More Gorgon pics

A re-do on the Etruscan Captain picture, the face should actually be visiable this time.  Also posted are pics of the 2nd class spear men from Gorgon.  The figures are easy to prep, with just a bit of drilling needed to open the spear hand.  A few of the figure angles are a bit odd, with one leaning way back and one leaning far forward.  I know some folks like action in their figures, but I could do with smaller angles.

After musing on using the Etruscans in the WAB Ancient Greek List, I’m having a second thought.  Instead (or additionally), I may them under the Republican Roman list as Italian forces fighting in the Roman manipular style.  Not 100% how to pull that off, but its an idea I’m kicking around.

 

 

Republic Roman Army Project

Republican Rome Army Project – Wargames Factory birthed a thousand Roman armies from their $9.99 sale.  I picked up 3 boxes – 150 Romans should be more than enough for any project.  The army list below will be used as an opposition force to my Carthage army.  Its not 100% legal, lacking a 2nd Hastatus unit, but its primarily intended to be used on the demo table.  If I should chose to play the army, I’ll convert the Italian Spearmen into Hastatus to meet the army list requirments.

Military Tribune, Sword and light Armor, 69pts
#16 Hastatus, Full command, 144pts
#16 Princeps, Full command, Pilum and light armor, 176pts
#16 Princeps, Full command, Pilum and light armor, 176pts
#12 Triarius, Full Command, light armor, 180pts
#10 Velite, 70pts
#12 Italian Spearmen, Full Command, 99 pts
#8 Cretan Archers, 80pts

Armor Options:

• Mail armour – first used by wealthy citizens, then in general distribution after 123BC when furnished at public expense
• Pectorale – 22.5 cm square bronze chest plate.  Inexpensive armor option, pre-dating mail.
• Muscle cuirass – archeological evidence of use into the 1st century BC.
• None – light gear increasingly worn by Hastati in the years following the Marian reforms 105BC.

Plume vs. Feathers:  various sources are giving contradictory information about head gear.  A reference to the Altar of Domitius Ahenobarbus indicates Republican soldures wearing plumes from the time of the Punic Wars up to the time of Ceasar.

Cavalry:  Polybuis notes that the cavalry were armed in his day in ‘Greek fashion’ (i.e. with linen corslets, strong circular shields and long spears), but he observes that perhaps up to 190BC they had lacked body armour & carried only a short thrusting spear and a light shield.

Colors: Crests could be white, red or black. Tunics could be white, sand or red. Shields red or white.

Time Line:

• Servian Constitution – 580-530BC.  Established the 5 class system and introduces Hoplite style of warfare.
• Maniples Reform – 390-340BC.  Wars with Gauls and Samites motivate a change from phalanax to Maniple sub-units.
• Marian Reforms – 105BC.  End of the Maniple system.  Standardized equipment for all members of the legion.

Resources:

Republican Roman Army 200-104BC by Nicholas Sekunda, Osprey Publishing

The Making of the Roman Army by Lawrence Keppie

Chronicle of the Roman Republic by Philip Matyszak

Colour Guide Republican Romans by Michael Farnworth

Figures are WarGames Factory Romans combined with Numidians.  Metal shields from Gorgon, wire spears from On Military Matters.

Velite

Triarius

Hastatus

Etruscan Captain

Etruscan Captain from Gorgon Miniatures.  For now, the figure will play as a command character in my Carthagian army.  Perhapes the figure will one day have a full Etruscan army to lead.

Etruscan Captain

Gorgon Etruscans

Gorgon Miniatures released their new line of Etruscan figures.  I was lucky enough to pick up a few blisters this weekend & plan to work various figures into my Carthaginian and Roman armies.  But what about playing the Etruscans on their own – who are the Etruscans and how do the figures translate to a WAB army?

The Etruscans were a group of city states in northwestern Italy who existed as an independent culture from 900 BC through 100 BC.  They are most famous for being the original rulers of Rome.  The final king was over thrown in 509BC, leading to the legendary attack on Rome by Lars Porsena.  Little is known about the military structure of the Etruscans other than that they were strongly influenced by the Greeks and, in turn, influenced the Romans.

Weaponry:  Swords were rare.  Spear and axe (used as both a battle axe and for throwing) were the most common weapon.  Archery was practiced & bows are commonly found in Etruscan tombs.

