Romans

[Laurence Strong]

For the last three months or so I have been building a Roman army for use with the Hail Caesar rule set, first game is next weekend. I have some other pieces yet, they are all Warlord games 28mm EIR figures. For those that are unfamiliar with the scale I placed a Canadian quarter in front of the first figure to reference the scale. It is 15/16 of an inch, or 24 mm wide.

So here is what I have:

To start with a Roman army has to have a Caesar so here is Marcus Aurelius:

Edited June 30, 2014 by Laurence Strong

[Laurence Strong]

And a Caesar needs his Praetorian guard for protection:

[Laurence Strong]

Legatus Legionis and his dog. I am not much for faces at this scale , most times a flesh wash works wonders, his face gave me grief. I am not overly happy with it however I will live with it.

A Legatus Legionis was the commander of a Legion equivalent to a modern general officer. Being of senatorial rank - this is indicated by the purple sash around his chest, his immediate superior was the Dux (provincial governor), and he outranked all Military Tribunes.:

Edited June 30, 2014 by Laurence Strong

[Laurence Strong]

1st Cohort manned by veterans , with the imaginifer carrying the imago bearing the emperors image:

[Laurence Strong]

2nd Cohort. The shield art are either water transfer or self sticking decals:

[Laurence Strong]

3rd Cohort:

[Laurence Strong]

Praefectus. Auxiliary Cohorts or Ala - cavalry - were led by a Praefectus (prefect), who could be either a native nobleman, who would probably be granted Roman citizenship for the purpose (e.g. the famous German war leader Arminius gained Roman citizenship probably by serving as an auxiliary prefect before turning against Rome); or a Roman, either of equestrian rank, or a senior centurion :

[Laurence Strong]

Auxila Cohort. The Auxilia (Latin, lit. "helps") constituted the standing non-citizen corps of the Imperial Roman army during the Principate era (30 BC284 AD), alongside the citizen legions. By the 2nd century, the Auxilia contained the same number of infantry as the legions and in addition provided almost all of the Roman army's cavalry and more specialised troops (especially light cavalry and archers). The auxilia thus represented three-fifths of Rome's regular land forces at that time. Like their legionary counterparts, auxiliary recruits were mostly volunteers, not conscripts. A minimum term of service of 25 years was established, at the end of which the retiring auxiliary soldier, and all his children, were awarded Roman citizenship. The wife got squat, she retained whatever nationality she had.

Edited June 30, 2014 by Laurence Strong

[Laurence Strong]

Scorpion. A weapon of remarkable precision and power, the scorpio was particularly dreaded by the enemies of the Roman Empire. The scorpio was a smaller catapult-type weapon, more of a sniper weapon than a siege engine, operated by one man. The scorpio was basically an early crossbow, a "catapult with bolts", probably first invented by the Greeks, then later adopted and used on a larger scale by the Roman legions. This catapult used a system of torsion springs to propel the bolts. During the Roman Republic and early empire, 60 scorpio per legion was the standard, or one for every centuria. The scorpio had mainly two functions in a legion. In precision shooting, it was a weapon of marksmanship capable of cutting down any foe within a distance of 100 meters. During the siege of Avaricum in the war against the Gauls, Julius Caesar describes the terrifying precision of the scorpio. In parabolic shooting, the range is greater, with distances up to 400 meters, the firing rate is higher (3 to 4 shots per minute). With precision shooting the rate of fire was significantly less.

Scorpio were typically used in an artillery battery at the top of a hill or other high ground, the side of which was protected by the main body of the legion. In this case, there are 60 scorpio present which can fire up to 240 bolts per minute at the enemy army. The weight and speed of a bolt was sufficient to pierce enemy shields, and usually also to wound that enemy.

Edited June 30, 2014 by Laurence Strong

[Laurence Strong]

Thanks for looking. I will be posting more over the next while.

Larry

[drclaw]

Thanks for posting these Larry.

I've been eyeing a "Gladiator" style Roman army too and love your Marcus Aurelius and Maximus plus dog models.

