Wednesday 3 March 2021

Ancient Armies on Parade as they get close to completion

Having completed a recent WW2 Western Desert game and cleared off both the armies and terrain. I thought with the sandy wargaming mat still on the tabletop it would be a good opportunity to view both Roman and Carthaginian armies on parade. They are both very close to completion. I recon I am about 10 units short of getting to my original goal, and after that their maybe an odd unit added here and there.

All the figures are HaT plastic figures in these armies.

All painted units on the tabletop. All units are on 4x3 inch bases.

The Romans

Carthaginians with their Elephants

Romans again

Carthaginian light cavalry

As I get closer to the end of the paining I need to ponder the rules. With most of my projects I generally start with simple rules, One-Hour Wargaming (OHW) springs to mind, but this time I am not so sure. I am very tempted to start with rules from Introduction to Wargaming by Neil Thomas.

I will most likely use two bases for each unit. The rules suggest each army has 8 units, in which cases I may even be able to stretch it to 3 bases per unit which will make the units look quite sizeable.

The likely rules to start with


20 comments:

  1. I've never been a big ancients fan - but your work is turning me into one :) Epic stuff

    ...and I have this drawer full of HAT Punic Wars plastics too...hmmm

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    1. This is my first real foray into the Ancients period and it will be interesting to see how it goes. The HAT plastic figures are a wonderful range and make a great entry point for the period.

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  2. Gorgeous, Peter. Have you tried Sword and Spear rules?

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    1. No, I have not got Sword and Spear rules. I did recently buy a PDF version of To the Strongest rules, tempted by the grid approach and use of cards.

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  3. A very impressive array of troops Peter and I must admit I didn't think you had painted so many units. I think his Ancients & Medieval rules are better than the Introduction ones, certainly the former has a lot my choice in terms of Armies etc.

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    1. Thanks, I do have a secondhand copy of Ancients and Medieval Wargaming hidden away somewhere.

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  4. Very impressive display of force, Peter!

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    1. It is always a good motivator to line up all the finished units. Thanks.

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  5. Super job, the armies look great on parade and all ranked up. The OHW are a bit limiting in the range of unit types that they use and the ‘wargaming an Introduction’ seem like a nice set and are closer to his Ancients and Medieval wargame rules that come in the book of the same name.

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    1. Thanks Norm. Agree on the need to have the wider range of troop types. I will be looking at the Ancients and Medieval army lists.

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  6. Getting these armies so far, so quickly, is really impressive. Please treat us to some closer shots preferably with the light source in front of the figures.

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    1. Thanks, there were more units than I remembered painting. The figures are all simply painted with a block painting approach. Next time they are out I will try and get a few closer shots.

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  7. Mighty good Peter, mighty good. You have made a pair of fine armies which match up very well. Punic Wars battles are usually close and exciting in my experience.
    Regards,
    Paul.

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    1. I am looking forward to having a game. Thanks.

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  8. You have a veritable host there Peter. Well, two hosts actually. They look really good on that desert cloth.

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    1. Thanks. I will be creating another desert mat without hexes.

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  9. Armies look fantastic! Basic Impetus might fit the bill too. http://www.dadiepiombo.it/english-basic.html

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  10. Good looking armies. I am a big fan of To the Strongest! myself, and these armies would work very well with those rules (as well as many others).

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    1. Thank you. I am currently reading through the To the Strongest rules at the moment.

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