Armor:  Bronze cuirasses of Greek influence.  Shields commonly round, but rectangular also used.

Organization:  The main body of the army was arranged as Hoplites in the phalanx formation.  Light infantry, unarmored and armed with spears, attack from a distance & attempt to provoke the enemy.  Cavalry were used for skirmishing and to peruse routing infantry.  Chariots have been found in Etruscan tombs, but it is not known if these were used as transports or fighting platforms.

Army List: The Ancient Greek list from the WAB 1.5 rule book can be used to create an Etruscan army list.  By selectively choosing units, a conservative representation of the Etruscan army may be fielded and stay “tournament legal”.

• Etruscan Hoplite played as Hoplite Phalanx
• Etruscan light infantry played as Peltast with javelin & shield.
• Archers played as upgraded skirmishers.
• Skirmishing Etruscan cavalry played as Light Greek Cavalry with upgrade to Thessaly/Thrace cavalry available.

What about the “fun stuff”?

• The Etruscan Chariot was used more for racing than for fighting.  While it’s most likely that the racing chariot descended from a military weapon, it is unlikely that the Etruscans continued its military application in the time period of the heavily armored hoplite.  Citizens able to afford a chariot would instead be in the phalanx.
• The Etruscan Axe was largely a ceremonial weapon by the time of the phalanx (Connolly).  In addition, neither a battle axe nor a throwing axe is compatible with the hoplite fighting style.  If the axe must be included, Thracian Peltast rules can be used with halberds standing in for the battle axe, and skirmishers can have the standard javelin play as the throwing axe.

Sources:

Rome and her Enemies, a complication of Osprey titles.

Greece and Rome at War by Peter Connolly

A discussion on building an Etruscan list for Field of Glory.

Catalog of the Etruscan Gallery by Jean MacIntosh Turfa.   Notes:  See page 29, Chariot racing.

Carthage Army – ready to play

The first 1000 points of my Punic Wars army is painted and ready to play. Basing is a simple coat of paint, with sand & grass coming at some future time.  Paint plan is  super simple – block colors as a base, a wood stain dip followed by touch ups in the same base color.  The army list is still a work in progress & has under taken a few changes from my first posts.  The Gallic light cavalry are gone, done in twice by Macedonian spears in as many games by the warband rule.  In their place are more skirmishers and a third Gallic warband.

MDS – Design Challenge

Miniature Design Studios is hosting their second Design Challenge.   Send MDS an email at info@miniaturedesignstudio.co.uk with your idea of what miniatures they should create.  Sounds  like they are looking for both figure ideas and a bit of motivation.  One entry will be picked at random – then MDS has 21 days to produce the figures and get them into their web cart -or- give you a £25.00 credit.

Here are the rules of the challenge:

The scale will be 28mm
The troop type must be rank and file infantry
The subject must be either Biblical, Ancient or Dark Age (we don’t sell WW2!)
The figure will be designed in three variant poses (To be agreed)
Only one entry per person (I will check!)
All entries must reach MDS via email by 12.00pm, Friday 9th October 2009

My entry to them is for Hannibal’s Veterans.

The Veterans of Hannibal’s 2nd Punic war should be a rag-tag band of killers who spent a decade marching up and down Italy.  Isolated and cut off from the home land, the army was forced to “resupply” in the field.  Other companies produce Veterans who are cookie cutter copies of each other.  Instead – I want to see 1 African, 1 Celt and 1 Iberian in looted Roman mail each with a unique helmet and shield.  Figures are armed with long spears and swords at the belt.  Spears are held upright & figures should rank cleanly on a 20×20 base.

Extra credit – make the heads on a separate sprue for additional figure variations.

I base this vision of the Veteran units on a paragraph from The Fall of Carthage by Adrian Goldsworthy which describes Hannibal’s warriors as a diverse and ill-provisioned group.  Any other credible sources out there?

Celts/Iberians: WIP and Reading List

Starting to get this dip thing figured out. The key was diluting the stain with mineral spirits to get a shaded effect without coating more than 50% of the model. The current mix is 1 part stain to 2 parts spirits. In the photo – the back rank was dipped at full strength & the front rank was dipped using the diluted mix. I’ll need to come back at a later date & clean up the excess shade. Probably re-paint the shields also as the grain from the dip is very noticeable on the flat surface.

