Phalanx Number Three

Well I gave myself 10 days to paint and base the third Phalanx of my Macedonian Armies but managed to get it cleaned, primed, painted, varnished and based in six days, none to shabby. Well until I admit that I based them on the wrong bases!!! Now I have to take them off their bases and re-base them, which I will do over the next couple of days. At least I have a sense of humour LOL.

32 figures all of which are Magister Militum except the office on the far left which I think is a old Essex figure. I wanted a unit that would stand out so painted the shields white with a black Macedonian Star which meant I would not have to add a outline to the star as I have on the other two units. I purposely painted this unit up fast with the intent of seeing how much it impacted on my quality. I have to say that I would not like to paint this way all the time but did enjoy it and the quality drop off was not so much you would notice without looking really close.

Again I have mixed in a few of the blue helmets to show old vets. You also get in the 32 figure packs 8 figures with the helmet lacking the cheek guards. This time I mixed these into the block where as last time I had them all at the front with the 'portrait' shields. All told this gives a more varied look to the unit even if overall they all look the sake. The leather armour this time was done in ivory white rather than a leather brown and again I am happy with the result.

I also tried another new wash, sticking with Vallejo but this time Umber Shade 73203 which you would expect to be darker than Sepia but it's lighter. In fact when washing white it's much better than the Sepia so I will be swapping over to this colour I think. I will still try the Devlan Mud replacement when I finally get to Nottingham next week but it's got a tough act to beat.

The three blocks in the chequerboard formation. I have to say that I am really proud of these three blocks, two of 32 figures and the foot companions in the centre coming in at 48 figures. I recon these would fetch £200+ easy if I was ever to want to sell them and I am so glad I decided against the transfers. Next phalanx will either have  alight green or blue shield front. I have another 32 figure pack waiting to be started as well as over 100 figures from Martin, that's a lot of pike LOL.

Cath saw the shot and took this one, happens to be the best of the bunch in my mind. It really gives the image of a mass of pike. I may print this one off and stick it up near my painting desk to get that extra two blocks finished. Imagine what it would look like with another two units added to the line!!!

Two of the last three posts have been about the little annoyances in life (well rather a large annoyance judging by the reaction to the thief post). So here is some balance for you. Yesterday I was on Facebook just killing a bit of time. A ASL buddy I only know via ASL forums messages me saying "Your a miniatures guy aren't you" and then proceeded to offer me a Roman 15mm army for free! What makes it all so much better when I obviously offered the postage he would not hear of it. Now I live in the UK, this great guy lives in Holland!!! Not only that but he posted it straight away in a rush to make sure he beat his PO closing! Now I am waiting eagerly for these figures to land, pics to follow when it does. How about that then?