EDITED: for additional thoughts on the units.
I finally got my first comentatensis finished. This is the artillery unit that Luke Uedasarson lists as "The Balistarii Dafnenses is listed (18.24 in Ingo Maier's numbering scheme) as the thirteenth of the legiones comitatenses under the Magister Militum per Thracias."
I used manuscript 'M' (middle shield, above) as my shield painting model. First up would be the Tribune and Legate on the command stand. I used Gripping Beast and Crusader figures on this stand.
Luke writes, "There is, as far as I can ascertain, no evidence available whatsoever as to the strength of these balistarii units, whether in terms of men or machines. It seems reasonable to assume that a balistarii unit would have appromimately the same number of men (including men responsible for looking after the draught animals, maintenance etc., as well as loaders and engineers) as a normal legion, it ought to be possible to estimate how many artillery pieces were employed by a balistarii unit, although this would require a knowledge of how many men (for all tasks) were required per machine, and this information seems to be unavailable even for the much better documented legions of the Principate."
Therefore, I ordered the Legio as half infantry and half artillery. Let's start with the infantry:
Milites (Crusader)
Crusader doesn't have a lot of different poses in their Late Roman range and these guys are pretty static. However, that is what I was looking for in this Ordine and the price was right. I figure, unlike regular "line" comentatenses, this unit is not really offensive in nature and the infantry half of the Legio would probably be tasked with defending the war-machinery rather than attacking the enemy. So the static nature of these guys standing in a line suits that purpose, I think.
And the casualty marker (Gripping Beast)
Lanciarii. These are the new Ebor Late Romans. I put smaller shields on them and gave them an extra spear to denote them as Lanciarii. They're also on a home-made movement tray with sabots to denote "open order"
And a casualty marker (1st Corps)
Sagittarii (Gripping Beast)
A few of these models didn't have swords just as many don't have the hip-shields. So, to denote them as "light infantry archers" I added Gripping Beast Roman swords with a pin and vice.
Funditores (Crusader Byzantines)
The only staff-slingers I could find. I need to come up with some home-brew rule modifications to extend the range of slings to staff-slings - with my opponents consent, of course.
Speculatores (Gripping Beast)
These are Late Roman infantry from GB: the wild and wooly ones on the last page. I thought that they would be perfect for skirmishers. I added green-stuff straps and Essex cavalry javelin cases as I can't see sending skirmishers out with just one javelin in hand. I didn't paint these tunics madder red (Foundry) like the rest of the Legio as I had just read Ammianus Marcellinus' account of the Battle of Adrianople and for some reason that I can't remember now, I came away with the impression that the skirmishers that were described were mostly locals who knew the area. Whether that is correct or not, I'm not certain. But I gave my skirmishers "civilian" tunics to reflect their unconventional nature while giving them Legio shields to identify them with the unit as a whole.
However, I'm thinking that my other comentatenses and auxilia will probably match each other in tunic color. My limitanei and my pseudo-comentatensis will probably have multi natural-woolen colours and very little, if any, embroidery.
Now, for the artillery, starting with the smallest pieces:
Carrobalistae (Foundry & 4Ground wagons)
I still have to put lead ropes on the shaggy ponies (GB: only because I couldn't find any mules without modern tack) for the teamsters to hold. Some day....
Scorpio (Gripping Beast)
Onager (Gripping Beast)
Hasta Ballistae (Gripping Beast & Crusader commanders)
Now this guy is modified. I took off his sword and arm, moved the arm a bit and added green stuff. I then made a finger of .05mm wire and green stuff. I wanted him motioning a "FIRE" signal. He, and the other commander, are holding bronze "arrows" that were supposedly used as leadership symbols like the old vine sticks.
And now for the Grand-daddy of them all: the
60lb Ballista limited edition from Black Tree Design. Since it came with an Early Imperial Roman crew, Gripping Beast was kind enough to put together a Late Roman crew for me - thanks, Andy!
And now, for everything all together
Whew! I hope you liked that. That took me a while to put together. But that's my first comententasis - just three more to go... and Auxilia, and Limintanei, and cavalry, and, and, and... Man! I have a Late Roman lead pile!
Now, this Legio isn't intended to field as a whole. No rules allow for so much artillery fire-power as it unbalances the game. I intended this unit (and perhaps the Romans did too) to be more of what we would now call "DivArty" or Division Artillery, where depending on need and circumstance, different pieces are detached to different regiments. So, in a given game, a line unit might use a scorpio or two and an onager or a city's defenders may have the 60lb-er, for example.
Nevertheless, if I recall correctly, this unit disappeared from the record after the Huns attacked the city where they were garrisoned, so that might be a special scenario where the whole unit is fielded and may not be so unbalanced with lot's of small, fast moving Hun cavalry units all over the table.
I wish everyone a Happy New Year
Richard in Saxony
PS: as requested, a size comparison.
From left to right: Footsore, Gripping Beast (with cast-on shield), Crusader, and Ebor
21 March 2013, 07:24:51 PM