The second photo displays the simple paint job under the dip.  Its so nice to be able to work through a unit of 10 in only two nights.  With my current time constraints – the dip make for a marvelous alternative to the grey legion.

For game play in WAB, these Numidians are going to fill in for just about every spearmen in the ancient world.  Ultimately, I think they will fit well as a Iberian tribe in Barcid employ.

Reading List

Barbarians Against Rome:  Rome’s Celtic, Germanic, Spanish and Gallic Enemies by Peter Wilcox and Rafael Trevino.  Published by Osprey.

Gallic chapter plates contain excellent painting references.  Illustrations are an obvious resource for the Wargame Factory Celts.

Spanish chapter plates display a variety of Iberian tribes.  Most warriors carry the scutum shield of Celtic origin (long and oval), or the caetra – a small round buckler.  The Lusitan tribe is depicted as carrying a large round shield with boss.  Tunic is sleeveless and earth tone.

The Celtic World by  Cunliffe, Barry W.
Contains photo of WF Celtic ornamental shield.

The Ancient City:  Life in Classical Athens & Rome by Peter Connolly and Hazel Dodge.  A focus on Athens and Rome – how the cities operated, how common & noble people lived, how buildings were designed and created.

Carthage Army WIP

Plastic figures are a wonder to work with, but they sure take a lot of time to assemble.  After a lot of work, my 1000 point Hannibal in Italy WAB army is assembled.  All figures are  Wargames Factory kits.

1000K WAB Punic army WIP

Army List:

• Gallic Cavalry
• Spanish Heavy Cavalry
• Trained Africans *
• Gallic Infantry
• Gallic Infantry
• Skirmishers
• Army Commander (not pictured)

*The Numidian spearmen kit will stand in for Trained Africans until I can purchase mailed spearmen.  Once replaced, the figures will be used as Spanish Infantry.  Yes, yes the figures have round shields.  More on the shields later.

Reading List: Classical World

Book Reviews

Warfare in the Ancient World edited by General Sir John Hackett – the text provides an over view of various periods in ancient history including Assyrians, Hoplites warfare, Persians, Alexander the Great, the Successors and about 5 chapters on Romans.  Each chapter is 20-30 pages long and written by a different author.  The book provides a good introduction to a periods arms and methods of warfare, has adaquate battle diagrams but does not contain any painting references.

Fighting Techniques of the Ancient World by Simon Anglim, Phyllix Jestice, Rob Rice, Scott Rusch and John Serrati.  An overview of the fighting men of ancient times.  The book is organized by type (infantry, cavalry, command and control, siege and naval) rather than by region.  Sadly, the book reuses prints by Peter Connolly for most its illustrations – only the battle maps are original.

Greece and Rome at War by Peter Connolly.   The book is a re-working of three earlier titles now out of print.

• Hannibal and the Enemies of Rome
• The Roman Army
• The Greek Armies

A massive work overflowing with Peter’s color illustrations of ancient troops- Greeks, Macedonians, early Italians, Celts, Spanish, Numidian and lots of Romans.  Most of the illustrations are reproduced, although a number of the panoramic war scenes are missing.  In addition to troops, the book also contains prints of fortifications and sea vessels.  Out of all the books I’ve reviewed from the library, this one goes on my buy list

Liguria

Online Research

Ligurian Warriors in the Hannibal WAB list caught my eye for the combination of javelins (mixed weapons) and light infantry.  Information on the tribe seems sparse, but it may be possible to rep the unit using Celt figures.

Per Wikipedia Liguria is a northern region of Italy.  The tribes of Liguria mostly allied with the forces of Carthage. Photo source Wilipedia, used without permission.

Britannica Online :

No ancient texts speak of Ligurians in southern Gaul as nations or attribute definite racial characteristics to them. Such authors as Strabo and Diodorus Siculus described them as a rough and strong people whose piracy the Romans deplored. These views, however, appear in late texts and refer to the Celticized Ligurians (Celtoligures) between the Rhône and Arno rivers. Strabo declared that they were a different race from the Gauls or Celts, and Diodorus mentioned that they lived in villages and made a difficult living from the rocky, mountainous soil. In any event, their reputed boldness caused them to be in great demand as mercenaries. They served the Carthaginian commander Hamilcar in 480bc and the Sicilian Greek colonies in the time of Agathocles and openly sided with Carthage in the Second Punic War (218–201 bc).

