Review of 2024 - Part 5, Legiones Antiquitata and historicals

And finally. Playtesting and development of Legiones Antiquitata has continued with lots more games and armies having been tested and the first drafts having been printed up. It isnt quite ready as there are some tweaks to rules, examples and clarifications to be added before it is finally published but I think March/April 2025 looking likely.

Legiones Antiquitata is a set of rules combining ancients and fantasy armies so ancient Greeks can have Phalanx, Companion Cavalry and Mycenean chariotry but also perhaps a Hydra, Sirens, Centaurs and an enchantress Oracle to cast spells. The Mycenean infantry above would be an example. Play is on a printable hex mat and you can use whatever base size you want as long as it fits in a hex! There are currently 17 lists covering everything from Africana to Warriors of the Sun (MesoAmerican-ish) example units below.

West African Warriors

Aztec Warriors of the Sun

Games last 4 turns and are often over before that as a sudden death points system is in play. Videos on how to play plus batreps will be up on my forthcoming Youtube channel as described in the previous blog (part 4).

To be able to use this number and variety of armies my 3d printer has been invaluable and 3d printing is the future. To be clear I am not good with tech but 3d printing either resin for minis and fdm for terrain is straightforward even for me!

This blog will cover some of the minis painted this year to get ready for the final launch.

Romans

Historical purists may pull their hair out at this point as the Roman lists make no difference between Republican, Imperial and Late Roman legionaries just adding in the extras troop types such as barbarians or cataphracts! When compressing centuries of history in some lists or thousands of miles of territory in others the niceties have been overlooked in favour of playability. To be honest If you enjoy the minutiae of historical accuracy in your games then a game where your legionaries might get attacked by Masai warriors or a Japanese Oni probably are not for you.

Everything in my Roman force is 3d printed, mainly coming from 3d breed miniatures. These are a tad chunky for some tastes but there is a good variety. Monsters are from a variety of sources (see below in earlier blogpost)

Roman Cavalry

Auxiliaries

Roman Testudo (tortoise)

Mobile Ballista

Immobile Mangonel

For a complete review of units available to the Romans across the three sub lists Republican, Imperial and End of Empire check this earlier blogpost https://www.firstcommissionpainting.co.uk/single-post/infamy-infamy-they-ve-all-got-it-in-for-me-part-i-unus

Celts

Like the Romans above the Celts have been covered in a previous pair of Blogs https://www.firstcommissionpainting.co.uk/single-post/celts-gaul-and-albion-part-1 so again this is a Match of the day version of highlights. If Celts are your thing 3d printing opens up whole new vistas.

What could be more totemic of Celts than Chariots? These are by 3d Breed as are the majority of the troops. These are on round bases as i like round bases but for the rules it doesnt matter a jot. There is no messing about with rulers or turning circles or any other shenanigans just move some hexes!

Celtic Warriors

Celtic Cavalry

Gaesati Warriors

Celtic Tree spirit

Banshee

Newer Armies - Japanese and Ancient Greek

Unlike most of my armies the Japanese army's core is built of Warlord games plastics I picked up years ago off ebay. They are decent but show their age when compared to the 3d minis. As with the Romans and Celts a blogpost showing all 37 different list entries is here https://www.firstcommissionpainting.co.uk/single-post/falling-blosson-japanese-nippon-3d-print-samurai-army-miniatures so this is just a selection of some favourites.

Samurai command

Ashigaru (warlord)

Samurai Cavalry (Warlord)

Oni and a Ronin

Shikome (Wyrd games)

Ancient Greek

No blog exists yet for these as I am not quite finished painting up a couple of units. The Ancient Greek list has four sub lists, Classical - which is the default list, Heroic Age, allowing more Heroes to fight alongside Homeric units, Alexandrian which is what you would expect and a Leonidas list wherein everyone is Steadfast! I am a big Bronze Age buff so clearly the Heroic Age is my favourite with units below.

Mycenean Warband

Mycenean Tower Shieldmen

Mycenean Chariot Dendra armour

Ajax the Hero

Medusa

Miniatures are a wider mix than usual with the Mythic Battles Pantheon boxes being the source for monsters and heroes while £dBreed, Wargames Atlantic and especially Scropha Miniatures all provide troop stls.

The next armies which will be completed will be the Africana and possibly either Medieval or Amerindian as both are about 70% complete.

Keep an eye out on the website for Legiones Antiquitata and the YouTube channel if you are at all interested !