From Millsy: More Late Romans (260 points)

G'day All,

I'm back with a somewhat delayed second batch of Late Romans after my first batch in the Empire bonus theme round. I've been crook with a virus (thankfully now mostly behind me) and these are a week late as a consequence. Thanks to my very kind minions, several of whom checked in when I was MIA and the stalwart DaveD for providing covering fire.

This time I've moved on to some auxiliary infantry with supporting archers, and some cataphracts with a general. These are all Gripping Beast plastics again, serviceable enough but not as nice as some of the metals from other manufacturers. Still, they do the job well enough and were significantly cheaper.

Cataphracts

It's taken me over 30 years of gaming to paint cataphracts. Having been on the receiving end plenty of times, typically to my detriment, it was past time I corrected that omission. The metallic aspects were quick enough to paint but all the coloured detail then bogged them down and took much longer to finish. I sometimes find that frustrating when something looks 90% done but is in reality only halfway there. No shield transfers was a bonus though!

Auxiliaries

Not sure I am happy with the pink clothing but too much off white undyed wool was something I wanted to avoid so here we are. I'm doing another unit in either light blue, green or brown so we'll see how that goes. Suggestions would be welcome! Two of the archer stands are top ups for units I didn't have them for hence the mismatched edging colours. I've managed to find some shortcuts on the basing so these weren't as tedious as my first entry. Apparently you can teach this particular old dog at least some new tricks.

12 x 28mm cavalry = 120 points
28 x 28mm infantry = 140 points

Total = 260 points.

Thanks for looking!

Cheers,
Millsy

***

Glad you are back on your feet Millsy, and treating us to some more wonderful Romans. I love Romans! I think you have found the perfect description for Gripping Beast's plastic late Romans - "serviceable" indeed - they do the job, they don't hurt the bank balance too much, but they do...leave a lot to be desired. I tried working with them a few years back and stumbled, as they were just...meh...but every alternative I explored was too much $$$, so I may yet be back to them... 

Such issues can, however, be overcome with excellent painting and basing, and both are clearly in abundance here! They look great - and I particularly LOVE to see Cataphract-type cavalry, as it is just so cool, and I'm sure it will be on the giving end of those heavy cavalry attacks for a change. Great work, and a great example of how the whole effort means so much to the finished product on the table. 

260 points for you too!

GregB