10mm Late Roman Italian Field Army (in progress)

[Richard in Sachsen]

Back in September, Brythnoth posted his 10mm Romano-British (http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=103155.0) and I just happened to catch it.

He did such a good job on the details and paint scheme of such a small scale that I was intrigued. Moreover, his reasons for having a small scale army that would fit on the dining table for an evening of Dux Bellorum were the same as the newly discovered problem that I have myself; that is a move into a smaller space. So 28s for club play and downscaling for home.

So I ordered a Pendraken Late Roman army pack to try them out... now I'm in love

15mm, of course, works very well. Nevertheless, I find a much better mass effect with these 10s. I love 6mm, too... after they're painted but I find painting them very tedious and monotonous. These 10s, though, well, I was painting about a unit a day. The only reason that this army is not yet complete is that I'm waiting on reinforcements to arrive from the UK. That's a great position to be in: painting halted because of lack of miniatures as opposed to having so many that it will take a couple of years to paint them (my 28s.)

I'm excited to actually be able to play instead of just paint until I have enough.

So, here's what I have so far. 60mm frontages in accordance with Dux Bellorum and Comitatus as well as using the recommended scale of one stand of infantry = 500 men (legion = two stands, auxilia = one)

Infantry

1. The Ioviani seniores (legiones palatina)





2. The Herculiani seniores (legiones palatina) To Come in Update

3. The Brachiati seniores and The Cornuti seniores (auxilia palatina)





4. The Petulantes seniores and The Celtae seniores (auxilia palatina) To come in an Update

4. The Exculcatores seniores (auxilia palatina)

These shields are entirely hypothetical as the ND doesn't have an illustration of this unit



5. The Mattiarii iuniores (West) (legiones comitatenses) To come in an Update

6. The Germaniciani iuniores (legiones comitatenses) To come in an Update

7. The Prima Iulia Alpina (pseudocomitatenses)





8. Field Army Archers and Slingers (bases not yet painted and flocked)





9. Laeti or Limitanei Spearmen





10. Laeti or Limitanei Archers & Slingers





Cavalry

1. Bucellarii Heavy Lance and Bow Cavalry for Army General (bases not yet painted and flocked) General to come in an update





2. The Equites promoti seniores (vexillationes palatinae) bases not yet painted and flocked and missing second element of unit





3. The Equites Brachiati seniores (vexillationes palatinae) To come in Update

4. The Equites Cornuti seniores (vexillationes palatinae) To come in Update

5. The Comites Alani (vexillationes palatinae) To come in Update

6. The Equites Mauri feroces (vexillationes palatinae) bases not yet painted and flocked and missing second element of unit





7. The Equites constantes Valentinianenses iuniores (vexillationes palatinae) To come in Update



The Field Army so far....






These were, fast and fun minis to paint and I really love this scale! I didn't think I would as I already have a few 15s for this purpose. But these 10s really give a nice mass effect and as Brythnoth was saying, they really are a perfect scale for Dux Bellorum.  And my favourite, Comitatus, as well.

Can't wait until the reinforcements arrive!

[Phillius]

That is pretty impressive painting.

Banding on the spears and kontos'?? Great job!

[Richard in Sachsen]

Thank you.

[Irregular Wars Nic]

Damn! Those are splendid indeed! Great work on the shields too!

[Leftblank]

Nice. I consider myself a smallscaler as well, but I use 15mm as surrogate for 28mm, 300-400 per side, and 6mm for mass effect (80 per Napoleonic regiment, 1000-1600 per side).
I'll stick to my choice, but must admit that your 10mm is a tempting sight.

[Richard in Sachsen]

Thanks Nic, I appreciate it.

@Leftblank. Thanks. Yea, it comes down to what feels right. I'm sure those 6mm Napoleonic regiments look fantastic! I remember when I first started gaming when I was 14, the local club was big into 15mm Napoleonics (Empire and Empire III were the rule sets, so you can tell how long ago that was) and one of the guys had the entire Grand Armeé to scale. Wow, I was really impressed... I mean, I still remember it.

