Speedy Painted Romans....

[jim rae]

I was given this Ballista and Command group yesterday to paint up for saturday.

Time is now 7.00 and they are finished... I'm getting too old for this 

[OSHIROmodels]

They do the job and I really like the bases 

cheers

James

[jambo1]

Mighty fine work, the look lovely.

[jim rae]

Curiously enough, these are the first Romans i've painted in 30+ years..... They're for a local store who are organizing a public W-A-R-G-A-M-E on saturday which is between Romans and Celts (whatever the hell they actually were after having been at the BM's temporary exhibition).

No, starting today, the entire town will triple in size as Arde Lucas gets underway. This is an annual 'festival' which causes grown history graduates to weep into their beer. The population are encouraged to dress up as Romans or Celts (or Castrenses, check Google, it's NOT as bad as it sounds) and take part in various events. This is due,  in no small part to Lugo having the only complete Roman Wall round the center of the city (UNESCO Heritage Site, no less). Check it out here:

http://www.ardelucus.com/

There are several recreation groups taking part, however since Lugo was grabbed by the Romans in the 3rd Century A.D. there may be a slight contradiction in the type of armor and weapons they use.... There is NO evidence of Celtic influence either, but it sounds so romantic and since they've based an entire tourist campaign round this, the historians and archaeologists are not held in desperately high regard....

Ho, hum..... 

[SteveBurt]

The painting is nice, but why is the Ballista pointing at the sky like that?
How would you aim it?
They had more or less flat trajectories - they were not howitzers.

[jim rae]

The painting is nice, but why is the Ballista pointing at the sky like that?
How would you aim it?
They had more or less flat trajectories - they were not howitzers.

That's just the way it came out in the building, it's quite a nice little model (the crew are another thing, looks as if it were manned by hobbitses). As it's one of these things that are done more for effect than historical accuracy (shudders). This is how it looks on the Warlord site:

http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0288/8306/products/WGH-IR-67-EIR-Ballista-a_1024x1024.jpg?v=1397473721  

Absolutely agree, on reflection, the angle seems to high and can't be modified without major surgery....

[Mad Doc Morris]

Pics are a bit dark and blurry, perhaps you get a chance to take better ones at or after the event?
Like jimbibbly I do like those bases.

They had more or less flat trajectories - they were not howitzers.

Most likely such big stone throwers were reserved for sieges, so shooting upwards or from a great distance at a high angle. Not to confuse with smaller and more mobile versions which used bolts and could've been of actual use in field battles as well.

[jim rae]

The Celtic warbands on their movement trays (sorry about the pic, taken with my cellphone)...