Saturday 24 October 2020

10mm Early Macedonians for l'Art de la Guerre

Over the last couple of months I have been on a re-basing journey with my 10mm early Macedonians, switching from 60mm base widths (which did look great), to the more common 40mm base widths (with the aim of having more ways to use them - principally for l'Art de la Guerre and Fantastic Battles). Except for the Thessalian cavalry and Illyrians (both from Pendraken), all are Magister Militum figures.

Readers who have passed by this blog in the past might have seen that I have a bit of a love affair with this army. I've some background info on the early Macedonians spread across various earlier posts, but for a good summary, I'd point people to this article in Ancient Warefare Magazine 13.3. The title is a bit of a give away about the reputation of Macedonians before the reforms of Philip II.

The army in all its mediocrity. Combining small amounts of fine cavalry with pretty woeful infantry, I have opted to stiffen it with a Thessalian ally.

Hetairoi/companion heavy cavalry with impact - the two units on the right are elite companions. All figures, including the king, are Magister Militum Thracian cavalry; more than half have been given greenstuff petasoi sun hats or headswaps. The king has a lionskin, emulating his ancestor Herakles.

Macedonian hoplites and commander.

Macedonian tribal/peasant levy - LMI javelinmen. the three bases in front are my highlanders, the more disorganised mobs in the back (with slingers scattered through them) are mediocre lowland javelinmen.

Macedonian archers.

Illyrian merceneries converted from Pendraken Spanish.

The Macedonian camp (using Baggage Train tents). The three figures in white chitons/tunics are from the Magister Militum Greek/Roman slaves pack. The pack has two sculpts holding amphorae, and two sculpts holding dishes of food.

Thessalian elite medium cavalry from Pendraken.

Thessalian hoplites and commander.

Thessalian peltasts.

Thessalian slingers and Cretan archers (Magister Militum archers with head swaps and added shields)

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While I was taking photos, I mocked up a small 500 point army for Fantastic Battles. There are enough companies to more or less run the Early Macedonians in the same format as shown above, but obviously a touch of myth changes things up a bit. This wee army is themed around the foes of Odysseus, so with have a cyclops (Excellent Miniatures) and sirens (6mm harpies from Rapier) adding a fun factor.  



7 comments:

  1. Love them. If I went little guys, I'd do 6mm, but the effect would be similar, I think. Love the conversions and customization.

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  2. stupid question from me but did you end up with 40mm by 40mm bases for these?

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    1. Yes, originally the army was based on 60x40s, but it was all rebased onto 40x40s.

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    2. thanks for the reply Nic, they look absolutely splendid. I have made a decision to follow suit. I was using sabots for a while to put 40 by x depths on to arrive at 40 x 40 but the sight of your diorama effect figures in this article finally persuaded me to take the plunge.

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  3. last question.....what basing convention did you use in terms of density of figures for the 40mm x 40mm bases?

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    1. There are 15x hoplites (three ranks of five) to a base,
      8x-10x medium infantry (8x peltasts or 10x tribal chaps),
      5x skirmishers,
      6x heavy cavalry
      5x medium cavalry

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  4. much obliged Nic, they look stunning

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