Centaurs Part 2 and Spartans

So far three centaurs are currently being worked on. They are made from a mixture of Perry medieval horses (the only ones I had spare) with the harness removed and Victrix plastic bodies for the human half.

The three Centaurs

Centaur 1

Centaur 2

Centaur 3, from the side showing the join.

These are still very much work in progress. Green stuff has been used to fill the gap between the human and horse halves. It has mostly been sculpted as some kind of cloth/shirt (although some pteruges have been done as well). I am unsure exactly why centaurs would need covering there but it helps me fill the gap and I find it a little easier than sculpting horse musculature! I'm not a very comfortable green stuff user but I think I've done a reasonable job with the cloth. It still needs a little smoothing out and tidying up here and there but on the whole is acceptable.

I have also added some longer hair to the back of the centaurs helmets. Centaurs are meant to be wild/barbaric creatures and are depicted with wild shaggy manes so I thought it was fitting that the figures looked the part as well.

The horse parts of the centaurs need to be dealt with as well. The tackle has only been roughly cut off/filed away so needs some more smoothing/green stuffing. That will take place tomorrow once the human half has dried.

Spartan Hoplites with Kopis and Xiphos.

Here is a little update on some of the Spartan hoplites. They are still being worked on but are not too far away from completion. A few more highlights and tidying up and they should be good to go. I need to look at the warbands shields. I am unsure whether to create the characteristic lambda myself or use commercial transfers. I will probably do it myself if I can resolve a few printing issues.

Centaurs and Greek Archers.

A general update after a relatively busy and hobby free weekend.

Painting has started once again on the Spartan warband after a brief hiatus. The four swordsmen are about halfway done, having received a few highlights and should be done tomorrow night.

My main focus has been looking at archers for the construction of the Theban/Artemis warband. I am not very impressed with the Warlord offerings and the Victrix plastics seem a little stilted. My preference seems to be Foundry although I am a little worried about scale and matching my existing figures. I am also a little hesitant to order as I only require one or two blisters. I normally like placing quite large orders so as to not be devastated by shipping charges.

In the near future both centaurs and satyrs will be made/converted. The satyrs are being sourced from a friends Beastman army. The centaurs require a little more work. There are some Mantic figures that do not look too bad but I am more inclined to convert some using some spare Perry horses and the Victrix hoplites. I'm not a very confident green stuff user but the majority should be smoothing and filling rather than sculpting.

The terrain progress is halted at the moment as I require some more materials, mostly basing MDF as I have a very small amount left that limits the size of terrain pieces that can be created.

Painting Thoughts

This post shall be a little different from the others posted on this blog so far. It is more of a thought piece on something that happened this evening. Recently I have been a little burnt out in regards to Ancient Greece, it having been my focus for the last few months. So to alleviate that I try and do some other periods/figures, hence the 15mm Romans seen recently. Tonight I felt like painting something radically different and a project that I started quite a long time ago, my Warhammer 40,000 Sisters of Battle army.

Now I am no 40k gamer. I haven't played a game, let alone on a regular basis, in years. I do however enjoy bits of the setting and aesthetic, the Sisters being part of this. When I started the army there was very little intention of it ever being used, it was for the joy of collecting and painting an army. So this evening I decided I would try and finish a few figures. I was quite happy with how the figures were going and that they were painted (for my skill level) to a high standard. When I pulled the figures from the case I was immediately surprised at my reaction to my own work. I wasn't at all happy with it. On a technical level it was passable. It was the nature of the colours I used, how could I have thought that those methods/palette looked good. It made me want to strip the figures and start all over from scratch.

On reflection I may have been a little hard on myself, they did not look THAT bad. More than reasonable but I still have the inclination to strip them and start again. This has not really happened to me before. I am normally accepting of the final state of my figures even if I know I could have done a better job. It merely left me wondering what had changed. Was I being picky? do other wargamers painters feel this way (I imagine everyone does at some point)? how do they cope/act on it? Is it the fact that the army is purely for my own painting pleasure so I feel the need for it to be the 'best'?

These are the questions I asked myself. I'm still unsure as why I reacted in such a way. Any comments about this from your own experiences, dear readers, would be much appreciated. I have posted a picture below of the unfinished St. Celestine figure. I am mostly dissatisfied with the armour. I believe that is the cause of my consternation.

