Late Roman Infantry

The start of another army, this time 28mm Late Romans from Crusader Miniatures. These are nice figures which paint up quickly. I've had them sitting around for many years and have now decided to assemble a force for Lion Rampant and SAGA.  There is a strong possibility that they will be used in Midgard, and I might even play some small games of WAB. Now that my table is set up, and I'm no longer working shifts I'm planning on playing some games. They will see service initially against my Picts, and I have a number of other armies to paint up that will offer interesting foes. More photos of Picts coming, just thought I'd mix it up for interest!

 

Pict Cavalry 1

 

It's been a hectic time since my last post; this has prevented me from taking photos for the blog and having any hobby time. Apologies to everyone who kindly commented on the blog, I will reply now. I've managed to have  a few hours to sit down over the weekend take photos and even set up a table for games in the house! Here I present the first batch of 28mm Pictish cavalry from Footsore Miniatures. 

There will be regular content added to the blog and hopefully some game reports, well that's the intention. My initial games will be solo affairs with my 1866 Prussians v Austrians using the lovely Northstar Miniatures. The rules will be A Gentleman's War or, Glossy Coats and Tin Bayonets. The chosen forces are on the table as I type this entry, I just have to read through the rules and set the terrain up. That's my plan for this week. 

Goth Skirmishers

Apologies for the pause in blogging, lots has been happening since the last post, I've started a new job which takes me off shifts and onto regular days, still within Mental Health Nursing. I've also fitted in landscaping my small back garden, so time to paint and blog has been non existent until now. Life is now settling down to normal and painting will soon resume. I'm also planning on setting up a table in my dining room large enough for some games, even if solo for now; well that's the plan this week unless I get distracted. In the meantime, I've included pictures of some Goth skirmishers, 15mm Forged in Battle. More Picts will follow when I can get a chance to take photographs. I've included a couple of before and after shots of the garden, 2023-2025, it spent last year under black plastic. Now I have a space to read peacefully in the summer if the weather is nice, historical books of course!

Pict Hunters

28mm Pict Hunters, from Footsore Miniatures. Interestingly, I've received results this week from a DNA test, and it appears that when compared to the reference samples I return 29.4% Pict (AD 300-500). Not sure of the accuracy but it maybe goes some way to explaining my affinity for this army. Anyhow, I'll accept it for now and let loose my inner Pict on the tabletop! 

I've included the reference samples and article below for those interested. Personally, I'm looking forward to seeing how future research reveals our distant ancestry. 

The reference sample used to determine Pictish DNA were VK201, VK202, VK203 and VK207. 

303. Magaryan, A., Lawson, D.J., Sikora, M.et al. stated that, 

     "... four (VK201, VK202, VK203 and VK207) of these

304. samples have over 85% “UK” ancestry and are genetically similar to present-day Irish and Scottish populations (Figs 3a and S10.1, Supplementary Table 6), which is in contrast to the isotopic evidence43. Haplotype-based analyses corroborate that four of these samples possessed local genetic ancestries, with little Scandinavian contribution. Only two individuals - VK204 and VK205 - displayed c. 50% Norwegian and Danish ancestries (Supplementary Table 6), respectively, which may indicate admixture between the locals and Scandinavians on the Orkney Islands during the VA. The four ancient genomes of Orkney individuals with little Scandinavian ancestry may be the first ones of Pictish people published to date (Supplementary Note 12). Yet a similar (>80% “UK” ancestry) individual was found in Ireland (VK545) and five in Scandinavia, implying that Pictish populations were integrated into Scandinavian culture by the Viking Age."

305. 
     

     Magaryan, A., Lawson, D.J., Sikora, M.et al. Population genomicsof the Viking world. Nature 585, 390-396 (2020).

     https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/703405v1.full.pdf

Pict Warriors with Javelins

A little bit later than planned, the Picts have arrived. The are Pict warriors with javelins from Footsore Miniatures. I've chosen to base these individually on 25mm bases with the intention of playing SAGA, Dux Britanniarum and Lion Rampant. I can't speak highly enough about how lovely these miniatures are, and an absolute joy to paint. The only downside I have is drilling out the hands, but I can easily get over that (I'm just lazy!). I've lots of Picts to show but will mix other figures into the posts rather than dominate the next few weeks with Picts. Just to keep things interesting I've some Early Saxons, Late Romans and Arthurian to show in 28mm and more 15mm that I need to get photographed. 

The painting table sees more Picts, then I've prepped Late Romans and Early Saxons. 

Goth Archers

 

The Goths just keep coming, now you know how the Romans felt! Bit of a delay on posting the Picts this week as basing is being finished off. So, I thought I offer up these Goth archers, these are 15mm Essex Miniatures from the lead pile. 

 

Painting this week has seen me complete a Pict chariot and some Arthurian figures. These are in the basing queue and will be making their appearance on the blog over the coming weeks. The rest of the time has been spent preparing the next batch for painting, cleaning castings and gluing spear and shields in place ready for undercoating. I've also made some broom bristle spears for the first time, hoping they look okay once painted up!