From IanW - 15mm Roman Cavalry (200 Points)

Been a tough week that left me just not able to paint Wednesday through Thursday but I was able to prep all the figures shown in today's post. So all the painting has been done Friday onwards and yes I have had to have a few long sessions at the paint desk.

In the end I was more than able to make up the lost time and I did the finishing touches to the five units less than an hour before doing the post at 4.30pm UK time. It's been getting a bit of a habit of posting late but next week I hope to get it done Monday latest, honest Curt.

First up is a unit of Alan cavalry, the Dominate army is allowed fourteen bases of light cavalry with bow so quite a number. The Alan can be 4-6 bases so a further two could be added but I have found six bases not as easy to use as 4 and would prefer two units of 4 bases each and pay that bit more.

Very basic paint job as not as patterned as the Saka I have painted previously. I still have a unit of Sagittarii or two to paint up yet as well as the command so am not yet finished with the cavalry.

Equites light cavalry, these are armed with Javelins and Light Spear so can attack light infantry with hope of winning the melee which can really keep your opponents light infantry honest.

I am finding the infantry a bit dull looking apart from the shields so painted these up a little brighter with a deep red colour added to the tunics. Basing remains a little on the dark side with sparse vegetation I am favouring for this army.

Illyricanti are for intense and purpose the same as the unit above but does allow me different figures. It will also help if they are used for a different army that has protected and unprotected ststus with the unit about taking the protected status as they have the helmets.

The shield emblem should have been similar to the ace of spades in design, in the end I had to settle for something more like a diamond, well I keep trying to stretch my freehand, sometimes I have to accept less than I set out for, I can live with that,

Equites heavy cavalry, these are armed as Light spear and Swordsman, not as punchy as lance but can hang around in melee. Again can be six bases strong and would benefit from the extra two bases. I do have a few more of these that were going on the command bases but I may paint them up as reinforcements. 

Another shield that could have come out better as I had to miss out the top two stripes, may revisit them and see if I can improve on the look.

These are really nice and detailed even if some of the detail is tucked away such as the sword. These are my favourite figures from the whole army.

The army can have two of these units and if I was keeping it I would certainly buy a second unit (or use other cataphracts I have in one of my other armies.

Unlike most Roman armies this one can have a lot of cavalry and lots of bow, not sure if I will get any games with it before I sell it though. Originally I was going to use it for spending money when we go on holiday later in the year. Hopefully that will remain it's use as I can't think of anything better than having the money for treats that did not have to be saved from other areas.

Points wise three units of eight figures and two of twelve adds up to forty eight so that's one hundred and ninety two points, no bomb but it gets me within reach of my revised target and will be moving back to 6mm for next week's submission but away from Ancients unless I really get a move on.


From Curt:

Holy cow! You have been a busy lad Ian, well done! Your foray into Romans this year has gone from strength to strength. All of these cavalry are terrific but I must say I particularly like the Equites with their red combed helmets, blue cloaks and excellent hand-painted shield designs (to which I'm giving you a bit of a top-up in points). Very sharp work Mr. Willey.