Help, advice on using Victrix Gallics as Britons please.

[Johnny Boy]

Afternoon all, I've returned to my Roman project and have the Caesar in Gaul part well in hand with Warlord Caesarian Legionarys and Gauls. One thing leads to another and I really liked the look of the Victrix EIR and bought a box with Cavalry as support. Then a pack of Germanic Warriors after reading Ben Kane. Then came Simon Scarrow with Macro and Cato and their adventures in Britain. Excellent! thought I, I'll get a pack of Celts and that'll be that. Not being too familiar yet my question is "Can I use the Victrix Gallic Warriors armoured and unarmoured as Britons. I was given the Chariot pack as a birthday present so I'm kind of commited to the larger figures to match. And they do look nice.
Thanks in advance
JB

[Atheling]

Afternoon all, I've returned to my Roman project and have the Caesar in Gaul part well in hand with Warlord Caesarian Legionarys and Gauls. One thing leads to another and I really liked the look of the Victrix EIR and bought a box with Cavalry as support. Then a pack of Germanic Warriors after reading Ben Kane. Then came Simon Scarrow with Macro and Cato and their adventures in Britain. Excellent! thought I, I'll get a pack of Celts and that'll be that. Not being too familiar yet my question is "Can I use the Victrix Gallic Warriors armoured and unarmoured as Britons. I was given the Chariot pack as a birthday present so I'm kind of commited to the larger figures to match. And they do look nice.
Thanks in advance
JB

The British 'Celts' were a rather backward army for the time in that they held onto the tradition of using light chariots in battle long after their Gallic neighbours on the continent had stopped using them.

In general, the British 'Celts' would have less armours and be less well armed. They would have lower class warriors (including warriors proper and levied troops) and high 'caste' warriors just like the Gauls and appropriately armoured and armed.

[Johnny Boy]

Thanks a lot for that, I do like Victrix and must admit to becoming a bit of a plastics convert and having the option to make each figure individual, just Ancients tho. (For now anyway) I've also been considering Infamy Infamy, what's the general consensus on those rules?

[Atheling]

Thanks a lot for that, I do like Victrix and must admit to becoming a bit of a plastics convert and having the option to make each figure individual, just Ancients tho. (For now anyway) I've also been considering Infamy Infamy, what's the general consensus on those rules?

I got my copy a few weeks back and skimmed them. I, like most I suspect, simply have not had a chance to play a single game of anything due to the lock down. I don't think I really needed to read through them after watching the excellent Infamy! The Movie Parts I, II, III and IV on YouTube where Rich does an excellent job of going through the basic mechanisms with some good sample games.

In case you or anyone interested have not seen the vids.....

Infamy the Movie Part I:

Infamy the Movie Part II:

Infamy the Movie Part IIII:

Infamy the Movie Part IV:

[Johnny Boy]

Many thanks again for your help and advice. I originally intended sticking with small skirmish of a dozen or so figures per side but  large skirmish I think will do the period more justice. That's my excuse. . . .

[Cubs]

It is absolutely compulsory for an Ancient British force of any size or in any game system to have slingers and chariots. I don't know if it's authentic, but it's compulsory nonetheless.

The Lore According to Airfix.

[Randell]

Thanks a lot for that, I do like Victrix and must admit to becoming a bit of a plastics convert and having the option to make each figure individual, just Ancients tho. (For now anyway) I've also been considering Infamy Infamy, what's the general consensus on those rules?

I've played 3 times now, and they are excellent.   They really capture the different fighting styles of the drilled romans v the scary barbarians.

[Atheling]

The Lore According to Airfix.

Can't argue with Airfix  It's actually pretty authentic- or at least as far as I know 

[Shahbahraz]

Just not the solid wheels...  we all had to go steal wheels from the ACW Artillery set to go on the Airfix Chariots.

[tallyho]

Nobody knows.

So go with what you want.

[Cubs]

Just not the solid wheels...  we all had to go steal wheels from the ACW Artillery set to go on the Airfix Chariots.

  So true!