In some more positive news I have worked on adding some examples to Aristeia. This is mostly in the areas of basic game mechanics such as Movement, Shooting and Close Combat. Hopefully I can get some diagrams to go along with these examples in the not too distant future. I'd also like to have the basic rules sorted for proper testing in a relatively short time. That means some battle reports can be posted and give a far better flavour as to the game than my mere descriptions can.

Greek Mythological Frostgrave

Having just picked up this months Wargame, Soldiers and Strategy (WSS) I was pleasantly surprised to find that it had a Greek Mythological modification for the game Frostgrave. while owning a copy of Frostgrave and enjoying what the game does (it being a campaign focused skirmish game) I have yet to play it.

The modification itself comes from the same 'place' or thought process that Aristeia does with a focus on heroes and the divine assistance/parentage they received. As per Frostgrave the game is much smaller in scale and (to an extent) less in depth/detailed than Aristeia, It seems to have a nice selection of skills and characteristics for various mythical creatures as well as a selection of scenarios. I look forward to trying out the modification and seeing how it interprets the same source material as I am using in Aristeia. Hopefully I can put a report up if I find time to play a game soon!

I also received a copy of Robert Graves' The Greek Myths. This is a collection (surprisingly) of Greek Myths and should come in handy when looking at campaign ideas, abilities scenarios for Aristeia.

On the terrain front I have a general plan for the houses and ideas for hills/cliffs. All that is required is some more materials, notably foamboard and possibly cork bark for the cliffs although foam could be carved to make rocks.

More Aristeia and Possible Mythological Miniatures

Today some more work has taken place on Aristeia. This has mostly revolved around the turn structure/activations. I am not overly happy with it but I never am. I have been over this topic quite a lot and I struggle to come to a real decision as various aspects each give their own positive aspects. I think for the purposes of greater play testing the current method can be used. If it does not work as well as I hope then it is not that drastic a change. Most of the phases are relatively self contained it is more about the how the turns flow and feel. Hopefully I can get some more work done in these areas over the next week or so.

I have also been looking at various mythological creatures for Aristeia as I believe these could give some interesting options for players. The classic example would be a centauromachy (a battle with centaurs) against a warband. One is famously depicted on the Parthenon's frieze involving the Lapiths. The main problem is a lack of miniatures. Wargames Foundry do some (as well as other Greek Mythological figures) but they do not seem to be of the greatest quality. Mantic have some that at a pinch (if the weapons were changed) could be used. I however think that conversions using the multitude of plastic hoplite kits available is the best option. This however brings up the issue of finding suitable horses with no panoply, saddles or harness. While these can generally be removed from plastic figures I am not the most able user of greenstuff and I am slightly concerned about the aftermath. Other figures would include satyrs but I think that Games Workshop's Beastmen Ungors have that particular slot filled rather nicely.

I think the generally most of my Mythological needs will involve a kit bash at minimum. I'm not averse to converting, in fact I rather enjoy it, but it is the research and the assembling the many kits/parts and the time that this takes that causes the problems. So more thought shall have to be put in methinks.

Aristeia Things and 15mm Ancients

A few little things for today. Some more work on Aristeia took place, mostly on the weapons and rules around them. I've been toying with these for a while as I want them to reflect historical/practical uses while still keeping them all reasonably viable or at least within their own niche. I think I've done a reasonable job and look forward to sharing these in the future when the ruleset is more complete.

related to the yesterdays talk of Ancient Greek housing it seems Warbases are releasing a modular ancient farmstead/villa in the near future. If this is not too expensive it may provide a reasonable alternative to building my own. I'm generally in favour of self-made terrain due to the personal nature of it but if what is released so far better than anything I could realistically make then it is not that much of a problem. I am looking forward to seeing a few more pictures in the future.

Finally basing for 15mm ancients. I have stated before that I have been looking at doing some ancient related things but not in 28mm due to a general malaise. To that end I've been looking at my mid 3rd Century Romans and Gauls/ Helleno-Celts. The main issue I am having is in regards to basing. The figures are most probably going to be used for Hail Caesar and as such will be mounted on 40x20mm (or 40x40mm as I have some of those spare). The standard for such basing seems to be 4 men to a base/rank. This to me looks a little crowded (yes I understand it is meant to represent a close body of men but TOO crowded). Outside of this there are a few other concerns in regards to painting (I paint with my figures already attached to the base rather than individually and attaching them later) and the fact that if I use 3 to a base/rank I can stretch my figures further (as in Hail Caesar it is only frontages that matter). I have taken a few pictures with the figures blu-tacked to the bases.

