Scythed Chariot by 1st Corps

This is a fairly straight-forward model. I'm not sure if I have the horses spaced out correctly as the scalloped out parts of the yoke don't exactly line up where it meets the horses. I had to do this because of how the two poles from the chariot body only allows so much space for the horses. I bent the poles slightly to allow the two inside horses to fit between them.

I didn't realize until after I ordered that it came with two types of drivers - randomly selected by 1st Corps. This one appears Persian - with a conical helmet. The other type of driver is more "Seleucid" with the same kind of helmet and face mask like their Hetairoi and Agema cavalry.

The driver's right hand was drilled out to accept a whip. The kit comes with a metal one, but I plan to add one from melted plastic sprue - for it's flexibility.

This will be the lone chariot in the Seleucid army. It's mainly for looks and the fact that no Seleucid army would be complete without at least one. I can forgo camels though. In WAB - and historically - they are one hit wonders; if they hit at all.
ADDENDUM - base flocked & whip added.

Next up are Old Glory Gaesatae; followed by Old Glory Gallic Noble cav and Scythian mounted archers. Once these are done, the Seleucid army will be complete.

Magnesia Playtest

Using some stand-ins until we get our actual figures in and painted, my buddy Adrian and I ran a playtest this morning. Bruce D. also was there and he played the Seleucids. It was a really good to play this game as we were all a little rusty with WAB; having not played it for quite some time. Only Adrian has the newer 2nd Edition rulebook, but we managed to incorporate the changes as we stumbled upon them.

Bruce played the Seleucids very well and Adrian played his Romans somewhat (too) conservatively. This led to us calling it at the top of Turn 6, as most of the heavy infantry hadn't even moved into contact yet.

The skirmishers on both sides did very well. Although the Dahae (or their Samurai stand-ins) were a bit too intimidating with their BS4. So much so that the Roman left hardly budged. The screen from the light horse even prevented the newly painted Companion wedge from entering the fray.

On the Roman right, their allied forces under Eumenes did very well. They had a strong contingent of Cretan archers who pretty much scared the Tarentines and Scythed Chariot (actually a Trojan War model standing in) from getting to close. They also destroyed a small Thracian Peltast unit. But the Peltasts did well in holding them off for awhile.

The Velites on the Roman right didn't fare too well against a small unit of Guard Hypaspists - well the Hypaspists do have a BS4 and had heavy armor and shields. Good for them!

In the center, as already noted - the heavy infantry didn't come into contact. The only blood the phalanxes drew was actual blood from Bruce's hand when he was moving his skirmishers. A pike actually stuck into his hand with the poor phalangite dangling below it. Too bad I didn't get a picture of it.

The elephants did manage to cause some fear in the Romans though.

Bruce's plan to move them out of stampede range of his own troops worked out when one of them lost its round of combat. They are practically indestructible with their metal barding, but didn't get enough lucky dice to kill enough Romans to win.

Again, the game was a great refresher of the basic and special rules. We will definitely be having another playtest or maybe two if we have time. When I got home the Old Glory figures I've been waiting on have also arrived!

As the Cable Guy (Jim Carey's version) would say, "Red knight's going down, down, down, down."

Seleucid Companion Wedge

Well my 1st Corps figures finally made it in, after over a month waiting. I ordered it via Scale Creep Minis - but the initial order Mark received from 1st Corps didn't include Scythed Chariots. Along with the chariot, I needed four more cavalry figures to complete the wedge. I managed to finish them up today.

They are a mixture of 1st Corps Hetairoi and Agema sets. The main difference is the horses have different types of barding, and also the Agema guys have full leg armor. I wanted the unit to have a little variety. Their helmets are identical though.

I regret that I couldn't complete the chariot model for tomorrow's playtest for our Magnesia game scheduled for Enfilade! in May.

I've also been waiting on (for over a month) another order to complete the Seleucid army. I ordered some Old Glory stuff from Warweb. The delay was that they didn't have all the items in stock; they should be here any day. For tomorrow's game Samurai will be substituted for Dahae, Turcopoles for Gallic Noble cavalry, and Hoplites for a Gallic Warband.

Terrain

Since I'm still waiting on some orders to complete the Seleucid army, figured I'd paint up some terrain that's been sitting on a shelf for a couple of years. I bought this for $20 at a local convention a couple of years ago. It was a on sale due to the bottom being a bit warped. As it made of foam this was easily leveled. It is from Monday Knight Productions.

The entire piece sprayed with a black undercoat.

It was then dry-brushed with craft store paint. Red mixed with a little brown, yellow and white was used for the smaller bricks.

Grays were than applied to the streets and walls. Finally these where lightened with white. The piece is probably good for 20mm or so, but here it is with a couple of Foundry figures.

Here is an Old Glory 25mm figure running up a street.

This is a VFM figure; which is a larger 28mm.

I plan to use it in a Verdun scenario using The Great War rules.

Chiron and Medusa

Still waiting on the Old Glory and 1st Corps orders; decided to paint up these mythological characters

Got these awhile ago off of ebay from Miniature Giant for about $1.00 each.

They join an earlier completed Pan (also from Miniature Giant), and a Reaper Hercules.

I actually ordered two Medusas; and used one - we'll just her head - for a Mycenaean standard.

Incidentally, it seems I can't upload images like I used to. I now have to go to HTML mode to get them in. Hope it corrects itself later, I'm not used to seeing all this computer script.

Relic's Antiochus - Painted

Being a king, the color selection was mainly purple - actually various shades using different mixtures of red and blue. The sculpting is really impressive. For instance the horse barding has multiple faces on it; all excellently done. On the horse's head plate there is a human face (Antiochus' ?) and also a leopard's below it.

Mike from Relic had cautioned me that there would be a gap between the horse and rider. I didn't really notice it on the trial fit before they were painted. However, after painting there was a substantial gab - mainly on the right side. I'll fill it up with putty - right now the two pieces aren't glued together yet.

Here he is with the gap filled with a little bit of putty & painted over.

Again, a really nice sculpture; and if you like your 28mm figures on the larger side, this one will not disappoint you.

Now if those Old Glory Scythians and Gauls, as well as the 1st Corps Scythed Chariot and rest of the Hetairoi figures can get here...

Relic's Antiochus

Got this big guy yesterday - man he is huge compared to the other folks in his army; but...this will undoubtedly ID him as The Army General. Very well sculpted and what impressed me on first glance is the head armor and barding on the horse. If you're gonna have a Seleucid army, you gotta have this guy. I hope to start on this guy this weekend - updates will be posted.

The figure was well-packaged in two separate ziplock bags - one for the horse and one for multi-part Antiohcus. Mike's service at Relic is top-notch and highly recommended. I wish him and Relic the best.