Project Rome - a test scenario.

Following the end of the second Punic War, Rome began consolidating its foothold in a number of foreign territories and in particular Hispania. The two military theatres in Hispania continued their day to day operation and in 197 BC the Senate found it expedient to have them become administrative provinces, each governed by a proconsul. Hispalus would serve as the seat of government for Ulterior Hispania and Tarraco for Citerior Hispania.

Our test scenario opens in the year 197 BC and proconsul and propraetor for each province have been given their assignments. The consular army for each province is at full strength, two Roman Legions and two allied legions bringing the combined total to 36 elements.

For this test scenario, each proconsul will serve a term in which he is free to conduct military operations within the parameters set by the Senate and these are the consolidation of territories formerly held by Carthage. Carthage once controlled nearly half the peninsula and this year’s objective is to extend the current frontier two or three map squares. Each consular army has been split into two equal halves making four columns that may independently operate for the campaign year. All forces must return to winter quarters by November. After which new lots will be cast for the coming year and troops whose contracts have expired shall return to Italy. May Fortuna smile on your enterprise.

Photo one shows the disposition of the four columns and photo two their initial move into the interior.

Photo one

Photo two

Ulterior Hispania

Proconsul’s column: 4 x Cv, 4 x Ps, 4 x Bd, 4 x Ax, 2 x Sp based at Hispalus.

Propraetor’s column: 4 x Cv, 4 x Ps, 4 x Bd, 4 x Ax, 2 x Sp based at Baria.

Citerior Hispania.

Proconsul’s column: 4 x Cv, 4 x Ps, 4 x Bd, 4 x Ax, 2 x Sp based at Tarraco.

Propraetor’s column: 4 x Cv, 4 x Ps, 4 x Bd, 4 x Ax, 2 x Sp based at Sagunto.

197 BC

March (Roman player)

In photo three, the cards dealt for the Roman player are displayed. The proconsul of Citerior Hispania has the option to play the diplomacy phase and does wishing to create a “Friend of Rome” (shown in photo four). The negotiation falls on deaf ears as the local tribal leader kindly says no thank you (photo five).

Cards are discarded and new ones drawn for the next phase.  

Photo three

Photo four

Photo five

Miffed,  Rome attempts to gather revenue in a nearby region but is not successful, in fact Citerior Hispania has lost by suspicious means revenue as the Spanish player successfully counters the Roman bid (photo six).

A counter is placed in the province to signify its loss.

Photo six

In phase three, as each column is well supplied, both Roman players will pass this phase but discard one low value card and replace it with a new card as seen in photo seven.

Photo seven

The last phase also does not offer any possible bid, therefore both Roman players discard one more card and draw a new one.

March (Spanish player)

Spain has no armies in the field at the moment so her strategy at this time is to undermine any gains produced by Rome or impede army movement by sabotaging her supply. Photo nine display the cards for the Spanish player.

Photo nine

With nothing to lose, Spain will raise rebellion in the area of Baetica (southern Hispania) to impede the Proconsul’s column. In photo ten, the Roman player cannot counter with the proper suite and now confronts its first hostile tribe.

Photo ten

Spain attempts some skulduggery to inflict lost revenue for Rome, embezzlement was a favourite pastime back then (photo eleven). Rome losses the bid and a counter is placed on the map to be covered by an embarrassed Roman player’s cards.

Photo eleven

In the third phase, both Spanish players hope to inflict damage on Rome’s supply and this is successfully done in the Ebro valley (photo twelve). The Roman player in the south is happy to have saved his supply column as he now faces a hostile tribe.

Photo twelve

Spain is intent on giving battle against the Roman column in the south and will attempt to use a stratagem. Unfortunately, the attempt is foiled (photo thirteen) but the Spanish will meet Rome in the field.

Photo thirteen

Battle report will follow. 

Project Rome – Spanish armies in battle array.

The Iberian, Celtiberian and Lusitanian armies are complete and ready to do battle against any consular army foolish enough to wander into the interior of Hispania. 

This is the nice aspect of maintaining a blog as a form of documentation as I read when these projects start and when collections are completed. This project began on the first of May and four weeks later Sometimes I surprise even myself during these spurts of painting; eight days – four armies.

The Iberian.

