Doors finished

"Alright, alright...enough about the bloody making of the thing! get on with the painting man! for the Sweet love of Jupiter!"

29. With the Milliput door surrounds dry I now added the Bolsa wood doors. Again, I scored them with a pencil and tried to get as much detail as I could into the hinges and cross bars. This was done by carefully dotting tiny drops of Super glue with a needle along the cross bars, when dry and painted they will give the effect of iron rivets.

Window and Door details

28. Colonnade all plasted and detailed. I left some of the Polyfiller quite rough in places to pick up the texture, when I came to dry brush the model later. 27. A shot showing the colonnade window details. It took a bit of time to get the Milliput to stick to the Poly filler but as the Milliput grew more tacky as it dried in the air, it became a lot easier.26. With a model that will be used with tiny detailed figures I think it's important to spend time trying to get the building just as detailed, so the two sit together better of the board. 25. Using the Warhammer illustration as reference again, I started to put in the really fine detail around the windows and doors. This was done using Milliput and a modelling tool. It was quite tricky but again the results would be worth it in the end.

Plastered!

25. Here is the end result...and look who's turned up now the hard work has been done.

24. Time to call in the plasterers. I used fine surface Polyfiller to give the Villa a plastered look.23. The time taken will the tweezers and balsa wood sticks really pays off in the colonnade roofing.22. Here's a shot of the main door. I had to do a lot of searching through my books to find this reference, but finally struck gold in a book about Hadrian's wall. The cross bars will be painted to look like iron and given rivets made from drops of Super glue.

New day and the sun's up

21. back inside, I set about putting the finer detail on the roof. These rafters are just cut up Bolsa wood sticks. This was quite pain staking work but I knew it would be worth the effort, It was around about now I finally realized this was going to be an all or nothing project.
20. With Tony moaning about the noisy night I thought it was time to add the doors. I made these out of Bolsa wood, which I had scored with a pencil to make a plank effect in the door. Spending a little extra time on tiny details like these really pays off when the model gets painted.19. A proud little Roman shows off his new house.18. A new day brings new ideas and both Tony and I are up at the crack of dawn.17. With out any windows or doors in place, Tony was kept awake all night by drunken passers by.

making slaves quarters into the night

14. It's getting late now and little Tony is no where to be seen, Romans never stay up too late. The roof below is now completely finished with a piece of dowling along the apex of the structure to look like capping tiles. So far I've clocked up about eight hours of cutting and sticking. Time for a break, I think I need one....where's Tony got too?

13. This being the slave quarters and hidden from sight around the back of the Villa, I decided to make it look a little second class. The slaves would have to live with tiny windows and a small wooden door. Still, what it lacked in style it made up for in charm. When finished, this little corner of the Villa with its wooden detail would be my favourite part of the building.12. Although I hadn't planned it, I thought the Villa looked a little small so I started to work out another 'wing' to add onto the end of the building. I would have liked it to be quite large, but the base had to be brought into consideration, so I opted for something half way. The slave quarters were born.13. here we see the Villa with all of its roofing almost finished. look there's Tony, good of him to turn up at last.

Tiling the roof and colonnade

12. The model is now tiled and looking more like a Villa with every passing hour. Up to now, I think I had spent about four to fives hours working on it, 11. Thin card was now cut into strips with tile designs drawn on them, these were layered on top of one another to make a roof effect. A jagged edge would give the roof a weathered look.

10. Tony shows off his new colonnade. Well done Tony, that must of been hard work putting that up. 9. Using Tony as a height guide, I cut measured lengths of wooden dowel to make an open Colonnade for the front of the house. Getting the spacing right was tricky and Tony was no help at all, claiming that maths was for Greeks and that all Greeks should be burnt, that front porch was hard work working with that little nutter. I was tempted to let the thing fall on his head, but he was proving to be too useful, for the time being at any rate.

