28mm Macedonian Thureophoroi Re-Based

I originally painted these figures up during the height of the pandemic in 2020. They were based up for Hannibal at the Gates rules. Being a play tester for those rules, I originally painted up more figures than I needed as the rules and associated army lists were evolving as the rules were fine tuned. Three years later, these ten figures are excess as commands ended up being generally reduced in figure count slightly. 

With no prospects of these seeing table time using that basing, I've re-based these for use with both Clash of Spears and Saga age of Alexander. They'll partner up nicely with the Pike I've recently purchased and re-based. These are Warlord Games 'new resin' from their SPQR / Hail Cesar figure ranges. I forget exactly which. Other than being slightly annoying to clean due to them needing to be scraped but not sanded, these are fantastic figures. Great detail, only weapons and shields for assembly and they look great as a unit. 

I painted these as I was learning to use Games Workshop's Contrast paints. I think those type of paints do a good job on helmet plumes and cloaks for Historical figures. This officer and musician are fine examples of this. Since having access to GW Contrast, Army Painter Speed Paints and Vallejo Xpress color, I think my preferred brand for this type of paint is actually Army Painter's Speedpaint line.

Ten figures re-based for my annual totals.

I realized that I never posted photos to this blog of the previously posted 'ready to base' figures based up. Here is a Thureophoroi and Thorakitai 'division' command of four units based for Hannibal at the Gates. It's possible that I never have posted photos of the Thorakitai as they were painted during the pandemic when my life and my blogging were somewhat chaotic.

28mm Macedonian Pike re-based

Just a quick post of 24 Macedonians with sarissa (pike) that I bought off of ebay, touched up and re-based for Clash of Spears. 

24 figures purchased, 24 figures re-based on my annual totals.
 

 

 

 

2021 Basing & Re-Basing Part 5 - Macedonian Phalanx #2 & 3

Six more bases of Macedonian pike phalanx. These are also from a large Ebay purchase I made last year. I got into a bit of a groove on these next six stands, finally figuring out an efficient way to loose the figure from the metal bases they were originally mounted on. These are now based up as a pike wing and a smaller two-stand pike division for Hannibal at the gates.  

 

The silver shields wing. These came with plain silver shields. I added homemade Macedonian star transfers to them.

 

The brown-coat division. These all have leather armor instead of linen. I particularly like that a few of the pikemen are wearing soft hats instead of helmets. Definitely a second-rate unit.

Not much more to say on these. I'm happy to have them tabletop ready.

2021 Basing & Re-Basing Part 4 - Macedonian Phalanx #1

More re-basing. This unit is four bases of pike phalanx mounted up for Hannibal at the Gates. I purchased these figures as part of a larger lot which will eventually make up ten or eleven bases. The original painter based them on individual metal bases. Each figure was glued on with some sort of nasty industrial construction adhesive. Removing the figures from the original bases is proving to be quite difficult and tiresome. Still I must press onward. This is the first of most likely three updates that will include figures from this purchase. 

Counting this as four stands re-based....although it should count for a lot more considering the amount of work it took!

28mm Macedonian Companion Cavalry

Apologies for the lack of posts lately. I've been laid up with a bad back. Things seem to have calmed down enough for me to get back to the painting table this week. Here are twelve 28mm Macedonian Companion Cavalry that will become a division of four stands of cavalry for Hannibal at the Gates. 

The figures are from Aventine Miniatures and I'm very happy with the sculpts. I've used some GW Contrast paints on the tunics and helmet decorations as well as extensively on the horses. The rest of the work is traditional paints, washes and glazes. 

Twelve riders and twelve horses that I'll count as 24 figures in my annual figure totals.  Next up on the painting table a rare divergence from historicals to paint up some Fallout Wasteland Warfare miniatures.....just for fun.

28mm Macedonian Generals

The past few of my Twitch.tv streams I have been working on these 28mm Macedonian general figures. They're from the Warlord Games SPQR range and are the Macedonian Heroes pack.

