More Samnite Cavalry

 

Here are some more Samnite Cavalry that I've finally finished painting. The figures are all Crusader Miniatures, a mixture of armoured and unarmoured riders, with LBM shield transfers. They're nice figures that paint up well but not quite as good as the Aventine ones I painted a few years ago. I still have quite a few infantry figures to paint for this army.

Samnites versus Camillan Romans Midgard Game

 

Romans deployed

Samnites deployed

Forces advance

Samnite cavalry on the right flank

Equites charge, Samnite cavalry countercharge

Last Sunday Gary, Rick and I met down at the Vikings Club in Lanyon for the Canberra Regional Wargames Group's monthly meeting. We played a Samnites versus Camillan Romans Midgard game. I commanded the Samnites, who were the attackers, and Gary and Rick commanded the Romans. The two forces advanced cautiously, opting to advance in single moves to avoid breaking up the line. There was the usual cavalry combat on both flanks, when the equites charged and the Samnite cavalry countercharged. 

The Romans won the cavalry combat but were at half strength leaving them with limited options. In the centre the skirmishers exchanged missile fire, the Samnite javelin men and slingers charged and managed to destroy three Roman leves units. The Samnite infantry charged and had some initial success, even accounting for the equites on the Roman left flank. The Roman infantry were eventually able to win the combats and once the Linen Legion on the Samnite left flank broke, the Samnites had lost their last reputation token.

Cavalry combat on both flanks

Samnite cavalry are destroyed

Linen legion guard the flank

Linen legion break on the left flank

Roman equites break but the Samnites have lost

Samnites versus Etruscans Midgard Game

 

Deployment from the Etruscan side

From the Samnite side

Etruscan right flank and centre

Etruscan left flank and centre

Samnite left flank and centre

Samnite right flank and centre

Etruscan cavalry charge on their left flank,
Samnite cavalry countercharge

Same thing on the Etruscan right flank

On Monday afternoon I played a solo Samnites versus Etruscans Midgard game out in the shed. The two sides were very similar, the Samnites were the attackers and the Etruscans the defenders. The Etruscan cavalry charged on both flanks and the Samnites countercharged. The Samnite cavalry eventually destroyed both Etruscan cavalry units but one of the remaining Samnite cavalry units at half strength was then destroyed by missile fire from Etruscan slingers. Once the infantry closed in combat the game became even more hard fought with no clear advantage to either side. In the end I called time as a draw with the Samnites on three remaining reputation tokens and the Etruscans four.

Samnite cavalry are victorious on their right flank

Combat continues on the Etruscan right flank

Etruscan slingers destroy the Samnite cavalry

Etruscan cavalry are at half strength

Samnite and Etruscan infantry slog it out

Game ends as a hard fought draw

Samnite Linen Legion

 

Here are some Samnites from the archives, the Linen Legion described by Livy in his The History of Rome (Book 10.38.12.), who fought at the Battle of Aquilonia during the Third Samnite War:

...when the leading Samnites had been bound by this imprecation, the general named ten of them and bade them choose every man another, and so to proceed until they had brought up their number to sixteen thousand. These were named the "Linen Legion," from the roof of the enclosure wherein the nobles had been sworn, and were given splendid arms and crested helmets, to distinguish them from the rest.

https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0155%3Abook%3D10%3Achapter%3D38

These are all Crusader Miniatures figures that I painted about nine years ago. I have a Pen and Sword book on the Third Samnite War by Mike Roberts but haven't read it yet!

Last Sunday we went on a camping trip to Barrington Tops and Ganguddy-Dunns Swamp, near Rylestone in the Wollemi National Park. Below are a few pics from our trip.

Creek crossings at Barrington Tops
were high after all the rain

Beech Forest Walk 

Thunderbolts Lookout

Soggy camping at Polblue Swamp

Brumbies

Polblue Swamp creek

A wallaby

The Firs, Barrington Tops

Campsite at Ganguddy-Dunns Swamp

Dammed Cudgegong River

Pagoda Lookout

The Weir was built in 1921 to provide
water for the Kandos Cement Factory

Samnite Cavalry

 

Here's another post from the archives. These are armoured Samnite cavalry by Aventine Miniatures with LBM shield transfers. I still have more cavalry to paint for my Samnite army, mainly Crusader and A&A Miniatures.