Romans! (Aquilifer WIP August 13, 2012)

[Froggy the Great]

Ok, so in a fit of well-considered frivolity, I just picked up 30 Imperial Roman legionaires and 10 cavalry from Warlord Games, and I plan to VSF them up, as might be appropriate for the legion in David Drake's book "Ranks of Bronze", having made it back to Earth in time to contest the Martian Punitive Expedition.

Edit:  Jump here for the finished footsoldiers.

And here for finished cavalry and scorpions.

I think I'm going to convert the pilia into clockwork spear-chuckers of roughly carbine-equivalent, and I'm going to use the VSF FUBAR rules for this.

What else would Imperial Romans need, in order to be properly VSF?  I'm willing to cross the line into Steampunk, should the ideas be cool/crazy enough.

Theatres of war will probably be Atlantis (contesting the Martian Hinterlanders' hold on the Unobtanium mines in the southeast, or the Confederate States of America in the southwest), Mars/Barsoom/Parroom (depending on who I'm playing and what terrain I have), or Venus (fighting the High Cythereans or any other colonial power that's given up on Atlantis and moved further afield.)

So yeah, what cool/crazy ideas do you have?  I've got some, but I'd like to hear what else bubbles to the top.

[The_Beast]

Not your first venture with Romans in VSF, but those were roughly 'natives' in tech, right?

Romans were known for two things: steal the hell out of others ideas, and engineer the hell out of whatever you do. Siege engines in particular come to mind, and I'd suggest in particular something like an armor-piercing, steam-driven ballista.

Doug

[Traveler Man]

On the same lines, an onager driven by a perfected version of Heron of Alexandria's Aeolipile 

From the info here...

http://gearratio.wordpress.com/

...it seems he did work up some devices for use by the legions.

[Ray Rivers]

Have you checked out Anvil Industry?

They might give you some ideas and/or conversion pieces.

[Froggy the Great]

Have you checked out Anvil Industry?

They might give you some ideas and/or conversion pieces.

Ooooh, so glad I didn't know about these when I ordered my minis.  That'll give a guy an inferiority complex.

[Red Orc]

What are Roman Legions most famous for? Probably the Tortoise - you have to do a Tortoise, Froggy! A great steam tank or something...

Maybe to replace their lost Legionaries along the way they've had to resort to clockwork legionaries, or steam legionaries?

Any cavalry should be native auxiliaries - with any kind of native you see fit.

I've been painting up some Judoon and they're a bit Roman looking... maybe you could use some as allied native infantry?

[Froggy the Great]

WIP of the alien command group, as from David Drake's "Ranks of Bronze" as well as I can get them:


The clockwork pilium-chucker:


A legionary wielding said armament:

[Mason]

You, Sir, absolutely stark raving bonkers!

In the best possible way, of course...

Really looking forward to see where this latest journey takes you.
And us....

 

[Ray Rivers]

The clockwork pilium-chucker

 

Very cool idea!   

[Doomsdave]

Those are great Froggys.   

[The_Beast]

The clockwork pilium-chucker:

Very cool idea!   

I'll stick with 'bonkers', thank you. 

Doug

[Froggy the Great]

Thanks everyone for the kind words.

Here's what I've got so far on the cavalry.  My biggest problem has been making the chainmail look Victorian.
I'm also running into the problem of the spears being metal noodles in terms of strength, so I have to reinforce or shorten them somehow.  I'd be up for suggestions on any of that.

[Bullshott]

I'm also running into the problem of the spears being metal noodles in terms of strength, so I have to reinforce or shorten them somehow.  I'd be up for suggestions on any of that.

For what it's worth, I suggest you lose the existing spears and give them heavier versions/lances with explosive tips for close combat against vehicles/impervious suits/automatons/creatures, plus a quiver of short throwing spears/darts attached to the saddles as good measure to give them some ranged ability.

[Froggy the Great]

I am reinforcing, shortening, and kitting up the existing spears quite a bit, which is essentially equivalent to what you suggest.

[Froggy the Great]

Here they are primed.