Gaul Armored Cavalry

This is the second to last battle group I have to paint for my Roman Atallid Pergamene allies, as well as another of the battle groups that I'll need for my umcoming Magnesia game. The prevailing opinion of most of the Field of Glory experts is that the primary reason to select the Atallid Pergamene allies is for the heavy lancer cavalry. Considering the lack of cavalry available in the Mid-Republican army lists, I think this unit of Armored, Superior Gaul cavalry is also a wise choice from the available optional units this ally offers. If you combine this unit with the lancers, and the core Roman cavalry, you now have enough cavalry to protect your flanks and in some cases they can serve as a competent strike force.

This is another unit of Old Glory 15s figures. The battle group pack offers three basic poses, each with minor variants: spear armed, sword and round shield, sword and oval/4-sided long shield. This gives the unit a suitably 'barbarian' look, although the spear pose is a bit awkward requiring it to be located as the middle figure on each stand, which was slightly disappointing. Other than this I found the figures to be quite nice. The detail on the chain mail takes to dry-brushing well and the figures were crisp casts with little flash. The fit of the riders to the horses was a little dodgy for some of the horses, but that's a common problem with many manufacturers.

When I painted my unit of Gaul infantry, I was fortunate to have some water slide decals for the shields. Having exhausted my supply of those, I was forced to decorate the shields of this unit by hand. I have to admit, I prefer the decals for this task as I feel my efforts did not produce as nice of a result. I'm definitely going to enjoy getting back to some more regular units. Warbands are difficult for me to paint with all of their various color combinations. I'm fairly satisfied with this unit other than wishing I had some more shield transfers to use on them.

Next up on the painting table, I'm taking a short hiatus from ancients to start work on a new 'top secret' project. Well top secret that is until I post it on the blog. I'm hoping to make quick work of a small project in order to be able to use it for an upcoming gaming event at the local gaming store. More about that after I get some of the figures painted.