On The Painting Desk: Battle of Kadesh - The King Summons Us

 

I am still forging ahead on my Battle of Kadesh armies that go along with me latest "In-Progress" rules set In Strife and Conflict.  This project began in earnest in 2023, but the rules were written for about 5 years now.  Hopefully this is the year I can get all the post-production wrapped up and I can release it to you!  

In addition to releasing it to you, I want to use the Battle of Kadesh as a "Demo Game" for non-wargamers as a way to introduce folks to ancient history AND wargaming.  Therefore, I want to have a good scenario and a fun spectacle game that is easy to set-up and looks great.  To that end I have been building an Egyptian and Hittite force.  The Egyptians are done.  I have been powering away on the Hittites now. 

The Hittite force I have is 6mm miniatures from Baccus.  I am then placing them on 60 x 60mm bases.  When complete this army will have: 

• 3 Heavy Chariots
• 3 Light Chariots
• 1 Auxiliary Infantry with Bow support
• 1 Auxiliary Infantry
• 2 Levy Infantry with Bow Support
• 3 Levy Infantry
• 2 Archer Units
• 2 Skirmisher Units with Bows
• 2 Irregular Units

So far, I have painted the Skirmishers, Irregulars, and Levy units with bows.  That leaves 13 more bases to go!  Next up, I have decided to continue working on the infantry forces.  I have started batch painting the 3 Levy infantry, and 2 Archers units.  Once done, that will leave the more advanced units to finish off the army.   

For the new units, I am following my usual process.  I attached the strips to popsicle sticks with white glue.  I then undercoated them all with a watered down Pavement that is a cheap acrylic from a Big-Box retailer.  Then, I leaned into the batch painting using my standard Armypainter Paints. 

This stage should look pretty familiar!  I then paint the base strips with the same cheap acrylic Territorial Brown so when I base them it makes painting the base much easier.  I then added them to the bases using color-changing spackle.  

Then, I painted the bases with Territorial Brown, Khaki drybrush, and green ink.  The final step is to edge the bases in black.  

Here is an army shot of the Hittite forces so far: 

We have: 

2 Irregular infantry

2 Skirmishers with bows

2 Levy Infantry with Bow support

3 Levy Infantry

2 Archer units

That is 11 of the 19 bases done!  I only have 2 infantry units and 6 chariot bases left to paint.  This army is officially half-way done now! Here they are on the march to Kadesh to support their King:

The skirmishers take the lead and scout out the pass before the rest of the army marches through.

That has not been the only movement on the project!  My friend, Kelly Watson; made a really cool 3D printable Bronze Age city to act as Kadesh on my tabletop.  Kudos to him for his amazing work!  This can be based on a CD for easy basing.  

It is modular and expandable as well.  So I can add in more gate sections, or make it more oblong.  Kelly is planning on making these STLs available for sale.  I will let you know where you can find them when they are available.  That way you can have your own walled city too! 

More progress on the Battle of Kadesh.  I am hoping to get this project wrapped up before the mid-year point.  So far, things are looking really good!  I can't wait to take the scenario out for a full test-drive! 

Until next time!          

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