Work In Progress Summer '25

It's been just over a month since I posted anything. I try to post at least once a month, however this last month has been difficult. Partly because things in the real world haven't gone well, and partly because it's been so blinking hot. These things have combined to sap my enthusiasm. Even so, I've not been completely idle.

15 mm Greek Hoplites (Essex)

Introduction

Decades ago (and I am not kidding) I bought a sample from a professional figure painter. It was a "adjusted" figure from Essex Miniatures MPA27 Later Hoplite Greek: Theban Hoplites Boitian helmet. The over arm pose had been changed to "at rest" (spear vertical) by bending the throwing arm. I never did buy more than the sample, but I kept it to use as inspiration.

More recently, I've decided to morph my Later Macedonian Art de la Guerre (ADLG) army into a Pyrrhic army. This requires some elephants, a few slingers, some later cavalry, and some hoplites.

The Later Macedonian army lacks units with "punch". It does best when the pike can pin a target and grind their way trough it, but, as the army is quite small, this can leave the flanks of the pike very vulnerable. The elephants will add some "punch" and the hoplites will add stable width (I hope).

Luckily, one of my mates found some Essex hoplites, and a few Freikorps command figures, in his loft. Money changed hands, and now they are all painted.

ADLG: Northern League Round 1 (Leeds, 09 March 2025)

Introduction

It was dark when I got up on Sunday morning! Too early by half. I picked up Gareth Jones south of Warrington before crossing the M62 to Leeds. The weather was kind, as was the traffic, so we arrived 10 or 20 minutes before the 09:00 start. I had time for a cup of tea and a look round the excellent Hicks Hall, home of the Leeds Wargaming club since late 2020.

15 mm Indian Elephants (Donnington 'Orginals')

In July last year I posted some pictures of my first Hellenistic elephant. I now have a pair:

Bronze Armour Recipes

For bronze shields I use Vallejo Brass (70.801) thinned with water.  Three or four thin coats produce the smooth, highly polished look I want.

15 mm Later Macedonian Pike (Essex) & Illyrian Cavalry (Forged in Battle)

I've written a few text heavy posts recently, so here's a picture hevay post to redress the balance. These units completed the army I took to the KITN at York in October.

ADLG: King In The North (York, 19 - 20 Oct 2024)

Introduction
After months of preparation, I set out for my third KITN competition on a decent October day. At one point I didn't think I'd make it this year, but I did thanks to some good friends. The trip across the Pennines went well and we found our B&B easily enough.

Unlike previous years, where we stayed in Haxby, we stayed very close to the centre of York on the Haxby road. The location was ideal for my wife and her friend. I had a 15 minute drive to the venue each day, but came to hate the number of traffic calming measures. So many on such a short road.

ADLG: Northern League Round 4 (Manchester, 08 September 2024)

Introduction
Once again I braved the northbound M6 on a rainy Sunday morning.  Fortified by the mandatory bacon buttie (sandwich), the journey there wasn't too bad.

15 mm Macedonian Pike (1 of 4) (Essex Miniatures)

I'm on the final lap of my Later Macedonian army for "The King In The North", Art de la Guerre (ADLG) competition in mid-October this year.  All told I need four units of pike and this is the first I've finished.

15 mm Indian Elephant (Donnington 'Originals')

I succumbed to the "wargames butterfly" syndrome once again and placed a modest order with Ancient & Modern for a selection of Hellenistic figures from their "Originals" range.

The plan was threefold:

• Various samples of cavalry suitable for generic medium cavalry.
• More Seleucid cataphracts (I already have some painted).
• An Indian elephant in case I ever wanted to create a Phyrric army.

As you can see it was a coherent and well thought out purchase.  Well maybe not: I should be concentrating on finishing my Later Macedonians and I have more than enough medium cavalry already.

The elephant was the main reason I placed the order.  I've built their elephant models before and they turned out well.  So despite my reservations about the amount of preparation involved, I placed my order.

Read on for more photos and my notes on the build and painting.

15 mm Macedonian Heavy Cavalry (Xyston)

This is something of a first for me (well second really).  Last Saturday I bought twelve painted and based cavalry from the bring and buy at the Phalanx show in St. Helens.

I've only ever done this once before (and also at Phalanx) but these figures were just what I needed for my Hellenistic project; were at a really good price of £2.00 each; and had a decent, if basic, painting style.

I have surprised myself by reworking them in less than a week!  I have never done so many figures so quickly.  Here's what most of them look like:

Forged in Battle: A Cautionary Tale

This weekend I prepared a pack of 15 mm Illyrian cavalry and much to my dismay I found:

15 mm Thorakitai (Forged in Battle)

Once again my Hellenistic collection grows with these armoured medium infantry.

15 mm Hellenistic Light Horse (Gladiator Miniatures)

Here're the latest additions to my Hellenistic collection.  The figure is clearly based on the Tarantine cavalryman on page 117 of "Armies of the Macedonian and Punic Wars".  As the author notes: "Tarantine may already have denoted a style of fighting rather than a nationality", so they provide some nice generic figures.

On the tabletop, I like to have a mix of different light horse types so they can be assigned to different commands and easily spotted.  These shielded figures should contrast nicely with the Forged in Battle Illyrian light horse (shieldless) I plan to add in the next month or so.

15 mm Light Infantry Bow (Essex Miniatures)

The latest addition to my Hellenistic army is a bit of a mystery because I can't find the code anywhere on the Essex web site!  They are undoubtedly from Essex and, with the larger heads, I suspect they are one of their later sculpts.

15 mm Later Thracians (Essex Miniatures)

With this post my 2024 Hellenistic project reaches an important milestone.  The units pictured are the last I must paint before the KITN competition in October.  Their completion means that anything I paint after this is a bonus.

Once again they are venerable Essex sculpts (MPA3 Thracian: Peltast with Rhomphaia & shield).  Well up to their usual standard with few, if any, defects and a more detailed figure review isn't necessary.  However, one rhomphaia was miscast but a call to Essex sorted that out very quickly.

28 mm Commanders (Essex Miniatures)

When I placed my last order with Essex I decided to buy a few extra figures to add some variety to the long slog of painting a 15 mm Hellenistic army.  I ended up with commanders for three of my Art de la Guerre (ADLG) collections: Hellenistic, Arab Empire, & Ilkhanid Mongol.

The figure is based on a magnetised 40 mm plywood base which is the same size as my 15 mm ADLG command bases. My plan is to use them as CinCs during competitions. Afterwards they will be retired and placed in my display cabinet.

15 mm Agrianian Javelinmen (Essex)

This is the third set of units for my 2024 Hellenistic project.  They follow the commanders and the camp off the painting desk.  It now feels like the army is taking shape.  Of course, anything I paint before the KITN competition in October is a bonus as I have borrowed an army from a mate.

These are venerable Essex sculpts (MPA20 Agrianian Javelinmen).  Well up to their usual standard with few, if any, defects and a more detailed figure review isn't necessary

15 mm Hellenistic Camp (Scratchbuilt)

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.