Carthage Army List & Figures

Carthaginian Army list: 2nd Punic war, Italy

Subordinate General with light armor and shield 88pts
Trained African #24 full command, 255 pts
Gallic Infantry #24 full command, 159 pts
Gallic Infantry #24 full command, 159 pts
Skirmishers #10, Musician, 45 pts
Gallic Cav #6 full command, 129 pts
Spanish Hv Cav #6 with light armor,  full command, 165 pts
1000 pts

The army list is roughly based on Hannibal’s army, 2-4 years into the Italian campaign.  Gallic Infantry makes up the majority of the infantry units, with Spanish and African units completing the formed units.  Cavalry is a mix of Gauls, Spanish and Numidians.  Units missing in the 1000 point list will be added at the 2000 level.

For this first phase, all figures are from Wargames Factory.  My first order included not only the Celtic horse and Numidian I ordered, but bonus sprues of Roman Cav, Zulus and Ancient Germans!  Multi-part plastic might be a bit more work to assemble, but they open the door for easy conversion.  I like the Roman mail bodies with Numidian heads and shields as Spanish Cav.  The standard Numidian spearman is servicable, but I’m concerned that the spear is too short.  The Zulu with a Numidian head was an attempt at an additional skirmisher – but the smaller head looks funny on the well muscled body.

I’m interested in feed back from people on the following configurations.

• Trained Africans = Numidians with spear and shield
• Gallic Infantry = Celts
• Skirmishers = Numidians with javelins
• Gallic cav = Celtic cav
• Spanish Hv Cav = Roman cav armored bodies with Numidian armored heads and shields

Zulu with Numidian head, Ancient German x2, Celt, Numidian Spearman, Numidian Skirmisher

Reading List: Rome/Carthage

The local library is invaluable when conducting research when building/painting  historical armies (or I should say, my wife the librarian is invaluable when conducting research).    Be sure to check the juvenile section of your library – many of the well illustrated volumes are located in the kids section.

Several books that I have/am reading to get me up to speed for my new Punic army.

Warfare in the Classical World by John Warry – the book covers the whole of the classical world, with only 3 chapters dedicated to the period of the Successor Wars/Punic Wars.  The strength of the book are color prints of solders from the various armies – limited to one or two per chapter, the prints provide a strong reference for army building/painting.  For the Punic army: solders typically dress in white tunics with purple trim.  (Per Goldsworthy, the purple trim was for Spanish soldiers only.)

Roman Warfare by Adrian Goldsworthy – a rise to fall overview of the Roman military.  Battles are well mapped and well diagrammed.

The Fall of Carthage by Adrian Goldsworthy – in depth history of the Punic wars.  Text with limited battle maps.  The author borrows text from Roman Warfare in the overview of the two powers.

pg 207:  Hannibal’s army at Cannae August 216

10,000 cavalry: 4K Gallic, 2K Spanish, 4K Numidians

40,000 infantry:  8K skirmishers, 20K Celts, 8K Libyan and 4K Spanish

Generals: Mago (brother of Hannibal), Hasdrubal – hv cav, Maharbal- Numidian cav

pg 208:  “Our sources were most struck by the diverse dress of the enemy army.  On the one hand were the Libyans, dressed in Roman helmets and armour, and with oval scuta, then the Gauls stripped to the waist (since this is probably what Polybius means by ‘naked’), and the Spanish in their white tunics with purple borders, to which we might add the unarmoued Numidians with their distinctive hairstyles and riding their small, shaggy horses.  It is uncertain how accurate this picture is.  The Spanish had left home two years before and one may wonder how many still wore their native garb and had not replaced it with what ever was available locally or could be made in camp.”

215BC and 214BC – Hanno leads smaller armies of local troops from south-west Italy:  Bruttians and Lucanians with Numidian cav support.  These smaller forces were routinely defeated by the Romans while Hannibal was unchallenged.

pg 242:  Hasdrubal 207BC attempts to march reinforcements into northern Italy.  Defeated at battle of Metaurus.  Hasdrubal killed & army destroyed.

