Back to the Brushes 422

 Painting cavalry has always been a bugbear for me. The horse it's self is not an issue; it the bloody harnesses! Cutting in a contrasting colour to the horseflesh to catch the eye and create uniformity is a bind. 

Normally. I'd paint everything from the inside out but in a moment of madness I changed my method and have tried black lining the trappings before the painting the base colour of the horse. Eureka! It works and has seriously reduced the bane in painting horse trappings!.

The horses above are for the Imperial Romans currently on the painting table and are the first wave of three. 

More to follow shortly. 

Cheers for now

Back to the Brushes 421

 Finishing off two elements of Thracian cavalry for DBA or ADLG. The element to the right you the screen as viewed is one of the options for the General's stand. The other two options include a unit of Knights or a units of auxillary infantry. Both offering different options for the army. 

The picture below shows another two elements for the Thracians, this time horse archers. 

All figures are from the Xyston Miniatures 15mm range. 

Cheers for now. 

Back to the Brushes 420

A work in progress up date on the auxilia archers from the ongoing Early Imperial Roman project. Using the word project instead of army as at this point it has no set direction. Might end up element based for ADLG. DBA or based singly for skirmish games such as Infamy, Infamy or Clash of Steel.

Either way these figures are nearing completion and the bases as pictured will be done shortly. 

Cheers for now.

How Far Jerusalem 8

Finally finished these three stands of skirmishing archers and crossbowmen for the Late Crusaders in ADLG and DBA. 

The figures are all from the now out of production Gladiator Games that make the bulk of this army and my Wars of the Roses collection too. 

The crossbowmen are part of a military order hence the more uniformed colouring on the tabards, however as they are skirmishers it's not full flying colours. 

Cheers for now.

Back to the Brushes 403

Shambling hordes of undeath coming this way across the dark nights of winter cold 

Rebasing from 25mm hex bases to 25mm rounds to enable more generic use in skirmish gaming and easier sabot basing as shown. 

The sabot tray from Warbases is sized for a Kings of War Horde and holds 17 figures. 

Hoping to find time in between the festive period to finish the sabot and individual bases off. 

Cheers for now

Fantasy Hero 24

Painted a few years back but only just getting round to posting now.

A retro figure from Citadel Miniatures circa 1984 and one of the first additions to a then small collection of figures for roleplaying games.

As there are a lot of Undead on the painting table, might dig a few more old bones out to see the light of day and a new coat of paint. 

Cheers for now

Back to the Brushes 401

Been playing with colour the other night, going back to mixing some tones from the base colour and layering from there. 

The base colour is from Vallejo Games colours Scurvy Green and the subsequent tones are mixed from this blended with Army Painter Skeleton Bone. 

It was refreshing to do this and rewarding to have that control and feel of the colours building up. Still to go back for a final highlight or two on the edges and a few other places, then several coats of Matt varnish to knock the sheen off, which is coming from the base colour.

A couple of casualty markers for the Undead hordes in Kings of War. These have been built from a triple 10mm dice cell, a 60 x 20mm base and some spare parts from the skeleton warriors sprues. The MDF parts are all from Warbases.

Cheers for now.

Reconquista 10

Time has moved quickly this month and there are a few things in the sidelines that have or will be completed for the AHPC XV. 

When starting a new project, regardless of scale I like to put a few stands up that will enable me to complete a core unit or two in the early stages of painting that project. Light infantry and skirmishers are often good in that role and will feature in most versions of the finished project when used. 

Here is the first of several skirmisher units for the recently started Tafia Kingdoms army in ADLG. 

Having used more "Christian" figures for this stand it allows further use of the figures in several different armies across the period. Great believer in getting the best use from a miniature. 

The Gripping Beast figures whilst old are still some of my favourite models for this period and the newer sculpts add a lot of flavour to the period. 

A few more finished items to follow shortly.

Cheers for now

Back to the Brushes 400

Over the last few weeks have been working on a few different projects. To say that there has been little progress would be an understatement, so, a little change of direction was called for. 

There is a steady stream of chat at work relating to Kings of War and the original plan was to paint Dwarves for this however, the figures that are available are mostly retro Citadel figures from a time when character figures made up the range. These are your friend if you're trying to create a new army for a new game. 

Enter the skeletons...

A stalled project that will enable a quick turn around on several based units; skeleton warriors and archers. Some are already finished, some have been partial painted a couple of years back and some are in the process of being painted now. The figures are from the Oathmark range.