The personalities include Alexander himself on his horse with the leopard skin horse blanket he's always pictured with. This was my first attempt at leopard skin. I like the effect, but future attempts will include more spots.  I'm counting these as six figures in my painting totals due to the horses (as I usually do for cavalry)

I also worked on a test piece for what will eventually be six 'ruined cottage' terrain pieces. These are some very old, manufacturer unknown resin pieces I bought most likely about 20 years ago. They'll be useful for Saga as 'ruins' or any period medieval to WWII as ruined buildings. I will be finishing the other 5 pieces of the set on a future stream.

28mm Macedonian Thureophoroi Ready to Base

I have been slowly working back into 'the groove' painting. I've also re-engated with my Twitch.tv stream painting on my old schedule of Tuesday and Thursday evenings and Sundays late morning to early afternoon. I'm still without a full studio and my laser cutter/engraver is still offline awaiting proper infrastructure in the form of power and exhaust system.  My preferred method is to complete a unit, base it then photograph it for this blog. For the near future, that process will be not adhered to. Completed figures are going to pile up for a bit until I can set up my full studio. 

These figures will eventually make up four units of Macedonian Thureophoroi for Hannibal at the Gates. They will be used along side my previously finished Thorakatai, based similarly in a HATG soldier wing. The photo above in the box probably gives the best color representation. Below are some additional photos. In addition to my basing materials being hidden away among various moving boxes, so is my photography set up.

I've also made some additional progress on repairing and touching up over 130 Macedonian pike that I purchased from Ebay. I still have to put decals on the silver shield figures, then they'll be ready to re-base.

28mm Macedonian Hypaspists

These are three stands of Macedonian Hypaspists. The figures are mostly Crusader Miniatures figures, with a smattering of others thrown in to flesh out the units. At least one of the officers is from Old Glory.

Games Workshop's contrast paints have been all the rage for a few months. Originally I dismissed them as not appropriate for historical miniatures. When I started the Macedonians, with their blues, pinks and purples, I took a second look at them. This is my first unit painted with them and there is definitely a learning curve that needs working through. I am however, finding them quite fun to use. These figures were painted completely in about 40 minutes per figure, and that time includes three hours making the custom homemade shield transfers and applying them to the domed shields.

As far as a full review of GW's Contrast paints, I'm not quite ready to do that yet. I will say that there is a definite difference color-to-color in the range. Some are quite good and at least one that I tried is totally unusable.  More on this once I have more experience with the paint range.

These stands will make up the infantry portion of my Macedonian army's guard division, which is a required element for my friend Bob's ancients campaign. Unfortunately the campaign is on COVID pause, but we're hopeful to resume games soon after the quarantine is lifted. Until then I continue to play catch-up painting units for my army. This command adds fifteen more figures to my annual painting totals.

28mm Thracian Peltasts and Psoli

These four stands represent a Thracian division in Hannibal at the gates. The front two stands are skirmishers or psoli and the rear two are soldiers or peltasts. The shield transfers are from Little Big Man Studios. The figures are from Old Glory.

I anguished a bit about doing freehand patterns on the cloaks of these figures to match the historic pottery showing very complex geometric patterns. In the end I opted for simplicity allowing the shields to convey that theme. I wasn't confident I could execute the complex freehand in a way that wouldn't make the figures look worse than omitting it. Even without the patterns, I think the rhomphaia swords, sica knives and patterned shields give them a suitably Thracian look.

This adds sixteen figures to my annual totals bringing my year-to-date total to 138. This matches last year's production and it's only early April. Following a painting schedule because of my Twitch.tv streams has really ramped up my painting output. Even if you don't stream, making some regular time to paint really helps you get things done. During the current global COVID-19 epidemic it's a great time to set aside some scheduled hobby time.

28mm Macedonian Cataphracts (2)

Last month I finished up three stands of Macedonian cataphracts. I had purchased one box of Warlord figures and one box of Command. This left me one stand (3 figures) short of a full division (the smallest unit size) for Hannibal at the Gates. When I was last at my local hobby store I picked up another pack of figures to finish the unit. This stand is the result.

I'm counting this as six figures in the annual painting totals.

Here is the completed cataphract division of four stands. Ready for action!