Side by Side of both bases. They are based on a 40x40mm with 2 ranks on each.

3 Hastati per rank

4 Hastati per rank

I am undecided on how to continue. I like the IDEA of the closer order but in practical term I think three per rank is winning. I, however, do not necessarily want to upset the conventions of the scale but seeing as I have no opponents or armies other than my own lined up it is not a pressing issue.

Ancient Greek Housing

The next Aristeia terrain project shall be a small number of houses. I'm planning for about three buildings of slightly different but relatively similar designs and sizes. From my readings Ancient Greek houses were based around a courtyard or central area. This may be colonnaded or not. In Athens houses seemed to vary somewhat in size and style. This is in contrast to Orynthos where far more regular.

I am, however, envisaging a more rural settlement as opposed to a polis like structure. However such houses still seem to follow the same basic designs as those of their urban counterparts. For this the excavated buildings excavated at Dema and Vari will serve as the inspiration. The image below shows the colonnaded courtyard style prevalent through much of Ancient Greece.

Plans of the Dema (top) and Vari (bottom) houses.(Pettegrew, 2001; 193)

 Other types did exist in addition to this peristyle type, such as the prostas, pastas and herdraum (see below for reconstructed plans of these types). However I feel the larger colonnaded areas, while harder to create, give a greater classical or ancient feel to the buildings. If the porch areas in the courtyards proves too difficult to create satisfactorily then it can be easily left off without losing too much in terms of authenticity. 

                 A prostas house (Nevett, 1999: 23)

Stairwells seem to have been on a minority of Ancient Greek houses so one can assume that second stories too would have been rather limited (there are houses without stairs that have second stories, notably some neolithic sites in turkey but I do not think that is at all useful for the Greek world). To this end there shall only be one of the three buildings with a limited second storey i.e. it shall not cover all the roofed areas, merely a portion of it. 

A pastas house. (Nevett, 1999; 24)

This brings up the rather interesting way in making all three of the buildings unique. One, as previously stated, shall have a second storey. The simplest way to differentiate the other two would be by size; to have one smaller than the other. This also allows for the buildings to be suited to different size tables. As seen from the diagrams the buildings are relatively large. Having all three on a normal 3'x3'/4'x4' board would be far too much. The houses all being different sizes allows for a 'mix and match' aspect better suited to creating varying wargames tables depending on what other terrain is available or being used.

A herdraum house (Nevett, 1999; 25)

While discussing the size of the houses it is doubtful that I shall design to scale with their ancient counterparts. This would be because they would be rather awkward to store three buildings with bases in the region of 1' square (especially with all the hills and rocks, as well as the temple).

Hopefully in the next few days I can create some plans for my proposed creations as well ideas for other terrain pieces and some more mythological figure, notably centaurs and satyrs.




Bibliography

Nevett, L, 1999; House and Society in the Ancient Greek World, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

Pettegrew, D K, 2001; Chasing the  Classical Farmstead: Assessing the Formation and Signature of Rural Settlement in Greek Landscape Archaeology, Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology, Volume 14, Issue 2, 189-209

Future Terrain Projects

With the temple now being completed I'm thinking about other terrain projects for Aristeia. A few houses/farmsteads, walls, olive groves and rocky outcrop would be pretty common and are on the to do list. However, I would like to do something a bit more involved/interesting in the similar vein as the temple. Possibly something like an earlier tomb or some bronze statues/agora style areas would be interesting to build and, more importantly, interesting to from a wargaming perspective (both visually and gameplay-wise).

Painting of the remaining members of the Spartan warband has stalled. Partly because of the concerted efforts on the temple and partly due to limited enthusiasm for them as a whole. Hopefully I'll get excited for them relatively soon. I don't like to force myself to paint figures as 1) it means I'll do a relatively poor job 2) I might start resenting the project as a whole and that means it'll be even worse for seeing it through to completion. So I shall wait a little while and focus on the terrain instead.

I backed the War and Empire kickstarter a few years ago for their 15mm ancients figures. I have a small 3rd Century BC Roman force as well as a slightly larger Gallic army. These have mostly sat in their respective packets these last few years. However I am getting a little more interested in doing something with them. Having picked up a few 15mm Greeks for the temple I'm tempted to try and create a army for the Greek state of Massalia. This would give an interesting mix of Gallic and Greek equipment/troops that's pretty much unseen anywhere else. To this end I shall be purchasing Archaeologies of Colonials: Consumption, Entanglement, and Violence in Ancient Mediterranean France by Michael Dietler. 

