Wolves of the Rhine

Hello and welcome back fellow Mitteners. Today I have been busying myself with those troublesome Wolf heads again. A good idea came to me while I sat there filing away the access flash on these bad boys. I will give them different styles of shields, some Auxiliary and others from the Legionary camps. This will make them look more ad hoc and specialist and hopefully more elite. They are old, tough veterans from a list of bloody campaigns and skirmishes as long as your arm and their personalized equipment should show this.
These wolves cut their teeth on the huge Barbarians that stalk the dark forests along the mighty Rhine river, they should have no trouble crunching up the youths of Tullus's Spanish army. We shall see....

Off to war!

This is me saying my final farewells to my latest recruits before they head off to war. Today, I started work on the Light Infantry from the Rhine (the wolf heads) and they look like they will be a lot of fun to paint. I'm having a few good ideas about how to make them stand out as an elite unit. All shall be revealed in the course of time......well, it keeps me busy and off the street anyway.

Roman light Infantry

Here's the first batch of 'lights' to roll off the old painting table. This unit of twelve was a nice small number to paint and didn't take long to do. It is made up of figures from both Gripping Beast and Foundry with the Centurion coming from Essex Miniatures. I don't really like their new range of Romans, but this Centurion figure and his variants is the exception.

Being Light Infantry, I have based the figures two to a base, this gives the impression they are spread out and fighting in skirmish order.

A close up of the New Essex Centurion, I thought his pose was perfect for a skirmishering officer. Also, to give the impression of rough ground the Light Infantry had to cover, I have placed bushes and scrub on some of the bases. A little touch, but it helps fill the base and add to the effect. These bases need to be flocked with grass to be finished. I will do this when I have painted up a few units, then flock them all together in one go.

More Dumnonii arrive on the scene

This is the second batch of blue faced Celts to arrive, better late than never I always say and I enjoyed painting this lot more than the first.

I love painting the checks and patterns on Celtic clothing and with my new fur/cloth cloaks, I had plenty of opportunity. I painted a couple of the cloaks as wolf pelts to add a little more variety and make a change to everyone just having bear skins.

I've had to put a hold on the Dumnonii war band for the time being, until I complete the Roman skirmishers. So at the moment they number about 36, where as I will aim for a least 45 to complete the unit. With the hard work of sculpting done, It just leaves me the joyful job of painting them, but there is still enough of them to make any Roman look twice and It'll be nice to see them on the field with their unique look.

In the cabinet, they really stand out against the other Celts I've painted and I suppose that's the way it would of been. With a race of people who were more worried about killing their neighbours than uniting against the common enemy of Rome, I think that tribal identity would have been of the up most importance to them. Being able to distinguish between friend and foe in the swirling maelstrom of battle would of had to been a must.

Cut off and cut down!

Fighting spread out in front and in small groups, the light infantry were easy picking for lightning fast cavalry. This didn't change through out history in fact and was most noticeable in the Napoleonic wars.

Here, realizing he has been cut off, a Centurion barks the order to fall back, it will be the last he ever gives. The long slashing Spathas of the cavalry make short work of the tiny struggling knot of Auxiliaries. Way back in the formations, other men look on, powerless to help their beleaguered colleagues..

Auxiliaries prepare for war

Here a group of Auxiliaries swap their heavy throwing spears for the lighter, more accurate javelins of the light infantry. Working in small manoeuvrable groups, these men will get in amongst the tightly packed formations of the enemy and cause havoc.

Campaign News

With the campaign well under way, a decision has been made to reform some of the armies in the game for better play. A fantastic set of Infantry and Cavalry stats have been found on the Internet, that cover every possible troop type used in the Roman army and we have decided to use them, rather than the simple stat lines in the Warhammer rule book.
However, In these new stats, Auxiliary troops have to be either formed in close order or used as light Infantry, they can not do both. As most of my Auxiliaries are based in close order, It means I will have to paint up units of skirmishers from scratch to finish the armies.
As a painter, this doesn't worry me much and allows me time to add even more character into the existing Armies as they stand. It will see horse archers in the army of Syria and wolf cloaked Auxiliaries in the Army of the Rhine, not to mention moors in the army of Africa. The new skirmish units will be small at about twelve figures each, so hopefully play will only be held up for a month or so. However, the new stat lines and unit rules are worth the effort and the wait.

Light Infantry wanted! join up today and see the world....make new friends in foreign lands...Roman style!

A great Roman read

Here are some books worth reading If you like all things Roman. Unlike the fantastic Scarrow books, which are fiction at its best, these are written as descriptive histories. I prefer them slightly because of my lust for fact and knowledge over someone else's imagination. The first book is about Caesar's famous 10th Legion and is the only book I've read that got my blood racing, some passages were like watching a really good action movie. Great energy to be converted into painting figures.
The second is about the 14th Legion and its role through the civil wars up to the great victory over Boudicca and the Iceni in Britannia. I love these books and to me they seem to be made for war gamers with lots of details and facts, that leave you grasping for more. The author is Australian born Stephen Dando-Collins who has spent the last thirty years identifying and studying the individual Legions of Rome and this guy really knows his stuff!
To my delight there is a third book out now which covers one of my favourite Legions, the III Gallica.....a must have I think!

The last of the Dumnonii dress for battle!

