Painting Updates - Romans, French-Indian War, Battletech

Here's what I've been painting.

Work continues on the Punic War Romans. With two commands of actual Romans finished, I wanted to incorporate a command of Italian Allies. 

From the Warprinter "Hannibal vs. Rome" Kickstarter, these minis are Etruscans and Samnites, which gives them a visibly distinct profile compared to the Romans. 

In game, these medium infantry units are somewhat less effective than their Roman counterparts (lacking the Pilum and Drilled special rules), but can still hold a flank as the Roman Legions push forward. 

I also gave them units of archers for their skirmish infantry. They have longer range compared to the Roman Velites, but are less effective in close combat. 

While reflecting on what I had done so far, I thought that the shields on the finished Roman infantry were a little bland, so a couple quick lines with some acrylic pens gives the impression of shield designs. It's a little rough up close, but at arms length it works nicely (in my opinion, at least!). 

I've got a small collection of 28mm French & Indian War miniatures that haven't seen much use in some time (apart from a solo test game of the second edition of Muskets & Tomahawks at the start of the Covid pandemic). They could be used with Sharp Practice, but I'm far more interested in using 15mm miniatures for them, which would be a return to a project way back at the start of the blog. 

I reached out to a wargaming friend my an old group who's also a FIW enthusiast, and he's willing to buy them from me. All of the military units were painted apart from a set of eight British Regulars, so I said I would finish them off before we made the exchange. 

Rounding out this eclectic mix of finished miniatures is another Star for my Clan Jade Falcon force. Unlike other Stars which come from the official boxes, this Star is the result of the blind-box 'Salvage Boxes' that Catalyst released from the Clan Invasion Kickstarter.

I'd call it an ad-hoc Star, but that's already a box set. Maybe an Impromptu Star?

The two medium-class mechs are an Ice Ferret and a Viper.

And the other three heavy-class mechs are a Hellbringer, Mad Dog, and a Pryde variant Timber Wolf (which gives it some useful jump jet movement).

For this Star, I wanted a more mute color scheme compared to the screaming eye sore of the previous mechs. 

Painting Update - Romans

Here's an update on what I've been working on. 

I'm still trying to get through the 15mm Punic War project that I'm splitting with Josh. As he works on his Carthaginians, I'm technically done on the Romans. 

This will give me two Roman commands for use in games, Caeruleus and Rubeus.

They're pretty easy to add on to if need be. Hail Caesar asks for a 2:2:1 ratio of Hastati, Principes, and Triarii. I followed that for the basic roster of each command, with a pair of Velites units to cover the formed infantry. 

In a test game with Josh, it seemed to work well. Five formed units (seven total) gives enough choices for maneuvering, but doesn't bog down in command rolls. 

The next two command will consist of Italian allies; one command of infantry, and other command of cavalry. 

Painting Update - WWII, Mythic Americas, Romans, Warmaster

It's been a long time since I've had any posts about what I've been painting between games, so here's an update!

I wanted to add a little more armor to my 28mm Late War Germans, so I picked up a Marder III from Warlord Games. 

I also finished the monstrous Ayar for my Aztec warband in Mythic Americas. This Monstrosity is a Mythic Americas original, formed from the shattered soul of one of the legendary Ayar brothers after having been captured by the Aztecs and sacrificed. Now an Aztec High Priest can call upon the Ayar to aid them in battle. 

I've been working on a Second Punic Wars project as well. Josh was kind enough to supply me with a fully 3d-printed set of miniatures. As Josh will be commanding the Carthaginians, I took over the Romans. 

Here's a unit of Velites. We're using Hail Caesar for the rules, and DBx basing. So two bases for small units. 

Here's the Hastati. Regular sized units will be four bases. 

The Principes are close in style to the Hastati. The white feathers on the helmets will help distinguish them from the front, and from behind the chainmail armor also makes them stand out. 

The Triarii are the most visibly distinct, with feather and crests on their helmets, and their long spears. 

Hail Caesar calls for a 2:2:1 proportion of Hastati, Principes, and Triarii, so that's what the two Roman legions will be formed from.

And finally, the commander 

I have another battlegroup of Romans to paint up (probably with blue shields), along with a battlegroup of allied Italians and a cavalry battlegroup. 

What currently on the table is a Daemons of Chaos army for Warmaster. I received these minis from another Black Gate Miniatures kickstarter, and I wanted to take them to a tournament. The upcoming event at Historicon was the perfect excuse to start working on them.

This is a brigade of three Daemon Hordes and a Daemon Swarm. The demonic infantry are generic looking (they would work for any 10mm demonic force, rather than something specific to the Warhammer Fantasy world), so I've used a color palette that should tie them in to the main four factions of Chaos.