1st Command

2nd Command

The sub-list for the Iberians offer either the 3Ax or 4Ax option and rather than debate which to select a collection was made for both. There are many collections and illustrations to be found on the Internet and I decided to paint the Celtiberian in “dazzling white” and the remaining three in muted earth tones. The shields were painted in similar tones of browns, orange and scarlet.

The Celtiberian.

In the Macedonian and Punic War book by Duncan Head, the Celtiberian were noted for their white tunics and scarlet/red plumes. The shield pattern was kept simple, two colour blocked off with white or black line and no lozenge pattern. This gave the 3Bd a business like appearance.

The Lusitanian.

These should have the smaller round shield and were the result of hurriedly placing an order before reading the book, but they are organized as per the Lusitanian sub-list and will be put through their paces until such time a replacement order will be made. These will be re-based as a third Iberian army when that moment arrives. 

On the march.  

In battle array.

Next week, I can start on a few terrain pieces.

Project Rome – Celtiberian and Lusitanian armies.

The two Iberian armies are complete and ready for battle. Today I have begun painting the last two armies; the Celtiberian and Lusitanian.

The Spanish are well covered in Duncan Head’s, the Armies of the Macedonian and Punic Wars and constantly reviewing the text I try to visualize colour themes that would help separate the four armies.

The Celtiberian figures from Old Glory are right out of Duncan’s book, brass helmet, plume, sinew greaves and oval shield. All have cloak which should be painted black and from the depictions I have seen, the shields would have shield patterns not unlike the other armies. Tunics are described by Livy as “dazzling white” with purple borders which I just may use as the first two Iberian armies are multi-coloured.

The Lusitanian figures will follow a similar colour selection as the Iberians; sober wool tunics of grey, brown, and olive so as not to compete with the brighter shield colour of reds, oranges and light brown.

At this tempo I should finish these two by the end of the week.

In the introduction of the second edition Macedonian and Punic Wars, the author acknowledges the increase of material brought to light by Fernando Quesada Sanz regarding the armament and fighting style of the Spanish; they were more than prepared to take the to field and fight Rome in a similar style, but lacked the discipline to sustain gains made in battle.  

Project Rome - Play Testing the Campaign..

I just finished play testing a complete campaign year and the results exceeded my expectations. Through the course of ten months (February to November) events for both sides moved as though on a roller coaster – up and down.

Rome opened the campaign year well, splitting the army in two wings with each operating for the first months independent from one another and the goal was to join forces after the summer to consolidate their strength. In that time both consul and praetor would try to create as many “friends of Rome” as odds are other tribes could turn hostile.

Using the card system went better than expected as after playing a phase meant drawing new cards which offered both sides an opportunity to play a few phases per turn; this livened up the game considerably.

Spanish strategy was rather simple, wait for Rome to blunder before making a move. The consul did this rather well as his flair for diplomacy failed on two occasions which had tribes hopping about. The consul’s wing was mauled twice with the last engagement resulting from an ambush set by two Spanish tribes, this essentially destroyed his force.

As Spanish tribes could not initiate any military movement until their status reached a hostile state, they could exercise their diplomatic skills which did prove effective in eliminating revenue producing areas within Hispania Ulterior. Each province has ten regions that produce revenue and four of these were lost during the consuls’ term. 

From the Senate's report, two regions in Lusitania were conquered by Rome but were retaken later in the year, two major defeats resulting in the loss of half the consular army and the loss of revenue for Hispania Ulterior would mean new lots would be cast for the coming year for two new positions.    

Play testing will continue for the coming month and possibly by early summer this should be on file at the Fanaticus Resource page.

Cheers, 

Project Rome - The Iberians

The Old Glory order of Spanish arrived yesterday afternoon and these are enough to build two Iberian armies, one using the 3Ax option and the other, 4Ax, one Celtiberian and one Lusitanian. I am pleased that these arrived earlier than expected and quickly cleaned, based and undercoated the two Iberians commands.

Painting these two should not take long as I had been preparing for their arrival gathering painting information, searching the internet for photos of inspiring collections and of course background information. The “solid” troops will have more white tunics among the figures, possibly 60% and to contrast these, the second command will have a variety of earth and blue colour.

The cavalry and light infantry figures were cast with javelins in contact with either their helmet or their shoulders. These were freed and reset in a different position which gives a better impression of variety. They are great castings despite that one shortcoming.

