Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Late Roman Cataphracts


Decided to finish up this unit for my Impetus Late Roman army. Cataphracts(cataphractarii) of any kind are one of my favourite troop types of ancient armies so it comes as no surprise I enjoyed doing this unit. I based them up pretty tight with six to the base as I wanted to give a solid impression like an armoured steam roller.

I painted them up in violet colour as it accentuates their elite status and kept the armour low key as I didn't want it shiny bright, but still a little flashy with a mix of bronze and metal. The figures are done with ap and added highlights and shields are hand painted. The figures themselves are Foundry and still among some of the best cataphracts IMHO. More of this army to come.

If your thinking I've switched off AWI well I haven't as a unit is on my desk, but the problem is I have few other projects as well that I want to do too like these Late Romans for example! I usually prefer to do one unit at a time, but it seems I'm painting several at the moment! I'm just going with the flow and seeing where my paint brush takes me rather then over thinking it.:-)

Thanks for viewing!:-)
Miniature Company- Foundry Miniatures


56 comments :

  1. Really good looking unit the scales are very well done, it's not a time period I know a lot about but the way you have based them gives a great feeling of weight and power .
    Regards Furphy .

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    1. Thank you kindly Furphy I was hoping that was the impression I getting.

      Christopher

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    1. Thank you very much Steve! Really enjoy your Late Romans too.

      Christopher

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  3. Very impressive looking unit! The armour is very well done!

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  4. awesome sight of cavalry you have here Christopher, great figures and lovely basing... marvelous!

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  5. Fantastic painting I will have to start playing Impetus son I think. I already have three armies based but no one to play with.

    Regards

    Vinnie

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    1. Thank you very much Vinnie. I'm surprised as I thought your club was pretty active. Have they tried Impetus?

      Christopher

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  6. Nice unit - like the purple idea and what you did with the lances :)

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    1. Thank you Mike glad you liked the lances. The stripped lances seem to be the latest fashion among several painters doing Late Romans and I didn't want to miss out.:-)

      Christopher

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  7. Great paintjob, very nice touches of colour. Cataphracts must have been a fear inspiring (literally) sight on the battlefield.

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    1. Thank you kindly Matt and I pretty much thought the same thing.

      Christopher

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  8. Excellent cataphracts – a very striking unit indeed!

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  9. These are simply wonderful. Very nice and balances color scheme you've chosen, and beautiful painting.
    Not knowing much about Impetus, the basing caught my eye. All minis on one and the same base. Practical and even affords the space for some good dioramic basing.
    How many such units for each side to build a standard army?
    Regards
    /Sören

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    1. Thank you very much BP! There are two versions of Impetus with one being Basic and the other regular or advanced. The basic version is right around 12 units and the advanced I would say starts at around 15 units depending on the army and gets bigger as you add more points. It's my ancients/medieval game of choice.
      More info here:

      http://www.dadiepiombo.it/images/stories/dp/impetus.html

      and

      http://impetus.ativiforum.com/

      Christopher

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  10. They're an amazing bunch of figures. Can't wait to have a closer look on sunday. The violett and white color combination works great.

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    1. Thank you very much Nick and looking forward to the game!

      Christopher

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  11. Most impressive Cataphracts, look strong, heavy...and beautiful! Great job on the base too...

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  12. Very handsome heavy horse! I like the blue and white combination on the lances and banner. Your armor treatment really gives the impression that these are heavy, heavy, heavy. Most be a substantial unit to move around on the table.

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    1. Thank you very much Jonathan! Glad I'm giving the right impression and actually the base is pretty heavy!:-)

      Christopher

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  13. Heavy metal springs to mind! Very striking looking unit, great job all round .

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  14. These are some smart looking figures and I like the palette you chose for them. The gent blowing the horn is particularly nice. Also I like the composition on the base. Each figure can be seen as individuals and as part of the group in your arrangement.

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    1. Thank you very much Anne that's very kind of you to say.

      Christopher

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  15. Brilliant! I love your painting, color theme, draco, spacing and basing. In short, I love it all! I wish I could play Impetus now.

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    1. Thank you very much Monty! I still scratch my head when I saw you give up Impetus for FOG? You can always go back and look at it as a momentary lapse in judgement.:-)

      Christopher

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  16. Great looking cataphracts, Christopher.

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  17. Jolly nice mate. The colour choice is spot on. Very dramatic.

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  18. Lovely cataphracts Christopher!

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  19. Bloody amazing unit right there!!! well done

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  20. Very, very good looking unit, impressive work!

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  21. Hi Christopher,
    The Cataphracts look very cool. The arrangement of colors is also very nice.
    Cheers
    Mike

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  22. As usual you provide us with some wonderful hobby eye candy. Beautiful work Christopher! (That purple is lovely. What did you use?)

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    1. Thank you very much Curt! The colour is Foundry's Violet.

      Christopher

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  23. Wow, so beautiful, I'm jealous of your skill.

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  24. These look sensational - love the Foundry figures and your basing and colour choice is sensational mate.

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  25. Those look great! You are right about Foundry. I was just checking out their website and all of those early 80's Perry sculpts are still really nice!

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    1. Thank you kindly Cory! Indeed the Perry's are a talented bunch!

      Christopher

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  26. SUPERB :) love the painting and basing. Are Foundry cataphractarii horses bigger or smaller than the Aventine miniature's cataphract horses do you think?

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    1. Thank you very much Peter! Without looking at my figure collection I would say the Aventine horses are bigger because they are 28mm and the Foundry Late Romans are closer to 25mm.

      Christopher

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  27. The Foundry figures have stood the test of time but then coming from the Perry Bros there is no surprise really.
    Superb painting and basing as always Christopher and the lances finish the unit off nicely.

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    1. Thank you very much Pat! I agree in that the Perry Bros are so talented their work always remains excellent.

      Christopher

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