Lead Legionaries: Viva Roma - Republican Roman army

My newest painted Saga army - Republican Romans - is a milestone on several levels

Forty-three years ago, I was a 16-year-old kid playing role-playing games once a week at a city recreation center. I made a trip across town on a bus to the one and only game store in town that catered to these different kind of games. It was called The Soldier Shop, and it was an eye-opening experience walking up and down its aisles. I am fairly sure I bought some miniatures for our fantasy role playing games, but on one of the trips, I also picked up a set of rules for ancient miniature battles. I read through them and was like, "Wow! You can fight with whole armies?"

This was my first army I had ever sent off to someone to be painted, and Ted did a great job on them!

None of my friends were interested in that, but I picked up a few packs of 15mm Heritage Miniatures Republican Romans. I put a note in our little newsletter one of the members of our role-playing group cranked out intermittently, seeing if anyone else was interested. Larry Connor, now sadly passed, called me up and said he also owned the same rules. Slowly, I began painting my first-ever miniature army under his coaching.

I touched up both general figures with extra details, and the standard bearers were painted by me

That is world's away from the current gaming scene, but there was an interesting convergence. For Ancients, I play Saga now instead of Wargames Research Group rules (my entry into the field). I recently bought figures for those same Republican Romans more than a year ago when Saga released Age of Hannibal. Still, as months passed, the army seemed to get no closer to the front of the painting queue. I decided to do something I had never done before. I sent the miniatures off to be painted by someone else, paying them $220 to do so. For years, I would say that I would never do that. I enjoy the painting part of the hobby too much, and besides, I'm too much of a cheapskate!

Ted did a great job on the cavalry, too - though I did add in the shield design in micron pens

However, I decided to break new ground and do that mainly because of the painter: Ted Bender. One of our board members in HMGS Great Lakes, Ted recently retired from his job and was essentially painting full-time. I thought I could throw a little business his way. Plus, it seemed a perfect fit. My very first army I ever painted was Republican Romans. The first army I paid Ted to paint was Republican Romans (though 28mm, not 15mm). A weird convergence, 43 years in the making, and now those Romans are ready to take the field.

Ted used shield decals I'd provided for the legionaries and they turned out great, I think!

I do have to be honest. I touched up both the foot warlord and mounted warlord figures. I wanted them to be a little more ornate and their armor a little more fancy. And then it hit me: I hadn't sent away any standard bearers (mainly because I didn't own any). Crap! There was no way I was going to put my Roman warlords on their own bases. I normally have 2-3 figures on my Saga warlords' bases (and often dogs or some other pet, as well). Meticulously, I went through my unpainted 28mm Ancient and Dark Age figures looking for something I could convert into a Roman standard bearer. I found some 28mm Navigator Greek Hoplites in linen cuirass. They would be easy to convert to standard bearers! Plus, both warlord figures were also wearing linen armor. Perfect!

My 'jazzing up' of the warlord was adding details to the linen armor and a pattern to the cloak

So, technically this army is not entirely painted by someone else. Still, for all intents and purposes, it is. The Romans also fulfill that vow I'd made to eventually use shield decals for my "next" army. Ted is a whizz at using shield decals, so I purchased a variety of ones to match the Gripping Beast figures and sent them away with the miniatures. The funny thing is, I tried to use the leftovers that Ted sent back on the standard bearers (who I had given extra Roman shields I had). I STILL can't seem to get the knack of shield decals and gave up. I even watched a YouTube video on applying waterslide decals. Fail!

For my veteran Trairii legionaries, I used the kneeling figures and switched to wire spears

But hey, in one fell swoop my Republican Roman Saga army was done! I did have to base and flock the army, of course. That was a fairly big undertaking, but I was determined to do it all at once. I used my normal method, painting the edges of the base first, then painting the base with a 50/50 mix of white glue and brown paint. The stand is then dipped in fine brown ballast. After drying, I dab the top of the base with 50/50 white glue and water. I sprinkle on Woodland Scenics blended Turf. The next step is to put the first clearcoat spray using Testor's Dullcoate.

The 'Levy' of a Republican Roman army are the javelin-armed youths known as velites

Once dry, I dab the turf with three irregular shapes of full strength white glue. I sprinkle it with Woodland Scenics blended grass. I add a couple tufts that I buy at the local hobby stores, and the base is ready for its final spraying of Dullcoate. And the legion is ready to take the field now. Perhaps now, all these decades later, my imagination is jaded and not as fired as that 16-year-old's was when he commanded his first Roman legion. Still, I look forward to taking the field with my Romans. It is still my favorite civilization from History to read about. Hopefully, the legion's battles will write new sagas of wargaming that bring back some of that spark I got from painting my first Romans all those years ago.