Last of the Gauls

And so the last of the Gauls are done. I don't know if people have ever experienced an antipathy build up over a period of time towards a particular sculpt in an army you are painting, but, in this army, it did. There were two particular sculpts - and four others not far behind - that I grew to absolutely hate. It made painting this army a pretty bad experience, and is a large part of why these last few units have taken so long to do. By the end I just didn't care very much (and it shows) - it was simply a matter of gritting teeth, slapping paint on and getting them finished.

But they are done, and that's that.

You may notice the singly-based figures at the rear. I was planning to throw the dominant sculpt you see there out, but decided in the end that I would condemn it to eternal markerhood. But that might change if I could ever bring myself to paint another 50 Gauls to replace them all. I would get a lot of pleasure out of stamping on them....

But that's 300 infantry and 50 cavalry in total now, so enough for my Lost Battles needs.

A few more figures finished

And some more painted up from the leftovers box. This time a mix of Tin Soldier and Xyston 15mm Gauls (with one Old Glory figure in there as well, I believe). These are from a long-stalled project. Still five more units to paint, and it's hard work, because, a) I don't like painting Gauls b) my painting style has changed a bit since I did the first eighteen or so units of these and this latest batch is an unhappy compromise between the old and the new and c) I'm becoming less and less of a fan of the Tin Soldier figures.

Oh well, only a few more units to go. I wonder if I can get through them!

I think the thing might be to do a Caesar in Gaul game and see if that can't motivate me for the last stretch.

Shots of Sentinum

I was looking through the camera today and found some shots from a solo game of Sentinum I played in January.  It's a slow news day, so why not post some?

Game was, naturally, Lost Battles.

15mm Minifigs here, with command stands from Magister Militum.

Mix of Lancashire, Magister Militum, Old Glory, Tin Soldier and Xyston for the Samnite and Gallic foot

Miniatures Wars (from Strategia Nova) Romans, Miniatures Wars and Old Glory Samnites.

Old Glory Chariots, Xyston Gallic horse, Magister Militum Romans. 

I think we can see who won this!

Some notes on the whiteboard...

Starting to look like an army...

Managed to finish off another 36 Gauls this week, and, annoyingly, lose a shield somewhere while basing them up!

They're starting to look more like an army now, which is good.  Can almost do Bibracte and Sambre with Lost Battles now, but the plans are growing: Sentinum is a must, so the chariots and Samnites are underway...

Not all stands are flocked yet, but you get the idea!  Another 90 or so troops to go...

The most enjoyable part of painting...

Tonight I've had the pleasure of doing the most rewarding step of the painting process, so here they are, the time-consuming little beauties!  Only the flocking left to do - oh, and another hundred and twenty or so to paint, of course...

The front:

The back:

And a little gloating:

More Gauls...

Another lot of Gauls done, and we're now just over a third of the way through the infantry.  These are a mix of Tin Soldier and Xyston, with a pack of Corvus Belli in there too.

The rainy season is coming up, so painting can get a bit icky from here on until autumn.  I want to get as much done as I can while spray primer and spray varnish are still reliable, so the nose is to the grindstone!

Ideally the next lot will be a portion of the cavalry, but I may just keep going with infantry while the force is with me.  We'll see how it goes...

More Gauls

The test lot of Gauls is almost done.  Here are a few shots post Klear coat but pre matt varnish (hence the shinyness).  Photos are a bit ropey, but the figures look quite lively in the lead, as it were.  I think the Tin Soldier / Xyston mix is going to turn out OK, but I'm going to have to clip off the stands on some of the taller TS figures to help them blend in a little better.

Painting Gauls: the colour / pattern guinea pigs.

Have been testing paint and pattern combinations for the 330 or so Gauls I have to paint.  It's very slow going, but some progress has been made.  I've now got about four sets of base and highlight colours that go together reasonably nicely, and another couple that I'll use base and wash with.  Not very happy with the patterns so far, but hopefully I'll get better as we go along!

The idea is to have around half of the figures in drab, plain patterned articles,with every second figure having something mildly fancy (stripes of some description; rich colours; armour, etc), and every sixth or seventh figure in something a bit spiffy (in checked patterns, having a nicely striped cloak, good shield, etc).

It's very slow going, but once I get the groundwork done things should progress faster (he says with fingers crossed...).

To finish on a positive note, I pulled out the few bases of Gauls I painted six years ago and while they are too small to join this crew it's noticeable that my painting skills have improved in the interval, so that's some good news.