“Significantly” fewer than 40,000 men.  Spanish and Gauls.  10 or 15 elephants.  Little cavalry.

pg 243:  Mago 205BC lands near Genoa.  2800 cavalry, 18000 infantry, 7 elephants.  Forces drawn from Balearic Islands, Ligurian tribesmen and (presumably) Libyan/African forces.  Army defeated in 203BC, Mago dies of battle wounds, and army is withdrawn to Africa.

Roman Fort by  ??? – a fully illustrated overview of a typical Roman fort based on findings from Hadrian’s wall.  The pictures are a good source of information for terrain projects.  (lost track of the author’s name)

Washed Celts

Round 2 of the Celt paint plan test.  This test set uses 4 washes:

• GW Badab Black
• GW Devlan Mud
• Wonder Wash original (black)
• Wonder Wash Dirty Dark Brown

The GW washes dried matt with even/smooth shading over the whole figure.  Black and Mud returned very similar results with the black darker by a hair.

The Wonder Wash washes dried with a high shine.  Shading is uneven with puddles at the feet and at the bottom of shields.  The Dirty Dark Brown is very red and produces a very unpleasant effect on light under colors.

Conclusion:  I will be using two washes on the army models: Devlan Mud on cloth/weapons and Gryphonne Sepia for skin.  The skin tone with Devlan Mud is far too dark for fair skinned Celts, but could be perfect for a more Mediterranean look.

Badab Black

Badab Black

Devlan Mud

Devlan Mud

Wonder Wash Brown

Wonder Wash black

WAB classical campaign: Adepticon 2010

We are launching an online Warhammer Ancient Battles classical campaign.  Results of the campaign will feed into concluding events at Adepticon 2010.   Rules of the event are free and easy – its more of way to get a few games in than a simulation of the Successor Wars/Punic Wars.  If your interested in signing up, visit WAB.Adepticon.org for all the details.

As an aside – the web site is my creation.  I’ve been reading about web design for the past year & this is my first chance at a live site.  The base of the site is a template used as a starting point.  Version 2.0 should come later this summer (after I get my campaign army finished!) with a whole new, and original  layout.  If anyone has feed back on the design, I’d love to hear from you.

Dipped Celts

Playing with two new toys – Wargames Factory Celts and WoodSheen by Minwax and I’m slowly warming to both.

The Celts are plastic 28mm figures for historical wargamming.  The figures are cleanly cast, without significant mold lines.  Assembly is a bit of a chore – the models are intened to be dynamic, which makes it a bit hard to sort out what angle an arm belongs at or where to hang a shield.  Sculpting is adaquate – hair stands out as the one area that needs improvement.  The figures are true to human scale, which means they fit with with GW’s Empire humans but are dwarfed by Chaos Maurauders.

Celts are played in a hoard – my tentative 1K WAB list has about 90 warriors.  There is no way I’m painting that many figures by next Adepticon.  The solution is dip.  I chose WoodSheen:  Rose Wood as an alternitive to the standard stain products as it advertises a 2 hour dry time.  I applied the dip by brush and with 24 hours of dry time, the figures were slightly tacky (which is still better than the huge stink and 2-3 day dry time of stain).  After two layers of matt spray sealer the figures were presentable.  The biggest adjustment in using this product will be the choice of base colors.  All subtle shades are lost under the dip, I’ll need to add more whole colors such as grey and white to my color scheme.

This figures need a bit of touch up on facial details and the shields need to be fixed.  But other than that, any other advice?  I’m thinking the dip is too heavy on the skin tones & that I might want to try a better brand of matt sealer to completely kill the shine.

Quick Links: Jons Mini Blog- Saracens

Wonderful unit of Saracen infantry at Jons Mini Blog.   Even if you not into historical figs, you’ll want to check out the brush work.  Strong unifying color with individual accents to both bind the unit and keep each figure unique.

I’ll be sure to return to Jons blog when I get back to my own Arab army project this summer.

Photo credit:  Jons Mini Blog

Arab Horsemen part 1

I thought I would never get this unit finished – and its only the first half.  I’m not sure if the horseman and steed just made for too much model to paint or if I’m finally shaking the rust off my painting skills & producing quality works. That’s a bit hint that I’m pleased with the results.  Now I just need 10 more days to finish the other 4.

