Six more auxiliary cavalry

Well, I finished off my second group of six equites for my cohors equitata, and the rain held off long enough for me to varnish them. My DIY augury (would I see sparrows or magpies first if I looked out of the kitchen window?) worked for me. I shall continue to put out food for the sparrows.

I don't really need a tubicen but seeing as arms with a tuba (the Latin word for a trumpet) are included on the Victrix sprues, it seemed a shame to just ignore them. Similarly, I used an optio head for one of the equites, just for variety. I don't need an optio equitum either, but he looks nice in the group.

For a bit more variety, I have chosen a sword arm for one of these equites, and you will note that the middle one of these is wearing scale armour rather than mail. This is because each sprue in the set has one body in scale lorica, so it has to be used for ordinary troopers as well as leaders to make the most of the available models.

I have also chosen to give this group blue neckerchiefs, for variety. The first group I did have red ones. 

I have seven more horses and riders left (because I bought an extra pair of sprues on ebay to give me 20 equites in total), so I'll get them made up at some point, but I have no urgent need for them. When they are done, I'll have a second leader and one more group of six equites.

Auxiliary cavalry

Wow, this was a rush job! I was worried that they wouldn't be finished ready for this afternoon. I couldn't varnish them until this morning because of rain and humidity.

First, we have a group of three Equites and a Decurio, the commander of a turma, that is to say, a group of 30 cavalry.

Here are the remaining three men in my group of six, as required for Infamy, Infamy, including a vexillarius. The standard isn't necessary for the rules, but it makes the unit stand out nicely.

These are intended as the cavalry component of my cohors equitata, the Cohors Primus Syldaviorum Equitata Luperci.

You will notice that their shields don't match those of the cohort's pedites, and that is because LBMS don't make the same design for the slightly smaller Victrix Roman cavalry shields. I suppose I could have cut the edges a bit smaller on some infantry shields, but I decided that the equites of the cohort were distinguished by a separate shield design. In actual fact, we don't know whether all members of a cohort would have carried identical shields anyway. It seems a reasonable assumption, but in the absence of any firm evidence, I think it gives us the opportunity to do what we see fit.

So, for the Cohors Primus Syldaviorum Equitata Luperci, I have decided that the turmae of equites would carry a separate design, which I shall justify by reference to the entirely invented Annales Syldaviorum of the little-known 2nd century writer Lucius Porcus Crustum, himself of Goganian origins, who lived in Istriodunum during the reign of Marcus Aurelius. 

In Book XIV of the Annales, he writes that "the turmae of the cohort of the Brothers of the Wolf were distinguished by their red shields which were decorated with entwined vines in flower, honouring the god Bacchus, Father of the Vines, known as Dionysos Eleutherios by the Greeks and Illyrians".

So, there we have it. Who could possibly disagree with L. Porcus Crustum?

Anyway, I have more cavalry to finish, which I will work on in groups of six, and eventually there will be two more groups and another separate character figure.

Infamy, Infamy

Some people, mainly those of us who are Followers of the Lard, have eagerly been awaiting the arrival of ToofatLardies new rules for large skirmish games set in the Julian and Earlier Imperial Roman periods. Well, the wait is over. Advanced orders are now being taken over on the TooFatLardies website.

The image shown above is the actual artwork for the official rulebook, painted by famous military artist, Chris Collingwood. It is an image called "Breaking the Line AD 73" and represents a battle from the period when Petillius Cerialis campaigned in northern Britain against the Brigantes, Parisi or Carveti in that year. 

All advanced order entries will be entered into a draw to win a signed copy of a highly limited edition print, one of only 10 produced.

You can read all about the rules on the Lard Island blog;

Infamy, Infamy! is a game that will, ultimately, be divided into three parts.  This is the first rule book which covers Rome’s conflicts with the western barbarian between 60 BC and AD 100.  Covered in the rules are lists for Late Republican forces that can be used for Caesar and his campaigns in Gaul and Britannia and against the German tribes raiding across the Rhine.  The Early Imperial Roman lists are perfect for the conquest of Britannia under Claudius and the continuing campaigns through to Agricola’s conquest of the North and beyond.  The British lists cover the period from Caesar’s invasions through to Mons Graupius, including lists for Boudicca’s revolt.  Gallic lists cover the classic period of conquest of the Gallic Wars with the Belgea and Aquitani represented and make every effort to reflect the more advanced culture of the Gauls. The Germans, on the other hand, are the ultimate Barbarians, with lists for the tribes of the Rhineland and those of the dark forests of Germania Magna and for the Batavian Revolt.

I now need to actually make a start on my Victrix Early Imperial Roman Auxiliary Infantry and Cavalry for my planned force, which will represent troops of a Cohors Equitata Quinquagenaria, a mixed auxiliary force of both foot and mounted troops, of the kind that was widely used in the Principate across the Empire, and which was stationed along or near the limes, the borders of the Empire.

Recruited from the peregrini, that is non-citizens living inside the empire, the Auxilia became increasingly important during the 1st and 2nd centuries, with auxiliary cohorts forming at least half of the empire's fighting power in the 2nd century.