Kings of War offers a basing option that is similar to Impetus in that the figures are multi based to suit. The basic infantry base is a troop sized at 100 x 40mm and this is doubled for a regiment.

In the immortal words of Blue Peter, here's one I made earlier from the previously painted figures. Base from Warbases and there are also movement trays to fit as well. 

More on these shortly. 

Cheers for now.

How Far Jerusalem 7

The latest addition to the Late Crusader army for ADLG include three stands of the Knights of Jerusalem as shown below. 

Have used a bit of artistic licence when painting these, however, think that it's relevant enough to give a reasonable historical feel to the figures. 

As with the rest of the army, these are from the sadly no longer available Gladiator Miniatures range.

These are the first figures in 2025 and hopefully there will be more to follow. They have been included in the AHPC XV.

Cheers for now. 

Back to the Brushes 395

A little update on the Romano British javelin men. 

The front two stands of Psiloi are ready for varnishing and basing and the larger stands to the rear aren't that far behind. 

At this point there are no immediate plans for the shields beyond the yellow ochre already used. This colour fits in well with the muted bieges and greens used for the and unifies the figures in the stand. In reality, there would probably be less unification in the Dark Ages however at this scale it suits purposes well. 

Next up in this project will be the start of the ponies. 

Cheers for now

Back to the Brushes 394

A bit more progress on the Thracian cavalry, well the horses to be precise.

The infantry stand will be for the General 4Ax

Cheers for now

Back to the Brushes 393

The dreaded wire spears have been ordered from A&M Miniatures along with a solitary pack of Thracian Nobles for the Knights element in DBA. 

So to fill the time waiting on the order coming through have started a few other stands of Thracian cavalry:

Including Getic horse archers in fully shiny base metal at the rear; who are fronted by the partially painted horses of the General's cavalry stand for the DBA list.

Have never been a fan of painting horses, but it's something that I have managed ways if dealing with. 

For 15mm figures this involves, blocking base colours for the horse flesh and tack then washing with a suitable dark colour - Army Painter Strong tone. Varying the colour of the horses leads to a visually pleasing finish when several stands are side by side. 

Cheers for now

Back to the Brushes 392

Painting restarts and continues on Xyston Thracian peltasts, psiloi and light cavalry.

A versatile range of figures that can be used as an army in their own right or allies for a range of different armies across the Mediterranean. 

Shields and wire spears are taking time to add on and in hindsight wishing had done this prior to priming. Have enough spears to do what's shown here but will need to order more for the next batch which will include the 4Ax bases for DBA. 

Cheers for now

Back to the Brushes 391

Wire spears have pros and cons but Jesus they can be jaggy little sods when gluing in place. 

The third horse is in the sidelines, waiting on it's trapping getting painted before joining in. 

When finished this will be the last stand of Spartan cavalry from Xyston Miniatures. A few more spearmen will see them finally finished leaving time for allied troops including auxiliaries and a few more phalanxes. 

Cheers for now

Back to the Brushes 390

 Sometimes you paint something because you want to

Frostgrave Cultist Barbarian

And some times because you've too bloody many half painted figures lying about

Xyston Thracians

Cheers for now

Back to the Brushes 389

 A bit more painting done the other day, this time some Dark Ages skirmishers from Forged in Battle. 

Part of a larger project these Romano Brits will also be of use in several different DBA forces. 

Cheers for now

Back to the Brushes 388

A few more stands from Minifigs Ancient Greek and Macedonian ranges.

The front stand are for use as Hypaspists and the rear stand will be Argyraspides and the first of five pike blocks.

Will be adding to these in the near future. 

Cheers for now

Dance of Bronze 30

Recently finished these for a friend's growing collection of Minifigs Ancient Greeks. 

Generic Psiloi and light cavalry bases that will fit in to most armies of the period easily. 

Contrary to the normal rules of engagement they performed well in their first game and destroyed the Spartan general's unit caught in bad terrain.

There are more figures from this period on the painting table at present. 

Cheers for now. 

Imperium Sine Fine 34

Recently completed as a part of the AHPC XIII these Equite Cataphractii from War and Empire will soon be clumping  their way across tabletops  in ADLG, DBA and Hail Caesar. 

Each stand has a fair wee heft to them with the fourth horse fitting to each stand, even if this did involve a less than linear final appearance to the base.

The figures are good sculpts and slightly smaller than the other cavalry figures in the growing force for Early Imperial Rome in 15mm. One day there may even be a start made on the 28mm figures for the same army. 

Next up there will be other cavalry units for this army. 

Cheers for now.