Creating my Strength and Honour armies

 A quick scratch build project to get some forces ready for the Strength and Honour rules, Due to be published this month.

I've already done some 2mm Colonial bases, and the Strength and Honour rules will require larger than those, (120mm frontage) but for the sake of table space I'm going for 80mm by 50mm for my Roman legions, and 80 by 40 for most other units.

The Forces I'm building will be based on the battles between Julius Caesar and the Helvettii Confederation in 58BC,  specifically Bibracte.

Caesar's army comprised six legions, two veteran the 9th and 10th, two regular the 7th and 8th, and two recently raised, the 11th and 12th.  In addition he was supported by a mixture of cavalry hired from other Gallic tribes, and light troops.   This will mean I need six legions bases, two Skirmishers and a Cavalry base.

IX and X  Veteran Legions

VII and VIII Experienced Legions 

XI and XII  Recruit Legions

"Roman" Cavalry  in 2 lines

Skirmishers Aedui

Skirmishers Numidians

General

Camp

The basic Legion base, with 15mm by 10mm blocks for the cohorts.  I'm using 2mm balsa here for the grain effect I'll get when I tackle the shields.  I'm mostly planning to use Cork tile, but the Romans need a slightly different look.

A layer of filler goes onto the blocks.  This is then striped with my Stanley knife to create a gridded rank. 

My traditional method, filler.  No real definition there.

Method number 2.  Sand scatter to represent the heads.  Honestly, it doesn't work!

Method number 3.  Model clay spread thinly over the blocks, then scored.  Better definition, but maybe I can do better.

I turned to a plastic woven place mat.  Just dimpled enough to give the effect I'm looking for.

The woven effect shows lines and I've used different areas of the mat to gain separate effects.

Never one to be distracted I added a small Roman villa build into the mix.

Starting to come together.  I've added a couple of rear line cohort bases, in case things get desperate.

The 9th legion just about done, as my prototype.

And the finished villa beside a Gallic Warband, a slinger base and the 9th.

So with my process sorted it's time to ramp up production.

It took me a few days to sort out a 2mm figure method, but I'm happy to have gotten just about the effect I need.  Next up the Gauls, and then back to the Colonials.