[Basic Impetus Army] Ancient British Celts - In woad clad

[CliosPaintingBench]

Hello all,

Just documenting my progress on an Ancient Britons army for Basic Impetus. I started 1/72 miniatures in the last year of high school, and I always told myself I'd get back into it. 9 years later, given that a 1/72 army can cost up to a Warhammer regiment and with uncertain economic times ahead, it seemed like a good time to fulfill old oaths.

The list I am using calls for 4 units of warriors, 2 chariots, 2 units of light cavalry and 3 units of ranged skirmishers.

When creating an army I try to have distinct themes that run throughout the units and give the whole a visual identity. The keywords for the Ancient Britons are: bare flesh, multicolours, plaids, woad, unorganised, rough and ready.

The Bern-Acci (Battle-Gap - ancient Brittonic) are brash young warriors, eager to make their names and carve out their freedom from piles of slain Romans. They are middling warriors of the tribe, old enough to fight in the front lines, young enough to only have known Roman rule. While unarmoured and even unshielded, the Bern-Acci compensate with sheer fighting vigour! (unit 1 of 11 - Ancient British army - Basic Impetus)

[C M Dodson]

Welcome to the forum.

That’s a scary looking bunch of fellows.

Normally I think eyes do not work well in our scale but with your chaps the wild look seems to suit them.

Keep up the good work.

Best wishes,

Chris

[Kekso]

Nice first entry. Congratulations on your first post here

[CliosPaintingBench]

Welcome to the forum.

That’s a scary looking bunch of fellows.

Normally I think eyes do not work well in our scale but with your chaps the wild look seems to suit them.

Keep up the good work.

Best wishes,

Chris

Thanks Chris! I've been lurking for a while and after seeing a few project logs I've been inspired to give it a go again. Just seeing how other people paint is a great motivator and it lets me take ideas for colour schemes and so on.

The eyes are always a tad difficult, but I transitioned from Warhammer so I'm used to just doing them, it was always part of completing the model for Space Marines and Orks and old habits are hard to break.

Nice first entry. Congratulations on your first post here

Thanks, just felt inspired by the beautiful works here. Seemed fun to join in

[Ben90]

These look very nice! I like them! Welcome to the forum!

[Graeme]

Celts are always welcome and these ones and these ones are great. You've got them looking really belligerent.

Very nice painting all round, but the tartans are fantastic!

[MABO]

Hello and welcome from me as well. I like your painting and I agree with Chris concerning the eyes. Since there are so many topics in 1/72 why you are interested in the Celts? Can you tell us? The figures? The period?

[erpapishulo]

so cool man!! love the squared patterns on theirs pants. Painting at this scale is pretty hard for me so I can't imagine doing this eyes (the one in the front going full berserker hahah)

[CliosPaintingBench]

These look very nice! I like them! Welcome to the forum!

Thank you very much!

Celts are always welcome and these ones and these ones are great. You've got them looking really belligerent.

Very nice painting all round, but the tartans are fantastic!

Thank you! With Celts, I've thought the impression to convey is of the wild charge, so they should be portrayed as aggressive, ragtag tribesmen. Belligerent is the keyword. I think though, every culture has a certain depth to it, and it's easy to stereotype and simplify into tropes. I've avoided furs for example, and I've painted shield patterns (with the tartan and plaids) to hint that this is a rich culture which may seem barbaric, but do have developed customs. The Celts were one of the early pioneers of chainmail, so they did have metalworking and while Romans would have thought of them as savages, I want them to be less developed, but still proud, free-thinking people in their own right. Hard to convey in mini form, but there you go.

Given that tribes did not have a set uniform, this really gives painters an opportunity to go wild on colour combinations and such. The tartan has driven me nuts sometimes....

Hello and welcome from me as well. I like your painting and I agree with Chris concerning the eyes. Since there are so many topics in 1/72 why you are interested in the Celts? Can you tell us? The figures? The period?

Hello! Thank you. I suppose I am interested in the Celts because of the possibility of rich colour schemes. In my mind, certain cultures fulfil certain tropes. For example, ancient Germans, the Celts, Vikings, Picts, Goths, Gaulish Celts could all fill the niche of barbarian horde, but the Celts wore multiple colours for clothing according to Roman sources. That's great for painting, which made them stand out. I chose the Britons just because the Basic Impetus list has more chariots in it and chariots really play up that different cultural aspect to me.

It also helps that there's so many manufacturers that have made Celts. I've got a box in my room of Caesar miniatures, Italeri, Hat, and it really lets me mix and match figures for my bases. Some of the figures look very nice, I quite like Caesar's.

1/72 Ancient British Celts also have a story built into them. They are hounded, subjugated people, yearning for freedom from Roman rule. They are guerrilla fighters, mistrustful of other tribes, yet needing them to rise up and reclaim their isle. The freedom fighter is an association with the British Celts I think, and us Australians love an underdog story. Narrative play is important to me too.

