Some figures I need help identifying

These extra figures were included in an ebay purchase I made recently and I'm trying to work out what they might be.  They are Romans or Italian allies - and are of course in 15mm - but apart from that I don't have much clue.  Any help would be appreciated!

First up we have the line troops - triarii, principes, hastati:

Then we have the command group:

And finally, a shot of them all together:

Please excuse the poor photography - I'm doing this at work!

New local gamer

I'm very pleased to report that we've managed to recruit a new member for the game group.  I'd planned to start him slow - Neil Thomas's Ancient and Medieval Wargaming had come to mind - but I may have to revise that as he has clearly begun working on his dice rolling technique already... 

Painting: Romans and Carthaginians

Here's a shot of the Old Glory Marians I picked up off ebay and mentioned in my last post.  There are quite a lot of Romans, and I must confess to being a little tired of leveraging metal men off metal bases!

Things have been a bit Romano-centric here of late, so I thought I would also post shots of a newly-done unit of Punic citizen infantry to prove irrefutably, finally, and once and for all that - insofar as figures are concerned - I don't have a one-track mind... 

These fellows are from Magister Militum's Chariot range, and have been given a very basic paint job to match 8 other bases of the same done a few years ago. 

Well, I'm off now to nurse an almighty toothache, courtesy of a few suppressed wisdom teeth!

More Romans - this time of the Marian variety

Well, I have begun another big project: rebasing and touching up 380-odd painted Marian Romans I picked up from ebay a few weeks ago.  I've just now finished removing them from their bases and scrubbing off the flock which had attached itself to some places that it shouldn't have. 

I'm very pleased with how they're looking so far.  The tedious part of the painting has already been done for me, so I've just got the good stuff to do: standardising shields and tunics, touching up the flesh and adding the odd highlight. 

The idea of being able to refight Pharsalus some time in the not-too-distant future is becoming quietly appealing...

Roman Cavalry done, and thanks to you all!

It is amazing how much of a motivating factor blogging has become in my painting and gaming over the past year or so!  Post a few snaps of half-finished figures, receive some kind comments from worthy readers and a painting project that was bogged down suddenly no longer seems such a chore :)

I really must say thank you very much to all who read these ramblings, and offer especial thanks to those who leave a comment now and then.  It's greatly appreciated, and goes a long way towards making up for the lack of local wargamers!

So, some shots of the finished Strategia e Tattica figures, prior to their Future/Klear coats...

Scipio sends his regards to you all...

Slow progress with the Roman cavalry

I've made unexpectedly slow progress with the Roman cavalry this last week.  I'd expected to knock them off in a couple of days, but I've been using a different system from usual and haven't really clicked with it.  For various reasons it has been taking a lot longer than I thought - with some false steps along the way to compound the problem. 

Still, we're getting there, so I thought I'd post progress shots in an attempt to motivate myself to finish them off...

Again, the figures are Strategia e Tattica.  I don't like their cavalry as much as I do their infantry so far, although I'll reserve final judgement on that score until the figures are done.

They still need highlights for the cloaks, tunics and tack, a wash for the horses, a flesh highlight, with a touch up here and there to follow for a few little things.  Scipio (in the middle) needs some special treatment, so he is not as close to completion as the others.

Once the painting itself is done, there will be the usual two coats of Future/Klear, and the matt varnish. 

I will be heaving a sigh of relief when these chaps are finally done!

Republican Romans done

Here are some shots of the freshly painted Republican Romans from Strategia e Tattica, with a few left over velites from Chariot chucked in for good measure.  Completed are the velites, principes and triarii of the Latin allies.  The hastati were finished some time ago, hence the flock...

These fellows just need a spray of matt varnish and a bit of flock and they'll be ready to go.  Next thing to finish is the cavalry, and then it might be time to pick a battle....