1/72 Early Imperial Roman army - reinforcements (update 27/7/2025)

[Philotep]

Thank you all for your kind comments!

I have the advantage of having had both of my sons adopt 1/72 scale, and they live within reasonable driving distance, so we can usually get a family game going.

Oh that I know, because I follow your blogs which are a constant source of inspiration. I can play Fantasy games with my own son (mainly Kings of War, Oathmark is on the list), but he not very interested in historical wargames, but one day, who knows...

[Philotep]

As announced, I have based my Early Germans army for DBA, in order to have two opposite armies for a future game. Let's have a look:





The bases are made the same way as the Romans. The figures come from different manufacturers, which makes it possible to have a maximum of different poses, a good thing for an irregular army I believe.

Most elements are Warbands:


Close-up on the general element:


There's one element of skirmishers:


And two elements of cavalry (Heavy and Light):




What do you think of them, and what do you prefer: Romans or Germans ?

As usual, more pictures and explanations on the blog: https://philotepsfigures.blogspot.com/2023/07/dba-early-germans.html

[Hobgoblin]

Spectacular! No preference from me - they both look terrific and will complement each other perfectly.

I believe that "legionaries vs German tribesmen" is the fons et origo of the whole DBA system: blades vs warbands, +5 vs +3 but quick kill, etc. So you've got the perfect set-up for the game!

You could always introduce your son gently to the historical games by starting off with Romans or Germans vs orcs in HOTT!

[Pattus Magnus]

I will echo those sentiments - your German tribesmen look great! I agree with you that having figures from several manufacturers is helpful for achieving variety in irregular armies. Your warbands show the advantages- they look like enthusiastic but not very uniform warriors.

I am looking forward to seeing more 1:72 projects that you are working on (and expansions to the Romans and Germans if you make additions)!

[Kaiphranos]

Wow, great work as always! Time for a face-off next? 

[SJWi]

Very nice! Which manufacturers do you use and how do you prepare the figures for painting? I haven't painted "soft plastic" figures for 50 years and things have obviously moved on in that time! 

[Philotep]

Thank you very much for your feedbacks!

You could always introduce your son gently to the historical games by starting off with Romans or Germans vs orcs in HOTT!

Yes, that's what I intend to do with my mythological armies, which will be the subject of a future topic here: using historical armies BUT with mythological creatures and some magic would be a good transition from Fantasy to History. THe first armies to come are:
- Mythological Vikings: the figures are painted, waiting for bases
- Mythological Egypt: 60% of the figures are painted, I need some chariots
- Mythological Greece: 70% painted, I need some more hoplites

And after that, I have other plans to achieve: Mythological Mayas, Aztecs, Indians, Chinese... some of the needed creatures are still missing

Wow, great work as always! Time for a face-off next? 

Yes, I should plan a confrontation at the end of the summer.

Very nice! Which manufacturers do you use and how do you prepare the figures for painting? I haven't painted "soft plastic" figures for 50 years and things have obviously moved on in that time! 

For the Germans, I used figures from Strelets, Hät, ESCI, Revell, Caesar and Linear A.
I always wash the figures in soapy water, then cover them with a white primer. Next steps are probably the same as the other painters here.

[Philotep]

It's been 2 years and 1 day since I've updated this topic for the last time, it's high time to show something new!

Back to the Early Imperial Romans. I want to add some new figures to my old DBA army and transform it into an army for l'Art de la Guerre - 100 points first, then 200 points in a second effort. For the first step, I need 4 more legionaries, 24 auxilia and some generals (and a camp, since I never built one for DBA).

Let's start with the infantry. First, the auxiliaries:





Together with the already painted figures, we have 3 elements of 8 figures each:


Next the 4 legionaries:


I have now 3 elements of 8 figures each:


And a few pictures of the entire group:




All shields are hand painted, and I must admit that I am quite happy with the green ones.

The generals are not painted yet, nor the camp - I will try to scratchbuild a few tents for the troops.

For the second step (up to 200 pts), I will need to add 54 more figures. No time to lose if I don't want to let this topic sleep for two more years 

More pictures and explanations here: https://philotepsfigures.blogspot.com/2025/07/new-recruits-for-empire.html

[Rick]

Very nice indeed and the green shields are really great - I had to have a closer look to see that they were hand painted, lovely work there.

[Pattus Magnus]

I completely agree, they’re very well done figures. I am not surprised, though, Philotep’s 1:72 figures are always inspiring!

[Philotep]

Thank you for your feedbacks, much appreciated  I have planned to paint 1 more element of Auxilia with green shields, and one with red shields (they're easier, lazy me). And also as many legionaries as I already have (for a total of 48), and one more element of Equites Alares.

[Golgotha]

Always happy to see 1/72nd minis. Great looking armies keep em coming.

[Philotep]

Thank you very much Golgotha. I've been looking at your blog to see that you're an adept of the One True Scale 
Your battle reports are great, and I'm a fan of the old and venerable (though not very accurate) Atlantic figures.