Persians and Carthaginians - finishing touches

 

Hinchliffe Persian Chariot

Well, a game looms, and it looks like we're going to be dusting off the old WRG Ancients rules, which means I need to make sure we have a 'general' for each side. The Minifigs 'Darius' is a curious figure that looks nothing like the King depicted on the famous Alesander mosaic, but has been duely painted up and will serve. 

Darius

Here he is, waving a spear around for no good reason, and resplendent in armour and carrying a shield. Quite what he has on his head I don't know. 

I sense that our Persian general really aught to be mounted in a chariot: that being the fashion of the time. Sadly, I've never been able to get hold of an 'S range' Persian chariot for him to ride in. 

For reasons that escape me, all of my original 70s armies that might otherwise feature Minifigs chariots or elephants have either Hinchliffe or Garrison versions. 

I dug out a pristine unmade Hincliffe Persion chariot and painted it up to serve as a general should the need arise. The Persian army already includes a unit of Garrison infantry, so it's a slightly heterogenous affair. 

While we're talking chariots, these venerable charioteers belong to my original Seleucid army. The two on the left are Garrison, the rest Hinchliffe. 

These are the untouched Humbrol paint jobs from forty years ago. 

Would you believe it? The Hinchliffe chariot (EG03) is still available, along with the rest of the Ancient range, from Lancashire Games

Meanwhile, having forgotten that I'd already painted up a Hannibal to lead the Carthaginians, I painted up another one. Still, always nice to have a choice... of Hannibals. 

I also managed to add a cavalry unit to my Gallic contingent. Surprisingly hard work as it turned out. The riders had a bit of 'slippage' and hence vicious moldlines, as well as some tearing and fill-in around the cloaks, but nothing that couldn't be dealt with. 

The horse though! Having worked my way through the 'good' stock of this particular horse, I was left with a pretty rough batch. Lots of fill-in between the front legs and around the tail. A lot of time-consuming cleaning up and recarving to do, but they turned out alright in the end. 

After which I discover what a terrible fit the riders are to the horses! This is a version of the horse sold at the time - there was an earlier version too. Liberal application of greenstuff sorted that out. 

I was pleased to get enough figures for a unit of these chaps, as it's not an especially easy one to find on the second-hand market.