Granny Grating Armies 5th Century Romans

[Hadk]

Hello everybody,

I just wanted a place I could post progress on my Granny Grating army project. Having heard about Granny Grating Armies, I was greatly intrigued at the idea of making my own miniatures - without a great deal of talent/time/money. I was then inspired by Froggy the Great's Granny Grating efforts at http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=93450.0 and elsewhere, as well as the work of Charles Schorote amongst others at https://www.facebook.com/groups/GrannyGratingArmies/.

My first project is a 5th-century western Roman force, in 6mm, based for Simon MacDowall's Comitatus, and this is my first completed unit - a unit of unarmoured, unhelmeted limitanei. I shamelessly lifted Richard In Sachsen's 'Aureliani' shield design, which I hope he will not mind (http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=97681.15).




I've tried to represent (very crudely) rough-spun army tunics with clavi.

In the unlikely event that anybody should wish to know what is involved in making these, I have used the following: the base is 2mm greyboard cut and rounded with an Oregon Laminations clipper I use for boardgame counters. The figures themselves are 4" granny grating cut to size, primed and painted. The shields are 1mm greyboard punched with a 3 x 4.7mm (1/8" x 3/16") Oval drive hole leather punch. For the bosses, a 0.5mm semi-circular nail-art bead is glued to the centre of the shield. The spears are 0.6mm2 copper wire, cut in 10mm lengths.

I hope that people will like these - I realise they will not be everybody's cup of tea. Next in the works are some Leg. II Britannica armoured comitatenses/pseudocomitatenses.

[williamb]

Good looking figures.   If you are interested in Late Roman shield patterns the following site is a good reference source http://lukeuedasarson.com/NotitiaPatterns.html

[fred]

From the front, thanks to the excellent shields, they look really good. From the back its more impressionistic.

Really good craft skills in assembling these, can I ask why you have gone this route? As on the surface it feels like a lot of time and effort to make the figures, vs saving a little money on buying small scale figures.

[FierceKitty]

From the front, thanks to the excellent shields, they look really good. From the back its more impressionistic.

Really good craft skills in assembling these, can I ask why you have gone this route? As on the surface it feels like a lot of time and effort to make the figures, vs saving a little money on buying small scale figures.

Hmm, a question that's been nibbling at my mind too, I must confess.

[Hadk]

Here is the first row of II Britannica/Secundani/II Augusta (there is academic debate!) - I am quite pleased with how they have turned out. Although there is debate about whether or not they were simply for parade, I have given them painted spear-shafts - I think they look jolly, and will be used to differentiate comitatenses/pseudocomitatenses (the latter I might give a mixture of spears) from limitanei. To represent lorica hamata I stippled some silver paint on the torsos. I think it gives a little more visual interest than straight silver would. I have given them a variety of helmets - some with and some without nasals. I have also given an officer in the centre a gilded helmet sheath and, imperceptibly (but for my own gratification) purple rather than red clavi. Some of the glue has left a strange skin, which I will need to paint over before varnishing the figures.

Good looking figures.   If you are interested in Late Roman shield patterns the following site is a good reference source http://lukeuedasarson.com/NotitiaPatterns.html

Thank you williamb, I have used that website many times - it is a goldmine. I would recommend, if you are interested, Gabrielle Esposito's Armies of the Late Roman Empire AD 284-476 (Barnsley, 2018). I have no great opinion of the writing - I purchased it because it has a wonderful appendix which gives every shield pattern from the ND. For the price, it was worth picking up for that alone.

From the front, thanks to the excellent shields, they look really good. From the back its more impressionistic.

Really good craft skills in assembling these, can I ask why you have gone this route? As on the surface it feels like a lot of time and effort to make the figures, vs saving a little money on buying small scale figures.

Hmm, a question that's been nibbling at my mind too, I must confess.

Thank you fred and FierceKitty. I would not pretend that once you factor in time spent that these are in any way economical compared with proper 6mm figures - nor are they aesthetically more pleasing. They are no replacement, and I certainly do not wish to intimate that they are. For myself, I simply enjoy a good craft project to get stuck into, and was rather taken with the concept of making an entire army out of this innocuous embroidery mesh.

[OSHIROmodels]

I actually quite like these 

Probably better than some of the 6mm metal offerings out there.

[fred]

For myself, I simply enjoy a good craft project to get stuck into, and was rather taken with the concept of making an entire army out of this innocuous embroidery mesh.

I’m liking these new units.

As a project it certainly has a huge amount of merit, and you seem to have the skills to pull it off, therefore good luck, and keep posting more photos of the progress!

[blacksoilbill]

Nice work! Love the shield designs. I imagine they'll look really impressive en masse.

[Froggy the Great]

I'm only now just seeing this!

Having done a LARGE Middle-Earth project in 6mm/Granny Grating, I must say this unit is a)exquisite and b) puts mine to shame!

What rules did you end up using?

[AndrewBeasley]

...
What rules did you end up using?

Possibly http://wickedwargames.weebly.com/--free-stuff.html

[Froggy the Great]

Aha.  Good choice.