Ancient Germans
I started this Ancient Germans force with a bunch of Navigator Miniatures barbarian figures. As the army grows, I have added elements to allow me to field the army as a Suevi confederation.
Navigator Miniatures were going for a pretty good price.They are a rough and is moulded with a much harder alloy compared to, say, Essex Miniatures. But their low cost made them great for filling up the ranks. The head sculpts are decent but the torso and arms are quite squarish. There was quite a nice variety of models which is good.
Their shields were moulded with round bosses instead of the Celtic ridge. I decided that these "barbarians" should be Germans.
I mixed in a bunch of Corvus Belli, Chariot Miniatures and Essex figures to give it more variety.
Tribesmen wielding throwing axes called franciska and two handed axes. Most of the figures are from Essex Miniatures German and Frank ranges.
Tribesmen wielding long spears or javelins called angones, they are copied from the idea of the Roman pilum. Those wielding long spears are from Essex German and Frank ranges.
The front left base has two figures from the Navigator German range. The helmeted swordsmen in the front rank are from Chariot Celts range.
Tribesmen wielding light javelins and swords. A variety of figures features here. Most of the figures are Navigator Germans. A few are Essex Celts and Corvus Belli Celts. In the front rank is a Navigator command pack's standard bearer with the Auroch skull. I blame them for its extinction.
I painted the figures in batchs of eight. I mixed and matched the colours between those eight, so that there is a variety of colours. However, I limited the pallet so that the troops still had a certain cohesiveness. This was done by using only one tone of red, one of blue, yellow, etc.
Alamanni archers. These are assorted German, Frank and Saxon archers from Essex.
The figures to the sides are Corvus Belli Adolescent Skirmishers. They are visibly smaller and slimmer than the adult figures and give the army a nice touch. Those in the middle are Chariot Miniatures Celts with wolf pelts.
German cavalry on their small ponies charge out of the treeline. It was hard coming up with unique shield designs for the lads, but I think I had a nice variety.
The cavalryman on the extreme left is from Essex and the one on the extreme right is from Navigator. The Navigator horse is quite rough and squarish, but their size suits the Germans more. They are adequate once painted. I paint all the horses with brown harnesses except for the brown horses, which I left black.
I use these Essex Sarmation Knights as Quadi Noble cavalry. The commander is a Late Roman figure from Essex. I removed the plume on his helmet and he looked decent enough.
The tents are Baueda Goth tents, and the Standing Stone is a piece of granite chip.
© 2004-2006 Michael Sng Woei Shyong. All Rights Reserved.