After the resent victory at the battle of Valentia, would be emperor Tullus was shocked in the way that the vexilations from North Africa were swept from the field, almost spelling defeat for his quest for the throne. Needing replacements badly he dispatched Centurion Metellus of the 1st Cohort, VI Gemina, to Africa, to bring back the much needed re-enforcements. However, Tullus gave Metellus strict orders to beat them into shape first........quite literally.
Centurion Metellus was not impressed at what he found on arriving in Numidia and the state at which standards had dropped. With most of the III Augusta still in reasonable shape, Metellus turned his trained eye on the Auxiliaries of the Province. It was them who would help swell the ranks of Tullus's war machine. 
Within weeks a rag tag bunch of City guards had been retrained and drilled into a disciplined Cohort of spearman, to send against the Germans of Secundus. These dark skinned Lybians were armed with the weapon of their home land, a 12ft thrusting spear, a rare sight on the battle field and one that Metellus thought might inspire a little shock and awe in the armies of the North.
Gaming Note; Organising the army of North Africa is one thing I've been meaning to do for a long time, with all its varied troop types it could have great character. First up on the painting table are these Lybian spear men from Renegade Miniatures. They are from the Punic war collection, but with a little bit of imagination and tweaking, they will become ex-city guards beaten into shape and turned into a cohort of the line. I thought I would give them Carthage style spears to add to their look and to make them very different from anything else in the Roman ranks. I'm also toying with the idea of putting the my newly completed Evocati Cohort into the army of North Africa, as many veterans were settled there.
Centurion Metellus was not impressed at what he found on arriving in Numidia and the state at which standards had dropped. With most of the III Augusta still in reasonable shape, Metellus turned his trained eye on the Auxiliaries of the Province. It was them who would help swell the ranks of Tullus's war machine. Within weeks a rag tag bunch of City guards had been retrained and drilled into a disciplined Cohort of spearman, to send against the Germans of Secundus. These dark skinned Lybians were armed with the weapon of their home land, a 12ft thrusting spear, a rare sight on the battle field and one that Metellus thought might inspire a little shock and awe in the armies of the North.
Gaming Note; Organising the army of North Africa is one thing I've been meaning to do for a long time, with all its varied troop types it could have great character. First up on the painting table are these Lybian spear men from Renegade Miniatures. They are from the Punic war collection, but with a little bit of imagination and tweaking, they will become ex-city guards beaten into shape and turned into a cohort of the line. I thought I would give them Carthage style spears to add to their look and to make them very different from anything else in the Roman ranks. I'm also toying with the idea of putting the my newly completed Evocati Cohort into the army of North Africa, as many veterans were settled there.
Oooh.
ReplyDeleteThrusting spears! Of Contus length no less. They'll be fun and different. :)
The Carthaginian heritage lives on. :)
Loving these cartoons Si.
ReplyDeleteI must also congratulate Tony on his splended new villa. They used to call him Tony Balloney, but who's laughing now eh!?