Egyptians, Latins & DBA Book 2

(A)  New Kingdom Egyptians - Progress Report

I finally got around to painting the remaining 15 elements of Libyan Wb(F) plus 4 x Gasgan Wb(F).  This will provide the punch necessary for this downgraded army. 

Tarted up the Shardana/Sherden and the Libyan archers as well.  Still looking around for suitable Lh(I) for the one permitted element - Oh well!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(B)  Latins - more candidates

Whilst looking for DBA army fill-ups (more later)  I came across the 15mm manufacturer Xyston.  It has a few candidates for Latin armies:

ANC20157 - Oscan Javelinmen with Scutum (8 in 4 vars)  £4
ANC20158 - Oscan Armoured Infantry with Hoplite Shield (8:4)  £4
ANC20159 - Apulian Infantry (8:4)  £4
ANC20170 - Campanian Hoplites (8:4)  £4
ANC20250 - Roman/Italian Peasants (8:4)  £3.75

If you want to search for yourself try this page:

https://www.scotiagrendel.com/Xyston/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=2_3

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(C)  DBA (v3.0) - Book 2

Carrying out an exercise to see which armies Ian & I can field.  Out of 192 armies I can field 108 of them.

Of the rest 15 are in the 'Not Quite' category:

4b - Yueh Chinese [need 4 x 3Pk]
4d - Other Chinese [as above]
4e - Other Chinese [need 1 x 3Bd]
5f - Phokian [need 1 x stone-thrower]
21a - Ch'iang & Ti Chinese [need 2 x armoured tribal 4Ax]
21b - Ch'iang & Ti Chinese [same as above]
22c - Hatra [need 1 x cataphract camels or 1 x art]
28a - Tigranes [need 2 x cataphracts]
28b - Other Armenian [as above]
28d - Gordyene [as above]
39b - Celtiberian [need 6 x scutarii 3Bd]
44 - Commagene [need 2 x cataphracts]
46a - Kushan [need 2 x cataphracts]
46b - Kushan [as above]
46c - Kushan Kidarite [need 3 x cataphracts] 

 Looking at the Xyston site I found some 'likely lads' to fill in some of the gaps:

ANC20199 - Celtiberean Warriors (8:6)  £4
ANC20112 - Phokian Stone Thrower (4 crew)  £4  [other artillery is available]
ANC20285 - Parthian Cataphract Command (1stC) on Camels (3:3)  £4.50
ANC20286 - Parthian Cataphract Command (2ndC) on Camels (3:3)  £4.50
ANC20292 - Parthian Cataphracts (2ndC) on Camels (4:4)  £4.50

 Peter Pig also has: 72. Parthian cataphract camels (4)

Have found some old Minifigs that I can convert into 3 x 'Armenian' cataphracts.  So that only leaves the Chinese - maybe Essex!

Ian has the vast majority of the Romans and their enemies so that leaves only the Persians & Kappadokians that neither of us can manage.  Not a bad result and completely opposite to the Book 1 review.

 Looks like I will be painting 15mm figures in the near future!

In Search of...The Gasgans

Mentioned in four of the DBMM Book 1 lists: 

(4) Zagros & Anatolian Highlanders [full army]
(20) Syro-Canaanite & Ugaritic [ 2 x Irr Wb(F) ]
(22) New Kingdom Egyptian [ 4 x Wb(F) ]
(24) Hittite Empire [ ^ 9 x 2h chariots; ^ 9 x Irr Ps(O) archers or slingers; ^ 12 x Irr Wb(F) ]

Trying to search on the internet for Gasgans didn't result in much...until I put in the alternative names for these people...Kaska or Kaskians.  Even then it was pretty much only Wikipedia (and copies thereof) that gave me anything.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaskians

Seems like they wore little other than animal furs and boots.  Bows, javelins and shields were the weapons of choice but I have no doubt there would be many slingers..

Among 15mm manufacturers only Khurasan has any dedicated figures (shown above) :

http://khurasanminiatures.tripod.com/gasgan.html

Khurasan gives them skirts and the royal bodyguard a sort of Villanovan crested helmet.

