Koyote's SAGA Age of Hannibal

[Koyote]

I’ve added the obligatory skulls, bones, and battlefield debris my Epirote bases. Once I add rocks and ballast to texture the bases, they will be ready for paint.



The models on the shelf above are my second AoH warband, Lucanians (counts-as Republican Romans). The Lucanians were an Oscan people who lived in Southern Italy. Like the Samnites, the Lucanians were conquered and subjugated by Rome, but never seemed to pass up the opportunity to revolt. They sided Pyrrhus in 281 BC, Hannibal in 216 BC, and with the Samnites and other Latin allies in the Social Wars in 90 BC.

There's not a lot written about the Lucanians, and their tribe and homeland eventually came to a bad end, but what little I've found sounds pretty cool.  Below in a excerpt from an article titled Shield emblems in ancient Italy, published by Ancient Warfare Magazine.

With regards to the wolf, we should now consider the case of the Lucanians and – shortly thereafter – the Romans. The Lucanians, considered one of the fiercest Italic tribes together with the Samnites, seem to derive their name from the Osco-Umbrian word for wolf, lukos (compare Latin lupos). The wolf was the animal sacred to the Italic war god Mars.

Most of the models are from Victrix’s Rome's Italian Allied Legions kit. The warlord is a 2019 limited edition Roman Optio mini made by Warlord Games.  I'm tempted to replace the model's hastile (Optio staff) with a spear, but the staff helps the model stand out, looks cool, and gives the model an air of command.

[sgzleada71]

I look forward to seeing some painted up.  Are  you going to go a distinct coulour  scheme for the Lucanians?

[Tonhel]

Great and informative post!

[Mindenbrush]

Neat idea on using a hole punch and plastic sheet for the bucklers, in the past I have cut the pin off of drawing pins/thumbtacks to make small shields

[Ogrob]

Thanks for the faction thoughts! Looking forward to seeing what they look like with some paint on them.

[Koyote]

I want to test out Cretan Archers, so I built 8 archers using Victrix Greek Archers kit

…

With the addition of GS straps I’ve turned the white plastic disks into proper bucklers.

[Koyote]

My Greeks are almost ready for paint.

All the models that needed it have been patched with greenstuff, and I added greenstuff cushions and ropes to the bottom of the howdah.

Except for my elephant, I've added rocks and grit to all the bases. 

[Tonhel]

That elephant + crew looks great!

[Koyote]

When I start a new warband project, I tend to buy way more models than I will actually need.   The extras end up in bits boxes or being used to make objective markers and the such, or eventually given away.

I've used some of my "extra" Aventine Greeks to make a Soldier and a Brute for the Old Feud scenario. 

The Soldier is well armored and has the We Obey rule, so I chose a model that looks like a well armored commander.  The original model had a really tiny head, so I replaced with a plastic head from the Victrix Athenian Hoplite set.

The Brute has an aggression of 8 and is equipped with a heavy weapon that doesn't lower its melee armor of 5/5.  Aside from sarissas, Greek infantry from this era weren't much for two-handed weapons, so for my Brute I selected a large, well armored fighter and armed him with a shield and big spear that dwarfs the metal wire spears and Victrix plastic javelins carried by the other models in my warband.

The model's left hand was originally held up, palm out, but I want him to hold a shield, so I changed his greeting into fist. The model's right hand had short, stumpy fingers so I lengthened them.

The Soldier and The Brute




Below are two of three objective markers for this warband. 

The first are "extra" Aventine command minis.  It's not an especially creative objective marker, but it looks cool. 

The Second is a pair of minis made by Westwind Productions.  It comes from Westwind's Death of Arthur Diorama.  I replaced the heads with heads from an Aventine head pack.  The model holding the dying "Arthur" wore a chain shirt and a long sleeve tunic underneath. I carved away the chainmail detail and sleeves and sculpted a shaped cuirass, short sleeve tunic, and bare arms.  I carved away "Arthur's' right trouser leg and sculpted a bare leg.  I left "Arthur" wearing long sleeves, mostly because I was tired of carving away at this mini and I had cut open my thumb pretty good 






Except for the "extras", my Greeks have been assembled and based and are now ready for paint. Last night I began experimenting with various bronze paints on test models, as well as color testing on textured mock-up bases.  Once I settle on some workable recipes, I'll start painting Greeks in earnest.

[Ogrob]

Phenomenal green stuff work!

[Pattus Magnus]

Agreed, Ogrob. I enjoy each of Koyote’s threads here on LAF - there’s always great conversions and customization to the figures!

[Fremitus Borealis]

Truly awesome work with the Green Stuff! I should be taking notes, but... ya know...

[Koyote]

I've settled on a third objective marker.  I built it from the Footsore Miniatures' Mortal Gods Seer miniature and Tropians pack.  The goat comes from Gripping Beast's livestock model line.

Over the last couple of years I've observed a noticeable decline in quality of Footsore Miniatures' casts.  It reminds me of those comparison shots of fast food burgers where you see the burgers from the advertisements compared side-by-side with an actual burger from that restaurant.  Here's a photo of the mini from the online catalog, and here's a photo of an actual miniature.



The Seer and Tropian pack are yet more evidence of that decline.  The Seer required some GS work to patch up and repair the shoddy casting.   Rather than repair the Tropian's miscast sword and helmet, I simply replaced them with plastic substitutes from a Victrix kit.  The spear that holds up the armor was bent beyond repair with a notch missing from the spearhead, so I replaced it with a metal spear. 




On a happier note, I finally got off my lazy arse and did some painting.  My first four Epirote peltasts are (mostly) done.  They should be ready for photography tonight.

Stay tuned...

[eMills]

Love all of your projects, and this one is no exception. Excellent stuff.

[SJWi]

Koyote, that's quite a damning report on Footsore. At £4 per figure in UK they are at the "re-assuringly expensive" end of the market and I would expect much, much,  better. They even make Foundry look cheap!

Regards