Parthians Coming along nicely and preparing to return to the Stalingrad project

 

A 6mm Parthian forces has been painted up and based.  All that's left is to scenic the bases and these chaps will be ready for the tabletop.

These figures are part of the Baccus miniatures Hail Caesar Army Pack plus one pack of 36 armored camel cataphracts.  The Baccus army packs come with a nice discount and do give you a very broad set of troop options.  As with my Republican Romans these are based to be used for the Age of Hannibal ruleset but the basing is flexible enough to use with just about any ancients rules set.

I'm still fiddling with the color scheme for the base scenery - I want a more arid look than the standard "European Field" I used on the Romans.

I  am looking forward to getting these guys on the table soon as cavalry heavy armies are a lot of fun to play in just about all ancients rule sets.  My track record as a commander of horse armies is actually pretty poor but I always have fun zooming around the tabletop.  Plus who doesn't dream of commanding a charge of cataphracts mounted on armored camels?

Once these gentlemen are finished, I think it's time to return to my Stalingrad project, roughly 40% of the table is done and using my AMAZING math skills, I am able to calculate that implies there is 60% remaining to be done.  I'm hoping be able to put this game on at Historicon this year.  I know it's a pretty iffy proposition on the chances of Historicon being held but let's think positively.  Perhaps a more precise way to set the deadline is the earlier of Historicon'21 or the next HMGS convention.  

A picture of the North section of the map, which is bounded to the North by the January 9th Square /  Pavlov's House / Grundin Mill area.  I'm thinking of darkening the road sections as they look a little too "bright" to me.  The game table will cover most of central Stalingrad down to the Univermaf Dept store and Red Square.

With the Republican Romans and their allies done, next up on my list of 6mm Ancients are the Parthians.  When the Baccus cart was last opened I purchased a Hail Caesar Army pack of Parthians plus a pack of Camel Cataphracts because who wouldn't want to paint armored camels?

The Baccus army deals are a great way to get started as they are offered at a nice discount so if you're just starting out give them a look.

Assume I don't break anything this army pack should yield the following:

18 bases of mounted Archers, with 4 figures per base

4 Bases of javelin armed light cavalry with 4 figures per base

12 bases of cataphracts with 6 figures per base

6 bases of camel cataphracts with 6 figures per base

4 bases of spearmen with 24 figs per base

6 bases of foot arches with 16 figures per base

2 bases of skirmishers with 8 figures per base

9 Generals 2, 2 figure bases and 5, 1 figure bases

All of the bases are 40mm squares which have just been purchased from the good folks at Litko.  I ordered them on Monday and got them in two days.  Really top notch service.

I really like fielding cavalry heavy armies for ancients games and am looking forward to trying these guys out on the table.  My first few outings will likely result in complete disaster as cavalry armies tend to be finicky forces to field but they are always fun.  I doubt all 6 of the Camel units will ever get used at the same time but their just too fun not to paint up.

When the Baccus cart opens up, I'll likely pick up another pack of Spearmen (for another 4 bases) and maybe another pack of horse archers.

Now for some research on how to paint Parthians.....

 

6mm Ancients - UNLEASH PRIMER!

 

With the start of the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge (version 11.0) a little more than 3 weeks away, it's time to start prepping mini's.  In addition to finishing up my 15mm Stalingrad project, you'll be seeing a lot of 6mm Ancients - literally thousands of the tiny blighters.

My first of two orders from Baccus has arrived.  In that tiny box were figures for a Republican Roman army and a Parthian one.  The second order, which is still being processed has a large Sucessor Army and my favorite - Dacians.

First up for priming are some Roman Hastati, which I will be basing in 3 ranks of 8 on 40mm square bases.  40mm squares are the standard used for the rules Age of Hannibal, which we use at the club and I highly recommend.  I also used 40mm bases for my Russo Japanese armies.

Lighter infantry, such as velites Velites will be less dense, with maybe 6-8 figures per base.  Dense formations like Phalanxes will have 6 ranks of 8 figures so 48 per base.  Steve from the club has a beautiful Macedonian army and has 64 figures crammed onto a 40mm square base.

My Republican Roman army will have 16 bases of Hastati/Principes, 2 Triarii, and handful of Roman cavalry plus both Italian and Spanish allies (mostly light troops)