The reliquary and some thoughts on Pulp Alley

I've not updated lately, as work on my thesis has taken priority. It's a massive project, but time on other things is also important. I've also been working on some terrain tiles and adapting Pulp Alley to better suit the period. It has had the unintended consequence of getting me excited about (eventually) going back to my Pulp project... but I'm trying to focus here!!

But I wanted to share a small update on the sanctuary. I have completed the reliquary and you can see it below:

This is going straight to my feed #bucketlist #instatravel #militesofinstagram

As you won't get to see it much once the building is sealed up, I didn't mind using a less-detailed piece (I'd rather save those for plot points). It's supposed to evoke the Casket of Teuderic, or something like that.

It started off as a pretty rough plaster cast, I'm not sure where it came from. But I glued some hobby nails in for the gems, painted them and applied some gloss varnish.

I'll be finishing off the interior walls in good time, nothing fancy though. And my rooftiles came in so it's nearing completion. More on that another time.

I also wanted to include what I've done for the plot points so far. I've been careful not to take too much out of the Pulp Alley rulebook, and this is strictly intended for personal use only. You can find out more about Pulp Alley and buy the rules here. As you can see, there's quite a bit of adjustment for some fields, but I wanted to keep the spirit of the original. I've had to remove some tables completely.

Take a look and please share your thoughts in the comments below! 

As for me, back to the books - 'til next time!

Painting and building update - Christian sanctuary and some fighters

Salvete omnes!

After my last post I was itching to get to work on the small church from the Zegaani monastery site. So, during a break from my research I started playing around with the measurements and drew a couple of walls.

So far, so good...

I figured the entry would probably be a little taller and skinnier than a normal figure, although in hindsight I realised it could just as easily be a squeeze to get in.

I'm glad I went with my first instinct, though, as that left enough room to place a based figure in the vestibule (I think that's what you call the little antechamber at the entrance). Here are some progress shots:

The plan is to have either an altar or reliquary in the chancel/alcove and relatively clear space in the main area. This will all be done up with an interior, including frescoes, and detachable roofs. I just bought some styrene JTT Spanish tiles online, they look like this:

Excuse the white space, the photo came like that...

I've tried using corrugated cardboard in the past and wasn't 100% happy with it. I ended up buying a Hirst Arts pantile mould but they're a bit big for 28mm (but perfect for my Flintloque buildings). It's on its way, along with a Renedra plastic wattle outbuilding, hopefully here soon.

To wrap it up, the exterior will be weather a little bit, but nothing like that photos of what it looks like now! I imagine it being quite useful in the scenarios I have planned... a place to raid or defend from raiders, or perhaps a place to seek sanctuary (not always guaranteed to work).

I have also painted a couple of miniatures, although they aren't fully based yet. Here they are:

Saxon archer, Eureka and Viking, BTD... what is that helmet?!

One is a Saxon archer from Eureka, the other a Viking from Black Tree Design. I'm not too fussed about the ethnic labels, as you probably know (if not, read my earlier posts!). They're fighting men and that's good enough! 

As for rules, I'm looking at Pulp Alley to start out. I bought the first edition a long time ago, and just purchased the solo module. I know there's a second edition out, but will try these first. You can field small groups of 5 or 6 figures to about 15... although the more numerous the less well-trained they are. This gives me enough to play around with for narrative games to decent skirmish battles.

Anyway, I've gone on long enough now - thanks for reading!

Painting update - bacaudae, soldiers and more!

I'm going to open up with a picture of what I've done so far, with some discussion below...

A cast of thousands!

I've imagined this guy to be an assassin, bandit or a leader of the bacaudae.

Source: Black Tree Designs

There's some contention as to who the bacaudae were: either organised groups of militarised peasants or (less plausibly) the semi-militarised thugs of local strong-men outside of the control of provincial government. Kulikowski settles on "well-organised bandits who were so a general feature of Roman provincial life". Either way, they were a significant enough threat and were dealt with brutally.

Speaking of which, here are some soldiers.

Source: Gripping Beast

I'll be adding more to join them. I see them as an elite unit, or bodyguard, operating in and around the frontiers between Italy, France and Spain... more on my choice of setting another time!