Here are some shots of my latest sculpting attempts. To give the Dumnonii war band it's own look and character I've given them more bear and wolf skins. Only this time, to add a little more variety, I've given some of them cloaks with their animal pelts. This will give me more scope when painting them and gives great opportunity to paint nice Celtic patterns and the like. I've even given one some battle damage to add some character. With so many Celts to paint, adding little touches like these, will help me paint through the sheer quanity of figures to get to a finished unit.

The charge of the Dumnonii

In the late afternoon haze, after standing for hours taking both insult and injury, finally, the Dumnonii could take no more. With an ear shattering battle cry, the ranks of the Dumnonii burst open and poured their vengeance down upon on the enemy. For this was the unstoppable down hill charge of the Celts and all were swept before them. It was a day of great slaughter and blood shed and the Dumnonii would collect many a Roman head before the day was through.


Here Kircatius leads his people to victory over a force of Roman Auxiliaries.

The Dumnonii form up for battle

Here are some more shots of the Dumnonii. I've taken this picture from behind to show the bear skin cloaks I made and how they turned out when painted. Only the most brave and skilled hunters would carry such a pelt on their back and this would help mark him out as a superb fighter and huntsmen.

Here they are in their fighting ranks and as you can see, Kircatius is surrounded by standards and trumpets, there would be no missing him on the field of battle! Now all I need to do is another twenty or so and Kirk's war band will be complete.

Kircatius of the Dumnonii

Well the Dumnonii are taking shape and just need flocking to finish them off. Carrying on the huntsman theme of the Dumnonii, I have given the some of the warriors animals designs on their shields. One even has a fishing scene....he must be proud of his fishing prowess! The others carry mostly wild boar and stags with hunting dogs appearing in a few.
Another touch to single them out on the battlefield, Is the blue war paint across the eyes, which does actually work and makes them a little scary to look at. I took this idea from an old episode of 'Robin of Sherwood', a big favourite of mine and my friends. This final touch helps link Kirk with his war band, because the episode was a favourite of his.



The black shields were inspired by the tales from King Arthur and the 'Black shield Irish'. By giving them all black shields, the unit has a real sense of unity on the field. Just what you need to keep your men together when facing the might of Rome face to face.

Ancient Celts raid the Workbench

This is an idea that has been with me for a while and in the end, I just had to do something about it. The Idea is too make one of my friends into a Celtic Chieftain to use in the Roman Campaign.

To give the Clan an Identity, I have decided to give some of them bear skin cloaks and make them warriors from the Dumnonii Tribe. This is just fiction on my part and comes from a Rosmary Sutliff book, where the Dumnonii were great trackers and huntsmen.

German detail

This image shows more clearly the spade tucked into the belt of the loading trooper and also some of the face detail from the Bolt-action figures, a nice little set really!
Stay tuned for the second half of the Section, including the MG-42 and the Medic.

Bolt-action Miniatures

Hello there, and welcome back. As you can see this week I have been painting more Germans, only this time, from Bolt-Action miniatures.
These five figures come from a ready made ten man squad, straight off the shelf and at first I wasn't overly impressed. However, on closer inspection I found them to be full of character with nice little details that made them all great individuals. An example of this, is the soldier reloading with the spade tucked into his belt for any close combat surprises.
I also liked the mix of uniform types in the squad, ranging from smock coats to covered helmets to Zeltbahns (quarter tents warn as camouflage). In all, It gives a very nice feel of a late war German Section.



This Section leader among others is painted with 'German field grey' from Vallejo paints. I thought It made sense to buy the right colour, just to be sure and to save hours of mixing time on the tile. I also stuck a spare helmet on him just In case he needs it ...well those Americans do love their Artillery!

Iron-mitten is one year old this month

Secundus has to tolerate the naked Celtic dancers (male), at his birthday celebrations on the eves of March. He doesn't enjoy festivities of any kind, especially ones that mark another year of his life passing. However, his fish-sauce flavoured crisps make the days events tolerable......that is, until they run out!

The Patrol spreads out.

The section fans out to sweep the area and Hans readies his MG-42 to cover his team mates.

Schmitt stays well back and radios in to the Platoon HQ to report enemy contact. Well, he says that, but in fact it'll be some time before these Germans see any enemy, first I have to finish off their own Platoon and maybe a Platoon of the dreaded SS.

The Patrol

Here are some more images of my German Section out on patrol somewhere in france.

Tough 'Sarg' leads point and has been joined by a radio operater, to call in support if he needs it.

However, with the Panther tank attached to his squad he won't need much extra support at all.

German Section

At last I've finished my first German Section, with it's rifle section and it's support section. Below can be seen the fire team with their MG-42 machine-gun, this would get into a strong position and lay down supressive fire. Once the enemy were pinned down by the heavy machine gun, the lighter armed rifle section could then out manoeuvre the enemy and finish them.
Here can be seen the seven rifle men and their supporting fire team. Each team was lead by an officer armed with a sub-machine-gun (MP-40)



As the Panther tanks takes up position on the ridge, the Obergefreiter shouts commands to his Section to take cover.

German Detail

Here are some more shots of my Germans. I have started to paint them in fives, as this allows me more time to paint each one and give them greater detail. Little things, like giving each figure eyes and stumble helps to give them personalty.

Here is a close up of the Rifle section officer, the Obergefreiter, with his MP-40 submachine-gun.
You can see how giving him eyes has given him an instant character all of his own.