What's on the work bench?

Well, as you can see the V Alaudae are coming on nicely. As a Gallic Legion, I have decided to give them green shields which to me (for some reason) is a very Gallic colour. On futher reseach, Alaudae means 'lark' and it is thought that the Legion was so named because of its feathered helmet crests. As you can see, my lot have taken theirs off, in readyness for battle. I have also kept their helmets bronze to give them a more out of date look that would befit many Gallic units.

What a pair of mugs!

As the Editor for the UK's leading War games blog 'Iron Mitten', I receive hundreds of letters each week asking me about collecting and painting Roman miniatures and the Roman Campaign in general. Carol Spaggott from Hertfordshire writes "When are you two going to get down to the business of playing a battle and actually face each other on the table top!". Well thanks for your colourful letter Carol, most of which I can't repeat on line. As you know Carol, war takes time and Rome wasn't won in a day. Just for you though Carol, here's a picture of Secundus meeting Tullus face to face on the table top.
The British Empire was won on the back of lots of cups of tea and the growing Empire of Secundus is of no exception! Cheers Iron mitteners. Keep the Letters coming in everybody,(not you Carol).

The Eagles dig in (Campaign 52)

The troops of Secundus get their first glimpse of the enemy, when they arrive on the border of Alpes Gallia and start to dig in. This is the first time the two armies have actually seen each other face to face. Both sides now knew that it was only a matter of time, until they received the order to attack. It would be Roman blood, not Barbarian, that would be trampled into the fields of Gaul.

Meanwhile in Rome, Secundus is busy putting down a small rebellion and has started plans for an Amphitheatre, to lift the spirits of the groaning populous.

Tullus Takes Africa (campaign 51)

May, saw the armies of Tullus sweep through the province of Africa Proconsularis, which came over to him without a fight and added yet another province to his Africian domain. The next three months were quite slow for Tullus, seeing only the construction of roads and a garrison being built in Narbonesis. Tullus now moved his northern army, made from elements of the III and the VII into Narbonesis, It looked like Gaul would now play host to the first of the mighty battles that would rage across the Empire.

The 'EAGLE' novels

I'm enjoying the first one so much that I bought a few more to keep me going. The first one in the series is the one with the dagger on the front ' Under the Eagle'. I highly recommend them, they make my three hours travelling everyday to Londinium and back just fly by and for that, I love them!

Starting a new Legion

Over the past few weeks, I have started on another Legion. It's alot of work but I love it and it's great to finally get round to painting all those bags of figures I've had laying around for years.
This Legion has a very Gallic feel to it and so I have decided to make them the V Alaudae. This Legion also had the nick name ' the larks' due to the colour of their helmet crests. I will post piccies when I have them.

Simon Scarrow books

At last I have been lured into the world of Fiction by the superb Simon Scarrow 'EAGLE' novels. Being one for a well written history book, I very rarely visit the world of Fiction, that is until I found Scarrow!
Scarrow has written a series of books following the adventures of two roman soldiers, a Centurion and his Optio as they struggle through the rigours of Roman military life. In the first book they are stationed in Germany (my favourite place for Romans!) but later they must prepare themselves for the invasion of Britain (AD43). So far, so good and I am really enjoying the first book.
Scarrow really knows his stuff and it shows. 'This is historical fiction at it's best' Secundus.
These books are packed with great little details and loads of imagination, they really get the old creative juices flowing and are a wealth of inspiration. For me, they have the added bonus of involving the British Celts, making me want to cotinue my endless Celtic hordes...I really recommend these books for anyone with an interest in the Roman military and its way of life.

Secundus enters Rome (campaign 50!)

With it's army destroyed and it's Senate gone, Rome seemed almost devoid of life. Those who stayed were horrified to see the army with which Secundus entered the city. Soldiers, who looked more like wild animals than legionaries. Rough, tough veterans, interested in only one thing...personal gain of any sort!
All order broke down once the army entered the city and it took days to finally bring the looting legionaries back under control. Secundus was turning out to be a bad general in everyone's eyes, except for that of his men. They had fought a hard battle to get here and Secundus now let them enjoy the 'spoils of war' for a couple of days, as he called it. After all, they had earned alittle freedom. Rome had rejected Secundus twice and now he gave Rome two days of hell in return.