I have been following a Spanish TV drama called Hispania, the Legend which follows the life of Viriatho from shepherd to rebellion leader. Watching the series has given me ample ideas for clothing colour. 

Project Rome – the campaign system

This campaign system has been adapted from the Witcher game and omitting the fantasy elements the rules have been streamlined for ancients use. This newer version used the “war of fire” as coined by Polybius of Megalopolis (The Histories) as its theme and offered an opportunity to improve the conflict resolution and to enhance it with the addition of stratagems.

Armies may move each turn and are only restricted by the type of terrain they move through. No die is used to influence activity or control as this has been replaced by a card system which allow players to outwit their opponent on four different levels. The numbered cards and face cards have a value and each turn (month) players try to accumulate enough points to confront their opponent and gain an advantage over their opponent in the areas of diplomacy, revenue, supply or movement. As cards are drawn from a standard card deck players will have to adapt their strategies to the cards they hold and make fresh plans.

Any encounters between opposing armies on the map are resolved on the game board using DBA 3.0; the winner holding the square and the loser vacating it. Those of you who have played the previous DBA 2.2 are aware that battles may not always involve equal number of element and therefore, optional rules are offered to  allow players to use stratagems such as flank marches, ambushes, deployment advantages and time of day to fight their battles on the game board; these will certainly add fuel to the “fiery war”.    

This project’s original design was to refine the Witcher campaign rules and it has served its purpose well. As an ancient campaign set this can easily be adapted for other areas or periods of history involving conquest, rebellion, and political prestige.    

Next post, play testing the campaign rules. 

Project Rome – the campaign maps for Hispania.

There are four maps together which form the Iberian Peninsula, the lower half are the two Roman provinces of Hispania Ulterior and Hispania Citerior. All map squares outside the provinces are occupied by Spanish tribes representing one of the three DBA sub-lists; Iberian, Celtiberian or Lusitanian. An order, recently placed will give me four armies, one for each of the three sub-lists and an additional Iberian one using the 3Ax option in place of 4Ax.

The campaign is designed as a two player game, one taking the role of Roman commander for Hither Spain (lower right corner) but having a dual role commanding the Lusitanian/Iberian tribes located in the upper left hand map and a second player commands the tribes of Celtiberia/Iberia with a dual role as Roman commander for Farther Spain. The length of term for serving consuls was one year, so players take exchange quadrants allowing both players to have operating in each map quadrant during a two year period. As consular armies were responsible for their provinces combining armies was not possible due to the distances involve and likewise, rivalry among the Spanish tribes made cooperation a very rare occurrence. 

The total score will determine which player served Rome or Hispania better. With four players, each begins in one quadrant and rotates in a clockwise direction each year. At the end of four years, scores are tallied to determine who was the better Roman or Spanish player; the Roman player earning a triumph and the Spanish player having a TV drama series named after him two millennium later.  

Each square is annotated with the topographical grouping as specified in DBA 3.0 and this means Hispania will have mostly hilly and steppe (plateau), forest and some arable terrain. As previously mentioned, each consular army can be split to operate separately from the main command and historically this was done on many occasions. 

Project Rome - The Campaigns in Hispania, 179 BC to 104 BC.

179 BC
The offices of Tiberius Sempronius and Lucius Postumius were extended another year with the same armies and reinforcements were enlisted; of the Romans, three thousand foot and three hundred horse, and of the Latine allies, five thousand foot and four hundred horse. – Book XL, XLIV.

The proprætors, Lucius Postumius and Tiberius Sempronius settled between them that Albinus should march through Lusitania against the Vaccæans and return to Celtiberia. Gracchus was sent investigate the situation in Celtiberia. – Book XL, XLVII.

Gracchus marched to the city of Alce, where the Celtiberians were camped. In this action, nine thousand of the enemy were killed, and three hundred and twenty taken, with an hundred and twelve horses, and thirty-seven military ensigns.  – Book XL, XLVIII.

After this battle, Gracchus ravaged the country of Celtiberia and in a few days received the submission of an hundred and three towns. – Book XL, XLIX.

Ergavia, terrified by the disasters of the surrounding states, opened its gates to the Romans. Not all submissions were made with sincerity, but whenever the legions were led away from any quarter of the country the natives resumed their arms. The Celtiberians were defeated and concluded a peace. Lucius Postumius fought two battles in the farther Spain with the Vaccæans. – Book XL, L.

