Here are two more Numidian elephants and crew that I've just finished painting. The figures are by Crusader Miniatures. Below are a few comparison shots with the Victrix Numidian elephants. I still have more infantry and Victrix Numidian cavalry with zebra and giraffe hide shield transfers to paint but a game with them isn't too far off.
Here are some Numidian infantry that I've just finished painting. The larger unit are trained Numidian infantry by Victrix Miniatures with Victrix shield transfers. The smaller unit are Numidian javelin men by Renegade Miniatures with cattle and elephant hide shields that are hand painted. Most of my remaining unpainted Numidian infantry are Renegade and Crusader Miniatures. I have plenty of cavalry but still have quite a bit of infantry and two Crusader Numidian elephants to finish painting for the army. I should have enough infantry figures to try out a Jugurthine War, Numidians versus Late Republican Romans game.
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| Initial deployment from the Roman side |
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| Initial deployment from the Numidian side |
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| Numidian cavalry advance |
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| Romans advance in the centre |
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| Numidians play a mounted charge card |
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| Romans advance on their left |
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| Labienus attacks with his cavalry in the centre |
Last Sunday afternoon I played a solo Command and Colors Ancients game out in the shed. The scenario was Ruspina 46 BC with Julius Caesar's foraging party fighting a Numidian army commanded by his former lieutenant Labienus. I used Roman cavalry for Labienus' Gallic and German cavalry and for Caesar's cavalry as I thought they may well have been armed with Roman equipment. I was a bit short of painted Numidian javelinmen so I used Libyan javelinmen instead. Labienus' Numidians have five command cards and move first while Caesar's Romans have six command cards but are heavily outnumbered.
This proved to be quite an absorbing and close game. The unknown author of the African War describes the battle:
Caesar was confronted with a new type of battle tactics. He realized that his men's ranks were thrown into disorder whenever they made a charge: when his infantry ran forward too far from their standards in pursuing the enemy cavalry, they exposed their unprotected side and were wounded by the javelins thrown by nearby Numidians. By contrast, the enemy horsemen with their speed easily avoided the soldiers' throwing-spears. So Caesar sent an order through the ranks that no soldier was to move more than four feet ahead of his standard. Meanwhile, Labienus' cavalry, relying on their large numbers, were trying to surround Caesar's small force. As a result, the few Julian cavalry-worn out by the enemy's huge numbers, and their horses covered with wounds-started to give ground little by little while the enemy pursued harder and harder. So, in just a moment, all the legionnaires were surrounded by the enemy's cavalry, and Caesar's forces were driven into a ring formation. Penned up in this way, they were all forced to fight in a very confined space.
The Landmark Julius Caesar The Complete Works, African War 13.15, edited and translated by Kurt A Raaflaub, p.553. Anchor Books, New York, 2019.
In my game the Romans were hampered by rubbish cards and at one stage had three right sector cards and a mounted charge card, none of which they were able to use! The Numidians were able to wear the Romans down by shooting and Labienus' cavalry were able to finish off the job. The Romans counter attacked and destroyed some Numidian cavalry, killing their leader Petreius. The Numidians attacked on their left flank and also targeted the lone Roman light infantry bow unit. The Roman archers were able to evade and survive for a time but eventually ran out of space and were forced to retreat off the board and were destroyed as a result. It was a hard fought win for Labienus' Numidians, 5-4 victory banners.
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| Romans have rubbish cards! |
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| Labienus' cavalry destroy legionary cohorts in the centre |
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| Labienus' cavalry destroy legionary cohorts on the Roman left flank |
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| Romans destroy Numidian cavalry, killing their leader Petreius |
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| Numidians attack on their left flank |
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| Roman light bow infantry are their other target |
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| They evade successfully but are running out of space |
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| Roman light bow infantry retreat of the board and are destroyed, Numidians win a hard fought game 5-4 victory banners |
Here are some Numidian slingers, archers and cavalry that I've just finished painting. The slingers and archers are Renegade Miniatures and the cavalry are Warlord Games. I only have infantry left to do for my Numidians, so will finish some units of these and hopefully get a game in soon.
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| Numidians and Romans deployed |
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| Numidian cavalry advance on the left flank |
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| View from the Roman side |
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| Numidian cavalry on the right flank fail to move |
On Wednesday afternoon I went over to Rick's place for a game of Strength and Honour, the new set of ancient rules by Mark Backhouse, published by the Too Fat Lardies under Reisswitz Press. These cover from the Marian reforms (about 107 BC) until about 200 AD and are designed for smaller scale figures (2mm to 15mm). We played the Bagradas River 49 BC Roman Civil war scenario (pp. 98-99) with Numidians under Saburra taking on a Caesarian Roman force commanded by Curio. We used Rick's 6mm figures on 40mm square bases, he was the attacker with the Romans and and I was the defender with the Numidians.
We bumbled our way through our first game, a familiar experience but we both enjoyed it. The Numidians routed two Roman units, the skirmishers and cavalry, and looked to be well placed but a couple of bad dice rolls for the Numidian spearmen and the army was broken. Rick revealed his cards afterwards and he was broken too, the timing of the 'Homunculus Est' activation call is fairly critical! This is where the combined tally of setback and disaster cards is revealed on request to your opponent.
There's always quite a bit to absorb with any new set of rules, and it can take a while before everything is clear, so plenty to ponder for future games. Strength and Honour are quite innovative, but concise with fifty nine pages of actual rules, the remaining forty odd pages covering campaigns, scenarios and army lists. The photos are excellent, lots of lovely 2mm troops, terrain and tables. They're well supported by videos on YouTube, a Facebook group and a dedicated forum on the Too Fat Lardies website. Warbases sell the Antonine Miniatures 2mm ancient ranges developed for these rules, which are very nice and surprisingly detailed for the scale. I'm really looking forward to painting some of these packs.
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| Roman cavalry charge the Spanish and Gallic bodyguard |
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| Combat result is a grind, both sides are pushed back |
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| Romans call Homunculus Est but Numidians' break point is 13 |
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| Numidian spearmen rout |
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| Numidians break this time |
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| Warlord King Juba I figure |
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| Crusader Numidian Prince |
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| A&A Numidian cavalry command |
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| Victrix Numidian cavalry command |
I thought I do a review of the Numidian command stands and cavalry I have painted to date. Some of these figures had lost spears and shields while others required some touching up. I still have some Warlord Numidian cavalry to finish painting but have mainly infantry to do for my army now.
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| Gripping Beast Numidian cavalry |
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| Crusader Numidian cavalry |
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| A&A and Foundry Numidian cavalry |
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| Victrix Numidian cavalry |
Here are some Norman Milites from the archives. These are mainly Conquest Games Norman plastic cavalry with two Crusader Miniatures figure...
