Lost Battles - Postscript

I really enjoyed our recent foray into the world of Lost Battles. Previously my 15 mm ancient figures had sat unloved and forlorn, in their boxes for a good 5 or 6 years. Not that I don't have a soft spot for said figures but this was simply a consequence of having too many other projects on the go. With the advent of the club campaign, not only did the figures get a protracted outing but I was also inspired to get a few more to fill in the odd gap in the collection.
First up were a couple of troop types that have been on my 'to do' list for at least a decade; namely Romans and Carthaginian Sacred Band. An additional 4 bases of Romans will allow me to field slightly later Roman armies without wheeling out the slightly anachronistic Triarii and 'Penal' legions every time. Similarly, an extra 5 bases of Sacred Band will allow me to field an early Carthaginian army to play the wars against Syracuse.
For these figures I wanted to match the existing figures in my collection, which meant Donnington Miniatures. I was pleased to find that these are still available, although they come with the ominous warning that their older figures may need more preparation due to older moulds. I do remember that some Donnington figures, in my original collection, did suffer from a good deal of flash but in the end I need not have worried as the figures I received were perfect.

Marian Romans (Donnington)

 As this was a bit of a side project, I went with speed painting and finished them in gloss varnish to match my original collection. Bearing in mind that they were never intended to be viewed close up, I think they look fine on the tabletop.

Carthaginian Sacred Band (Donnington)
The base with the lighter bronze colour are the original 30 year old figures

I really like these figures as they are good solid wargames pieces with no extraneous sticky out bits to get bent. In fact I chose the Marian legionary wielding sword, rather than throwing pilum, for this very reason. They are also really easy to paint. All of which makes them some of my favourite 15 mm ancients figures.

A slightly blurry rear shot - Carthaginians on the left, Romans on the right.

If I want to field my early Carthaginians against a Syracusan army I need a few more units of hoplites; another 8 bases worth to be exact. Two of these units were composed of Gladiator Miniatures (some of my favourite Hellenistic figures) and actually made it into our campaign.

Hoplites (Gladiator Miniatures - heavy and medium hoplites)

The final two units were a late addition and a chance find. These are from Outpost Wargames Services and are cracking good value. Not only are the figures really nice but they are also some of the cheapest that I have found. One problem though - they sent me phalangites rather than hoplites. However, as I didn't realise this until I started painting them I just decided to go with it. If I originally thought they were hoplites then that was close enough!

Phalangites posing as hoplites (Outpost)

Hoplites rear view
From the left; Gladiator medium and heavy hoplites, Outpost phalangites

So all in all a nice addition to my collection and 144 figures painted and based in about 3 weeks is pretty good going for me.
Looking forward to the next campaign now - anyone for hoplites?