Lead Legionaries: 'Sing the Rage of Peleus' Son, Achilles'

Sunday, October 4, 2026

'Sing the Rage of Peleus' Son, Achilles' - Diomedes' Contingent for Ilium

My first contingent of Achaeans for 'Ilium: A Game of Heroes' - 28mm Wargames Foundry

I had been following the game reports and post of Nic Wright of Irregular Wars about his new rules set, Ilium: Game of Heroes. So, when it was published, I downloaded the PDF on Wargame Vault. A couple weeks ago, four of us got together to play test it, enjoyed it, and I think my readers can guess what happened next. More miniatures - of course! I kept things under control, though, and picked up only seven 28mm Wargames Foundry miniatures (exactly what I needed for a contingent) from my friend Keith's unpainted pile.

My hero in charge of the force, Diomedes, was painted up fancier -- especially his shield!

And here they are! I present the Achaean hero Diomedes and his Promachoi (companions). I am painting them up as Mycenaeans, which I think most historians believe is the period in Greece in which the siege of Troy could have happened. Much of Homer's descriptions of warfare (and the poet himself -- if he was one person) come from a slightly more recent period. However, archeology tells a different story and we all know how the ancients never really understood the concept of anachronism. Witness all the Bible illustrations from the Middle Ages with medieval soldiers depicting Biblical events. Either way, the figures come from Wargames Foundry's Mycenaean line, so that was the way I was painting them, by Zeus!

One of Diomedes' companions wearing a boar tusk helmet & carrying a large shield

I did some preliminary looking at photos of other folks who painted 28mm Mycenaeans up for their Trojan War games. Most seemed to have white or pale-colored tunics, so that is what I went with for mine. To give a bit more variety, I also did some in pale blue, yellow, and tan. I then tried to give each some colorful decoration on their tunics. Yes, I could have painted them just in plain white tunics, but you know how I roll by now, right? I'm retired...I paint miniatures for fun and relaxation -- not as a factory to crank them out! So, decoration and color they would have!

I like how this companion's tunic pattern came out - it looks like something from a Greek fresco

Actually, I did their flesh tone first, after priming them with Liquitex White Gesso. I went back and forth whether to use a slighter darker flesh tone, but in the end decided to go with my standard European one. Similarly, I used a mix of European hair colors, too. I could also have gone with all black hair to fall in line with a more Semitic or Levant look, but the word used in the Iliad to describe Achilles' hair can be translated to blond or at least a reddish gold. So, I decided to give them a variety of hair colors figuring that folks had been intermixing among the Mycenaeans just like they did through much of European history.

I also like how the 'Figure 8' or Tower Shields came out -- they were tricky to glue to the figure

Their bronze armor was all painted first in Iron Wind Metals Steel, followed up by their Ancient Bronze. I did brush on highlights of Ancient Gold, too, where I figured the sun would gleam off of the armor the most. I've seen others depict bronze with an almost coppery sheen, which would be cool, but I'm not sure it is realistic. Homer goes on and on about how bright and shiny it was, so I prefer a more gold-toned bronze than a copper-toned variety. Many of the figures had decorations on their armor, either on the pectorals or the helmet. I painted a silver for those to make them stand out, figuring they would be gilded to shine even more on the battlefield.

There is a LOT of pose & clothes variety in the Wargames Foundry 'Mycenaean' range

In Ilium: Game of Heroes, Diomedes' companions are composed entirely of warriors carrying tower or figure eight shields. Most images of these show a cow spot pattern, representing leather stretched over a wicker frame. I've seen some with more reddish-brown spots and others with black, so I decided to do both. For inspiration on the dots, I Googled images online of Myceaean frescoes depicting shields. I am really happy with how they turned out, though these shields probably took more steps to complete than any I have done in recent memory! The inside was made to resemble wicker, the outside various tones I used for cowhide, the rim and boss I did in Steel and Bronze, the spots in either brown or black, and finally the inside rim was done in a wood brown. Oh, and they got a wash, too!

For some reason, this fig reminded me of the look of Brad Pitt in the Hollywood 'Troy' movie

I made Diomedes's shield fancier, though, using inspiration from other images I've seen depicting them as painted than natural cowskin. I chose a red and blue quartered background color. Inside the blue, I did two circles of white, with a flower pattern snatched from a fresco for its design. For the red, I did two parallel, zig zag lines with my micron pen. The space between I painted in a dull yellow. I really like its fanciness, though I have to admit the black and yellow zig zag evoked the shirt worn by the comic strip character Charlie Brown! So, I went back with my micron pen and added dots inside the yellow to break that connection (and protect him from any potential Trojan "Lucys" on the battlefield...ha, ha!

Another tunic pattern that I felt turned out rather well -- looking forward to painting more of these

All in all, I am very happy with how these seven Mycenaean figures turned out. I will likely pick up more one day so that I can field more than one contingent. Hopefully, Diomedes and his companions will get a chance to strut their stuff on the tabletop this weekend. We're talking about introducing Ilium to the rest of the Sunday Night gang. In the meantime, I am under serious deadline pressure on some things on my tabletop! I have a medieval 3-D printed building given to me by Rich Brown from RRB Minis & More to paint for him. It will be in repayment for a couple game mats his wife is making for me. The building is mostly done, but we know how "mostly dead" worked out in the Princess Bride! I need to be able to take it with me Thursday morning when I leave for Advance the Colors 2026 in Springfield, OH. Also scheduled to come along with me are three 28mm Knight figures and three Priests. I am painting them up for the ATC Saga tournament for the GMs to give away as prizes. So, lots to do in less than a week!!