"Romanes eunt domus"

"Roames eunt domus" as the Monty Python boys daubed on the city walls in The Life of Brian, all those years ago, being subsequently corrected by a passing Centurion, promptly giving us a lesson in Latin declension.

Thanks to all who commented on the previous post, and as promised, here are some better pictures of my Roman contingent.

I had long admired the 3rd Century, Middle Imperial Romans produced by A and A Miniatures, particularly when Phil Hendry produced such inspiring results with them a number of years ago, in his beautiful painting style.

And so, when Andy M and JK introduced Hail Caesar rules into our little group, I decided to take the opportunity of producing a Roman/Palmyran force for that rather neat little window of time in the mid-late 3rd century.

I ordered the figures, service was good, and the castings arrived.

That's when the problems started. So poor was the casting quality of these figures that cleaning them up was a forever task, and much of the flash and metal 'crud' on the figures was simply impossible to remove. I sighed, and simply turned the project into one of speed painting, just to get them onto the table.

The process was onerous, to say the least, and I just had to battle through doing what I could. The LBMS transfers do a lot of 'heavy lifting' in terms of the overall look of the units.

Above: the command figure is from a Gripping Beast Late Roman command pack, on a Wargames Atlantic plastic horse.

Not sure what will be next for this project. I am supplementing with a few Late Roman figures from other manufacturers, for things like the Scorpions and probably some cavalry as I couldn't face having to spend half my painting time cleaning up poor castings.

It's so sad, as the figures were a very attractive offering in years gone by, and whether it's the moulds that have been let go, the quality of the metal, or what, I don't really know.

I do know that the sculptor for the range is now bringing out a fresh and updated range to be marketed by a different company, so worth having a look at I guess, although from what I have seen they are quite different in appearance.

And before people start to pile on about how difficult it is for small manufacturers to keep head above water in making a living from a hobby such as ours, I know, and I don't mean anything personal. This is not an attack on A and A Miniatures. i am just reporting my experience with this particular range of figures.

I noticed Darryl H on his "Just Add Water" blog had a similar experience a few weeks back as well. So it's not just me...

Another Game - Blooding a new army

Last weekend it was a gathering of The Old Berks again, unfortunately without Steve this time, but we're very relaxed about attendance! As host, I'm the lucky one, and am always mindful that the others have to travel, a considerable distance (particularly in Steve's case), to come for a game. 

So, with Andy eager to try out a new army he's working on, and myself also having a new contingent to field, we settled on a 3rd Century action, stretching the bounds of possibility as my newly painted Middle Imperial Romans, allied with Andy's new Sassanids, to face John's Palmyrans.

Andy has been documenting progress of the ancients projects on his Flaming Pig Facebook Page, and just before he arrived, I put some flames onto the back of a couple of mini-pigs and placed them on the table...

And so to battle...

Above: my Romans deployed on the right.
Below: Andy's Sassanids on my left.

Below: JK's Palmyrans.

Below: Running repairs. The master craftsman at work (aka Andy almost managing to glue himself to a kontos!)

Note: Hydration Break!

Above and below: The Sassanids crunch into the Palmyrans

Now, the eagle-eyed will have spotted a slight anomaly, for which I beg forgiveness. Because my Middle Imperial Romans are only just beginning, I roped in some other troops to complete the force... Macedonian skirmishing javelinmen wouldn't look that different to Roman skirmishers from a few centuries later, i'm sure. After all, it's just blokes with pointy sticks, isn't it?!

And, following on from recent posts, I also fielded the Skythians, as just some generic ancient horse archers (remember, No Skythians, no Party!). Their recent run of form was continuing, and they held a lot of Palmyran heavies at bay for quite some time. 

Above: Good dice roll for shooting. Well done, lads!

But... then, they forgot they shouldn't always be throwing high dice ... so, rolling double 6, they managed a Hail Caesar Blunder and did a Skythian Skidaddle off to their right flank, departing the table to much derision. They later claimed they just wanted to have the Old Berks Wooden Spoon trophy in their hands, just one time.

As it happened, that particular episode didn't matter as the Sassanid-Roman unholy alliance managed, in the end, to narrowly defeat Zenobia's Palmyrans. They will be back for more, no doubt...

Then it was off out for a steak and a glass down at The Bear in Berkswell, followed by cigars on the patio. A fine end to the day.

Before I close this post, a quick pic of the Middle Imperial Roman force, about which I will do a post with further photos in a couple of days.

The miniatures are A & A Miniatures. Transfers LBMS.

Meantime, all the very best.