From MartinN: Middle Imperial Roman Lanciarii & the joys of rebasing [30pts]

The challenge is drawing to a close and neither have I been as productive as I had planned -not that I was expecting much, mind- nor have I been as active on here as I had intended. While I'm sitting here at my desk I can gaze upon all the figures that I set out to paint this year and it's a bit of a sobering sight. But you're not here to see me dwell on my failures, are you?

Over the last three weeks I managed to convert and paint 5 more Middle Imperial Romans for my fledgling Midgard force. This time it wasn't the heavy infantry type Legionary, but my interpretation of the somewhat enigmatic Lanciarii. We're not really certain as to how these troops fought, or indeed how they were equipped. Rather than regurgitate arguments of men far more knowledgeable as I, I simply present you with my representation of these enigmatic troops, as I’m sure you can use google just as well as I if you’re curious. I for one settled on elite light infantry, armed with short throwing spears for harrassing enemy troops, as well as large oval shields and the Spatha, making them capapble of facing an enemy head on if need be. I was undecided if I should give them helmets, but in the end decided against for no other reason than the rule of cool.

The figures are a mix of A&A and converted Victrix and again I'm rather pleased how they work together. I also used parts of the different Victrix sets to convert some of the A&A figures as frankly I find them a little dated by now. To reinforce the elite status they were all painted wearing the same clothes, very much opposed to my usual view on uniformity in the pre-modern era, with purple ornamental stripes. Rather eye catching I think. Shields are again painted by hand.

So, why then do I just claim 5 figures when clearly there are 10 on the photos? Well, I had already painted a brace of 5 figures a while ago and having had to rebase them anyway for use with Midgard, I decided to intermix them with their newer counterparts. Seems like not much has changed in my painting approach over the last couple of years.

Anyway, 5 figures á 5 points each is 25 points in total. Hurrah!

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What a treat these are Martin! I would be looking at the untouched minis as a "pile of potential" if these are anything to go by!

I know all too well the 'fun' of rebasing having done it last year with my Caesarian Romans, but if it brings a new lease of life for them then its worth it. They look wonderfully dynamic like that too.

...and take a few bonus points to the crisp details and lovely hand painted shields!

- Paul