As for the many other 1/72 topics, I am interested in all those too. I had a mass buying spree on Ebay recently because I was afraid some kits would go OOP. This is the start of my re-engagement with my 2011 days of 1/72 wargaming.

so cool man!! love the squared patterns on theirs pants. Painting at this scale is pretty hard for me so I can't imagine doing this eyes (the one in the front going full berserker hahah)

Thank you very much. The squared patterns take me hours sometimes, just to fix mistakes, carefully poke them in. I have to do a figure or a unit in bits over a month usually or I can't handle it.

Painting at this scale is hard for me too, but I just think of it as something I want to do, no pressure. Just take it slowly and enjoy it, that's why we're here. Eyes are hard, but when Tartan is hard, it's just all degrees of hardness. I started 1/72 with a roman unit and I was bored out of my mind because they all look the same. Turns out difficulty is far better for me than boredom

[CliosPaintingBench]

1/72 Ancient British Celtic Army

The Medelwyr (Reapers - ancient Brittonic) are seasoned warriors of many summers and a solid core in the battle line. Within their ranks are refugees of other tribes slaughtered by the Romans, traumatised survivors, escaped slaves, hard-bitten veterans. At night they gather, singing songs, speaking dialects lost now to memory, drawn together only by circumstance. To their shame, they have ran, lost, and worst of all, survived to remember it. The final battles are coming, the legions are closing in. Their people will need them and every sword they can summon.

They quietly know, in the depths of their hearts, that they will not win. The enemy is too numerous, too organised, too strong. But what else is there? Was it ever about winning? They have seen friends and family butchered, impaled in their homes. Their homes too, have burned, blackened like so many memories. They have run, yes. They have lost. They have had everything taken from them. But they stand knowing they could have capitulated, they could have lived lesser lives as slaves but they did not.

They will be free. They will be free until they cannot be at all. They are tired and afraid, of course they are afraid. Perhaps on the morrow they will cease to be, and all remembrance of them will be as dust but they remained free until the end, and the enemy can never have that, even if they end them to the last man. This is the only thing they have left. This is the only thing that can never be taken from them.

The carnyxes blow in the morning winds, keening and mournful. The light that filters through is pale and weak, casting its glow on warriors tracing lines in woad, sharpening blades, adjusting helmets and staring into nothing as they must raise weary arms once more.

(As part of my effort to make each unit distinctive, the Medelwyr are hinted to have Germanic tribesmen amongst them, hence the use of HaT Roman auxiliary models. They have less plaid and use the most clubs rather than swords, to mark their status as impoverished refugees, but their shields are the most patterned, save for the upcoming Chieftain unit.)

(Unit 2 of 11 - Ancient British army - Basic Impetus)

[Rich W]

Welcome to the forum! Very nice painting, I look forward to seeing your next efforts.

[CliosPaintingBench]

Welcome to the forum! Very nice painting, I look forward to seeing your next efforts.

Thank you very much, let's get to the next efforts then!

1/72 Ancient British Celtic Army

The Colgo Grif (Sharp Talons/Warriors - Ancient Brittonic) are the most skilled warriors of the tribe, marked by their tartan cloaks and bared chests. Within all tribes there is a rough hierarchy of warriorship. The Colgo Grif have banded together in acknowledgement of their own prowess; to fight alongside sword-peers and form a bold elite. Their elaborate plaids and tartans are a testament to their status and these are worn, by tradition, as cloaks as a mark of membership.



While various iterations of this warband have painted themselves in woad, the current leader Karney disdains the practice, trusting only in sword and shield and his warriors have followed him, as they would follow him unto death.



Karney is a cunning wolf, lean and fast, a glory-hound and braggart. Rumours abound of his seditious talk and there are some who believe he covets kingship, even as the Romans close in. Had times been less dire, perhaps his ilk would have been exiled but the tribe will need every sword for what is to come, and swords as skilled as Karney's will be the difference between survival and death.





(As part of my effort to make each unit distinctive, the Colgo Grif are amongst the warrior elite. They are the unit with the most cloaks, all decorated in plaid and tartans to mark their relative wealth and status. Their bared chests are also a feature, to show their bravery and strength. Like all my regiments, the warleader wears chainmail to distinguish him. Celtic leaders fight in the front, they need all the protection they can get, and they're one of the few who can afford it! This unit also uses the most swords to emphasise their status - no lowly spears for the tribal elite.

I have decided this unit should have no woad but this was purely to differentiate them. They are also one of the two frontline warbands to have a standard bearer, to honour their fighting prowess. Like all units, the Colgo Grif adhere to key themes within the unit and the broader army but never entirely to emphasise the rough and ready nature of the celts: we have a singular axeman, a casualty with a shirt and a standard bearer without a cloak.)

