KenR : 28mm Italian Allied Legion Principes Pt1 - 160 pts

 

I can almost hear the kids at the back screaming are we there yet ! 

Nearly son, nearly, this is the 4th of 6 batches of foot leaving 32 Principes, 32 Triarii to do along with another Cavalry unit and a couple of General bases and we are done ✔ One thing is certain, whatever I paint in the remainder of the Challenge will not be white !

If it ain't broke why fix it ? So its 32 28mm Victrix figures on 4 60 x 60 bases, helped along with some LBMS transfers. 32 x 5 points is 160 more towards my total.

Compared to the Hastati the main difference is in that ever important plumage, I've mostly used the 2 plume helmets from the plastic set for this unit (can you guess where the three plume heads are 🤔). With the Hastati I added a sprinkle of un armoured guys, with the Principes they are all armoured, mostly with bronze plates but there are the odd cuirass in there.

In addition to that I've done a bit more weathering on the shields to give them a bit more of a grimey lived in look. I like the slight variation you can get with plastic figures. Romans should always have a uniform, discipline look but lots of small changes in head or shield position along the rows really brings the unit to life, just like the guy on the end of the rear rank who has clearly seen something more interesting off to his rear 😀 

I did start to flag a little at the end of this unit and getting started on the next lot of 32 Principes has been a bit of a Groundhog day but I'm determined to get them done, at the end of the day this is a pretty small Project for me, I already have a Roman Legion sat in a box ready to join these add to that the Carthaginians the whole Punic Wars thing will top a 1000 figs fairly soon.

And just to finish off, cause I know you like these, here is the unit in its rightful place in the formation. Still no joy 😕 with the 8 missing Velites, if anyone does have any Victrix ones spare, I'm happy to paint up a couple of figs on a Command Stand in payment 👍