Comes Britanniae

More Arthurians

2012-01-18T12:41:00.000-08:00

Finally managed to find the camera and get some pictures of the latest figures to be painted. These still need the bases completing and I'll do this after I've completed the next unit of 10 Archers.

The first figures were painted to expand Tewdric's unit from 22 to 30 figures and also to make sure I can still match the colours of the original figures that were painted over two years ago. I'm pleased with the results.

I've also painted up 10 archers in the same colours so that they can either form a rear rank for a 40 man unit or deploy as a separate archer unit.

I'll try to take some better pictures once the next unit is completed and I've finished off the bases.

Next up will be a unit of 20 Tomb King skeletons for my son, I'll hopefully have the first batch of these completed next week.

In the meantime I'll also be reading the second book in Bernard Cornwell's King Alfred series.

The first one was very enjoyable and highly recommended for anyone into historical fiction.

Steady Progress

2012-01-11T11:57:00.000-08:00

I've managed to complete eight additional figures for Tewdric's unit (Bulls Head shields) to take the unit total to thirty. This was really an experiment to make sure that I could still match the colours after nearly two and half years. The figures turned out well, so I've moved onto painting 10 archers in the same colours so that they can either form a back rank for a forty figure unit or a separate unit of missile troops.

I'll get some WIP pictures up at the weekend when I get the archers finished and find my camera.

I've also been reading this book over the past few nights and really enjoying it:

It's the first in a series of books which, through the eyes of a Danish raised Saxon name Uhtred, tells the story of King Alfred and his struggles against the Danes. Gripping stuff as ever from Bernard.

Finally I'm back...

2012-01-03T06:46:00.000-08:00

24th November 2009 - "Anyway I've now settled into my new routine and am finding time to paint again."

Two years later and this statement is finally looking like it might be accurate.

A lot has happened over the past two years, I've finally finished the Masters Degree and passed with a commendation and have moved the family home to Harrogate.

The Christmas holidays have given me the chance to dust off all my figures, paints, etc. and get myself set up to do some painting.

The process of packing and unpacking all my wargaming ‘stuff’ has made me realise just how much I have collected over the years that I will never get around to using. So a new year and a new house gives me the chance to make a new start. I have started to go through my unpainted figure pile and sort it into those figures that have a chance of getting painted and a pile for ebay.

My main projects over the next 3 months will be to get the Arthurian WAB army up to 2,000 point's all fully painted and based. I will also be working on a Warhammer Fantasy Battle Tomb Kings Army for my teenage son - he's been waiting patiently for this since last year so I'll be trying to get an initial force painted before Easter. Updates on both of these to follow shortly.

I have other projects planned but will stick to these two for the next few months until I get back into the swing of painting again.

My aim is to use this blog as a personal record for my painting projects, but, hopefully others will find some things of interest too.

Thanks to everyone who has commented in the past and I look forward to sharing this great hobby with you all again.

Dumnonians

2009-11-24T13:01:00.001-08:00

I Apologise for the lack of updates this month, work and family life have been quite hectic and coincided with me starting a part-time Masters degree in International Trade Law.

Anyway I've now settled into my new routine and am finding time to paint again.

I've just finished a Dumnonian unit and as ever all comments gratefully received:

In the books the Dumnonians are led by Mordred the King and the Numidian Sagramor. Both of these figures I intend to paint as character figures once the army is complete.

I planned to have two units of Dumnonians but the shields on these proved such a pain that I may drop that idea - time will tell.

That is now the four core infantry units completed for my army, I'll now be moving onto the skirmishers starting with the archers.

I'll be updating this blog once a week for the forseeable future (probably on Tuesday/Wednesday evenings) so please keep coming back.

Here are a few more pictures of the unit:

Plague strikes!!!!!

2009-10-07T09:14:00.000-07:00

A 4 day holiday in Spain followed by a bout of Flu has resulted in slower than usual progress this week. I have nearly completed 12 figures for the next unit which I hope to get completed and photographed at the weekend.

I’ve had a number of comments and questions on the bases so I may try and do a step-by-step on how I do my bases once I get this current unit completed.

In the meantime I’ve added a couple of pictures of the completed Wolftail warriors that I previously showed as WIP – this I hope will provide a direct comparison and hopefully show that an average painted figure can look reasonably good if a little extra time is taken on the basing.

Thanks to all those people that have commented so far – please keep them coming as they do help me to keep pushing with this project. Also please feel free to ask any questions as I’m more than happy to share any of the painting or modelling techniques I use.

Wolftail Warriors

2009-09-30T06:06:00.000-07:00

Finished!!!!

Finally managed to take some photographs of the figures that I finished over the weekend. Although I only need 20figures for the Arthurian army, I plan to use these in the future in a Shieldwall Saxon army so have painted 28 figures.

All the figures are Gripping Beast and the standard is LBMS. The flowers and grass are Silflor from Antenocities Workshop - thoroughly recommend both.

Next unit will be based on the Dumnonian army from the Warlord Trilogy which had red dragon symbols on their shields.