178 BC
In the distribution of the provinces Marcus Titinius received Hither Spain and the Farther Spain went to Titus Fonteius Capito. - Book XLI, I.

Two triumphs for conquests in Spain were successively celebrated; the first to Sempronius Gracchus triumph over the Celtiberians and the second Lucius Postumius over the Lusitanians. – Book XL, VII.

177 BC
The consuls were ordered to send into Spain, to Marcus Titinius, one legion, with three hundred horse, and five thousand foot, and three hundred horse of the allies. - Book XLI, IX.

176 BC
It was ordered that Marcus Titinius and Titus Fonteius, proconsuls, should remain in Spain and be sent reinforcements totalling three thousand Roman foot with three hundred horse and five hundred Latine foot, with three hundred horse. – Book XLI, XV.

174 BC
New assignments for Spain; Cneius Servilius Cæpio would receive Farther Spain and to Publius Furius Philus, Hither Spain. —to each, three thousand Roman foot, with one hundred and fifty horse, and five thousand Latine foot with three hundred horse. – Book XLI, XXI.

In Spain, the Celtiberians on the arrival of Appius Claudius made attack on the Roman camp.  Before the second hour, they were driven from the field with the loss of fifteen thousand dead and thirty-two standards taken. - Book XLI, XXVI.

At the end of the year, a thanksgiving was awarded to Appius Claudius, proconsul. – Book XLI, XXVIII.

173 BC
New troops for Spain, three thousand Roman foot and two hundred horse. - Book XLII, I.

Numerius Fabius on his way to take office in Hither Spain, died at Marseilles. Publius Furius, the former governor, would continue until a replacement is chosen.  – Book XLII, IV.

172 BC
The prætors for Spain applied for reinforcement; Marcus Junius for Hither Spain and Spurius Lucretius for the Farther and both were denied. – Book  XLII, X.

170 BC
During the year in which Aulus Hostilius Mancinus and Aulus Atilius Serranus were consuls, the Celtiberians raised disturbances in Spain. - Book XLIII, IV.

169 BC
The senate voted to raise three thousand Roman foot and three hundred horse for Spain. The number of men in each legion was limited to five thousand foot and three hundred and thirty horse. In addition, four thousand foot and three hundred horse would be levied from the allies. – Book XLIII, XII.

167 BC
The senate decreed that Spain, which, during the Macedonian war, had been but one province should be again formed into two. Lots were drawn for which Cneius Fulvius received Hither Spain, and Caius Licinius Nerva, Farther Spain - Book XLV, XVI.

- Here follow only fragments of ninety-five books or more.- 

151 BC
The war in Spain discouraged the citizens of Rome as it was thought that the consul Claudius Marcellus had reduced Celtiberia to a state of tranquility. His successor, Lucius Lucullus found himself is engaged in war with the Vaccæans, Cantabrians and other nations of Spaniards. The prætor, Servius Sulpicius Galba, fights the Lusitanians unsuccessfully. – Book unknown.

149 BC
Lucius Scribonius, tribune of the people, proposed that the Lusitanians who had surrendered on the faith of the Roman people and had been sold in Gaul, by Servius Galba, should be restored to liberty. - Book XLIX, unknown.

145 BC
Viriathus, in Spain, a shepherd and later general of a powerful army, vanquished the prætor, Petillius out of Lusitania and put his army to flight. Caius Plautius, prætor, sent against him; is equally unsuccessful. So successful was Viriathus that it was deemed necessary to send a consular army, against him. – Book L, unknown.

142 BC
Quintus Fabius, proconsul, takes many cities of Lusitania, and recovers the greatest part of that country.
- Book unknown.

141 BC
Quintus Pompeius, consul, subdues the Termestines, in Spain; makes peace with them and with the Numantians. – Book LIV, unknown.

138 BC
Marcus Popillius, having made peace with the Numantines, which the senate refused to ratify, is routed, and his whole army put to flight. – Book LV, unknown.

136 BC
In the Farther Spain: Marcus Æmilius Lepidus engages the Vaccæans, unsuccessfully, and is as unfortunate as Mancinus was against the Numantines. – Book LVI, unknown.

