More Romans

With a few days off work, I took the opportunity to get a second Roman legion done. Once again I went with the black shields to sort of keep a theme for the army. Their tunics though are a different shade and I added white to the helmet plumes. This way I can combine the bases when I try the Midgard rules in the future. All the figures are Museum miniatures 'Z' sculpt range.

Combined legions

Very happy with how these have turned out, I now need to turn my attention to the allied legions that were raised from the Socii to fight alongside the Romans. Now there isn't a great deal of information on these. It is assumed they would fight in the Roman fashion, but be probably less uniform as they would be drawn from different Italian cities. So looking through the available figures from Museum Miniatures, I'm thinking of using the Samnite figures for the Triari and a mix of equiped Hastati for both the Hastati and Princeps. I'll also paint the shields in a mix of colours to highlight that they are allied troops.

Enemies of Rome

Well if you are going to fight the Punic wars, you do need some enemies to fight. Now after a rummage through the lead pile I managed to pull out enough figures for 2 bases of heavy infantry and a base of medium infantry to represent one of the Italian city states such as the Campanians who decided to through in their lot with the Carthaginians. The figures I believe are from Essex miniatures, pretty quick to paint up and I've deliberately gone with simple shield designs.

I enjoyed painting these as they are a lot more irregular looking than the Romans. So I decided to order a couple of packs from Museum miniatures to add two more bases of heavy infantry and a couple of bases of Tarantine light cavalry. This will make a nice little allied force or even a small stand alone force to fight a Roman legion.

The next figures I painted up was some Gallic cavalry. These are from the free sprue that came with the Wargames Illustrated magazine. They do look a lot better than the last 'epic' scale I painted. I have enough of these for 3 more bases of cavalry and a base of light cavalry. I also did a size comparison against the original Museum miniatures and the new  'Z' sculpts. At a push I could add in some of the  Gallic cavalry from Museum miniatures as they don't scale to badly to these. However they do look small against the newer 'Z' sculpts.

L to R: Museum, Epic, 'Z' Sculpt

Now it will be back to some more Romans. I made a decision to paint the second legion with the same shields as the first, this way I can double base them up for Midgard, while also retaining the option as two legions for Basic Impetus.

More Republican Romans

 A few more Romans completed for my 1st new legion. 1 base of Triari, 1 base of cavalry and 2 bases of velites. All figures from Museum Miniatures and their 'z' sculpt ranges.

Looking at the completed legion, I only have 8 bases. I can of course add some allies for small games of Basic Impetus. Visually I am undecided and may look to double up the bases, I have the figures which were earmarked for a second legion that I can use. But I don't want to get carried away and end up with more figures than I actually need, as I want to also add the Gauls, Carthaginians and Italians etc or do I stick to the plan and paint up another legion and 2 allied legions using the same number of bases. That would give 20 bases of heavy infantry, 8 bases of velites and 6 bases of cavalry, as the allied legions will have an extra base, to which I can add small allied contingents as well as work on the other factions. 

I think this is a decision I need to sleep on.

Old figures / New figures and a new project "Punic Wars"

A while back, well in July 2024 I started to re-base my old ancients figures for use in Basic Impetus or even Midgard, when I get around to purchasing the rules. So this weekend I decided to try and get the bases finished. So first up are the a Hoplite Greeks, figures are all from Essex miniatures. I had lots of fun with these when I first got them over 30 years ago. Also the days before shield transfers, these were never my best work, but will never get re-painted, they contain too much nostalgia.

The next batch was some Republican Romans from Museum miniatures, pretty serviceable figures, need to paint up a couple of extra velites to complete another base. I've also ordered some test figures from Cromarty forge to get the missing base of Triari as I only have the Hastati and Princeps. 

It was while doing these I remembered the new Romans I picked up last year. The new Z sculpts from Museum Miniatures. Now the idea of a new project is forming, The Punic wars. Initially I want to concentrate on the Italian Peninsula, some Carthaginians, Gauls, Italians, Numidians, Spanish and Elephants. I've already dug around the lead pile and unearthed enough figures for 2 bases of Italian heavy infantry and a base of medium infantry.

So the new project is born and the first troops are completed. 2 bases of Hastati and Princeps completed. I've gone for black shield for the first new legion. Lovely figures and very quick and easy to paint up.

My idea for a legion will be 2 bases each of Hastati, Princeps and Velites, supported by a single base of Triari and cavalry. The Triari and Velites are already painted, just need their bases finished. The old Roman figures I have can represent an allied legion which will have the extra base of cavalry. 

FPW - The Prussians and other Germans

So tonight I cracked on getting the Prussian army out of its boxes and writing out new labels for each command base. A thankless task, but one that had to be done. So to cheer myself up I thought, since they are already out of their boxes I'd get them on parade. So I commandeered the dining room table, much to my wife's disgust. So here they are, 3 full Corps made up from VI, XIV and Bavarian I Corps. There is also the 25th Division and start of the 18th Division of IX Corps and 2 Cavalry divisions to complete the army.