Magister Militum vs. Gripping Beast Arab Miniatures

Reinforcements have arrived!  For the second phase of my Arab army I selected Magister Militum miniatures.  Customer service was excellent – each of my emails was promptly answered.  The order took four days to process and about a week to ship from the UK to the US.  All of the figures are well cast with minor flash and mold lines.  Sculpting quality is average to above average, although there does seem to be a bit of flattening from the spin casting process.

I believe this line of miniatures used to be called Navigator – I don’t know if Magister purchased the product line, or simply re-sell the product.  In any case – the Magister web site is still a work in progress.  In the two weeks since I order, prices and packaging methods have changed.  Even with the changes – the unit deal (24 figures) still seems the best way to buy in.

The Magister Arabs fit well with my existing Gripping Beast (cast by Old Glory 15).  Foot solders match well for height – eye ball to eye ball the figures are the same size.  The Magister minis are a bit bigger about the chest and perhaps a bit longer in the arm.  I’ll have to mix a few into a unit, but I suspect the size differences will naturally blend as normal human variations.

Magister on the left.  Gripping Beast on the right.

The Syrian Heavy cavalry are a more mixed lot.  The riders are very upright (side effect of a one piece figure) and sit taller in the saddle than the crouching bowman.  Trying to get the riders to fit their mounts will take a bit of pliers work – the legs are either too narrow or too wide.

Magister horses are a bit thin, short in length but stand taller than the Gripping Beast horse.

Arab spear and bow units

First two units of my Arab WAB army are (mostly) complete.  The figures just need to be based – a task I’ll save until I’m truly bored.  I’m still not 100% sold on the color scheme – the blues and greens jump out as bold, deep colors rather than the more pastel colors from my research.

23 Spearmen with full command

10 Archers

Not what was expected from Wargames Factory

Wargames Factory finally announced the ship dates of their new plastic figures – but the first kit released will be colonial era British solders rather than the Roman Legions first advertised.  Don’t worry – they promise a busy September as both the Legion kit and multiple Celts box sets are finally released.  Rumor has it that the secret box is a chariot for the Celts.

Arab solders – batch 2

More test figures – starting to get a feel for the color schemes.  Some of the reds in the bottom back might need a dip, but the rest of the figures are ready for the table.

Arab Standard Bearer

The Gripping Beast figures I purchased for my Arab WAB army does not include banners with the standard bearer figures.  The model is simply a figure with hands prepared to accept a home made shaft and banner.  Time to see what I can come up with.

Making a banner for a standard bearer

First, flattened a ball of Procreate between two sheets of plastic taken from a milk jug.  (A little bit of water on the plastic & I had zero issues with the putty sticking to the work surface.)  Next, cut the shape of the banner with an exacto blade (press the cut – don’t drag the cut).  Finally, prop up the banner on a few rods to add the flowing shape.

The standard rod is .052 gauge brass rod.  The banner is attached using super glue with a strip of paper folded over the joint span.  Not only does the paper hide the ugly meeting between banner and rod, but I also hope the superglue infused paper will add a lot of joining strength.

Over all I’m satisfied with the result.  The spotty paper should clean up once painted.  The banner shaft is a bit short, but I’ll sacrifice height for easy transportation of the model.  In the photograph I can see finger prints, but in real life the surface appears clean.

Standard bearer

Standard bearer back

First Figures for Arab WAB Army

Testing a variety of color schemes for my new Arab army. The goal is to have a variety of colors scattered through out the army. All too often my figures are too similar – unity in an army is an important quality to have, but I seem to take it to extremes at times. So far I have found little information/inspiration for painting an Arab WAB army. Osprey has a number of tiles for the time period – I purchased Armies of the Caliphates and Saracen Faris. Both book depicted the solders of the period in a variety of primary (if pastel) colors with soft brown leather foot ware and gear. Darrel Hindley creates a very different view of the Arab world with a controlled pallet of white and blue – check the bottom of his Figure Painter blog page.

Additional Sources:

• More painted figure pics from the Musketeer Miniatures forum: Spear men and calvary & Command.
• Arab Cavalry army from Olicanald.
• Tom Weiss’s show case of Moors and El Cid from Gripping Beast.

Of the 6 figures – I’m most satisfied with the three in the front rank. The primary color pattern is much cleaner than the three brown figures in the back row. I really like the red – but a whole army in red robes would look too much like some chaos death cult. On the next set of figures, I need to revisit the brown & see if I can create a softer result.

