I look with fear that the new Pulp Figures 1066 range will include minis in “tight formation”. Just as the Tercio is switching to diorama basing, the punter is offered neat ranks. My new Romans are so anxious to get into the fight that they pay no heed to formation. I’m moving away from neat ranks and letting each base or unit (hopefully) tell a story. It was the much maligned Keith Mc Glynn who started adding tableaux to his bases and now the trend has finally reached the Principality.
The ‘mini dramas’ of history were mentioned in Lindybeige’s introduction to “In search of Hannibal.” Sometimes we cannot even begin to imagine ourselves in the position of the great captains but we could imagine ourselves sitting terrified on a stallion awaiting an order, or else mourning the loss of a comrade/father/ home. Max Hastings has written this week about the perilous state of military history in America’s “formerly” elite universities. Apparently fewer Americans graduate in History than they did in the 1950’s. Military history may be too white, ot too problematic for modern institutions. We aren’t glorifying war of course, we want to capture the two aspects of war that the Ancients were aware of.
Homer’s Iliad contains many references to the pageantry and excitement of war but his genius lies in the inclusion of so many references to the tragedy and awfulness of war. Achilles only fights when his best friend is killed fighting in his stead. Perhaps if our own leaders were more well versed in History then the wars in the Middle East would have not involved the US if the lessons of Vietnam had been leanrt.
So charging with Maximus we go! Gripping Beast plastics in the main and what a delight to build and paint they are. I used liquid poly for the construction; a welcome relief from superglue and pinning. The colours are GW contrast paints; again I can’t praise them enough. The keen eyed will notice I’ve taken every short cut with the painting- classic toy soldier style, “if it’s complicated or can’t be seen, then don’t bother!” Basing similarly, is only glue the minis onto the base, P.V.A. White glue and builders’ sand from B and Q. . I would like to give a complete run through of paints but to my shame I think I only used five or six, excluding washes. So to placate Mark, I’ll include a war dog!
If you are interested in the period then you must seek out the new Ospreys that include the work of Andrey Negin. He is certainly a new talent to watch. His style is more photographic than Peter Dennis, or even Angus Mc Bride, but they are still very attractive. Andrey avoids the current vogue for peacock coloured Romans but that’s a good thing of course.
Do you side with the civilising Romans or the barbarian Germans!? Now, that’s a loaded question. The film Gladiator shows Roman virtues and vices. The latest Netflix sensation in my house, Barbarians, poses a similar dilemma . Do I side with the Romans or the Germans? You know the answer! Barbarians nearly got me to change allegiance though.
I’ll leave the last words to Homer. Who would have thought painting soldiers would involve philosophy?
Thanks for reading
Michael
Despertaferres 
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