Italian Condotierri and Tarlington's Dragoons

This month was a bit different from my normal painting endeavors, but I will start with an example of things to come. Above is a modified Ral Partha 25mm Swiss Crossbowman to play the part of an Italian sword and buckler man. I will be working on a Venetian Italian Condotierri army based on DBA-Hx and DBA-RRR made from this wonderful old line of figures. The detail on these is marvelous, and should provide many painting challenges as well as inspirations. The original figure is below.

I was suckered into some 54mm figures at Nashcon (it didn't take much to push me in that direction). These are American War of Independence figures by All the Kings Men. These are my first attempt at 54mm and were a blast to paint. The horses are plastic and proved a bit difficult to work with, especially in terms of removing all of the mold lines, but I did what I could. The original heads provided for the metal riders were a bit small, so I opted to modify some larger heads from the 1812 line and was quite pleased how that endeavor turned out. The cavalry represent Tarleton's Dragoons. Next up are some British light infantry.

Italian Velite Grenadiers

The Italian Velite Grenadiers are not quite as well documented in terms of uniform detail, but I have tried to paint a unit as it would have appeared around 1808/09. Once again this is a mix of figures that I had lying around without a purpose, so I was glad to be able to find a use for them. The privates are Hinchcliffe miniatures that I stripped and repainted, the command figures are Old Glory I believe. The Velite Grenadiers did not have a flag, but I do believe were given an eagle.

New Napoleonic Elements for DBN

The King's German Legion 1st Hussars are the last element I needed to complete my light Division for the Peninsular British Army. These are Foundry figures which are just beautifully detailed, indeed a little too detailed. I kept finding more and more little details that were sculpted onto the figure that I realized would need painting to stand out. A good problem to have I guess. The 1st Hussars KGL are represented by a skirmishing cavalry element because of their comparatively small size and the way in which they were used.

I decided to remount my General of Hussars with a trumpeter from the 1st KGL to convert him into a much needed British command element as opposed to an aid de camp that he was mounted as previously. You have to love anyone brave enough to wear yellow boots though!

So I had a great, but busy weekend, part of which was spent finishing up the Italian Guard Grenadiers. I found a great French language site with excellent plates of the Italians which I found to be of enormous value, as my usual sources left a few questions unanswered. The figures are a mix of Foundry (the command and drummer) and older Hinchliffe figures that I stripped and repainted in a painstaking but rewarding process. The figures were all plumeless, so I made new plumes from cut down pipe cleaners which ended up working pretty well. I also had to construct new bayonets for a number of them, but all in all the Hinchliffe figures, though not inspiring by any means, turned out to be fairly decent. Note the corporal at the far right, the French site proved invaluable for details on non-coms as well as the officers and musicians.

The napitalia site lead me to the French language site. Here are the links:

http://napitalia.org.uk/

http://www.histunif.com/italie/itali...ps/ital004.htm

The Generals view of his troops.

The enemies view staring into the glinting bayonets and imposing gaze of the grenadiers. The flag is just a free download from warflag. I didn't even bother painting over it as I thought it looked darn good right out of the inkjet printer. Next stop, the Velite Grenadiers.

Marian Roman Army Completed

Marian Roman DBA army made from Testudo Miniatures. 1x3Cv (Gen) or 1x4Bl (Gen), 1x3Cv or 2LH or 3Ax, 8x4Bl, 2x2Ps. The Testudo figures are large, but very well sculpted with lots of dynamic poses, and done in a way that they rank up well. The Auxilia stand in the middle are converted psiloi figures meant to represent Gallic allies that have been partially re-equipped in Roman fashion.

The Legions. Testudo figures come with an optional shield either with or without sculpted designs. All of my shields have the winged design sculpted on them, so I was somewhat limited in how I could paint them.

Optional Blade General Stand

The Roman Cavalry general on the right with Gallic allied light horse and cavalry to the left. There really were no Roman cavalry figures available to me, so I converted figures from the command pack.

The camp made with tents from Bauda and more Testudo command figures.

DBA Early Samurai Army Completed

Here is the whole army arrayed and ready for Battle. These are all 15mm Eureka figures and are meant to represent the army of Minamoto no Yoritomo, who would become the first Shogun of Japan in the late twelfth century and establish the Kamakura Shogunate.

4 bow elements including one that can be played as a general.

3 blade elements that can be played in place of part or all of the bow elements.

The heart of the army is of course the four cavalry elements, of which one can be played as a general.

5 elements of Auxilia make the samurai army a fast moving bad going army, but in an open field they can be a challenge to play. So far I have been lucky enough to win terrain both times I have played. With lots of bad going around they are a tough army, and so far are 2-0.

The 5 auxilia elements consist of two stands of warrior monks, and three of lesser samurai or well armed peasants.

The big cheese himself, watching the battle from afar.

Rohan to the Rescue

King Theoden of Rohan takes the lead in this stand of knights with Gamling and a royal guardsman close behind.

Erkenbrand, the real hero of Helms Deep. Made conspicuous by his absence in the film, Erkenbrand led a vital contingent of the Rohirrim in a counter attack against the orcs of Isengard. This figure is one of those infuriating GW sets that pairs a nice metal rider with a cheap plastic horse. If you look closely you can see the support pin I had to put into the horse's belly to stabilize the figure.

Now counter attack would be complete without Gandalf to lead the way.

Here are two elements of riders who are the vanguard of a much larger force. I have enough for 1 more element of riders and 6 elements of knights already painted. They are just waiting on the basing.

Erkenbrand on foot with some royal guard, and some aerial support featured below.

Isengard Unleashed

Here we have some plastic Games Workshop Lord of the Rings (LotR) Uruk Hai. The plastics were fairly easy to base as I just tacked the plastic sprue on which they are resting to the wooden base with super glue, and then built up around it. The banner is a nice little customization of a pike.

Some blade elements and a large troll which will play as a behemoth.

Here is a close up of one blade stand. I tried to give the armor a good crude rusted appearance. On some stands I have mixed in armor that appears newer, as much would have been just produced. Below are the archers. In the pipe are some more crossbow, blades and of course, Saruman