The Full army

Bavarian I Corps

VI Corps

XIV Corps, Wurtemberg and Baden

2 Cavalry Divisions

25th Division, Hessian

17th Division, Mecklenberg

The majority of the infantry are from Outpost, with a couple of units from Old Glory. The guns are all from Outpost. The commanders are a mix of Outpost, Friekorps and Essex. The cavalry are a good mix of Outpost and Essex. A quick estimate of numbers is approx 900 infantry, 120 mounted and 23 guns. 

So everything now pack away in readiness for the game on the 24th May, also gives me a chance to paint something a bit different.

FPW - game ready

Finally got the last few figures painted up that I need for the upcoming part 3 of our mini campaign. First up is the 2nd Regiment of Mecklenberg infantry. These will be used to support the Hessian Division. Like the last regiment the figures are from Old Glory with the command from Outpost / Reiver castings.

The second unit I painted was a third regiment of Chasseurs d'Afrique along with a Divisional commander. These figures are from Friekorps and a good match with the Outpost and Essex figures I've used so far for mounted troops. These were the final regiment required for a second reserve division of cavalry.

As I mentioned in earlier posts, I was re-organising my French forces, reducing the strength of XII Corps and building up IV Corps and the reserve cavalry to support III Corps which is currently unchanged. I've also been re-labelling all of the command bases (thankless work).

L to R, IV Corps, Reserve cavalry in the rear and XII Corps

IV Corps

XII Corps

With these added to III Corps, I now have 7 infantry divisions and 5 cavalry divisions for the game. Thom will be providing I Corps, so far with another 3 infantry divisions and a possible cavalry division if he can get them painted by 24th May.

Now I just need to pluck up the courage to make a start on re-labelling the Prussian army. Thankfully the Wurtemberg division and 1 division of Bavarians are already done. Just leaves 5 infantry divisions and 2 cavalry divisions to go. 

FPW Mecklenberg 1st Infantry regiment

Just a quick post as I managed to get the basing finished for a regiment of Mecklenberg infantry. The majority of the figures are from Old Glory, very nice figures. The command figures and a couple of the infantry are from Outpost. They are a great match size wise and mix well together.

I've got enough figures leftover to paint up the 2nd regiment, these will be forming an adhoc Division with a couple of landwher regiments.

FPW French and plans

As I gear up towards the 3rd game of our clubs FPW campaign, I worked on completing the extra commanders that I needed for the French, namely for IV Corps as well as another regiment of cavalry for the French Reserve Cavalry division. The cavalry are a second regiment of Chasseurs d'Afrique, they still need a flag adding once I get one printed off. I do have a 3rd regiment of these on order from QRF for a little variety.

Also done were the additional commanders, including utilising the spare cavalry office to lead the Cavalry division. So 1 Corps commander and 2 Divisional commanders.

I also took the mad decision to re-base most of my French infantry. They were looking rather sorry and didn't match the newer regiments I have done recently. I also took the opportunity to make some of the units more uniform in pose. After I got that out of my system I realised it was easier just to re-edge the bases, as they were left unpainted and touched up the static grass. So the lights, cavalry and artillery were quickly done. I even did the same to the Wurtemburg and Bavarian Division.

Re-basing in progress

11 completed regiments

Now the 3rd game in our series will be the Battle of Louvigny. Both sides have spent the last few weeks manouvering their Corps into position and now we are ready for the game. Map drawn and sent off to the players.

Final map

Tracking map moves

So future plans for the collection include, adding a further adhoc Prussian infantry division, this will be made up of 2 line regiments and 2 smaller Landwher regiments, just because I have the 2 line regiments to paint and want to add some Landwher. For the French I will add a division each to III and IV Corps to bring them up to full strength. I don't think I will need any more as Thom is painting up the French I Corps and Mitch is adding the Prussian 18th Division to complete IX Corps

FPW Hessians completed

Another quick post as I finally completed the last infantry regiment for the Hessian / 25th Infantry division as part of IX Corps. These are the 4th Infantry regiment, I went for the mixed poses for this regiment.

This brings the division up to 4 infantry regiments, 2 Jager regiments and a Dragoon regiment. There are also 2 batteries of artillery, but they are missing from the photo as they are in a box at the club from the last game.

The only figures I have left for the Prussians are enough figures for 2 infantry regiments, minus the command. Mitch is going to 3d print the command and I can add them to the Old Glory figures. I'll probably paint at least 1 of these as a Mecklenberg regiment (because I have the flag), the other possibly Prussian. I may add a couple of small regiments of Landwehr in the future and create an adhoc / non historical division.