Hopefully In the next few days I shall get some pictures posted of the terrain or, at the very least, some concepts for my intended pieces.

Temple Completed

The temple is finally done. Attaching the roof was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be. The foamboard had warped/moved/I had measured it all a badly. This meant there was a few gaps around the capitals/architraves as well as the top of the cella.  This was simply filled and repainted but it took a reasonable amount of time and was rather fiddly with the roof in the way.

The front of the temple. Note the cella/naos entrance.

The rear of the temple.

The tiles were painted with Vallejo Game Colour Tan. I think this gives a pretty good terracotta feel and not as bright and gaudy as some other colours which to me seem far too red. It was highlighted rather subtly as I was overall happy with the colour and did not want it to change too much.

The roof.

The side.

The pedimental/tympanum sculpture was painted in slightly lighter tones than the other stonework. it may represent a finer quality stone but I just wanted a few more colours on the temple to break up the monotony of the yellowed stone. I did not go for historical colouring on the sculpture or pediment as I find it a little too garish and overpowering for a terrain piece. I much happier with a 'drab' temple. Maybe the

The front pediment and sculpture.

The rear pediment sculpture. Now I notice the huge mould line, woops.

 I'm not too happy with the basing of the temple. It is rather bland and I think requires a few more pieces (possibly rocks?) to break it up a little more. Basing is, however, one of my weaker wargaming skills so some practice may be required. The edging still needs to be painted but I am waiting for the static grass to fully dry.

Temple Part 5

The tiling has now been completed for the temple roof. I gave up waiting for the plasticard (sometimes I am rather impatient) and instead made do with corrugated cardboard for the tiles. This has then been edged with cut up straws and covered in a very watered down filler for texture. I don't think it looks too bad and when painted should do the job.

 The pedimental sculpture has also been completed and added as well. There are two sets of 28mm figures; two individuals in hoplite equipment standing and two individuals engaged in combat. There is no story for these scenes I merely used what figures I had available although I am tempted to write a small story about them and the possible connections to the foundation of the temple (it's not dedicated to a particular god at the moment). There are also two 15mm on each side that help fill up a little space. The figures used are Victrix (28mm) and War and Empire (15mm).

The temple roof is not yet attached as it still (clearly) needs to be painted. When completed the standing figures will be above the entrance and the fighting pair to the rear. Hopefully I can get started on a few other terrain pieces soon (once the Spartans are done of course!).

New Arrivals and Comic!

So I had some much appreciated packages arrive today, although still no tiling materials which is a shame.

Anyway some more Greek sprues arrived for another (yes, another!) warband. These are a set of Victrix Theban Hoplites and one each of the unarmoured and skirmishers. The Thebans are  pretty much the same as all the other sets outside of the heads (all Boeotian helmets) and the differing cloak. I'd like to get some archer figures for this warband as I intend for them to be dedicated to Artemis. It'd be more focused on lighter hoplites and missile fire than the Athenians and Spartans. Having looked at the available figures Wargames Foundry seem to be the best in terms of quality although Warlord do some decent figures.

The sprues. From left to right; unarmoured hoplites, Theban hoplites and skirmishers

The four figures (two sets of two) for the pedimental sculptures have been completed and will be duly attached once the roof is completed. I do not want to attach them yet incase they are damaged while it is handled during the tiling process. Some 15mm Greeks were also ordered for smaller sculptures towards the corners. The spare figures will be used in my 15mm Massalian Greek army but that's for another time.

Will of Iron issue #1

And finally a comic. Yes, yes it is Warhammer 40,000 I know but I still like the odd bit of it here and there. it also happens to be the first Games Workshop comic published in, I think, around six years. As a fan of the former Warhammer Monthly and Inferno (and even some of the BOOM! stuff) I had to get this. I haven't opened it yet but I will let you know my thoughts once it is read.

P.S. The overview of Aristeia is now up. Let me know what you thin any feed back is welcomed.

Temple Part 4.5

Here are a few pictures of the completed roof structure. No tiles as there were no deliveries today.

