A New Storage & Display Cabinet

I just returned from picking up a new storage and display cabinet for all of my models. It is the IKEA Bjursta storage cabinet that I first heard about while reading Olicanalad's Games blog several months ago. Of course, I procrastinated buying it from IKEA directly and when I finally decided to pick one up I was disappointed to discover that IKEA no longer sells this piece of furniture. Drat. Luckily, I was able to find this exact cabinet I wanted from a nice lady across town named Joan who was selling one in perfect condition, for half price, and already assembled. Some things just work out.

The cabinet has glass doors and five glass shelves and also has a nice drawer in the middle for additional storage. It is a little dark in the cabinet, so I may need to look into adding some lighting. I'm looking forward to moving my armies and painted figures out of the old storage and other cases and into the cabinet today.

My workspace with the new cabinet on the left.

The Second Carthaginian Unit Forms

The second unit of the Carthage veterans is coming along nicely - for this unit I chose a blue color which I think works well. The army is beginning to take shape. I am awaiting some bases to arrive in the mail so I can begin getting these units organized and in proper fighting order!

Hannibals' veterans of war

Ancient Warfare & Medieval Warfare

On Sunday mornings I very much enjoy going to the local bookstore, getting a nice cup of coffee and browsing magazines and books. I have discovered a couple of wonderful magazines during this regular trip that I now purchase each time a new issue hits the shelf. If you haven't already, do yourself a favor and pick up Ancient Warfare and Medieval Warfare - you can thank me later.

These magazines are well designed, of very high production quality and hold a wealth information on topics including battle formations, equipment, daily life of soldiers, politics, weapons, military training, intrigue, baggage trains... well, you get the idea. The magazine is full of amazing illustrations of soldiers for inspiration for us wargamers as well as detailed maps of campaigns and battles that could be very useful. But be warned, these magazines will set you to dreaming of new armies and projects, so make room on your table.

It is a bit pricey over here in the States ($9.99 a copy), but if you buy them one issue at a time with a cup of coffee you will never notice.

I highly recommend these magazines.

Carthaginian Commander

Psychologically, this was an army that had known nothing but the most decisive sort of success since it had entered Italy. In a life and death struggle, confidence is crucial, and the recent past had given these men every reason to believe in their own fighting skills, as well as their commander's ability to drive opponents into positions of utter vulnerability and near helplessness.

~ Robert L. O'Connell, The Ghosts of Cannae, 2010.

Painting the Carthage Veterans

Progress is moving along nicely on my Carthaginians - I'm getting a little time to paint each night which really helps... you know, that slow but steady thing. I am painting these in batches of six models, which will comprise a full base of figures with each unit having three bases for a frontage of 180mm. I'm trying to get at least four full units of my Carthaginians done as soon as I can since they have some very respectable Romans to rout on the battlefield.

For my own record-keeping, and perhaps because others may find this beneficial, here is my process and colors used to paint this unit of veterans. I am listing a mix of old and new-name Games Workshop paint colors since that is what I have. It will be easy enough to make the conversion if you need to. As a designer, I would much rather be working in Pantone numbers.

01. Basecoat in black
02. Paint all skin using GW Tallarn Flesh
03. Paint the tunic using GW Loren Forest
04. Paint the chainshirt using GW Chainmail
05. Paint the greaves and helm using GW Shining Gold
06. Paint the helemt frontage and decorations using GW Tin Bitz
06. Paint the hair and beard (if any) using GW Chaos Black
07. Paint the sandals using Vallejo Burnt Umber
08. Paint the leather belts and straps using Vallejo Tan-Earth
09. Paint the sword and dagger scabbards using GW Mournfang Brown
10. Paint the sword hilt using GW Ushabti Bone
11. Paint the dagger hilt using GW Boltgun Metal
12. Wash only the chain shirt using GW Devlan Mud
13. Wash only the greaves and helm using GW Gryphonne Sepia
14. Drybrush the chain shirt using GW Chainmail
15. Paint the chain shirt trim using GW Dwarf Bronze
16. Paint the sword scabbard details using GW Dwarf Bronze
17. Touch-up any painting mistakes
17. Wash entire model except for the chain shirt using GW Devlan Mud
18. Drybrush greaves and helm using GW Shining Gold
19. Highlight tunic using GW Nurgling Green

Carthaginian veterans nearing completion.

Liby-Phoenician Test Model Painted

"The study of ancient history is as much about how we know as what we know, and engagement with all the processes of selection, constructive blindness, revolutionary reinterpretation and willful misinterpretation that together produce the 'facts'... out of the messy, confusing. and contradictory evidence that survives."

~ Mary Beard, Cambridge classicist

I was able to complete the color-test model for my Carthaginian veterans last night and I am very happy with the result. I wanted to find a suitable and pleasing color palette that worked across an entire figure before beginning the process of painting these en masse. Remember, these need to look good on the gaming table, so things like contrast and color saturation play an important role in selecting the color palette. I knew right-away that I didn't want to go with a red linen for these troops as that is fairly typical and too obvious a choice, so I decided in the end to go with a nice shade of green instead, which will work well with the silvers and gold/bronze of the armor and the ochre I have chosen for the shields.

I am really looking forward to getting started on these this in earnest week!

Carthage Rises Again!

With my Scots of the English Civil War project well under way and making good progress, I have decided to jump back into the Punic Wars project that I started but never really began. Specifically, I will be working on the Carthaginian army.

Many months ago I purchased a good amount of Carthaginian figures from Gripping Beast. These have been quietly waiting in plastic bags until late last night when I began sorting, organizing and planning how I want to tackle this (large) project. I currently have forty-eight Liby-Phoenician veterans with spears, twenty-four Libyan heavy infantry with spears and ten heavy cavalry. The plan is to start with these as the "core" of the army and then add other interesting units such as Numidian light cavalry, Balearic slingers and Gallic warbands to round-out the force.

The Gripping Beast models are of very high quality and I am very happy with them. All types are supplied with a good variety of poses, all of which seem to be fairly natural and will make for a dynamic looking army on the table. I had very little trimming or filing of mold lines to do to prepare the figures for washing and mounting on temporary painting bases. All of the models are stocky but proportional, which is very important to me - there are no gigantic heads or stubby arms like you see in some other figures. I was most impressed with the sculpts of the command figures supplied - their appearance is fantastic and are easily differentiated from the rank and file by their "I'm in charge around here" poses (holding a helmet under their arm and pointing for example) and their armor and equipment.

I am not as well read or learned in the Punic Wars as I am in other periods of history, and so this will be a learn-as-you-go experience for me. I'm sure I'll make some mistakes along the way, but I'm excited to get this going.

Carthaginian veterans by Gripping Beast.

Libyan infantry by Gripping Beast.

Carthaginian heavy cavalry by Gripping Beast.

Put a Pike in that Cork!

I have read enough blogs over the years to have learned a few tricks along the way - those a-ha moments when I slap myself on the forehead and think "why didn't I think of that before?!". Maybe this will be one of those moments for you... or perhaps not.

Need an easy way to apply paint to those pikes, spears or other pointy fiddly bits laying around the table? I have found that wine corks work perfectly for such a thing.

Brilliant right?