Spanish Acquisition

Yesterday, I went to the Partizan war-games show at Kelham Hall in Newark and picked up these little beauties:

Some more Spanish cavalry! The horses are beautifully painted but riders are lacking some detail so I may give them a little touch up here and there. I'm starting to think my first few battles will include my Romans and the Spanish, but it could be a good start to the campaign I've been working on.

I've also started painting my Spanish Skirmishers (Scutari) and i've even done some research into historically accurate shields (although the one below needs a little more detail in the white areas of the shields). They also need spraying with matt varnish to make them look more like the cavalry i've purchased.

What's next on the painting table

Well, after I'd glued the shields on the first pack of Gallic Legionaries, I looked at the two other packs and the command and sighed. I wanted to have a unit of SOMETHING finished very soon or i'd go mad! So I decided to paint one of my units of Spanish skirmishers (12 in each unit) so atleast I'd have one unit completely finished. They are pictured above along with the Romans (although the 3 command figures are missing from the photo). I do have a problem though. The shields they're supplied with look very similar to the shields on my Romans. Do you think I should paint them red to make them look different? Perhaps blue for a more Auxiliary feel? I intend to use them as both allies and enemies of Rome though.

My latest purchase

I've just completed my Roman army by purchasing a unit of Spanish skirmishers (24) and a unit of Spanish cavalry (16). I ordered these from Kingmaker Miniatures (1st Corps) and i'm very excited for them all to arrive! I'm hoping to really get cracking on painting up the bulk of my army in the next couple of weeks so hopefully i'll have a legion or two finished by NEXT weekend.

As it stands my Roman army includes:

2x 24 Gallic Legionaries

1x 24 Spanish skirmishers

1x 16 Germanic wolf-skin skirmishers

1x 16 Spanish cavalry

1x General + 8 Praetorian Guard (as his body guard)

1x Aquilifer

A little help?

I'm trying to form up my miniatures into cohorts but I'm having a little trouble deciding how many I should have per cohort. I've looked at various wargaming sources and they seem to give two different numbers...16 and 24. What do you all do? Could you help me out and let me know which number is best? I play using WAB rules if that has any influence.

The first fruits of my labour

I've just finished painting my first blister pack of Gallic Legionaires from Wargames Foundry. They are currently without their newly painted shields as they are still drying! I also need to rush out at some stage and buy some glue to attach the shields and properly mount the figures on their bases!

It took me 5 hours to finish these 8 miniatures so I really hope i'll get much quicker otherwise it'll take an age to finish a wargameable army!

Here are some pictures of the men.

Update

I've finished purchasing all the figures I need for my Roman skirmish army! I have two cohorts of Legionaries, one cohort of veteran skirmishers, and an allsortment of command figures including a general! They are all metal figures and have cost me around £80 for all of them. I can't wait to get home next week and begin painting them! I'll take a photo of it all before I start and give you gradual updates on how it goes.

I can't wait to see what they look like when finished! Then I can make a start on my Celtic army. I've already started on planning what I'm going to buy and where from...