Got some Imperial Roman Camel Riders - Where do I go from here?

[nathan]

I'm actually fairly insensitive to size differences. The Aventine miniatures really impress me, so that's probably where I'm heading next after these camel riders are done.

For those who know the period, what sort of frontage per miniature is going to look right?  For example, in Napoleonics, a soldier might occupy 24 inches across and while most miniatures don't fit "in scale" 15mm per miniature looks right at 28mm.  If I did my cavalry on 40mm rounds and infantry on 25mm rounds, is that going to look wrong if I put them on one of those rank up bases with sockets?  For example:



This just looks super wide to me.  Or has Napoleonics damaged my frontage sense? 

There's no reason I couldn't go for 20mm squares or 20mm rounds (likely metric washers for heft/stability).

I'll be supplying all miniatures regardless of the rules used, so compatibility with other local ancients players is not a consideration at all.  I do want these miniatures to be able to do double duty for both skirmish games and with element trays like in the picture.  I think I'd also be alright going with WAB style 20mm squares and 25x50 for cavalry even though I have no plans to do casualty removal.  Though I do like circles better than squares in skirmish games.

The 40mm wide for cavalry works fine for these camels as three would look fine on a 120mm base/tray, but would that look too open for normal cavalry of the period?

Curse you basing!

[Emir of Askaristan]

For skirmish games unless the rules specify a specific size, it matters not a jot if they are 20mm or 25mm, round or square.

I use 2p's there's never a shortage of them and they add a little mass to plastic figs too.

You're unlikely to be forming deep formations of shoulder to shoulder troops in skirmish games. They're more likely to be loose, open and fluid. The movement trays are there to help you move figures around and the skirmish trays are probably more asthetically pleasing than the rectangular ones. Ultimately it comes down to choice...yours!

[nathan]

My main concern wasn't with the skirmish rules but wanting to use them for both skirmish games and non-skirmish games.  I don't know enough about the historical frontages of units at the time to know how close things should look on the table.  I know there's the whole testudo thing, but don't really know much about it.

As for these miniatures, I stuck them to some bases with poster tack and it's definitely going to be 40mm circles.  They are very high miniatures and tip too easily on 25x50 bases.  Never been a fan of tippy miniatures.

[philhendry]

here are the original images I gave to Warlord - hope they're useful.

[The Gray Ghost]

Aventine Armorum & Aquila has some really nice armored camels

[philhendry]

Not sure about Aventine, but A&A certainly do:

[axabrax]

I might have just enough sculpt fu to do the scarves around those Aventine models. Thanks for the tip!

[nathan]

here are the original images I gave to Warlord - hope they're useful.

Very useful.  Thanks!

I think I've got the basing figured out on the cavalry end of things.  40mm round for very open order type cavalry like these camels.  More regular (and less prone to tipping) cavalry will go on 25x50 bases, but pill shaped ones rather than square edged.


And for infantry I think I will go for 20mm round bases and rank trays.

[ACW Gamer]

Did the Romans (or any other army) actually FIGHT from camel back? Or were they essentially mounted infantry.

[HvM]

very impressive! those camels riders look so cool

[philhendry]

Did the Romans (or any other army) actually FIGHT from camel back? Or were they essentially mounted infantry.

There's no evidence of Romans actually fighting from camel-back. Nor, as far as I know, is there evidence that they didn't… I suspect though, that they might have 'skirmished' - shooting bows, throwing javelins, etc, - that seems rather more likely than engaging in melee.

[cataphractarius]

We know indeed very little about Roman dromedarii.

There was an ala miliaria in Syria, which may have consisted of camel-archers, and the Dura rosters attest dromedarii attached to other units, as do the Ostraka that come out from the Egyptian desert (apparently mainly Palmyreans, these latter chaps).

The Dura lads were outposted, so the camels were likely used to provide additional desert-proof mobility, whereas in the case of the Palmyreans, it is pretty clear these were archers. It's more difficult for the ala - though I somewhat doubt the concept of "shock camelry", and the figures above with "camel armour" certainly look fantastic, but I'm rather sceptical of wielding fairly shortish swords in a downward motion from a camel. ... 

The dromedarii in the Syrian ala were probably either used for patroling, or they were archers, or - what seems to be most likely to me - a mixture of both.