Roman Cavalryman
I have finished a unit of Roman auxiliary cavalry. It's only 12 figures strong, when, using my notional figure:man ratio of 1:30, it ought to be 16 figures. But it's big enough for now (in fact, for my 1,000 point force, I only need 6 figures) - and maybe I'll add the other 4 at a later date. I've also painted up a general for the army. So, all I have left for the Romans is a unit of lanciarii.
I really don't like painting horses - poking paint around all those legs is so awkward, and there seems to be so many stages. But, they're done - and I hope you'll agree that they look lovely. The more of these A&A Miniatures figures I paint, the more impressed I get. I think the Roman heavy cavalry are some of the best yet - there are some really great poses. A particular favourite is the guy leaning down to his left about to stab someone with his spear - the pose is absolutely spot-on.
Next up will be a unit of Sassanian cavalry - probably horse archers - I'm saving the savaran (super-heavy cavalry) for last, as they're probably going to be the most spectacular figures.
Sometime soon, I am going to have to think about terrain boards for this project (and it strikes me that I've got some other things they'd be useful for - like the Crusades) - I don't have any desert terrain at all. I've got a source for 2' square extruded polystyrene (blue foam), or I could use MDF again. The latter is much more durable, but hernia-inducing to carry around. Decisions, decisions! I like making terrain, so it's no hardship, but I want to get the baseboards right before i make a load of stuff to sit on top of them.
Rules... I seem to have folks trying to persuade me to write my own set of ancients rules. In a way, I'd like to - I enjoy WAB, but it's far from perfect. So far, I can't get my head around Impetus - and it seems rather 'grand tactical' - in a way I'd prefer something a bit more 'down and dirty' (like WAB I suppose), in which the units feel smaller, and characters have some influence. It's certainly worth thinking about. WAB is fun, it just needs a bit of work to make it work in a more realistic manner (for the Roman Principate and its enemies anyway). I think if I do write a new set, they will have similarities to WAB - not least in the 'feel' of the size of the battles, and the influence of 'characters' - though the characters in some supplements do, perhaps, sometimes seem a bit over-the-top.
I'd want them to be fairly quick to play, but allow for fatigue (which I fancy is much more important than we give it credit for) and reserves (which are one thing missing from most rules, and which often had a crucial role to play in ancient battles).