135 BC
The war in Numantia, owing to the ill conduct of the generals continues; the senate and people voluntarily confer the consulship upon Scipio Africanus. The law, which prohibits any man from being elected consul a second time, is dispensed with. – Book LVI, unknown.

133 BC
Scipio Africanus lays siege to Numantia. Reduced to strict discipline the army compelling every man carries provisions for thirty days and seven stakes for their fortifications. Further, Scipio sold all the beasts of burden so that the soldiers might be forced to carry their own baggage. He engaged in frequent skirmishes with the enemy, with good success. The Vaccæans, being reduced to extremity, first, put their wives and children to death, and then slew themselves. Numantia was closely invested on all sides, he gave orders, that those who came out, in search of victuals, should not be killed: saying, that the more numerous the inhabitants were, the sooner would their provisions be consumed. – Book LVII, unknown.

104 BC
The Cimbrians, having ravaged all the country between the Rhine and the Pyrenees, pass into Spain; where they continue like depredations. The Cimbrians are put to flight by the Celtiberians: and returning into Gaul, they join the Teutons. – Book LXVII, unknown.

Project Rome - The Campaigns in Hispania 193 BC to 181 BC.

Timeline Campaigns in Hispania

Livy, History of Rome

193 BC.
Tribes resume hostilities after the departure of Marcus Cato; these conflicts were contained by Sextus Digitius, prætor of Hither Spain, though some with unfavourable results. Publius Cornelius Scipio, son of Cneius gained success on the other side of the Iberus. - Book XXXV, I.

Caius Flaminius took Ilucia of the Oretanians, while Marcus Fulvius fought a pitched battle and gained victory against the Vaccæans, Vectonians, and Celtiberians near the town of Toletum.  - Book XXXV, VII.

192 BC.
Lots were cast and Marcus Bæbius Tamphilus receives Hither Spain; and Marcus Atilius Serranus, Farther Spain. . Flaminius and Fulvius continue their commands. . - Book XXXV, XX.

Caius Flaminius takes Litabrum and captures Corribilo while Marcus Fulvius is victorious capturing the towns of Vescelia and Holo. – Book XXXV, XXII.

191 BC
 Lucius Æmilius Paullus, assigned to Farther Spain, took over the command of Marcus Fulvius, pro-praetor. Three thousand newly raised foot and three hundred horse, of whom two-thirds should be Latine allies, accompanied Paulus from Italy.  - Book XXXVI, II.

190 BC
The present pro-consuls of the two Spains were to continue command for another year and keep the same armies. - Book XXXVII, II.

The army, under the command of Lucius Æmilius, proconsul, had been defeated in a battle with the Lacitanians near the town of Lycon, in the country of the Vastitans, leaving six thousand Romans dead. The remainder, by long marches fled back to friendly country. – Book XXXVII, XLVI.

189 BC
Lucius Bæbius was given reinforcements of one thousand Roman foot and fifty horse with six thousand Latine foot and two hundred horse, so each of the Spains would have a full legion. – Book XXXVII, L.

New lots were cast and Lucius Manlius received Hither Spain and Caius Antinius, Farther Spain.
- Book XXXVIII, XXXV.

187 BC
Both Caius Atinius and Lucius Manlius sent dispatches informing Rome of rebellion in Celtiberia and Lusitania, however, the senate delayed action until the new elections. - Book XXXIX, VII.

186 BC
On the praetors casting lots for their provinces, Quintius Crispinus was given Hither Spain and Caius Calpurnius Piso, Farther Spain. – Book XXXIX, VIII.

By decree of the senate, two new legions were raised to which twenty thousand foot, and one thousand three hundred horse would come from the allies and Latines.  – Book XXXIX, XX.
In Hither Spain, Lucius Manlius Acidinus fought a battle with the Celtiberians ending in a draw. The Celtiberians, reinforced attacked the Romans near the town of Calaguris. – Book XXXIX, XXI.

185 BC
This year Caius Calpurnius and Lucius Quintius, the two prætors in Spain, left winter quarters and assembled at Bæturia. Near towns of Hippo and Toletum, a fight developed between the foraging parties which escalated to an irregular battle ending with both Roman armies routed. – Book XXXIX, XXX.

184 BC
New assignments, the consuls Aulus Terentius Varro received Hither Spain and Publius Sempronius Longus, Farther Spain. The senate decreed that the prætors should enlist four thousand Roman foot and four hundred horse with five thousand foot, and five hundred horse of the Latine confederates to take with them to Spain. - Book XXXIX, XXXVIII.