Uniforms and war gear provide little distinction between "Roman" and "barbarian" armies. For the narrators of history, such as Gregory of Tours, the word "barbarian" was typically synonymous with "soldier". When Theoderic Amal (454-526) designed policy, he designed it with a classical ethnographic distinction in mind - "Goths" were typically the military elite, but they served Rome.

When I started painting these I had an alternate icon on the top - a chi ro - which I copied from other examples. I started to wonder why this is so popular... this is perhaps a legacy of Constantine's labara (as seen on some coins), and much later the San Vitale mosaic of Justinian shows a spectacular shield with the chi ro. As these sources are potential loaded with Eastern Imperial propaganda, I started to look around for more information.

The original shield design. A bit bleh.

What we know of shield for the armies of Late Rome are usually drawn from the Notitia Dignitatum. This has a list of the "units" of the Eastern and Western Roman Army with a shield representing each. Peculiar shield designs for each cohort seems to be what Vegetius describes in a passage of Book II of his De Re Militares. The Notitia also lists other "offices" such as political and administrative roles (e.g. the Urban Prefect of Rome). This is presumed correct for the late 4th/early 5th centuries.

But why the excess of chi ro shields in the tabletop armies of Late Antiquity? I don't really have an answer, but they look nice and are probably easy to fit onto your miniatures. Again, the iconography from coinage and art is another source, but may be somewhat misleading.

Further down the track we see that, in the West, Classical iconography presented alongside more contemporary Christian icons like the coin of Athalaric minted in Rome below. The scene above harks back to the myth of Romulus and Remus, still in popular memory in the early 6th Century. Note that bronze coinage probably had a different audience and purpose than the gold Victoria coinage of the period. But every decision made when designing and minting coins is intentional. It can communicate an idea, identity, quality assurance, authority, or serve as an administrative measure. Can we consider shields in the same way?

A bronze coin of Athalaric from the mint at Rome. 

Source: Roma Numismatics Ltd, Auction IX, Lot 870

So, for me, it wasn't a stretch to play around with shield designs.

I've come across some promising images of shields across the web, but will look into this more for another post.

FURTHER READING

Kulikowski, M. (2010) Late Roman Spain and Its Cities, John Hopkins

Eadmund Blaccadicus

Today I got to fulfil a goal that has been brewing for some time!

Eadmvnd Blaccadicvs, bastard least favourite son of a British warlord (and a Saxon mother), who has been exiled sent on a pilgrimage to Rome to get him out of the way enrich his education and hopefully die there..

You might have noticed him in my previous post, he's one of the figures from the Gripping Beast Arthurian Heroes set. He has had a plastic sword added, as I found the original pose a little passive.

I made up the device on his shield, but drew some inspiration from the Notitia Dignitatum.

Source: http://lukeuedasarson.com

Well, it's a little bit of a stretch, but I had a lot of fun and look forward to finding a suitable Baldric to accompany him. But for now...

Salve, do you know the way to Rome?

Berulf, a certain kind of man...

An important part of historical wargaming, for me at least, is knowing when to mindfully delve into fantasy.

So, I'd like to introduce you to Berulf.

I've imagined Berulf as a larger-than-life character, standing head(s) and shoulders above most men. He might be a champion, a brigand or perhaps a nobleman's bodyguard - it depends on who is paying. Ready to do the jobs that most won't, he has seen more than his fair share of battle. As a fighting man Berulf has accumulated considerable wealth in his career. He clearly displays this with the spathae hanging from his belt and the large, gold bracelet on his wrist - you just try taking it from him!

This miniature is from Foundry’s Viking range. The bear skins are more than a little absurd, but I love him. There’s nothing really stopping him from rampaging his way through previous centuries, especially on the tabletop. Don't let his predilection for axes tip us into stereotype. The gravestone below from the ruins of Felix Romuliana (now Gamzigrad, Serbia) dates to the 3rd Century and shows a Roman cavalryman wielding a suspiciously similar axe... I'll leave it up to you to decide how it came into Berulf's possession.

Source: Atlas Obscura

I've taken his name from Gregory of Tours' Historia composed in the 6th century. Gregory's Berulf is a duke who serves the Merovingian king Chilperic defending the city of Tours (VI.31). He meets a fairly lacklustre end where he is caught with stolen treasure while trying to make a bid for office (VIII.26). His property is seized but his life is spared thanks to intervening bishops. Historical narratives are filled with interesting ideas.

Well, I better give Berulf something to do.

Vale!