Wolftail Warriors WIP

2009-09-24T23:33:00.000-07:00

The third unit is now nearing completion and since I haven't posted anything recently I thought I would add a couple of WIP shots. These are slightly darker than normal as I didn't set up all the lamps I normally use for photographing finished miniatures.

This unit is loosely based on the Derfel's Wolftail warriors from the Bernard Cornwell Arthur trilogy. They are described as having round shield and fighting in shieldwall formation with spears. I've painted the entire unit with 5 pointed stars but in the book a number of warriors are only allowed to have a 4 pointed star device - I'll probably add these in.

These figures represent the back ranks of the unit and once again they are all from Gripping Beast. I've also changed the spears for this unit and am now using the much thinner steel spears from Gripping Beast as they look more realistic and don't bend. The down side is that I now have a number of puncture wounds on my hands and fingers where I've stabbed myself on them.

Since photographing these I decided to shorten the spears based partly on feedback from people on the Steve Dean forum and a realisation that scaled up they would be between 10 and 12 feet long. I've now shortened them so that they would be between 5 and 6 feet.

Basing is progressing nicely on these and I hope to have the full unit finished, photographed and posted on here early next week.

King Tewdric of Gwent

2009-09-09T07:28:00.000-07:00

I finally managed to take some photographs of the latest unit to be completed. This unit was inspired by the Arthur Trilogy written by Bernard Cornwell. In his books he describes the army of Gwent led by King Tewdric as wearing Roman style uniforms with russett cloaks and helmet plumes and a Bull's Head symbol on their shields. When I bought these figures I couldn't find any infantry with cloaks so went with Romano/British figures from Gripping Beast. I've since found that Foundry do a very nice Late Roman unit with cloaks and ordered these during the recent "20% off" promotion, these will eventually form a second Cohort.

The figures were painted with Vallejo paints, the shields were done with Veni, Vidi, Vici transfers that have been repainted and highlighted and the banner is from Little Big Men Studios.

In Warhammer this unit will count as a unit of Pedes with full command.

I'm already well into the next unit and hope to get some pictures posted soon.

In the meantime I present King Tewdric and the 1st Cohort of the Legion of Gwent:

Background

2009-08-31T08:00:00.000-07:00

I've been toying with this period for many years after reading the Bernard Cornwell Arthur books (The Winter King, Enemy of God and Excalibur)and seeing the figures from Gripping Beast that were loosely based on these novels.

Like most wargamers though I've been guilty of flitting between projects and never really progressing any of them. After nearly twenty years of painting figures without really completing a single army I've finally resolved to see a project through to completion.

After much deliberation I decided to focus primarily on the Arthurian project. My aim is to have a 2,000 point Warhammer Ancient Battles Arthurian/Late Roman army completed by the end of the year.

The army look will be loosely based on the unit descriptions given in the Cornwell books combined with a little artistic licence. Initally the army will be a Fall of the West Warlord army as this gives me a lot of scope for mixing Romano British and barbarian units.

I'll also be playing games every two to three weeks at the local gaming club to test the army which may require changes to the army composition, however, the initial army list is as follows:

1 x Warlord with Throwing Spear, Shield and Heavy Army (150pts)
22 x Comitatus (Body Guard) with Heavy Throwing Spear and Full Command (367pts)
1 x Priest (75pts)
1 x Army Battle Standard Bearer with Large Shield (71pts)
8 x Scholae (Shock Cavalry) with Full Command (223pts)
19 x Pedes with Light Armour, Heavy Throwing Spear, Drilled, Full Command (243pts)
20 x Pedes with Light Armour, Heavy Throwing Spear, Drilled, Full Command (255pts)
20 x Pedes with Light Armour, Heavy Throwing Spear, Full Command (235pts)
16 x Barbarian Infantry with Full Command (111pts)
30 x Archers deployed in three units of 10 figures(270 pts)

The unit of Comitatus and the Priest are already painted so that leaves 8 cavalry, 105 infantry figures and 2 Character figures to paint in four months. In order to complete this project on time I need to finish approximately 28 figures per month.

The figures will be from a variety of manufacturers but mainly Gripping Beast and Foundry.

I have already made good progress on one of the Pede units and should have it finished this week, I'll post pictures as soon as it's complete.

King Arthur

2009-08-28T01:13:00.000-07:00

Who was the shadowy figure that permeates English myth and did he ever really exist? I've always been fascinated by the Arthur legend through books and films, so I've recently decided to take the plunge and start collecting a 28mm Romano-British army based loosely on the Arthur legends.

This journal will be a record of my Arthurian wargaming project and will focus on the wargaming aspects of this period, I'll leave the history to other enlightened souls.

My hope is that this blog will provide people with a guide to collecting figures and wargaming this fascinating period of British history.

In the next post I'll go into more detail about which figures and rules I've decided to use and my vision for this army.

In the meantime here are a some pictures of the first unit I've completed:

Thanks for looking in, I hope you find it useful and come back often.

Peter