In Farther Spain, the Lusitanians, weakened by their losses remained quiet. In Hither Spain, Aulus Terentius besieged and took the town of Corbia, in Suessetania. – Book XXXIX, XLII.

183 BC
The prætors, who held them the year before would continue for one year more. – Book XXXIX, XLV.

182 BC
The consuls and prætors settled the distribution of their provinces, Marcus Valerius received Hither Spain and Marcus Fulvius Flaccus; Farther Spain. The war still continued with the Celtiberians and in the farther province as a consequence of the long sickness of the prætor, experienced inactivity. New troops were raised for both provinces; four thousand foot and two hundred horse, of Roman citizens; and, of the allies, seven thousand foot, and three hundred horse. – Book XL, I.

Fulvius Flaccus besieged Urbicua in Hither Spain. Despite a relief force of Celtiberians, Fulvius took the town and sent his forces into winter quarters, Publius Manlius did the same.  – Book XL, XVI.

181 BC
In the two Spains, the prætor’s terms were extended and an augmentation was voted for them; three thousand Roman foot, with two hundred horse, and six thousand foot and three hundred horse of the Latine confederates. – Book XL, XVIII.

In the summer the Celtiberians assembled no less than thirty-five thousand men and against these Quintus Fulvius Flaccus marched his army to the town of Æbura in Carpetania. – Book XL, XXX.

Using a flank march to surprise the enemy, Flaccus defeated the Celtiberians; twenty-three thousand were killed, four thousand eight hundred taken prisoner and ninety-eight standards taken.  – Book XL, XXXII.

Flaccus through Carpetania against Contrebia and captured it killing twelve thousand, capturing five thousand and sixty-two standards. Marching through Celtiberia, Flaccus ravaged the country and reduced a great number of forts. – Book XL, XXXIII.

In the farther province, Manlius fought several successful battles with the Lusitanians. – Book XL, XXXIV.

New lots were cast; Lucius Postumius would receive Farther Spain and Tiberius Sempronius, Hither Spain. The senate awarded a thanksgiving for the peace in Hispania and new legions would be raised to replace those in the two Spains. Number of troops fell short due to the pestilence raging through Italy for the third year.  – Book XL, XXXVI.

Before the arrival of his replacement, Fulvius left his winter quarters to lay waste the farther part of Celtiberia, whose inhabitants had not come in to make submission - Book XL, XXXIX.

Fulvius, embarking the disbanded soldiers in the fleet, set sail for Rome, while Sempronius led the legions into Celtiberia. – Book XL, XL.

Part two.

Project Rome – about the timeline.

To design a campaign and scenarios based on the events in Hispania I have sorted out 20 pages of notes from Livy’s History of Rome, primarily from volumes five and six. These volumes cover the period from 193 BC to 166 BC and up to 105 BC there are only fragments of ninety-five books.

Livy is methodical in his recording the proconsuls and their assignments to each of the two provinces and he gives also the number troops raised as new legions to to replace serving legions operating in the two Spain's. Do be aware that assignments to the provinces were for a term of one year and in rare situations could the term be extended for another year. To add to the confusion, many offices were held by prestigious families so we encounter similar names but are actually different persons.

Further, it is possible to encounter the names of four officials in Spain and this is due to a proconsul (governor) assisted by a praetor, and if necessary, both might serve in the field. In these cases, each Spain would have a consular army serving in it. In a previous post, I described the consular army comprised to two Roman Legions and two Latine legions; split between two commanders this would give a reasonable sized force of 10,000 to deal most tribal forces.

In those rare moments when Hispania did experience peace Rome was vigilant to take advantage of the situation by reducing the two districts (Hither and Farther) to make as one and subsequently reducing the military forces serving there.

Rome fielded armies comprised of citizen militia augmented with Latin auxiliaries and as such, these troops served for a year which meant a regular rotation of new recruits to replace those who have completed their terms. Of interest are the numbers quoted for Latin troops as being higher than those of the Roman legions; this may be due to the need for troops to fight in the many mountainous regions of Spain. In addition to the numbers of Roman and Latine troops we encounter the term “auxiliaries”, which I read as loyal troops coming from the pro-Roman provinces in Spain.