Paint List

All figures primed white and washed with a brown ink.

Spears: Vermin Brown (GW)

Bows: Tan Yellow (V)

Green: Orkhide Shade (GW), Snot Green (GW), 50/50 Snot Green/Ivory (V)

Red: Burnt Cad. Red (V), Beige Red (V), 50/50 Beige/White

White: Astronomican Grey (GW), white

Blue: Regal Blue (GW), Ultramarine Blue (GW), 50/50 Ultramarine Blue/Ivory

Flesh: Medium Flesh (V), Gryphonne Sepia (GW) (Borrowed this wash hint from Five Armies)

Brown: assorted combinations of Calthan Brown (GW), Iyanden Darksun (GW), Bubonic Brown (GW), Ivory, Sepia and Devlan Mud (GW)

Shoes: Tanned Flesh (GW) or Iyanden Darksun

Shield: Red Leather (V)

WAB: Arabs and Saracens army building

I’ve taken a recent interest in Warhammer Ancient Battles. Building a list is a bit more complicated than the 40K/WFB rosters I’m used to, not only do I need to figure out a new set of rules with hundreds of army lists available – but I also need to hunt down appropriate figures for the army.

Army Selection

When creating a new army I look to balance four elements:

1. Will the army look nice? I have to enjoy the models.
2. Does it have any fun units? The army has to have several ways of playing.
3. Will the army play well? I have no time to paint up a force only to find the list is a dodo.
4. Is it affordable? I know the hobby is expensive – but there is no need to spend $600 if $300 will do.

I think a Muslim force may meet all of these goals. The units are well priced for both calvary and infantry. In the absence of any true heavy cavalry in the game, skilled horse archers will need to take care of my need to play with horses. The list has access to Elephants and flame throwing archers – how cool is that! The Arab style units with robes and turbans will allow for natural color choices and keep metallics to a minimum. I’ve also been advised that the list covers about 800 years, making it an easy army to keep in period. Finally, the list can also be allied to a Crusader force – a good way to recycle units if the list does not work out.

Arabs and Saracens 1000 points

General – composite bow, light armor, shield, Warhorse 152 pts
Arab Light Cav #6 with Thrusting Spear, Light Armor and Shield. Leader, Standard, Musician 135 pts
Turkish Light Cav #6 with Composite Bow, Leader and Musician 118 pts
Turkish Light Cav #6 with Composite Bow, Leader and Musician 118 pts
Arab Spearmen #24 with Leader, standard, musician, Thrusting Spear and Shield 183 pts
Religious Volunteers #23 with Leader, Standard, Musician, Hand weapon and Shield 153 pts
Auxilliary Infanty #7 with Javelins, Shield and Naffatun 62 pts
Arab Archers #10 with short bow, Musician and Naffatun 79 pts

Miniatures Choices

Arab/Moor forces are produced by a variety of companies, most of whom are based in the UK but have retained US distributors for those of us who like to shop in dollars and want nothing to do with customs roulette.

Perry Bros on sale at War Store : Well done figures in the Crusades – Islam army, but I’ve been advised that the figures are a true 25mm and may not fit well with other figure lines.

Musketeer Minis on sale at Little Wars: More pleasant looking figures in the Armies of the Caliphates line, price is similar to the Perry Brothers with $6 horsemen and $2.50 infantry.

Gripping Beast on sale at Old Glory 15s: This group may well be the winner. Not only are the figures recommended, but the line prices well with $4 horsemen and $1.50 infantry. One slight problem, Old Glory has the Moors product line on their web site, but not the Armies of Islam line. I may need to do a bit of mix and match if I can’t get cavalry in the US.    edit:  Appears that Old Glory 15 is no longer carrying Gripping Beast – the product is no longer posted on their web cart.

Artizan Designs on sale at BrigadeGames: Forgot to mention this line of Moors. The infantry are attractive, the calvary not so much. But to their credit, Artizan is one of the few to post large, clear photos of their figures. Price point is $2.50 infantry and $6.50 calvary.

One minor rant – I had trouble finding lines on the US retailers at both War Store and Old Glory 15. For reasons know only to themselves, the product lines are re-titled in the US listings, causing all sorts of confusion for a WAB rookie like me. Fortunately, both stores promptly returned emails detailing were the product was listed.