Little Tony plans the roof and colonnade

Below, Little Tony over sees the construction of his new country Villa, If only he knew that when it was finished, it would have hundreds of dirty, sweaty soldiers stamping and crashing through it....I think he would choke on his Dormouse, best not tell him eh.

8. Ok, now we're getting somewhere. With the addition of a covered Colonnade (very Romano-British!) the foam card house starts to look more like a Villa. Up to now the Villa has been designed using the illustration from the Warhammer rule book, but now there is the front to think about and the far side, all of which will have to be designed from scratch. This problem would be worked out by sketches on the train to work and taking tips from other picture books.

7. An idea a friend gave me and one that I had completely overlooked, was the possibility of removing the roof to place figures inside the building. I had planned to seal the structure up and have done with it but the suggestion was a good one and so it went into the mix. Thanks Alan.
6. So using the book illustration, I started to recreate the shape of the building and work out the side doors and windows. Again, once you've cut the pieces out, the structure just seems to leap up and look almost finished. Tony helped again in getting the 'wings' of the Villa to scale and looking right. 5. In this photo you can see the tiny line drawing that kicked my creative juices into overdrive. I tried to stay as close as I could to the illustration because ever since I saw it , It has always captured my imagination and I think it has loads of charm.

How to build a villa in six hundred and forty easy steps

4. Here you can see I've used Tony to measure up the doors and windows, It's important to remember that if you are going to spend the best part of forty hours making something, it's best to get the basics right at the beginning and for that, Tony was invaluable. 3. Once the pieces had been worked out to scale and windows and doors arranged the actual construction of the Villa takes only a moment. Taping it together, I was able to make minor adjustments and tweaks, still using a 28mm figure as a scale guide....let's call him Tony.

2. One of my first problems was to make up the rest of the Villa from my imagination. This was made easier when I found a great picture in a kids book I had at work, showing the front of a Villa and the Colonnade. Great! I thought, that will do.

1. The most important thing I think, when making or drawing anything is to also do your research before hand and get plenty of reference. Even if you think you know everything there to know on a subject you will always surprise yourself. Being an artist, I gladly swallowed what pride I had long ago and jump straight for the reference books every time. So, as you can see, I first started to troll through every Roman book I had with villas in and not to my surprise, the best were children's history books. I started off cutting the end pieces of the Villa to get the height and used a figure for scale.

Planning to build a Roman Villa?

A picture in a book really caught my imagination the other day, it's from page 69 in the Warhammer rule book. It's a simple line drawing of a group of Franks raiding a villa which is being defended by a group of late Romans. The thought of having a Villa to defend in the Campaign made my mouth water and I thought it would make a great focal point for a game.
So I started to give the idea some thought, looking through books and doing endless sketches and designs on the way to work. Using the line drawing as a guide I recreated the rest of the Villa from scratch and started to collect materials.
I was able to take off cuts of Foam board and scraps of card from a finished job at work which saved some money, also working with highly talented model makers I was able to pick their brains and show them my designs for advice....which was priceless. A lot of my ideas didn't work and I had to come up with new ones to solve the problems, so if any of you out there are looking to build a Roman Villa, here's how I did it, I hope it helps.

Sir Ralph's tip of the month

Hello every body, I am Sir Ralph Willard Chedgy and together with Mr Tiggles here I hope to bring you some good advice. I've been an arm chair Historian now for..... thirty two years and there's not a lot I don't know about the subject.........arm chairs that is.
My tip of the month this month is to get yourself over to black tree designs and check out their figure deals. If like me and Mr Tiggles here you have a soft spot for the Ancients and let's face it who hasn't, then we think you'll be impressed with their offers. As many of you will know, to field a 2000pt army in any Barbarian list will cost you nearly as much to buy the bloody thing...what! So where was I..oh yes, Black tree. With all the companies putting up their prices on a daily rate, get to Blacktree now before they realize themselves and put THEIR bloody prices up. Anything Celtic or German and you'll be quids in. Say goodbye Mr Tiggles I think it's time for a nap, don't yo.................zzzzz ZZZZZ

Tramp tramp tramp tramp HALT!....Tramp tramp...

