More Medieval and Roman siege artillery

Last week I ventured into my loft for the first time in about eighteen months.

I have recently acquired a number of Rose and Hinton Hunt ACW units and I needed to see what I already had, and put them into the best combinations as units.

I also knew I had a small number of additional painted Rose Napoleonic units which would just need rebasing to my new Rose standard.

Then I had my RJW project, where I needed to find again the ones in the loft I already had painted. Figures are mostly Jacklex with some Stonewall ones thrown in. The bad news was having fairly recently finally tracked down the Stonewall figures on their website (not easy, I promise you) and having taken an inordinate time to paint the 60 or so Japanese infantry I had in the queue ... I found I hd another 60 or so of the blighters undercoated in the loft. So more work on them, then...Still it puts forward the evil day when I have to try to put together the handrails on the two new Japanese field guns I bought a while ago from Mark at Jacklex.

But a collateral benefit was this group of medieval and Roman artillery pieces. I think that is now the ninth Lamming medieval ballista I've found I had, together with some type of mini trebuchet and two Roman scorpios. I've no idea who made these last three items - the scorpios are definitely right bu the "trebuchet" has been assembled from a box of bits including some other frames and a catapult arm. These will all have been odd bits which were included with something else I bought and which I had wanted at the time.

Glad to have (re) discovered them now - I had no idea they were there.

Next post will be the Rose Napoleonics - more of the same as in previous posts, but only one more Old Guard battalion which means the ration of line to Guard has improved a bit.

Then I will do some posts on the Rose and other ACW units once I have done the photographs.

And eventually something about some Hinchliffe System 12 figures and accessories which I have recently acquired -- though that might be on Vintage Wargaming.

So all in all I'm hoping to increase tyhe productivity of my logs a bit in the near future, Good intentions, eh?

Lamming additions

An update on recent new Lamming Roman and Britons acquisitions.

As mentioned in a previous post I had been looking for some British chariots. Once I had found two (from a slightly unexpected eBay source) I had a hankering for Boudicca's chariot. A while later I picked up another four, including Boudicca (that's her on the left). I think I need to add reins to finish these off. I think six is enough now.

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I'd also had a successful appeal a while ago for some Eastern archers and thought I had enough but when these turned up I couldn't avoid picking them up. Already painted, they only needed rebasing

They came with these Garrison Roman Archers, which are very compatible and add variety with a different pose - a very welcome addition.

I also picked up from the same seller this small group of Roman Auxiliaries, again very welcome.

Finally these Ancient Britons had been painted for a long time, they just needed the addition of wire spears. I am not sure how historical the horned helmets are (I know they are now thought not appropriate for Vikings, but I don't know about earlier Ancient Britons).

 So I don't have any remaining gaps in these forces, with loads of Roman and Celtic cavalry. Of course something interesting might still crop up...

Lamming Roman Empire RE4 Eastern Archer

By the miracle of the internet and the generosity of Dave in the States these RE4 Lamming Roman archers arrived shortly after my last post. Not the best time to be buying figures from the US but I was ready to make a special case for these. This means my Lamming Romans are finished - but if anyone has a couple of Lamming British Chariots going spare I am still on the lookout for those (hint hint)

Lamming 1st/2nd Century Romans

I don't do Ancients but I have always had a soft spot for the Lamming Romans, which I used to buy one or two of a year from Bill Lamming at the Durham shows organised by Derek Sharman in the Student Union ballroom.

I've acquired these over the last twelve months or so in batches on ebay - a couple of units of legionaries painted, which I have just rebased, glued weapons and shields back on, and plastidipped them. The rest have been painted in the last six months or so and my recent run of clearing things that have been waiting on the painting table for a while.

Cavalry - there are two types here, cavalryman and Praetorians, but I am not sure which is which. Also decurions and a mounted general figure. I have too many cavalry for the size of the army but I couldn't just let them go...

Infantry: legionaries, auxiliaries, standard bearers, cornicers, centurions, and a tribune.

The two units of legionaries which were bought painted.

I could do with four of five pilae and shields and another infantry standard - if anyone has any spare I'd be glad to take them off your hands. I guess I could do with some RE/4 Eastern archers and one or two British Chariots, if anyone has them.

Lamming Ancients

Bresica Miniatures 20mm

I've never seen these figures and have no photographs of them available.

Vintage 20mil has a brief description under "Others", reproduced below.


Bresica

Californian company that started up in the early-seventies. 20mm range included Punic Wars with separate weapons (Romans, Greeks, Carthaginians and Gauls were produced). These were sold in boxes of 12 infantry and six cavalry. “Nice little figures” says our American informant. The one example we have been able to get our hands on, a Roman signifer (code CRL-3), bears out this assessment. Slender in style and slightly smaller than the equivalent figure by Garrison 20mm he is mounted on a thick rectangular base that is noticeably longer than it is wide. Bresica also issued a 54mm range designed by Ray Lamb.

Scruby 20mm Ancients: post 1

Still available in the States from Historifigs, these figures are small, "US 20mm" figures, similar in size to, for example, Thomas 20mm, or among more recent manufacturers RSM or Newline 20mm figures. Scruby's 25mm figures are more compatible with traditional UK 20mms.

In this article from The War Game Digest, Fall 1971 David Rusk considers some of the main Ancient nations with reference to the Scruby range.

I don't know if Mr Rusk ever wrote part II of this article (see final page), to cover Romans, Carthaginians and others; if so I don't have a copy of it.

This article has been spread across two posts.

Scruby 20mm Ancients: post 2