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!).

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!

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.