I thought that I were to pick up another historical period in gaming, it would be the Age of Enlightenment, Seven Years War, etc. And I thought it would be best in 15mm. But that mass effect thing is really impressive so there is 6mm. But as I said above, I find the 6mm, for me personally, tedious and monotonous. I mean, I've got about 300 four-figure stands of Bacchus Dacians primed and on tongue depressors ready to paint and they're all in a box. When I got to the shields I just couldn't get any further, how do I paint so many shields to make them look individual even with the blotch-impressionistic style of painting necessary for 6mm?

I think if I did another period with battalions and such, it would be 10mm, it just seems easier after painting these guys above but yet not as long as it takes me to paint even 15mm.

[jambo1]

Great looking army, very well done. I love seeing smaller scales getting some love and you do 10mm superbly.

[Norm]

Nice to see 10m here, nice job and good work on the shields.

[Richard in Sachsen]

Thanks guys.

[DintheDin]

A great job you have done there! Impeccable to the last detail!
I wish you have many enjoyable games with them!
Cheers!

[Mad Doc Morris]

Well, that's quite an output. Impressive results.
Got inspired by Brythnoth as well to try my hand (again) at 10mm. Weirdly, I'm finding them not as easy and fast to paint as I remembered. This thread, though, may set me back on track. So an honest "thanks for sharing".

[Leftblank]

Scale is always a personal choice. I painted a large 15mm Celt army which has the same variety in colours and shields as the Dacians, and was bored sometimes (although very pleased with the final results).
I doubt if I would paint a 6mm ancient army, just because of the individuality of the warriors and shields. Your 10mm (or 15mm) is a better choice then, while 28mm feels too big.

Are you German? I can recommend the 1670-1720 period as future project, in particular the 1670-1700 period. Louis XIV vs the Grand Alliance. Most wargame rules focus on English wars, but the Grand Alliance is very continental, with battles in Flanders and Germany and Danish, Bavarian, French and Dutch armies. Colourful uniforms, very universal, you can use redcoats as English, Irish, Dutch, French or Swiss troops. And game a lot of different historical battles.

Keep calm and carry on!

[FierceKitty]

Are you German? I can recommend the 1670-1720 period as future project, in particular the 1670-1700 period. Louis XIV vs the Grand Alliance. Most wargame rules focus on English wars, but the Grand Alliance is very continental, with battles in Flanders and Germany and Danish, Bavarian, French and Dutch armies. Colourful uniforms, very universal, you can use redcoats as English, Irish, Dutch, French or Swiss troops. And game a lot of different historical battles.

The Seven Years War (56-63) seems to me the natural choice for horse and musket games, and must be very attractive to Germans, considering how much it affected the future shape of Germany. It works extremely well in 10mm, aka God's Own Scale.

[Richard in Sachsen]

Thanks Gents,

@Mad Doc, Thanks. Yea, this is my first time delving into this scale, maybe the enthusiasm of trying something new made it easier. But as I said, I am having a helluva time with my 6's and from everything that I've read, they should be the easiest thing to paint!

@Leftbank, thank you. No not German, but I've been living here since 2004; wife and daughter are German. I'm not up on the latest games for that period but I did pick up the Field of Glory Renaissance Rules and army lists when they were 50% off and being discontinued. Maybe I'll give that a go.

@FierceKitty. I was actually thinking of a small Saxon force and some Prussians in 10mm. We were living in the Oberlausitz and there's a lot of SYW history there and the "Saxon Switzerland" including some impressive fortresses. But that is for another day... got so many ancients to get through. But if I can keep up the pace, maybe I can get the 10's done and on the table in a reasonable amount of time.

[fred]

Great work on those Romans - they are really nice figures, and its always good to see some really good painting of them too. I really need to get more of mine painted.

Pendraken have lots to offer on the SYW front, and also have a great LoA range if you want to go a bit earlier, the start of mine can be seen here http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=92170.msg1138644#msg1138644