Tumultus Gallicus

This one was by far one of the longest project I spent time on. But hell, totally worth it. Have some more bearded loudmouthed brawlers:

A huge Gallic warband for Saga, the Age of Hannibal. Some proper foes to the Roman legion painted before. Ten points were needed to have access to various options, even more in order to paint each and every minis from the kits.

Composed in three kits, warriors, riders and chariots, these minis are from Victrix ltd,. Certainly my favorite brand this year, although it sometimes lack some variations in the dynamic pose, and some options (can’t wait for DA archers!). But overall great minis with incredible details, loads of heads and weapons, and an unbelievable low pricing for this quality. Forty euros for sixty foot models is the best bargain you could possibly find, and it’s gonna be a real pain resist to the upcoming Normans riders.

Let’s talk paints now. Doing a little research (as usual for historical based projects), I soon realized that it would take some time. Heavy patterned clothing, complexe shield graphism, loads of riders, minis needing to be painted before assembling. Hours of fun…

I first spend some time on a test unit (eight warriors), trying some colors and patterns. I settled on various tones, but all of them with earthy nuances. Then the shields. So many variations and different colors on these shields. I took on me to paint them all at once. Close to seventy of them in two days.

Then so many attempts at tartans, not all of them very lucky. But this was so time consuming, and not really easy on the eye. I sometimes got to simplify or divert the look of it to have some proper looking mini. In the end I think the mass effect looks cool, but there’s a few minis here and there that I’m not so proud of.

Anyway, lets have a look at them!

Still no archers in the Victrix range, I know the drill. After checking the use of such equipment in the Gallic history, I made the same ploy as I did for my Anglo-Danes. Convert a bunch of them with slings from the Balearic Slingers set. The pose fits well, and it would have been a pain to make them wield bows.

Levies are always a good choice. But levies with javelins, hell this is a must. Even better with the Gallic battleboard, where you need to move, shoot then move back with Gallic Wave. I even regret not having a second unit of these…

The heart of every list is always some good old pedestrian warriors. Here’s a first batch of fierce mustaches bearers. I use a few armoured bodies as leaders for the units. There’s a couple spare from the chariots kit.

Second unit, this time twelve warriors worth, just in case you need more impact. I had the luck to swap two gallic sprue with german ones, to add more variety to the minis. The front leader (in mails) can act as a foot warlord (in case he dismount or if the scenario impose it).

Third unit, with a few guests that most french readers would recognize (leave them to me!). Not sure I’ll be needing this much warriors, but if the board get full of terrains it could be a good choice.

Another point of warriors, mounted this time. Always good to reach far gone enemies, even to use the ability allowing a move with javelins. But also always tricky to place and move, as height cavalry bases are covering a lot of space.

Easier to place and move, mounted hearthguards are a must, even more in this faction. Strong mobile second, and the ability to keep Saga dice until totally destroyed. While the kit provided twelve riders, I got four Romans ones left from another project. After some minor heads and arms swaps, I got myself sixteen riders, enough to play the way I got in head.

So I got myself a second hearthguards mounted point (and at this point I cant stand to paint cape anymore). Sixteen mounted minis gave me various options: twelve warriors and four guards, eight warriors and eight guards, even four points of hearthguards. Not to mention the repartition with other warriors unit (classic ten, ten and four).

Another heartguards point, this time with an all new equipment, chariots! One hell of a job painting horses, cart and passengers separately. But in the end I love them. And they do great on the field, acting as mobile shooting platforms, roaming and yelling across the battlefield.

Here’s a special choice. The only mercenary unit accessible to the gauls are the ligures. Hitting hard, this can be a good alternative to warriors if you need extra power. But I still got to try them on the field.

First warlord here, a mounted one. Classic, mobile and light. And of course a glorious mustache!

The other one, more specific, as the faction allows him to have his own ride. As it came with the kit I choose to play him as a druid. It might be harder to maneuvrate, but he got javelins too.

Here’s a few detailed view of the details I add to it, from the tartan cape to the chariot ornaments.

So with maybe seventeen detailed shields, more than twenty horses, countless clothes patterns and eighty minis, this must be one of my largest project for a while. And I can’t explain how glad I’m to end this one.

But there always more… always.

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