Recording the creation of Roman, Carthaginian and other armies for the 2nd Punic War.

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

First Unit of Hastati


The first unit of Hastati is finished. The good thing about the Hannibal and the Punic Wars supplement for WAB is that you can use 12 man units because of the rule about using rank bonus from supporting units. I suspect, when deployed, that 2 line units like this won’t be any good as they only give a rank bonus of 1. To get the full rank bonus for the supporting unit you would have to rank them up as 3 deep (i.e. with a frontage of 4 figures). The loss of one figure would destroy your maximum rank bonus in one go, therefore.

The more Crusader figures I paint the more I like them. Some of Mark Sims’ figures have been a bit short and stocky for my tastes lately but he seems to be addressing this. Indeed, even within this range, the figures in chainmail are noticeably taller than the Hastati and the Velites. This would usually annoy me but because the build is similar it’s really not noticeable unless you stand them next to each other and look at them from eye level. On the left we have a Hastatus. On the right a general from the new senior command pack.

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

A quarter of a unit of Hastati

I haven't been able to do much painting lately as it has been too dark in the mornings and the evenings. I also had a business trip to Portugal and Spain which meant I lost a weekend.
I am still trying to concentrate on just a few forces on the work bench and have managed to finish three more Crusader Hastati. I have ordered some more Crusader Punics; some Velites and a command unit. The light infantry command unit doesn't have a standard bearer though so I will have to get a regular one as well.
Using the WAB Hannibal supplement means that each Roman unit is only 12 figures, so I now have a third of a unit. I have decided that I really like painting the Crusader figures. The only thing I have done is substitute the rather chunky pilum for some Gripping Beast ones.

First Crusader Hastatus

I have painted my first Crusader Punic period Roman and am very pleased with it. Once painted and with the shield attached it doesn't look as stocky as on the website. The new marching camp and general figures arrived on Saturday and they are lovely.
The figure was a pleasure to paint in exactly the same way that the Gripping Beast ones weren't. The problem I have now is that I have a unit of GB hastati two thirds complete and the same with a unit of Renegade velites. I may finish them and put them on eBay, I suppose.

Punic Puzzle Solved

Left: A&A Carthaginian Right: Crusader Roman
I have been trying to find some figures for a Punic Wars Roman army for some time and have ordered samples from different manufacturers without being really happy with any of them. I liked the Renegade Romans but not their Numidians. The Gripping Beast ones had the range but were really too slim to go with my existing Celt Army which is a mixture of Renegade and A&A. I saw on TMP that Crusader Miniatures have just announced they have completed their Republican Roman Range with an excellent General and marching camp. I hadn't really looked at them but these new sets were excellent. I have now compared one of their Roman figures against an A&A Carthaginian I already had and they are completely compatible. I think I read somewhere that the A&A figures are Mark Sims too.
Case solved! Gripping Beast, Companion and Renegade off you march to eBay!