15 mm Hellenistic Camp (Scratchbuilt)

Introduction

As I continue with my Hellenistic project my mind turned to what I would use for a camp. Browsing the web for inspiration was a thankless task until I rediscovered the excellent Hellenistic camp from Baueda (complete with a quote from Polybius).

The above is 120 x 80 mm and therefore far too big for an Art de la Guerre (ADLG) camp which is 80 x 40 mm. Nonetheless, I'm sure the set could be adapted. However, I failed in my attempts to find a UK retailer and so, inspired by Claudio's excellent modelling, I decided to try and make my own.

15 mm Hellenistic Generals (Donnington 'Originals')

This year I will be taking a Hellenistic army to the King in the North competition in October. As I've mentioned, I'll be using borrowed troops for the bulk of the army but to complete the list I will need to paint half a dozen units or so of Thracians.

15 mm Camel Riders (Red Copper)

We've all done it!. Bought something on impulse that is. In my case I bought the Arab Conquest Army Deal from Red Copper for a mere 30€. The deal includes both 15 & 28 mm versions.

I want to make it clear that I do not own a 3D printer nor do I intend to go down that route due to lack of space in my new home. This makes the purchase seem somewhat less than sensible, but I do think 3D printing is the way forward. Somehow, I managed to convince myself this would be a sensible medium term investment.

15 mm - Iranian Cavalry (Forged In Battle)

When I began building an "Arab Conquest" era army, in February last year, I settled on a North African Arab army (132 in Art de la Guerre) not least because it offers steppe terrain and camel troops.

Needless to say I got sidetracked into painting units for other Arab Empire lists, but I had began to dread preparing the Forged in Battle horses (see below). So I kept putting off these final cavalry. However, they are done now.

DBA 3.0 Army Design Tool (*)

I haven't played De Bellis Antiquitatis (DBA) for decades, but I do own a copy of the latest version.  Who knows I may use it one day.

28 mm Arab Commander (Irregular Miniatures)

This is something of a first: a 28 mm figure!

As regular readers will have seen, I usually paint 15 mm figures but for some strange reason I was overcome by an urge to paint something larger. So, when I was shopping for a few random 15 mm command figures, I strayed into the 28 mm portion of the web shop and bought a super sized commander for my Art de la Guerre (ADLG) Arab army.

15 mm Arab Black Guard (Essex)

This is another mini-project using figures from my "Phalanx hobby haul". It only involves 16 figures but this post is longer than usual. There are some simple conversions to discuss, and some research into the Guard and early Umayyad flags to summarise.

15 mm Arab Camel Archers (Essex)

This is one of my "hobby haul" from Phalanx last month. They are the first camels for my Arab Empire armies. Imagine an Arab army without any camels!

I wanted Essex figures as I usually find them a pleasant change of "painting pace" compared to Forged in Battle. Plus I have no intention of fielding large numbers of camel riders so buying a large pack from Forged in Battle wasn't really an option.

In the end I was glad only bought one pack. Usually, I find Essex figures quicker and easier to paint, but not this time.

15 mm Daylami Medium Infantry (Forged in Battle)

After nearly eighteen months painting an Arab Conquest army with a deliberately limited & muted colour palette it was time to go wild. And what better subject to choose than that wargaming cliché the Daylami: fierce mountain warriors renowned for their brightly painted shield designs.

15 mm Arab Heavy Cavalry (Forged in Battle)

Why is it the last units always seem to take ages? These took a while as I painted them as one group; which I don't normally do. Plus the horses required extra work (see below).

Anyway, I now have all the core units for a wide range of "Dark Age/Feudal" Arab armies so I'm pleased they are finished. It feels like I've finished a project and that is always good.

15 mm Arab Medium Cavalry (Forged in Battle)

After a run of non-hobby posts, normal service is resumed. These figures came from two packs of light/medium cavalry. I bought two packs so I could have javelin armed light cavalry (which I forgot to photograph) and a mix of javelin and lance armed medium cavalry.

15 mm Arab Heavy Spear (Forged in Battle)

This post marks two important milestones.

The first is: these units are the final infantry units of my Arab Conquest ADLG (Art de la Guerre) army. I now have all the infantry I need including many variants and most options. I have bought some Daylami but they will have to wait until I've done the cavalry.

15 mm Arab Medium Spear (Forged in Battle & Essex)

Here's the latest addition to my Arab Conquest army for Art de la Guerre (ADLG). It is the penultimate group of infantry in my army.

15 mm Arab Baggage (Various)

In between painting masses of Arab infantry of various types, I've been distracted by such things as baggage tents and command elements. However, the biggest distraction so far has been some camels I bought at Phalanx in June.

15 mm Arab Commanders (Forged in Battle & Essex)

My Arab Conquest army continues to grow; even if slowly. This time It's a complete set of commanders for Art de la Guerre (ADLG) on the currently trendy 40 mm round bases.

As always, click on the images for larger versions.

10 mm Arab Tents (Pendraken)

No, this post doesn't mean I'm switching scales.

Last weekend I visited my first trade show in over three years (Phalanx at St Helens) and I was able to go shopping in person! When I finish my Arab army they will need a baggage camp, so when I saw the tents below for £4.00 for the pair I couldn't resist:

15 mm Arab Archers LI (Forged in Battle)

After last month's flurry of posts about the 2022 ADLG Survey, not to mention all the data analysis & charts, I found time to finish off a few batches of figures. The first to be photographed is some light infantry archers for my Arab Conquest army.

Most of the Arab Conquest lists in Art de la Guerre (ADLG) only allow 4 units (think bases) of light infantry archers, which makes them an ideal project within a project. Of course, as a wargamer, I find things are never quite as straightforward as they first appear.

15 mm Confused General (Resin 3D Print)

Update: 12 September 2025

Three years on and AI is running amok! I reworked the images in the original animated gif to "unblur" them with the help of an AI powered image editing site. I also cropped the images closer to the subject. I think it's an improvement. Progress marches on.

Original post

Sometime ago I stumbled across a free STL file for the "Confused General" from the cover of the De Bellis Antiquitatis (DBA) rules.

Thanks to fellow Lance & Longbow Society member Will McNally I now have half a dozen 15 mm resin prints. I'm grateful to Will for finding time to print these amongst his busy printing schedule.

15 mm Repairs!

I'm quite some way off finishing my Arab Conquest army but even so there's pleasure to be had reading the various Arab Art de la Guerre (ADLG) lists and day dreaming about what the army will be like when it's finished.

During one such session I noticed the option to use medium spearmen with missile support (see the end section for what that means in ADLG) and after reading the rules I realised this would be a good thing.

Although not strictly necessary, I settled on using LI bases at the rear of the spear units to signify the missile support. On checking my pile of unpainted figures I realised I did not have enough figures for these markers and would have to buy more from Forged in Battle.

The extra pack duly arrived but as I sorted through them I spotted that one casting was prone to a fatal flaw.

15 mm Arab Javelin Men LMI (Forged in Battle)

Progress on my new Dark Age army continues. These Loose Medium Infantry (LMI in Art de la Guerre speak) javelin armed infantry complement the light infantry I finished earlier this month.