One of my long running goals for 2022 was to release a supplement for the Ionian Revolt for Men of Bronze onto the Wargame Vault. I have a similar supplement called Hercules Abroad that greatly expands the Greek world across the Mediterranean and adds more armies and supplements. I also have a similar supplement for Wars of the Republic called Revolt! that focuses on the 3rd Servile War.
Before Men of Bronze was released, I wrote up an article and campaign to play the Ionian Revolt for Wargames, Soldiers, and Sailors. However, due to a lack of a Persian army for photographing, the article was not published. Instead, I did a piece on the Battle of Delium instead. However, I still had my notes and what I wrote for the Ionian Revolt.
It was these notes and this article that would form the basis of the Ionian Revolt supplement. In addition, the Ionian Revolt seemed like an ideal venue to take a closer look at the Persian Empire lines-of-battle, and revisit some of their non-Greek foes as well.
However, in order for any of that to happen I needed to get over one big hurdle. I needed a Persian Army! This had thwarted my initial article and at the time, there were not any great plastic models available. However, time moves on and now we have not 1 but 2 ranges of plastic Persians to choose from!
The first is from Wargames Atlantic. I used this company for my Dark Age Irish, and was very happy with the results. I was able to make an army of 6 units with only two boxes, They also painted up easily, and were very affordable. The sets are great for making infantry and archers, but their are no cavalry available. However, you could easily make the sample Line-of-battle list for Persians from the Men of Bronze book with these models.
The other plastic Persian army is from Victrix Limited. This company has provided the bulk of my Greek, Macedonian, Viking and Roman forces in 28mm in the past. I have really appreciated the level of detail and pricing of these sculpts. The range also has a wider variety of forces from unarmored infantry, armored/unarmored archers, and light and heavy cavalry. Since cavalry was a big part of Persian armies, it made sense to go with Victrix this time around.
Therefore, I was off to their website, where I ordered the miniatures I wanted, and a handful of transfers to "bling-up" a few of the front rank models. As always shipping was quick and well-tracked. However, it was NOT cheap to ship. That said, I compared the costs with some American distributors and the costs were in line. However, since I wanted some transfers, and they are only available via the Victrix store; it made sense to order direct this time. I got my Persians shipped all the way across the pond in about two weeks! Pretty fast really.
There it is, in all its glory. In total it is about 120+ minis. In the end, I want the army to have 2 units of light cavalry, 1 unit of heavy cavalry, 3 units of archers, 2 units of drilled infantry, and 2 units of light infantry/skirmishers. Plus, the Ionian Revolt supplement has some alternate lines-of-battle with some interesting twists on the core Men of Bronze rules I would like to exploit with these models too.
When I painted my Vikings, I batch painted all of them in one go. That was about 60 models. I do not normally do that, and I do not think I will be doing it with this army! This time, I plan to take it on a unit-by-unit basis instead. So, the first step is to get my first few units to paint assembled and base coated in white. For basing, I am single basing using metal washers, as that gives the model a bit of heft and easily allows different formations. Also, single based allows me to use them in different games as needed as well.
I started with some unarmored and armored infantry forces to get me started. I assembled 40 Persian foot soldiers. I decided to make 2 units of Psiloi (or skirmishers) armed with javelins and no shields. I also made a unit of Warband/Irregular infantry with hand weapons and shields. The last unit was armored so I decided to make them a unit of the famed "Immortals" or "Apple Bearers" with linothroax and hoplon style shields to get started. I figured painting a group of 40 or so soldiers to get me going would be a good start. Plus, with two units without shields I would see results fast!
Once assembled, I undercoated them all by brush with a cheap, big-box retail store bought white.
Once they were undercoated, I faced my first challenge. I like to paint from the lowest level upwards. So I always start with the flesh tones. For the Greeks and the Romans, I used Tanned Flesh for the majority of the troops. I was unsure if I should do the same for the Persians? Ultimately, I decided to a couple different skin tones for the Persians as they had a I diverse army from a variety of places. I used a few different colors across the four units including Tanned Flesh, Fur Brown, and Monster Brown.
