on the tabletop.  There's going to be quite a bit of proxying going on...
This means I will have enough command bases for a full Hun army, if I ever get around to it.
I tried to mix up the horse and clothing colours to give them some variation.
I also changed around the position of the figures on the base.
I like the Foundry steppe ponies - they look about right in terms of size compared with the riders.
The long grass is by Faller, with some cheap brown plastic wood for the earth and lighter flocking.
I like this look, which I originally tried out on my GEMS for Hastings (Generic Early Medieval Scum).
These should really stand out on the tabletop, especially when compared with my mix of much duller older figures for the army in general.
I'll probably use the triple-tail standards for the two main commanders.
Next up are the Goths.
These are by Musketeer Miniatures.  Flags and shield designs by Little Big Men Studios.
Again, I've mixed up the tunic colours to give some variation, while still trying to make them stand out.
I gave each foot base two standards.
There are Goths on each side - Ostrogoths fighting for Attila, and Visigoths fighting for Rome.
I haven't yet decided which to use for which side - it probably doesn't matter much.
The flags are actually for Early Saxons, but Steve at LBMS notes that they could be used for Goths as well.
There are also two cavalry bases, one for each side.
Some have horse armour, and so are obviously of the highest status.
They've probably been busy looting!
I left the horn blower looking quite plain by comparison.
The other base has two figures, for some variation.
I'll probably use this one for the command detached by Aetius to seize the heights to the front right of the Roman army.
The Comes Peditum of the Roman army.  He might have been Roman, but hardly anybody else was.
The Comes Equitum.  The Romans are again by Musketeer, with the ubiquitous LBMS transfers.
Finally, we have Aetius hinself.
The Roman standards are something of an experiment.
Instead of putting the flag transfers on paper, I used matt white Duchess satin that I bought from an old Glasgow institution, Mandors the fabric shop, aka known as the wargamer's shop of choice for off-cuts of useful stuff.  I wanted something that would look less flat than paper.  The material sliced well with a craft knife.  I'll try it again with two-sided flags at one point, to see how they work out, but it will be a while before I get the chance to do that.

This is pretty much my first proper foray into this period; now, it only remains to see how they fight...

6 comments:

  1. Paul,

    I now live above Mandor's!
    Euan and I played Impetus today - Mongols Vs Seljuk Turks.

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  2. Great stuff, Paul. They look fantastic!

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  3. Hi Michael, I had no idea! It's a really good central location - next time I go there, I might give you a shout...

    Hi Aaron, thanks for looking - we try the game this evening.

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  4. Fantastic looking figures, very impressive!
    Phil.

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  5. I'm looking forward to this project! Using "Tactica"?

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  6. Hi Cory, it's good to hear from you. You're right - we are using Tactica, and the first attempt seemed to go down well. I need to write it up at one point...

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