Peace treaties did not last long and we read that several years may pass before another chieftain rallies neighboring tribes to take up arms against Rome. Rome or more correctly certain consuls were at times responsible for acerbating the situation by their over zealous methods in maintaining order.

Following the 2nd Punic War to the rise of Marius, historians have grouped many of the small conflicts into the three major wars; the first Celtiberian war, the Numantine War and the second Celtiberian war. Which ever name given, the conflict following the 2nd Punic War was continuous and tenacious which would not be resolved until the reign of Augustus Caesar.

Source: By Hispania_1a_division_provincial.PNG: Hispaderivative work: Jkwchui - This file was derived from  Hispania 1a division provincial.PNG:, GPL, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=19980233

Tomorrow, the Timeline Hispania 193 BC to 180 BC (part one).

Project Rome – consular legions completed.

As you can see, the colour scheme for the Consular army is very basic, red shields for the Roman troops and white for the Latin ones. Marching toward their enemy these look the business as all the troops have white tunics and black plumes, only the shield colour and shape of the plumes mark any distinction between the two.

From on my experience with French and Austrian SYW troops, I gave a thin coat of grey to those areas that would become and applying white as a highlight this gave a subtle impression of depth to what otherwise would seem flat.

The ground work for all the troops was done at the same time to bring an even appearance. This time, using less electrostatic grass to cover the ground (less than 30%), I exposed more surface to take the tufts. The German company, Noch, have repackaged their grass tufts offering two colour types which saved a good deal of time when fixing these to the bases.

I am pleased with the result and am already thinking about adding a dozen more elements; more Latini infantry and cavalry. Reading Livy’s coverage of the Spanish campaigns I find more Latin troops present among the consular armies. This slight rectification will have to wait until after the Spanish are done.

Photos:

The right wing.

The left wing.

Battle array of the Consular Army.

Setting off against the enemy.

Marching to their respective destinations, Hispania Citerior and Hispania Ulterior.  

Project Rome – the allied legions.

The second Roman legion is painted and will be varnished tonight. All in all, the tempo is moving along which can mean one of two things, I am looking forward to using these or the music playing in the background really grooves. Maybe it’s both.

Between painting spurts I have cleaned and based the final half of the consular army, the Latin legions.

The DBA 3.0 army lists give the Polybian player the option to choose either “fast” 3Ax or “solid” 4Ax for the Latin troops. I selected the 4Ax option for my Hispanic campaign as Livy mentions the addition of mercenaries raised to fill the mobile role.

Old Glory offer allied infantry and cavalry and calculating what was needed, I ordered seven packs; one Roman command, one each Roman and allied cavalry, one each Roman velites, hastati and principes and one allied triarii. After allotting the figures to their proper legions, extra Roman figures were used to fill the vacant allied ranks; there being little difference in weaponry, and I replaced the pilum for spear to convert eight principes to  triarii.  

All Roman figures used for the Latin legions were given plumage built up from Milliput to give them a uniform appearance.  Bottom line, every figure ordered is now used for the consular army. I need order one general officer to base with four foot command figures to make the third commander.

Armies of the Macedonian and Punic Wars by Duncan Head

I recently ordered by copy from Amazon UK and am very pleased with the new format; I do hope the other books will follow in the same manner. The book is more compact than the older WRG publications and the printing is now larger which would account for the increased number of pages (353). There are two introductions, the one for 2016 is 11 pages long and details the significant changes based on research over the past 30 years. The supplementary bibliography also reflects additional research done over the same time period, I for one I am grateful for the extra references of use for this project.

Cheers,  

Project Rome - post 2nd Punic War

First Roman Legion done.

This legion is finished and ready for varnishing. While drying I will continue painting the second Roman legion using the same colour scheme; red-brown shields with no emblazons, white tunics and black plumes. Using efficient and economical brush strokes the second legion should be done in two days.  

I have not had a paint brush in my hand during the month of writing for the Witcher project and it is surprising how quickly painting skills become slack. I imagine by the time I finish the Latin legions I should be up to speed. 

I decided not to paint the tunics red, but white which will have the plumes and shield stand out and keeping to one shield colour will help unify the collection. 

One more Roman legion and a general (Cv) will bring the total number of completed elements to the half way mark. I shall be ordering the Hispanic figures next week.  

Cheers,