If you are willing to look a little further 'abroad' there is quite a bit more information on Anatolian highlanders:

http://www.warlordgames.com/history-highland-tribes-of-the-zagros-mountains-gutians-and-lullubi/
http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg.mv?id=206594 [Mysterious Guti]

Warlord Games have some 'highlander' figures available but I don't know the scale (and finding out is not easy).

https://gamewire.belloflostsouls.net/new-early-highlander-axemen-and-javelinmen/
Other pages on Warlord Games (main site) have archers, slingers & proto-chariots.

Given that I am seeking to add 4 elements to my NKE (20mm) army I had to dive into Plastic Soldier Review for help.

HaT 8132 - Sumerian Infantry - some of the javelinmen

Both need shields adding, boots painted on and (for the Lullabi) trimming but that is do-able (even for me).  Whether I will have 12 figures in my stockpile is another matter.

HaT 8121 - Assyrian Allied Infantry - only some of the bowmen (and not suitable for the royal guard).

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Just coming off my painting table are more 20mm Libyans and Nubians. As I now have a surplus of both these nations I am thinking about forming some DBA v3.0 armies.    We shall see!

Under Conversion

From Armati to DBM - carrying out a conversion.

The full Armati army - sorry about the quality of the picture.

I have started sorting out my house.  It's an ambitious project as the 'spare bedroom' is a step back into the Victorian/Edwardian era. You expect a 'very humble' shopkeeper to appear at any time. 

The main bedroom has also suffered from years of 'I'll just put it down there'.  In addition half of the attic is devoted to wargaming materials and the rest is....who knows! (I'm not that brave!).

First step was to remove all I could from the 'master bedroom' - figures going upstairs and unused books to the 'store room'.  So far, so good provided that I don't actually need to breathe in the smaller room.

Second task was to clear the walkway in the attic.  This involved putting all my figures into boxes and filing them into eras - from Ancients to WW1 (East Africa). Fantasy was tagged onto the end.  I felt rather pleased with myself for achieving that.

Third task is where I hit a road bump.  In the 'Ancients' section I sorted the biggest boxes first - 20mm Egyptian, Trojans, Sea Peoples, Medes, Assyrians and Sumerians.  I originally built out the first two to full Armati size with all the options.  Since I never really liked that set of rules those troops have languished in dark obscurity for almost two decades.  So what to do with them?

As I still play DBM the logical approach was to carry out a conversion....Hmm!  Like everything else in life nothing is ever that straightforward.  The earlier DBM NKE list diverged only slightly from Armati but the DBMM 2016 version is a new animal entirely. 

DBMM (2016)1.22 - New Kingdom Egyptian 1543 - 1069 bc

Waifs & Strays - another poor picture.

(a) Surplus to requirements (not on the DBM list):

(Hittite) 8 x 4 spearmen
(Nubian)  4 x 3 Wb(F)
(Generic) 3 x 7 Hd

(b) Compulsories - 1 have all of these except - 8 x TF   (which I can improvise).                

(c)  Optional Elements (shortfalls):

4 x 2h, 2c, LCh            
1 x Irr Lh(I)           
8 x Reg Ax(O) or Reg Bd(I)       
4 x Reg Bd(X)           
8 x Reg Bw(I)           
4 x Reg Ps(O)           
6 x (SC) Irr Ax(O)/(I) or Ps(I)   
8 x (NSC) Irr Ps(O) bow       
4 x (LPB) Irr Ps(I)           
8 x TF               
4 x Irr Bts(S) Bari           
4 x (SC) 2h, 2c LCh           
4 x (G) Irr Wb(F)           
2 x (A) Reg Ax(I)           
2 x Reg Bd(O) Shardana       
26 x Reg Bd(F)           
16 x (L) Irr Wb(F)           
16 x (S) Irr Bd(O)(F) Sherden   
20 x (SP) Irr Bd(F)                               

Of course I don't need to build out the entire army this time just a workable 450 ap.  That means I will have to paint up some Wb(F) - Libyans are the easiest. Caesar are the only manufacturer that I could find but that line has been discontinued.  After much searching on the internet I have ordered two boxes - that should give me enough for 16 x 3 Wb(F) = 48 figures.

Next job is to work out a good DBM army - maybe Chris or Andy could help there?

Keep Safe and don't go stir crazy!!!
(Wasn't there a song called "They're Coming To Take Me Away Ha! Ha!"?