Warhammer Ancient Battles Numidian Army
When Hannibal supplement came out for WAB it sparked a lot of interest in our club. We now have 2 Republican Roman armies and 3 Carthaginian armies. So, I decided to paint some unusual army to be able to play "in period" against members with Romans and Carthaginians.
Numidian army and models always interested me and for the last 4 months I've been painting that army. One of the advantages of painting Numidians is they are relatively easy to paint. Also, Numidian auxiliaries served in many other armies of the region up to conquering of Roman Africa province by Vandals.
The mainstay of Numidian armies was their excellent light cavalry. I realized that I'll need lots of horse skirmishers for that. It potentially can create a problem on WAB battlefield of units intermingling with each other and I had to plan painting my units carefully. All my cavalry units have some unique characteristic to help to identify them on a battlefield easily. Some units have large shields, some have small shields. Each unit have the same shield color. Members of one unit even had their hair dyed red.
Most of the figures are Old Glory. They make 3 horsemen poses with more poses for horses. By bending arms here and there I was able to create even more poses. Some horses do not have a rope around the neck, so I just painted it.
Unit leaders have some rocks on their bases to identify them. Musician horns were made from extra Old Glory rifles that were in some of their Turkish packs. Unit standards are Ral Partha. Javelins are florist wire.
Army command are from Crusader Miniatures. Army general, Army Standard Bearer and horsemen with a horn can be minor noble. I based those figures on slightly different bases so it's easier to identify them on the battlefield. Army standard is extra from one of the Old Glory Turkish packs.
I felt that elephant models made by miniature manufacturers are too large for small North African elephants Numidians used. Also, I didn't like the lethargic poses with trunks down. I found 2 of the elephants I liked in 99c store and made simple conversions using some model railroad accessories and a thread. Shields are thumb tacks, mahouts are RAFM miniatures Numidian horsemen and crewmen in towers are converted Ral Partha Numidian infantry. RAFM and Ral Partha figures are visibly smaller than Old Glory or Crusader, but as elephant crew it's not that noticeable.
My 3rd elephant is a toy plastic model that I found at flea market. Tower is 4 piece model from some unknown to me manufacturer that I also bought at flea market long time ago.
Numidians also had some infantry. I painted a unit of warriors and a unit of skirmishers. Numidian infantry is of very low combat value, but Numidian army special terrain rules may make it more useful. I plan to use them in close cooperation with elephants. My unit leader has a sword, standard bearer has some sufficiently intimidating "fantasy" standard from unknown manufacturer and musician holds cut down medieval lance that looks like a brass tube.
Numidian warriors have variety of shields from around Mediterranean.
Finally, I feel that Numidian flesh should be a bit darker than I painted. However, I decided to take an artistic licence and paint the flesh lighter as it looks better on the battlefield and provides more contrast with rather drab Numidian clothes.
Numidian army and models always interested me and for the last 4 months I've been painting that army. One of the advantages of painting Numidians is they are relatively easy to paint. Also, Numidian auxiliaries served in many other armies of the region up to conquering of Roman Africa province by Vandals.
The mainstay of Numidian armies was their excellent light cavalry. I realized that I'll need lots of horse skirmishers for that. It potentially can create a problem on WAB battlefield of units intermingling with each other and I had to plan painting my units carefully. All my cavalry units have some unique characteristic to help to identify them on a battlefield easily. Some units have large shields, some have small shields. Each unit have the same shield color. Members of one unit even had their hair dyed red.
Most of the figures are Old Glory. They make 3 horsemen poses with more poses for horses. By bending arms here and there I was able to create even more poses. Some horses do not have a rope around the neck, so I just painted it.
Unit leaders have some rocks on their bases to identify them. Musician horns were made from extra Old Glory rifles that were in some of their Turkish packs. Unit standards are Ral Partha. Javelins are florist wire.
Army command are from Crusader Miniatures. Army general, Army Standard Bearer and horsemen with a horn can be minor noble. I based those figures on slightly different bases so it's easier to identify them on the battlefield. Army standard is extra from one of the Old Glory Turkish packs.
I felt that elephant models made by miniature manufacturers are too large for small North African elephants Numidians used. Also, I didn't like the lethargic poses with trunks down. I found 2 of the elephants I liked in 99c store and made simple conversions using some model railroad accessories and a thread. Shields are thumb tacks, mahouts are RAFM miniatures Numidian horsemen and crewmen in towers are converted Ral Partha Numidian infantry. RAFM and Ral Partha figures are visibly smaller than Old Glory or Crusader, but as elephant crew it's not that noticeable.
My 3rd elephant is a toy plastic model that I found at flea market. Tower is 4 piece model from some unknown to me manufacturer that I also bought at flea market long time ago.
Numidians also had some infantry. I painted a unit of warriors and a unit of skirmishers. Numidian infantry is of very low combat value, but Numidian army special terrain rules may make it more useful. I plan to use them in close cooperation with elephants. My unit leader has a sword, standard bearer has some sufficiently intimidating "fantasy" standard from unknown manufacturer and musician holds cut down medieval lance that looks like a brass tube.
Numidian warriors have variety of shields from around Mediterranean.
Finally, I feel that Numidian flesh should be a bit darker than I painted. However, I decided to take an artistic licence and paint the flesh lighter as it looks better on the battlefield and provides more contrast with rather drab Numidian clothes.
posted by IGWARG at
7:36 PM
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