Dux Britanniarum!

My first foray into historical wargaming!  I have fostered a growing interest in historical settings for wargames over the past couple years, and I decided to jump on the boat with the Dux Britanniarum pre-order. I was even fortunate enough to get a free Arthur figure!  After having read the rules, I am keen to give it a try, but alas, I have no opponents at the moment.  What would be the best way to attract new players?  My thought exactly - have two painted armies!

What is Dux Britanniarum you might ask? It is a skirmish game set in 4th century Britain. At that time, the Roman empire withdrew its soldiers from the island, and basically told the residents to 'look to their own defences'. As history shows us, Britain did not stay Roman, but this game pits the remaining Roman colonists against the invading Saxon armies.  It makes use of in-game action cards to add some variety, and focuses heavily on a continuing campaign setting rather than static one-off battles.  Lots of fun!

Thus my quest begins.  I have set myself a lofty goal to paint up a Romano-British and a Saxon force by mid-October.  Doable?  Perhaps, though I will really have to buckle down.  So far I have completed one unit of 6 Milites, and a unit of 6 Comanipulares.  The Comanipulares do not yet have shields, as I am awaiting the LBM transfers before I get them finished.

On to the pictures!

For the Milites, I had received a lot of GB late romans that I felt would fit the bill.  The had already been painted (poorly) and for these I decided to try and paint over them.  While it turned out OK, I am not entirely happy with the results and for my other unit the models have already been stripped and reprimed.  The sculpts themselves are not too stellar IMO, which means they need a bit more TLC to make shine.  Seeing as I am on a deadline, I settled for something closer to tabletop standard.

Next, my Comanipulares, are BTD armoured late romans which I acquired in their latest 50% off everything sale  .  They painted up quite nicely, and for the price I say the detail is great.  The faces are quite expressive, and take to painting pretty well!  Its definitely easier to get a nicer result when you aren't painting over a sub-par paintjob!

All in all they were pretty easy to paint, and I look forward to starting on the rest of them.  I have about 8 weeks to paint 70 more figures, so here's to hoping it just gets easier from this point forward!
Watch this space as I update my progress.  I hope also to share some more insights about the game, and this fascinating period in history!