The pediment pitch is greater than that of a true Ionic temple of this size. This is due to having to accomadate the 28mm figures masquerading as sculptures. There will also be no continous frieze as I lack the sculpting ability

From the side

From the front

Appologies for the rather lacklustre updates recently progress has been hampered by lack of materials and just general slow going. Work on the introductory article continues and also on the ruleset.

Temple Part 4: Roof

Just a little update this evening. Half of the building materials of the temple arrived today. This has allowed me to create the structure for the roof/pediment and entablature (which is currently drying). This was rather more difficult than aniticipated due to the foamboard not being square AND warped/bent but I think the end result is reasonable. Hopefully the tiles can be done tomorrow evening allowing for prompt painting!

Completed Spartan Heroes and Skirmishers

A few pictures of the completed Spartan heroes and skirmishers. I have not done a great amount of wargaming related things today. The pictures show a the figures based and with a few more detail from the previous set.

Hopefully the foamboard and tiles will arrive tomorrow so that I can finish the temple roof. If not then the pedimental sculture (i.e. spare Greek figures) can be started. These thoughts of have lead to ideas for other terrain pieces. Ideally I would like a few (two to three) houses, some rocky out crops/hills, tree (for olive groves) and some dry stone walling. With these a few good games of Aristeia could be played and provide quality photographs. I'd like to try and get started on some of the more simple (namely the outcrops) when the temple is finished.

Speaking of Aristeia I am also currently working on the introductory/outline page. So, for those of you that are interested, you can get a feel for the basic ideas and what I am trying to get at with the ruleset. It should be up in the next few days.

Temple part 3 and Spartans

More work has been done on the temple today with its lower half being based and painted. This happened a lot sooner and did not take as long as I actually initially expected. It was mostly a case of 'why not'. It is partly due to the fact that the roofing materials did not arrive today and because of that time I had set aside for making roof tiles was suddenly available.

The temple turned out a little yellower than I expected, partly due to the Army Painter Desert Yellow with which it was primed (this was a an unexpected find in the garage!). It was dry brushed with Vallejo Sand Yellow, Dark Sand and finally Pale Sand. Overall it doesn't look too shabby and I look forward to getting the roof done next week.

Spartan Psiloi almost complete!

The Heroes still have a ways to go.

I thought I should at least include some pictures of the Spartans as proof that they are still being worked on. The skirmishers only need the shield rims done (I only noticed they weren't done when taking the photo) and then they can be based. Whereas the Heros still need some more work.

At some point in the future I intend to put up an introduction to ARISTEIA (the wargame I am currently working on) as a number of people have expressed interest. This introduction will involve just a general description of the game and core concepts as well as my thought process and design philosphy. I hope you find it useful.

Temple Part 2

I have been doing a little more work on the temple this evening. This has been mostly sorting out the flooring and stone work of the stylobate. Originally the temple base was meant to be styrofoam carved to look like stone work as is my usual method however I was unable to procure any of the desired thickness. Instead I used rectangular pieces of cardboard.

The two pictures above show the temple as it currently stands after having been grouted and textured. The photographs do not show this particularly. This was achieved by watering down some ready mixed filler and applying it rather liberally. The overall effect looks rather good for a relatively quick effect. The only issue is that some of the joins between floor stones may need greater definition.

Work continues on the Spartan skirmishers and heroes. The skirmishers are almost completed just need the shields to be finished and then finally based. The heroes have had a few layers done notably to the clothing and armour and should be sorted any time soon.

Temple and Thoughts

Just a small update today to show how the temple is coming along. The cella and columns are in place and look reasonable. There was some warpage of the foamboard for the cella but it does not look too bad. Not much more can be done until some more materials arrive. The biggest step will be the roof tiles. I am probably going to create them myself using regular card rather than using (the albeit better quality) printed plasticard for cost reasons.

Find a few work in progress pics below. The stone effect for the floor is the next thing to be done when the cella is dry. This was also the first use of my new anglepoise lamp and daylight bulbs.

My Greek temple

From the side

From the front

After having read The Men Who Would be Kings some more I think that it is a perfectly fine ruleset and I hope to try it out soon. I do however have one gripe, and that is the lack of individual characters. The characters (Leaders in game terms) are ALWAYS in a unit which seems rather limiting in terms of narrative/campaign possibilties but far easier for gameplay purposes. It's only minor complaint but I thought it worth mentioning. Hopefull I'll be able to get a hold of Studio Tomahawk's CONGO soon enough.

