Footsore Late Roman Manuballista

This is my first experience with Footsore Miniatuers, and I must say it was a pleasant one. Ordered the Manuballista along with a copy of Age of Crusades SAGA supplement, and both arrived within a week here in Washington State. The Manuballista and crew are very nice, and come with an integral base with magnets and small washers to allow removal of the crew as casualties. Very nice touch!

The textured base is really nice, and was only dry-brushed. No other flocking used. The spare bolts in the bucket also come with the kit.

Added thread to the bow as it might look a bit barren without it being so large.

Per the Saga rules, the Manuballista is a single figure unit, but doesn't generate a Saga dice. It can only move Very Short; 2 X Long range for shooting with Attack dice equal to half the number of figures in the targeted unit. Might not be a great choice, but plan to use it just to see how good or bad it performs.

The washers and magnets that come with the kit for easy crew removal are great additiona.

A size comparison of the crew next to a Gripping Beast plastic figure - close enough.

And finally, a gratiutious shot of the piece next to an older Greek bolt thrower (Essex, I think?). Thanks again for stopping by and checking out the blog.

Late Romans vs. Picts SAGA Gameday

My Late Romans faced my buddy's Picts today. We played a scenario where I captured 2 of the 3 victory tokens early in the game. However, I only realized later that the units with the tokens had their movement reduced to Short. Also, the two cavalry units which held them also suffered Fatigue after each movement. The Picts' Attacotti Warrior unit destroyed all 3 of my Hearthguard units - with combined special abilities they had 20 Attack dice and were allowed to re-roll all misses! To be fair, they only get this many dice when they attack, but my attacks were not sufficient to stop them first. I found the Roman's Battle Board pretty good - was able to use the Scuta Reaction ability to re-roll the number of defense dice up to the current Impetus value +1. The Signa Activation is also good with being able to remove up to 2 Fatigues for up to 2 units. I failed to use Ardour in Melee which is also good - reduce Impetus by 1 and gain Attack and Defense dice equal to Impetus +1. I like the Late Roman's abilities and found the use of Impetus pretty straight foward. Plan to play them again in the future.  Here are some pics with Picts in some.

Roman deployment - they got to go first.

Picts initial deployment. They have abilities to move through woods without penalty.

Late Roman Warrior units - one mounted with composite bows (they were one of the units that captured a victory token). 

Foot and mounted Hearthguard units. Next time, I may increase them to either 6 or 8-figure units.

The Cataphract Hearthguard unit - already capturing a victory token and getting a Fatigue for movement. The Warlord behind them, and a Warrior unit with bows to their flank. The bowmen did well in decimating one of the Picts' Hearthguard units.

The Roman mounted Warriors with a victory token early on - prior to them being killed by the Attacotti Warriors.

Attacotti Warriors attacking the Cataphracts - who have been slowed to their already slow Medium movement to Short. They were also destroyed in subsequent attacks by the Attacotti - who also ended up killing the Roman Warlord.

Even though the Romans lost, it was still an enjoyable game and a lot was learned about the Picts' special abilities. Several of my buddies have Pict warbands, so will likely be facing them again in the future. Thanks for stopping by and hope you enjoyed the post.

Gripping Beast Late Roman Army (Warband)

Finished up all of the shields with LBMS transfers - which I managed to only screw up one of them after forgetting to peel of the plastic layer before wetting the paper backing. Otherwise the transfers are great - they even have the areas for the shield bosses cut out. Anyway, here are a few pictures of the completed project. All of the figures are plastics from a box each of Gripping Beast Late Roman Infantry, Light Cavalry, Heavy Cavalry, and Cataphracts.

All of the shields - except for the ones with the foot unit on the far left - are LBMS transfers.

More than enough infantry for the SAGA games I play in - usually 6 point warbands. However, for something like Hail Caesar (or WAB), more infantry would likely be needed - another box or two of Gripping Beast plastics. The unit in the front can be used as Hearthguard as they wear mail hauberks.

Again, for SAGA, way more cavalry then needed for most games. As the Heavy Cavalry and Cataphracts are classed as Hearthguard, every four figures costs 1 point. I do plan to use the Light Cavalry as Warriors with composite bows for sure though. I like having a mobile missile unit in games.

Thanks again for stopping by and checking out the blog. Best wishes to you all.