Heavy and Light Greek Cavalry

As promised last week I have some more cavalry for my 6mm Pyrrhic army. This time I have painted two units of Greek Cavalry and one unit of Greek Light Cavalry.

These are actually the same models painted slightly differently. For he regular cavalry I have gone for purple tunics and bronze helms. These guys carry short spears or javelins and will provide a firm flank to my army. The Light Cavalry underwent a slight conversion to give them soft caps rather than helmets. I filed the helmets flat, removing the crest, and painted them grey to look like Macedonian Kausia hats (similar to modern Afghan Pakol's).

These will be the last cavalry for the moment...I have some more elephants waiting in the wings and my next bonus round entry. These have been started and I'm working hard to finish them early because I'm going away for a few days next week. I'm well on track to hit my target early and the 45 points I'll get from these get me another step closer.

A Roman Farmstead in 6mm

My participation in this years Winter Painting Challenge has seen me almost complete a whole Pyrrhic Army (the final units will be posted next week) so the chance to work on some terrain for a change came as a pleasant diversion. As soon as I saw the list of bonus rounds I knew what I was going to do for the 'Home' round. I already had these models but hadn't got round to painting them before the Challenge commenced.

Here we have a modest farm house overlooking a large grain barn and stables. The landowner and his family look on as the foreman directs the farms slaves about their daily business. Men carry sacks of grain from the barn on their way to the stables. Women carry out other chores gathering items for food and heading out to tend the fields.

These models are all by Leven Miniatures and are cast in very good quality resin with virtually no blemishes or bubbles. They therefore needed very little preparation except for a quick clean prior to priming. Unlike some resin this material doesn't soak up the paint so they are pretty easy to work on. The casts are clean and full of crisp detail making painting very easy.

Wearing shades while I paint

After Christmas I just 'happened' to be passing Hobbycraft during the January sales. My local branch was doing a deal on craft lamps and I thought I would treat myself to a new one to compliment the lamp I already had. When I got it home I was amazed at the light it kicked out, nearly double the watts of my old lamp. In fact I was so please with the new lamp that I decided a total upgrade was needed and bought another! 

These lamps are completely adjustable and the heads swivel so can be angled to direct the light. So in the space of a few weeks I have gone from a perfectly reasonable single lamp of 40w to two lamps with a combined light output of 150w! I'm going to have to wear sunglasses when I paint!

Deal with it!

Tarantine Light Cavalry

My Pyrrhic army continues to grow with the Analogue Painting Challenge providing the impetus I need to keep on painting and knock this army out of the park in double quick time. I have just a handful of units left to complete and when all is done I will post some pictures of the completed army. Then all I need to do is take it on campaign against my Republican Roman army.

As the name suggests the Tarantine Light Cavalry originally referred to cavalry of the army of the Greek city of Tarantas (Tarentum) in Magna Graecia (Southern Italy), This was the only cavalry of the Graeco-Roman world to employ pure, advanced skirmishing tactics. These troops were generally unarmored and normally equipped with a large round shield and javelins.

Later in the Hellenistic period 'Tarantines' no longer bore a geographical significance and was used purely as a tactical term. Instead it had become a collective name used to describe almost any lightly armed cavalry units, similarly armed and employed in a skirmish role.

Once again I have referenced an illustration from an Osprey guide (of course!) and given these guys red tunics and large bronze shields with an assortment of nautical designs on them.

I have more cavalry on the way, some has already been started and should be finished for next week.