Celts, Gauls, Galatians, Call them what you will!

The Gauls were the latest contingent to get the rebase treatment. Quite a lot of them were painted about a decade ago, and as with previous rebases, I tried to rebase as many as possible then work out what I need to add to the units to sort them into their new bases. I took an overall stock of my Gallic soldiers as Newline Designs have quite a few codes and each code has quite a bit variety (which I haven't full shown here). From there I decided that I would, as best as possible, to make up units of similarly dressed and equipped troops. Thinking that for example, the warriors in tunics could represent troops fighting in colder conditions while the nobles in their mail could fight together. In this way the better armed and armoured troops will be at the front while warriors in helmets can fall in behind them. A few totally unarmoured warriors were painted also and the remaining unpainted Gauls that are equipped in that way were put aside for now. However 11 bases were made up here and for now that will provide more than enough bases for the Punic wars. I really need to set up some kind of battle as it is well overdue! Time is an issue as ever so maybe a simple One Hour Wargames inspired game may do for now we'll see how things go (I always go for painting). 

After basing up the older painted warriors I think I had roughly 55 warriors to paint in various levels of armour. I did try to mass paint them as much as possible and while the flesh could all be done across the board I had to break up the batch into smaller more manageable groups to provide a variety of outfit colours. Where I grouped similar poses and equipment types together I brought variety in through colours and patterns on the clothes and shields. Because of this I have attempted to show as much as possible with the many pictures below. The figures are lovely and its great to get such variety in 20mm figures.

The Velites are also complete and had some pictures taken along with these after hitting on a bright winter's day. I will hopefully get them posted up soon also especially with Newline having a 25% off sale on at the time of writing. I have already started working on rebasing the Iberians and elephants, the Iberians needing some additional command figures and I'll also be painting up a few more bases worth.   

Late Galatians

The latest 20mm offering using one of the poses from Newline Designs Thracian heavy infantry set. I was aiming to recreate a unit based on Angus McBride's plate featuring a Galatian soldier in iron muscled cuirass and a face plate. Although highly speculative as all modern reconstructions are I loved the visuals and the idea of a unit clad out in such a manner. Ideally I could have used a head swap using either a Seleucid cataphract or companion head but such a thing seemed a bit impracticable. Instead I took the easier route of painting the partial face covering of the figures as a full one, it will look OK on the table. 

                                           

I might do a one off character figure with a head swap but this unit is not without some modification. Firstly the leader was given a sword from a Hat kit and a greenstuff sash and crest to denote rank. Also the standard bearer has had to have his arm twisted to carry a spare flag from a Newline command set. 

However a figure such as this might become reality under Linear A's big push on 1/72 Ancients although I don't technically need anymore figures it is such a commendable task I'll grab a box of each Successor set to support the en-devour! I took the plunge on the older Linear B Mithridates Infantry set and they have character and won't look out of place with Newline figures.  

I took the opportunity to practice a bit more free hand painting and based the design on a Seleucid coin. Being small it was fiddly but also meant the detail had to be basic which made it simpler in a way. I was pleased with the profile and accept the writing for what it is, I believe it's meant to say "Antiochus" "King".

                                 

It was also an experiment with painting silver armour I don't paint it that often but with lots of Imperial Romans it will be inevitable. The basing was simplified, we had some ready mixed filler in so gave it a go. It did the job and only used a couple colours to finish it, followed by static grass. It was a struggle between the figures so I will reserve tufts and stones for characters and light troops with plenty of space on the base.

Although based on a later period I will still use these for the Magnesia project, which, because of the rebasing has essentially been reset (along with the Punic Wars armies) so these Galatians are one of the few ready for battle! The opportunity to set up a battle seems distant anyway so its probably the best time to sort. It's all part of the fun and I'm getting into the swing of rebasing. Hopefully by summer we'll be moved and settled and the mission can begin in earnest.

Next on the bench is a side quest, a few Heroquest orks for a friend. After probably some heavy infantry needing basing material applied I think the ready mixed filler will be the way to go since they have deeper individual bases to blend in. Just need to get cracking!