Spanish Shields

I've finally finished painting the shields for my Spanish infantry and managed to glue them onto the figures. The colour scheme is a rather striking (and rather dangerous looking!) red and black which I had done some research into for the basic design. I am aware that Spanish troops of this era would have had different shield designs but I wanted these to look more unified as they are supposed to have been drafted into the Roman army to fight for the armies of Rome! I've just purchased some basing sand and am waiting for some grass tufts to arrive before I can finally finish my first full unit!

The Romans are coming along slowly at the minute. I've spent the last few days re-arranging them into different sized units (either 24 or 16) and seeing which command figures go best with which unit. I go back to University next weekend so I shall be spraying a whole load of figures and taking them up with me so the blog (and the painting) can continue!

On the painting table.

These are the Spanish troops I've been working on for the last week and I'm rather pleased with them! The shields are being painted at the minute and after that they need properly basing, but I will need to get some sort of sand/grit before I do that.

I've finally found time to get back to painting my Romans since my 3 months working away from home. I've undercoated the rest of the unit, of which i'd previously only painted 8 of the figures as a test run. This particular unit is led by a tribunes militium (Tribune of the Soldiers) by the name of Gaius Sempronius (the white figure in the middle of the front rank). Each year, 24 young men in their late twenties with senatorial ambitions were elected to serve as Tribunes of the Soldiers. Gaius is a little reckless, wanting to get his time serving with the army over with so he can continue on with his career path (and get back to the abundance of wine and women in Rome!)

Keep checking back for regular updates.

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.