[cadbren]

I used to think solid wheels were a lazy hollywood trope but they did exist. They were typically used for farm carts and wagons designed for pulling heavy loads (think stones), otherwise spoked wheels were the norm with 12 spokes a common number.

Britons are difficult to de-pict. The southern tribes were essentially the same as the Gauls, Caesar more or less says as much. The Dumnonii aren't considered southern but then as they seem to have surrendered without a fight it probably doesn't make much difference anyway. The Parisi of the East Riding of Yorkshire appear to be similar to the Gauls in weapons and armour too with one interesting exception, some of them apparently wore their swords strapped down their backs like some giant F U to people who claim such is pure fantasy. There are chalk figurines showing swords worn vertically down the spine and there are burials where the sword was found behind the body rather than the usual right hip location. Scabbards have also been found with the belt loop half way down the back plate instead of at the top suggesting the sword was worn much higher. Could make an interesting look to have a unit like this or a couple of leaders like this.
Another point is that a fairly high percentage of the javelins found in Britain have heads made of sheep bone, as in sheared off leg bones. Similar javelin/spear heads have been found in NW Europe, Denmark I think. They would be simple to represent as you could simply cut off the existing spearhead with an angled cut and paint the tip off white. There was a shield found last year which was similar in shape to the Battersea Shield with a round boss but it was made of bark and painted with a large checkered pattern. The boss was made of wicker. Another awesome recent find was a crested helmet from Sussex. It's a bit difficult to describe so here's a picture of a reconstruction:



Caesar claimed the inland tribes wore furs and skins but this is likely hearsay and it's hard to know who was actually wearing "woad". He says they all did but it seems unlikely the nobles in armour were, particularly those with close contacts with Gaul. Woad isn't mentioned at all during the Claudian invasion or later conflicts like with Boudicca. Okay, there's a century in between but little else seems to have changed with chariots still being described in Boudicca's resistance and 20 years later at Mons Graupius.

Up in the north the Britons had small square shields apparently. Given the Picts appear to be using something similar several centuries later then it would suggest a very long military tradition.
Another thing Caesar mentioned about the Britons is that they went into battle bare chested and shaved their chests as well as their faces but left a moustache. It seems the Britons were the last hold outs of the stereotypical Celtic warrior with long hair and moustache, bare chested.

A couple of heads from anthropomorphic swords show what could be local hairstyles. The one from Cirencester appears to be cornrows and the one from Taunton Deane appears to be some kind of ribbon keeping the hair tidy, both would be useful to keep hair out of the way while fighting.

[cadbren]

As for the Victrix Gallic Warriors, if you can find someone who has them in stock as Victrix doesn't currently have any, (I want a set or two to mix up with the Wargames Atlantic Persians), then bare heads are probably the way to go with some of the plainer helmets with a peak at the back. The wide brimmed ones may have been used by some of the better armed nobles but helmets would be rare, much rarer than amongst the Gauls.
The pointy helmet with feathers is early iron age, around 5th-4th century bc and probably shouldn't be used unless doing an earlier army.
This one:



Novo Mesto type existed in the Balkans. Maybe could be used for Gallic Wars but seems to be a Balkan design and more useful for an eastern tribe like the Scordisci or Taurisci.
The other brimmed helmets are perfect for Gallic wars and probably southern tribes in Britain, these helmets were all iron but may have had some gold or bronze decoration.
The other eastern types in the set are these:





The last one is the base helmet type for the Ciumesti helmet which is the helmet with the big bird on top of it.
None of these helmets should appear in a British army unless there is good reason like someone did mercenary activity in the Balkans or maybe central Europe.

[Johnny Boy]

Many many thanks to one and all for taking the time to share your knowledge and ideas/opinions. It's really given me a motivational boost!! Cadbren, I've just taken receipt of a pack of the Victrix Gallic Warriors that I sourced from Amazon but I may have paid over the odds. It's just I'm cursed with an impatient streak a mile wide. So you could have a look there or I think there were individual sprues for sale on Evil Bay. Hope that's helpful and thanks again to you all.