Spartans

Steady progress is being made on the Spartan warband. It is however going a little slower than I anticipated, not that there is any major rush. It is however a little demotivating seemingly being stuck in the same place with little progress to show. So find below a few work in progress pictures of the skirmishers, hero and champion.

The Spartan Hero and Champions.

The Spartan skirmishers.

They aren't anything special to look at I'm afraid but some progress is better than none.

 Construction on the temple has begun with the stylobate being laid down. This is made from foamboard, it was originally going to be styrofoam but due to limitation (availability and price) this was changed. There is no stereobate below partly due to material constraints and the fact that it would limit the space and increase the height of the temple unnecessarily. The top shall be textured in the form of stone blocks/slabs and the Cella/Naos created.

The most difficult part I am envisioning well be the roof structure. The columns I have purchased are of the Ionic order. This is a problem as it means that a continuous frieze should be around the outside (above the capitals and architraves but below the pediment). It would be very difficult and time consuming given my sculpting ability to create such a scene. Instead I intend to mix orders and use the Ionic capitals but with a Doric entablature and pedimental sculpture. This is easier to create and the pedimental sculpture is far more striking and iconic. For the sculpture I have a number of spare figures that can be easily used.

Having had more of a read through of Broken Legions it seems like a decent enough system. A relatively standard skirmish game if I must say so but having an amount of customisability that is quite nice. There seems to be a distinct lack of ancient/late Bronze/Iron age skirmish games so it's worth a look if that is your jam.

Men of Bronze and Packages

First of all the Spartans are coming along rather well. The four skirmishers are now all washed along with the Hero and two champions. I'll hopefully be able to get the hoplites done later or tomorrow evening. That's all the figure news for the moment due to a few new presents from Royal Mail today.

These two little rulesets arrived today. I have yet to have an in depth read of them but they look rather fun. Broken Legions is for general ancient funsies and some interim games while Aristeia takes shape. I have a few early Saxons that can double as Ancient Germans as needed. I look forward to testing it out relatively soon.

The Men Who Would Be Kings (TMWWBK) has been on my radar for a while. I'm a keen colonial wargamer (although it hasn't shown up in this blog yet!) with large forces for the 1st Anglo-Sudan War (a great number are also usable for the 2nd Anglo-Afghan and North West Frontier) and having quite a lot of experience with the Anglo Zulu war due to former club games and displays. TMWWBK I think fills a nice niche in terms of game size for the Colonial market, a little smaller than A Death in the Dark Continent but larger and more unit focused than the new CONGO (as well as a rather different theme). It's is by the same chap that wrote Lion Rampant and Dragon Rampant. As far as I am aware it also shares the same system but with a few tweaks, notable to activations. This seems like a rather good excuse to get some packs of those new Perry Afghans, that may be a project in the near future!

And finally, I've read three quarters of the articles contained within 'Men of Bronze'. So far it contains a good range of diverse opinions in regards to the beginnings of hoplite warfare and their associated role in the development of the Greek polis. It seems a rather good introduction to the topic due to such diversity of opinion and its synthesis of the previous 150 years of academic thought on the subject. I have a few questions in regards to the topic and some words to say on the topic given my background as an archaeologist and biological anthropologist (albeit specialising in the Early Medieval period but there are some relevant similarities I feel). I shall give a more in depth 'review' (although I'm in no way qualified to give a true review) in the coming weeks.

Athenians Completed!

The final update to the Athenian warband is here. The last five remaining hoplites have been completed. Their paint job I think is serviceable but they look quite good as a whole.

Hoplites!

A few shots of the full warband are below. All efforts shall be on the Spartans from now on. I have a few presents arriving in the post tomorrow so a 'review' of the new items shall take place tomorrow.

The whole warband

Heroes to the front, Skirmishers to the flanks and Hoplites to the rear.

My lightbox is a little small for this many figures but I think it works well enough. They were a fun little project as I had never done any Ancient Greeks (or any Greeks at all for that matter). The Spartans are in a good state ans shall be ready relative soon. The greater uniformity of the Spartans helps a great deal with the speed of painting.

Athenian Warband part 3

Just a small update tonight. Five more hoplites join the Athenian warband leaving only five more to go! Have a few pictures below. I'm still not happy with the lighting situation, they were with all the lights on and another lamp. I normally try to take my pictures during the day when it's a lot brighter. I think that I may have to take pictures only during the day from now on.

Anyway Enjoy! I hope to get some pictures of the work in progress Spartans up tomorrow!