Crusader Miniatures have a Joaquim Phoenix in white armour too should you ever decide to go the full hog.

Are you painting up any Praetorian Guard in blue cloaks?

http://www.crusaderminiatures.com/prod.php?prod=609&cat=1&sub=27&page=2

[Laurence Strong]

Hi

Thanks for the reply. I will be painting 2 more praetorian cohorts before this project is done, as to be able to fight the civil wars etc. The ones I posted had a light blue tunic. the Warlord Games figures are somewhat limited in poses and dress.

Thanks for the link. Some figures I really need in there.

:cheers;

Larry

Edited June 30, 2014 by Laurence Strong

[Chris Boonzaier]

Wow... do you use some kind of magnifying system when you do these or do you have bionis eyes??

[drclaw]

Thanks for the reply. I will be painting 2 more praetorian cohorts before this project is done, as to be able to fight the civil wars etc. The ones I posted had a light blue tunic. the Warlord Games figures are somewhat limited in poses and dress.

Ah, my mistake. I scrolled down from the characters to the 1st Cohort and missed the Praetorians. They look brilliant! Could you post some larger photos of maybe a couple of individuals? I've always liked their helmets.

Did the Warlord Games sets come with the Praetorian shield transfers?

[Laurence Strong]

Wow... do you use some kind of magnifying system when you do these or do you have bionis eyes??

Hi Chris

Sure do, I wear a set of 4.5 power reading glasses...I'd be hooped otherwise.

Ah, my mistake. I scrolled down from the characters to the 1st Cohort and missed the Praetorians. They look brilliant! Could you post some larger photos of maybe a couple of individuals? I've always liked their helmets.

Did the Warlord Games sets come with the Praetorian shield transfers?

Hi

Give me a bit an I will take some larger photo's.

And, yes most of GW's boxes come with transfers. The older issues did not to the best of my memory. The praetorians come with a red transfer. I bought the blue ones from GW as I wished to match the cloak of my Caesar figure.

Larry

[Brian Wolfe]

Very impressive work. Well done Larry and thanks for posting these.

Regards

Brian

[ColinRF]

Great figures well painted, I always see a well painted wargame army as evidence of extraordinary patience.

Colin

[Spasm]

These are just outstanding. I bet they look really good all set up together. Is it tempting to paint hundreds of them to get a full army look or assuming they are for tabletop battle games you've now spent all your points and just want to go mash those Visigoths.

There's just not enough time......all the stuff we would like to do

[Laurence Strong]

Great figures well painted, I always see a well painted wargame army as evidence of extraordinary patience.

Colin

Thanks Colin.

And the occasional burnout. Lost my mojo for about a week and a half.

Hello

My congratulations. Very nice painting.

I attach a Legion Diagram. From the Anibal age, more or less. It like yours are around Hadriano age.

legionesquema2.jpg

Regards

Hello Boris

Many thanks. That's truly appreciated. I don't profess to know all the fine points between the Republican and Imperial ages in so far as uniforms go. I will use them for late republican to the Dacian Wars +/-100AD,

These are just outstanding. I bet they look really good all set up together. Is it tempting to paint hundreds of them to get a full army look or assuming they are for tabletop battle games you've now spent all your points and just want to go mash those Visigoths.

There's just not enough time......all the stuff we would like to do

Thanks for that. Just got the 4th Cohort based, now to finish the basing.

GW just released their "Germania" supplement. It deals with the Teutoburger Wald and the aftermath when Germanicus attacked after. I will need 9 Roman Cohorts......... :banger:

Many thanks, and some updates after the weekend.

:cheers;

Larry

[Laurence Strong]

Very impressive work. Well done Larry and thanks for posting these.

Regards

Brian

Many thanks Brian. My pleasure

Larry

Ah, my mistake. I scrolled down from the characters to the 1st Cohort and missed the Praetorians. They look brilliant! Could you post some larger photos of maybe a couple of individuals? I've always liked their helmets.

Did the Warlord Games sets come with the Praetorian shield transfers?

Hi

I have not forgotten.

Larry