There is a lot to take in when you're travelling on the road, that is why I have created this expandable image, so you can take in the details of the journey.

The Evocati are finished at last.

Finally I can show you the tough old veterans who have been called back into service after five years in retirement. As they fight behind their old Standards and banners, I have given the unit three , this helps to show the fact that the cohort is made up of Vexillations of the XIIII, V and the X. I also added some dark blue shields into the mix of the Cohort and gave them all shield decals taken from various re-enactment groups here in the UK.

Another touch was to give the men grey-white hair and beards to underline the fact they're getting on in life and I had to search my collection for suitable characters.
This shot shows the rear of the cohort, all but three have been added to and customized giving this unit a one off look. I enjoyed this project loads and it gave me a chance to practice my sculpting. It was a lot of work but I think it was worth the time.
The command base with it's three standards. In game terms I will not use these figures as veterans with the according high stats, for they are old and just a little past their prime. Instead, because they fight behind their beloved standards I will count each standard as a plus in the combat results (WAB rules). So, in a way they will still be an effective fighting force on the board.
This is one of my favourite custom jobs and one of the easier ones to do too. This old cavalrymen has taken his trusty Spatha into battle as a back up, well, you can never have too many swords in a battle. As you can see these figures have just been flocked and are still covered in loose grass.

Secundus's Book Review

Hello and welcome to yet another Secundus book review, for what it's worth, I'll be writing up my latest Roman literature conquests and giving them a Secundus mark out of ten. Well, where do we start. Simon Scarrow and his EAGLE series has turned out to be quite good, I've just finished the fourth novel in the line and it was OK. 'When the EAGLE HUNTS' continues the story of Macro the Centurion and his trusty Optio, Cato. This time they are sent under cover to find a commanders kidnapped family, say no more. I enjoyed the Celtic factor in this book and the details of how Scarrow thinks the Druids lived and acted. The major problem I will always have about these books is the fact that Scarrow has them quote famous lines from other historical characters through history, as a little nod to all arm chair historians through out the world. Also the fact that every thing of the time is tied together in a way that would make George Lucas proud, an example of this is when Macro introduces his latest girl friend, a tall, fiery, red headed girl from the Iceni tribe....any guesses who she might turn out to be? Saying all this, I still enjoy the books and they make the train journey fly by, but wait! What's this...If you haven't read any of the Stephen Dando-collins books go and do so now. Rather than make the train journey fly by these books make you curse that the train journey is coming to an end. Not being a strong reader as a kid, I never dreamed I would ever say " That book is unputadownable!" if ever such a word exists that is. Nero's killing machine had me reading everywhere, I loved it. It traces the story of the 14th Legion from its creation all the way through to the Boudicca revolt...we're back to her again I see. Anyway, It has the best write up of the Varus disaster in Germany I have ever read and I've read whole books on that subject alone! I'm reading Mark Antony's Hero's at the moment, another in the range and again I am in love with it. As far as inspiration goes for painting and all things roman, these books fill my massive bloated head and keep me marching all the way to the station and back again every day.
Secundus gives the Simon Scarrow 'When the EAGLE HUNTS' 6/10, a good read but a little to 'Sharpe' in sandals to get any higher. Secundus gives Stephen Dando-Collins 'Nero's killing Machine' 9/10. This book is one of my desert island reads...along with all the rest in the series that is.

Secudus leaves Alpes Gallica and invades Noricum (campaign 64)

After waiting for two weeks for re-enforcements from Germany, Secundus, impatient as ever, decided to with draw from Aples Gallica dragging his injured pride behind him. This had been the first major battle between the two leading men of Rome and one that he had lost, tired, weary men trod their path behind secundus's standard for six miles as he marched north.
Although Secundus had been beaten, he wasn't finished by a long shot and with his army in tow, he saw another opportunity for gain. Swinging his army east he trudged into Noricum, at first there was minor resistance from a border Garrison, but when the sheer size of Secundus's force was realized, the province flocked to his colours. Even in defeat, Secundus had claimed a minor victory. Here his men would rest up and take stock, for secundus could take comfort in the fact the Tullus's force had fared little better and he was in no position to push the advantage, for now the campaign would slow down to a game of waiting and watching. That is, until Secundus's German Legions arrived! Then the sandal would be on the other foot.

