Help wanted - Warlord Roman Marines

[Emir of Askaristan]

More help needed please.

I quite like the Roman Marines released by Warlord. But I don't like the shields, I'd rather have ovals.

Can anyone tell me if those figs with the bundle of javelins in their left hand have them cast on the shield or in their fist?

[Prof.Witchheimer]

googled that photo, looks like the javelins are on the shield:

[Prof.Witchheimer]

Found on Ebay. Definitely on the shield.

[Emir of Askaristan]

Cheers Prof. Saw that first pic and couldn't decide, but the second pack is clear.

So what we have is mail clad legionaries (they can't be anything else because of the belt "apron") wearing cloaks and holding javelins or spears. They could have square or later oval shields and pila added without much bother.

It's not clear if they have any shoulder doubling to their mail armour as the cloak covers it.

A nice alternative to the standard legionary I think and good as a force in a civil war. I might just purchase a pack and see how they look in the flesh before I commit to more though.

[Mad Doc Morris]

Not to spoil the fun, really, but…

they can't be anything else because of the belt "apron"

In fact, they can. Have a look at these two guys (taken from this site), auxiliaries both, "aprons" on their belts, their shields of either oval or rectangular shape. Yes, this may be down to certain standards in depicting "Roman" soldiers. But that's all we have, and so it seems futile to differentiate between auxiliaries and legionaries based on their respective equipment.

It's not clear if they have any shoulder doubling to their mail armour as the cloak covers it.

There are 'short sleeves' recognisable on one or two models (cf the models painted by redzed, last picture, man in centre), so probably no doubling there.

Anyway, looking forward to your rendition of some nice models.

[Emir of Askaristan]

I'm quite happy to accept that the equipment of both kind of troops varied from unit to unit. Both personal choice, purchase and unit tradition would have had a large part to play in how an individual wore his kit. Belt aprons are normally associated with legions and plain mail shirts without shoulder pieces are normally associated with auxiliaries - as are square and oval shields respectively. But as we know there are cases where there are exceptions, such as these examples. 

However I'm not a button counter. After all I'm about to use the Dacians which normally I use as Franks or Early Saxons as Alamanni  for a project a friend and I are working on and the Foundry EIR Romans I had originally, (sadly sold some years back), which faced them were highly individualised with some in tinned helmets and other with unburnished with bronze or polished details and reinforcements, most in segmented armour but some in mail .

Once I get my Tribe refurbished - they've been in the box a while - I intend getting some Romans of my own to defend the frontier. I'd like some of these to look different from my friends so that a civil war may occasionally break out and hence my interest in these cloaked "marines".

Quite when this will come about it anyone's guess - its not likely to be anytime soon. I will keep you posted.

[peachy rex]

Aventine has a lot of variety in their EIR infantry range - you might find some useful stuff there. And of course Aventine figs are really, really excellent.