Friday, November 19, 2010

FOG Republican Romans: Principes

My Field of Glory Romans just got a big step closer to completion. I finished the two units of principes, which leaves just the velites, triarii, and one more cavalry unit to complete.

My WAB army is made up entirely of Old Glory figures. As I wrote earlier, I wanted a different look for my Field of Glory army. These are all Crusader Miniatures figures, packs ANR008 "Principes / Triari with pila / spear" and ANR004 "Legionary Command." The shield transfers are all from Little Big Men Studios. Bases are from Litko.


Since the FoG army list seems to use two legions as its starting point, I went with two shield designs. The units with the boars on its shields carries boar standards. The Crusader figures come with a choice of banner or totem-style standard, neither of which seem right for Roman legions of this period. I emailed Old Glory and offered to buy some animal standards from their Punic Wars line. Not only did they send me just what I needed, but they did it for free!



The second legion carries shields with an eagle wing emblem, so I gave them an eagle standard. Although the eagle would eventually become the symbol of all the imperial legions, at this earlier date it was just one of many different animal symbols in common use.




I had hoped to finish this army by Christmas, but I'm going to have to set it aside for a while. I just got a large ACW commission in, and it will take some weeks to finish. Watch this space for in-progress photos.

7 comments:

  1. Scott:

    Very nice looking units here. Regards, Dean

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  2. They look fantastic! I like the look of them.

    Good luck playing the Romans - I've found them great to fight with...very tough as long as your flanks are secure.

    I find that if you put some difficult terrain on either side (vineyards, plantations etc.) and just trundle forward.

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  3. Excellent work my friend. I would love to have them in my collection.

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  4. Really beautiful work. I love the tunic color, and the overall look and feel of these.

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  5. The chain mail really helps the look, I think. The hastati ended up looking a little off to me, but the principes look like proper Romans.

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