Dux Bellorum: Kitchen Table Edition (updated 21st March 2024)

[Fabien]

Well done Old Hob!

Painting and basing are awesome! 

[Old Hob]

Thank you guys. Appreciated.

Lovely work on these! I really should do some more 15's.....

I've just checked out your 15mm Normans on your blog from many moons ago. They're lovely and if you decide to knock out some more 15s I would be very interested to see them.

[Old Hob]

Hi folks. Just finished off the first unit of Wiglaf Saxon cavalry (still a bit shiny from the varnish). Really nice minis.
I've got some Forged in Battle heavy Welsh cavalry lined up next, so once I'm done I'll post up some compare and contrast photos. Cheers.

[Pattus Magnus]

Great job on those! Your painting and basing is excellent on them.

[LouieN]

A nice stand of cav.  Thank you

[LoxIslay]

  great start for some mounted units

cant wait to see more

[Old Hob]

Thanks for the kind comments folks.

After a couple weeks of doing who-knows-what, I finally slapped some paint on the Forged in Battle Welsh heavy cavalry. Not my best effort, but better than bare metal. I'm calling them done and moving on.



As promised, here are some size comparison shots between the FiB Welsh cavalry and the Wiglaf Saxon cavalry. It should be noted that FiB are sold as 15mm and Wiglaf as 18mm, so you'd expect the Wiglaf chaps to be taller and more buff. The question is can the two ranges work together? Looking at the horses first, I think I can live with the Welsh horses being smaller mountain pony-types, with the Saxon horses being larger due to being bred in lowland Britain. I did have concerns when I compared the riders, though. The Welsh riders only come up to the Saxons' armpits.



Maybe once the minis were painted and based the difference wouldn't be so pronounced? Here are the two ranges side-by-side. As you can see the end result is... a bit silly. Knickers!



Back to the drawing board, I suppose. I can still use the FiB Welsh against my FiB Saxons no worries, but I really want to find some suitable opposition for the Wiglafs. If someone happens to have any of the Blue Moon Dark Ages range and some Wiglaf minis, a size comparison shot would be greatly appreciated. Cheers.

[Mr. White]

Fantastic work on the paint jobs and thanks for sharing comparisons pics.

Can you use Copplestone’s Barbarica range as opponents to the Wiglafs in Dux Bellorum? I understand they’re pretty comparable. Granted the table wouldn’t be pure historical.

[Pattus Magnus]

I like how your Welsh cavalry turned out. I certainly wouldn’t have any complaints about the painting!

The FiB vs Wiglaf size comparison is very informative, thanks for providing that. I don’t have any Blue Moon 15s, so can’t comment on their size. I wouldn’t be put off by the difference in size if I was playing a FiB army against a Wiglaf army, but I am fairly laidback about that (as long as the game is fun!). I’ll keep thinking about potentially compatible ranges. There must be something out there!

(Of course, an option is to buy two armies of Wiglaf figs and pit them against each other. Rumor has it that the actual Saxons beat on each other fairly often. Just to keep in shape, you know!)

[Old Hob]

Thanks chaps.

Can you use Copplestone’s Barbarica range as opponents to the Wiglafs in Dux Bellorum? I understand they’re pretty comparable. Granted the table wouldn’t be pure historical.

It's a reasonable suggestion, but my inner pedant would have a melt down. It could also spiral into a separate 18mm fantasy barbarian project... The lead pile is bad enough already.

I wouldn’t be put off by the difference in size if I was playing a FiB army against a Wiglaf army, but I am fairly laidback about that (as long as the game is fun!).

Yeah, that's a fair comment. I think the trick here is to finish the Wiglaf army first, then finish another army (tbc), then smoosh them together whilst drinking a few beers with friends. I was losing sight of that, so thanks for the gentle reminder.

(Of course, an option is to buy two armies of Wiglaf figs and pit them against each other. Rumor has it that the actual Saxon beat on each other fairly often. Just to keep in shape, you know!)

They did indeed seem to spend as much time kicking the stuffing out of each other as anyone else! Then again, Penda often had Welsh allies...

EDIT: someone elsewhere has suggested the blinkin' obvious: I just need to build up the base slightly so they're the same height. D'oh! I'll try that next time.