Roman Legionnaires

This was a unit I finished a little while back after I had picked up the Conquest of Gaul boxed set from Warlord Games. The box contains the Hail Caesar! rules plus a load of Roman Legionnaires and Celts. I still haven't played a Hail Caesar game yet, but I did enjoy painting up these figs, especially since they didn't take too long. And the shield transfers by Little Big Men Studios look excellent I think.

I've also finished the first batch of Celtic warriors, and will post photos of those soon, once I've got round to finishing the bases.

Roman Auxiliaries

I'm still fairly new to collecting and painting historical miniatures. Most of what I've painted in the past has been for Warhammer and other GW games, and before that I'd buy miniatures to use in games of D&D. I've always been interested in history though - particularly military history - and when I was considering getting back into the hobby I bought some metal Roman Auxiliaries from Warlord Games on a whim. I did a degree in Classical Civilisation at the University of Glasgow, so perhaps that's why I chose ancients to begin with, but at any rate I was rather discouraged by my initial painting efforts and these minis sat unfinished for some time. It was only when I started collecting and gaming again in earnest last year that I had another go at these guys and quickly got them painted up to a finish that I was pleased with.

Since then I've added a unit of legionnaires to my Roman army (photos of that unit to follow), but here are some pics of the auxiliaries for you to enjoy meantime.

(p.s I'm pretty sure the shield transfers I used for these guys are by Little Big Men Studios.)

Work in progress: Napoleon's Old Guard Grenadiers

Besides the 3rd Swiss Regiment, my other Napoleonic unit that's currently in progress is some Old Guard Grenadiers from Victrix. This was my first purchase from Victrix, and I have to say that I am really impressed with the quality.

As with the Swiss unit, I decided to paint up one figure to completion. The only thing still to add to this figure is the decals for the cartridge box. Really enjoyed painting this miniature, and looking forward to getting on with the rest of the unit.

Work in Progress: Napoleonic Swiss

I have a few different miniatures on the go at the moment. One thing I like to do (unless I have an urgent deadline) is to work on several things at once. Not literally at the same time of course, but I find that being able to work on one project one day, and perhaps a different one the next helps keep me from getting weary of any repetition, especially where large units are concerned. It also means that when I do finish one project, I'm not starting anything from scratch. There will be several other miniatures that are already well under way, so I can quickly begin to look forward to the satisfaction of seeing more painting projects brought to completion.

One project on the go at the moment is a unit of Napoleonic Swiss troops. These are Warlord Games plastics that I had left over from the French line infantry unit I recently finished (see previous post). I've decided to paint them in the colours of the 3rd Swiss Regiment. I have sixteen of these minis to paint, but may decide to make the unit larger, and add a command group.

I took one miniature up to completion (apart from the backpack component) so I could get all the painting decisions made up front before getting to work on all the others. The aim is to have all 16 painted by the end of this week.

More updates to follow, including a look at what other projects are in progress.

Forward, March!

Hello, World!

Welcome to Wee Painted Men, my little home on the internet where I can share with you my miniature painting endeavours - mostly those that are currently on the go, but a few old glories as well.

This will just be a quick first blog post to get things started. I've got plenty to share and to talk about, but the hour is late and I've been sitting at this computer screen for far too long. Besides, I've almost finished reading Adam Zamoyski's excellent 1812, so I want to get some reading time in before bed as well :-)

I recently finished painting up a unit of Napoleonic French line infantry from Warlord Games, so I thought a few photos of that unit would be an appropriate place to start.

Stay tuned for more content...