That is what I painted first, and it was nice to paint figures wearing trousers! Not so many calves and knees to paint!
After the skin, I turned to start on the clothing, and the first step was to paint all of their shoes in Monster Brown. Then, I turned to their trousers and used a Skeleton Bone, Desert Yellow, Demonic Yellow, and Dry Rust and alternated in every fourth soldier. Later, I will decide if I want to go back and add some patterns, but probably not!
Then, something really odd happened. I typically batch paint all their tunics and keep working up. However, this time I focused on the elite infantry first. This is not my usual method at all! I typically kept them until somewhere in the middle or towards the end of the process. I painted them up as a reward to myself after the rank-and-file of the army was done! Not this time. I think I focused on them, because they had more layers than the other unarmored troops I was working on?
I painted their undertunics Grimoire Purple, and their armored "skirts" in Pure Red. Then, their armor was done in Greedy Gold. The belts and trim were done in Voidshield Blue. The shoulder pads were done in Matte White. Next the weapons were painted with black hafts and Greedy Gold blades and butt spikes. I had no idea what was happening, as I did not go back and work on the Irregular Infantry or Psiloi at all!
Unlike the rest of the force, I decided that these elite infantry would look uniform in color scheme. They would all match! I rationalized it with it would make them look more like the elite, and their losses easily replaced and hidden with a similar uniform provided by the Great King! I seriously doubt that this was how it was done, but I was on a roll now!
Beards and hair was done with Ash Grey, Dark Stone, and Fur Brown. Their headgear was a bit of a bear to paint, but I went with more Grimoire Purple. I paused to consider the officers cloak/jacket and I quickly painted it with a Alien Blood purple to make it stand out and blend in with the rest of the units purple gear. Then a Light Tone wash to finish it all off. Within a matter of nights the base models for the Immortals were done.....
The next day, I picked up the Immortals with a sense of urgency. The first unit for the Persian force was almost done! I decided to give them all Hoplon shields and bow cases too. After all, the Immortals were noted for being armed with bows as well as spears and shields. The shields were Greedy Gold and I used Little Big Man Transfers on the front. The back was Skeleton Bone, Leather Brown strap, and Voidshield Blue tassels. The bow cases were a pain to paint, as I decided to make them Grimoire Purple, with Voidshield Blue trim. Then they also got a nice Light Tone wash.
I attached the final pieces to the models. Then, I based them all. I used my traditional method of a cheap brown latex paint from a Big Box retailer, and then sprinkling left-over moss and clump foliage from the corners of its storage box. This would match all the basing on the Greek armies as well.
With shields, bow cases, and bases done; we had the first Persian unit ready for the table top!
I was so excited, I ran out and set them up for a bit of a glamour shot against some Greek hoplites. You can see the difference between the look of both sides....
Well, 1 unit down and 3 units left from the first batch, and then something like 2 more drilled infantry units (at least 1 with sparabara), 3 Archer units, and 3 cavalry units to complete this Persian army. Looking at it that way.... Yikes. That is a lot of painting. Onto the irregular infantry and Psiloi next.... maybe?
I also finally finished printing and painting up my second fleet for Poseidon's Warriors form Osprey Games in the Wargaming Series. I now have enough little triremes for two sides, and that may come in handy when I go to play the Ionian Revolt, as some of the key battles were naval battles!
These were designed by a guy named Capt. Ahab on Thingiverse. You can find them to paint up there. I now have 50 triremes between the two fleets. These are all the cataphract style, and could represent my Persians in Ionia, or other Greeks foes in later wars. More importantly, getting these two fleets printed and painted was one of my main goals for 2022. Three down and two to go? Maybe if I am lucky I can make all my goals?
Onwards!
Will be following your progress with interest both here and on LAF - my interest in ancients is rapidly growing, although my time to do something with it is not! I have the persians on the shelf looking at me.. Yours are looking great so far.
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