Way back in the dim and distant past, when I was but a lad, ancient wargaming was all the rage with the cool kids around our way. OK, maybe not the cool kids but the swotty , geeky types that didn't play football - in other words the weirdos. For a long time 'ancients' was all we played. I'm not sure why we favoured ancients so heavily but it was probably some sort of natural progression from Airfix soldiers. In those days our preferred scale was 15mm. Looking back, the quality of the figures was atrocious but these were metal and being serious wargamers, metal was obviously better than plastic which were after all toys. Cost was also a factor, as being school kids we just couldn't afford bigger figures. Then one day a group of us attended a local wargames convention in Newcastle. I don't remember much about the show but I do remember that, as part of the proceedings, it held an auction selling off painted wargames figures. Many of the lots consisted of 25mm Byzantine figures being sold as whole units. I also remember one of our number, who shall remain nameless but we'll just call him 'the Sneak', suffering what I can only describe as a funny turn. The symptoms, of this funny turn, manifested as a mad gleam in the eye, a manic grin and a compulsion to raise his hand every time a new bid was solicited. After a stressful 30 minutes, during which time our little group were heard to mutter such phrases as; 'is he feeling alright?', 'does he know what he's doing? and 'can he pay for all that?', the Sneak emerged with a full 25mm Byzantine army. To this day I don't know where he got the cash from; it was certainly beyond the reach of my £1 a week pocket money! So now one of our number had opened the Pandora's Box of 25mm wargames figures, it meant that the arms race was on and we would all have to get some of these serious gaming pieces.
However, the problem with this plan was cash; or rather the lack of it. This small matter was overcome when I discovered Prince August moulds that enabled anyone to cast their own figures. As one of the moulds was a Late Roman legionary my problem was solved, although I'm not sure where I got the lead from - I don't think the church roof was involved.....
So after many sessions on the kitchen stove, blissfully ignorant of any modern health and safety standards, I amassed quite a few of these shiny lead wonders. Unfortunately, they just weren't as sexy as commercial figures so I was forced to bite the bullet (not literally as that would be a waste of lead) and buy some proper figures. After scouring the adverts in such esteemed tomes as 'Military Modelling' and 'Battle Magazine', I decided the way forward was Minifigs. Not only that but at another wargames show, at the same venue as the infamous Byzantine auction incident, I discovered Irregular Miniatures and was enthralled by their Saxons and Scots-Irish. After collecting Minifigs, with their staid poses and lack of surface detail, I was bowled over by the scruffy and craggy looking Irregular style. And so a project was born; henceforth I would amass some Saxons and Irish to face my Romans and fight the so-called Barbarian Conspiracy.
Unfortunately, real life intervened and the project never really got off the ground. I had the figures and quite a lot of them were even painted but I just never seemed to get around to gaming with them. That is until now when I decided to finally base them all up for the relatively recent Dux Bellorum rules.
I suppose it shouldn't come as a great surprise but things have moved on since I started this project about 40 years ago. Also being involved in early medieval reenactment for 28 years and dabbling in Late Roman reenactment, I now have a better feel for the period. Frankly, authenticity wise, my long cherished figures are truly horrible. Nevermind, toys are toys; so let's take a closer look at my fantasy Romans. Apologies for the photo quality but I've just discovered a smear on my camera lens!
First off I decided to set the standard unit size large enough to fit 16 figures in two ranks. This is roughly twice the recommended frontage but I had enough figures to do this and it avoids the DBA small element look. Units are actually based on 2 of Warbases 70mm by 50mm mdf bases. One of the bases also has an integral dice frame to fit a 'micro' dice, denoting the unit's cohesion. Different coloured dice can also be used to mark noble or ordinary status.
A rear view showing dice frame, dodgy leather armour and fantasy helmets.
So to conform to the army lists in Dux Bellorum, I will require the following:
1 Mounted Companions with Leader
0-1 Noble Riders (superior cavalry)
0-1 Cataphracts
0-2 Ordinary Riders
0-2 Noble Shieldwall (superior infantry)
0-6 Ordinary Shieldwall
0-2 Bow
0-1 Mounted Skirmisher (Bow)
0-1 Mounted Skirmisher (Javelin)
0-2 Foot Skirmisher (javelin or bow)
First let's take a look at the command figures. These are not strictly necessary, in the rules, but I will use a command figure to mark which unit is the General's Companions. From the left, Minifigs, Foundry x 2, Irregular.
The heavy cavalry component requires up to four units of Riders (1 Companion, 1 Noble and 2 Ordinary). As my original army, based for WRG rules, had two 12 figure heavy cavalry units, this breaks down quite nicely into four 6 figure units. These are all Minifigs, those on the right on Prince August horses.
Of course this wouldn't be a Late Roman army without cataphracts. These are a mix of Minifigs Palmyran cataphracts on Prince August home cast horses and Irregular Miniatures.
Next up we have the heavy infantry component.There are a potential 8 units of Shieldwall (2 Noble and 6 Ordinary) in the list. Quite rightly there is no distinction made between auxilia and legiones for this period so my figure collection breaks down into 4 legiones and 4 auxilia.
Here we have parts of 3 Minifigs legio units.
The fourth legio consists of Prince August figures.
The remaining four Shieldwall units are all Minifigs auxilia (only 3 shown here).
For the light troops I will require 2 units of Bow and 2 units of Foot Skirmishers. The latter can be armed with javelin or bow.
I had enough figures to field one unit of javelin troops but needed to call on some Foundry figures for the bow armed equivalent. These are based on pennies, for a different project, but are easily mounted on sabot bases.
Finally for the Romans we have the light cavalry. The javelin armed LC are Minifigs, in characteristic knuckle to temple poses. For the bow armed LC I have used some Huns on sabot bases. The identity of the manufacturer is a complete mystery to me, as I bought them at a convention in Sheffield in the mid eighties.
So that's it for the Romans but before we go let's take a luck at the opposition. Half of my Irish have been based for Dux Britanniarum and the remainder are still in the pile awaiting sprucing up. However, I managed to gather enough Saxons to field seven units for Dux Bellorum.
These are a mix of Minifigs, Irregular and several other makes that I no longer recall.
Next week we start the Barbarian Conspiracy campaign, a mere 40 years in the waiting. As a taster we had a practice run last week; Late Romans versus the Captain's 40 year old Picts. It was a good job that it was just a practice, as the Captain gave the Romans a good drubbing despite being loaded with cold. It doesn't bode well - I fear for the province!
Looking great, it will be a game of Epic proportions! Looking forward to it.
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