Battle review

The battle was more of a warm up really, than a serious fight. It's been years since I've played a game and Tom Hasn't played WHAB before at all. Saying that, after quite a slow start we really started to enjoy ourselves and everything fell into place. These days I tend to see myself more as of a painter and collector than gamer and with every one's busy lives, this suits me just fine, but it is nice to use the figures in anger every now and then, It makes a nice change.
We both learnt from the Battle of Valentia, things both good and bad, which will no doubt influence our future gaming, and at the end of the day, a great time was had and that's the most important point of all. Above, Tullus helps his army snatch victory from the Secundus by leading his hard pressed Legionaries from the front.

The price of victory (campaign 63)

Tullus had attacked the province of Aples Gallica and taken it from Secundus. The victory had been won at a great cost and it would be some time before either side could mass another field army. For the time being, both sides were content to sit back and lick their wounds until new re enforces could be mustered and vengeance sort.

The Battles end ( campaign 62)

The last throws of Secundus's luck were lost when Tullus charged his one remaining Cohort into Secundus's battle weary Dacian Auxiliaries, crushing them and finally ending their epic struggle against the Auxiliaries of Spain which had lasted all day. Secundus could see he was now out numbered but stood his ground, forming up as best he could he repulsed an attack by the elite Spanish horse and waited for the end. Tullus, however was in little better shape and his units were exhausted and low in number. As the day finally drew to a close, both sides fell back in good order.
Secundus's force had been devastated, with all of it's cavalry and Auxiliary units destroyed. He had lost a Cohort of the Augusta but remained in control of two full strength Cohorts, the 1st and the 2nd. Whereas Tullus had lost two Cohorts of the VI and his Auxiliaries, including his Balearic slingers. Neither side could claim all out victory, they had both fought and lost valuable men that would cost them dearly to replace. Above, the exhausted men of the 1st Cohort repel the Spanish horse of Tullus........just.

Victory turns into defeat for Secundus (campaign 61)

Flushed with success the 1st Cohort of the II Augusta smashes into the 2nd Cohort of Tullus's force routing them and putting them to flight. Lost in the throws of victory, Secundus failed to notice the return of the Spanish horse. After regrouping the Spanish horse charged back across the field, with no cavalry left of his own, Secundus was powerless to stop them cutting down his remaining archers. With the cohorts all mixed up and confusion spreading across the field, Secundus found himself cut off from retreat and coming under heavy fire from the lethal lead shot of the Balearic slingers.

With Secundus's Auxiliaries still locked in mortal combat, Tullus could now concentrate all of his existing force against the remaining cohorts of Secundus. Secundus after breaking two Cohorts found himself trapped and out manoeuvred.
This picture shows the Battle standards of the II Augusta running for their lives. They could see the Spanish cavalry charging across the battle field and didn't hang around.

The Battle of Valentia (campaign 60)

Tullus saw the disaster unfold to his right and putting himself in the front line, personally lead another charge. The renewed attack on the 3rd Cohort caught them off guard and they too broke and started to flee the field. Tullus by his own actions had plucked his army from the jaws of defeat. Now the two sides were on level pegging again and victory was any ones for the taking once more. The battle continued to sway back and forth.

This picture shows Secundus with his brown cloaked 1st Cohort chasing the 3rd VI Gemina from the field. On the other side, Tullus's 1st Cohort like wise smashes the 3rd Cohort of the II Augusta. In the centre the lines of skirmishers still exchange volleys to no avail. On the far right, the two units of Auxiliaries slog it out, both winning and losing in turn.