(Unit 3 of 11 - Ancient British army - Basic Impetus)

[Susofrick]

A little late, but a very warm welcome from me too! Great kelts! I've seen good eyes in this scale and I've seen bad eyes. I like your eyes! They fit the figures very well! And the tartans and tattoos is also very nice!

[PhilC]

Even later, but my welcome is as warm as any other
I have a weakness regarding ancients (for I began in this hobby with the old and venerable Atlantic figures in the early 80s - I still have them), and I particularly like the blue warpaints on your Celts.

[CliosPaintingBench]

A little late, but a very warm welcome from me too! Great kelts! I've seen good eyes in this scale and I've seen bad eyes. I like your eyes! They fit the figures very well! And the tartans and tattoos is also very nice!

Thank you very much, I've tried to vary the eye colour too. Green is the hardest imo in this scale, blue works and black is the easiest by far because it contrasts the best. Most of the time, it's dotting the end of a fine detail brush, poking it in and hoping for the best. Recently, I've tried a new technique of filling in the sides of the eye with tiny amounts of white to create a forward looking gaze. Eyes are easily the most annoying thing to do behind plaid and tartans.

Even later, but my welcome is as warm as any other
I have a weakness regarding ancients (for I began in this hobby with the old and venerable Atlantic figures in the early 80s - I still have them), and I particularly like the blue warpaints on your Celts.

Thank you. I like ancients because you get very diverse looking armies. I've thought about Napoleonics but the uniforms seem quite similar and even in medieval armies there's more points of similarity (but I suppose if you want to diversify your appearance it can definitely be done, but French knights look like English knights look like German knights)

I started historicals with ancients as well, with my high school wargaming club. The teacher's reasoning was that 1/72 is the cheapest and Basic Impetus 1.0 had a free ruleset. Now we're all a part of the same local wargaming club at the pub, where everyone's into 28mm, but I couldn't just let 1/72 go. Part of the goal is now to build all the 1/72 armies myself. I have so many ideas for medieval Chinese, ancient Indians, a Roman legion, Samurai, Ottomans, Almoravids all duking it out. Best thing is it's so affordable too.

I actually got my colour scheme for my first druid and my red and black plaid from your blog. I did a lot of research to prep for the project, trying to get inspiration. My first conception of a standard recipe for plaid came from your website: crossing lines, highlight the intersection. The leader of the Colgo Grif 'liberated' his colour scheme from your Carnyx blower and was my little tribute to one of my first inspirations:

http://philotepsfigures.blogspot.com/20 ... -blog.html

[ToneTW]

Fantastic work on those patterns!

[PaulRPetri]

You are truly a gifted painter. Keep posting your great work. I love see those old Airfix ancient Britons in action. I have a few boxes in my Gaulish horde.

[CliosPaintingBench]

Fantastic work on those patterns!

Thanks, there are moments when it takes around a week because the squinting, mistake-fixing and line working takes a toil and I can only do a few hours at a time.

You are truly a gifted painter. Keep posting your great work. I love see those old Airfix ancient Britons in action. I have a few boxes in my Gaulish horde.

Gratitude, I will. Send me some photos or link me to your log! I love looking at minis and love the Airfix ancient Britons too, I'm using a variety of boxes so every individual is unique in this tribe.

Alright, so before I've left it ambiguous as to what tribe they are. it's time to hard commit to the Iceni. There is a famous Queen I want to make, who I can use as a character of my own creation in some games, and a historical revolutionary in others.

1/72 Ancient British Celtic Army

The Draci-Cintoro (Dragons Who Are First – Ancient Brittonic) are the battle leaders of the Iceni. Led by King Toirdelbach, The Grey, the warrior nobility of the Draci-Cintoro fight at the forefront, as their forefathers did, and their fathers did before them. A leader who is not the first into the fray is no leader at all. While they are second in bladecraft to the Colgo Grif, they have decades of experience in command, the wealth of the finest quality arms and armour and the respect of their mighty bloodlines – more than enough to be the unquestioned warrior elite of the Iceni.



King Toirdelbach is reckoned to have once been amongst the finest and greatest of the warlords of all the tribes, having fought off invasions from the Brigantes and the Catuvellauni. While his Queen Aessicunia is the bright star, sparking and howling across the plains, Toirdelbach is in his twilight years, having settled with his lot. He had begun teaching his sons so they may lead by his example.



By forging trading links with foreign nations across the sea, the king has reignited the dream of creating a prosperous kingdom for the Iceni. As foreigners have trundled through their gates with babbled accents and sacks of goods, the tribe has been enriched with metal arms and armour, exotic wools and furs and beautiful ornaments. Perhaps in time, there would have been the possibility of a greater Briton; the tribes unified and strong. But the old speak of this as the stuff of the dreams and dreams seem false and fragile when the storm rumbles and glints in the horizon. The Romans have dashed all hope of peace aside. For there to be a future at all, for his children to grow tall, for his people to thrive, they must be driven from this earth. The king is slow to anger, he calculates his wars with a cold, methodical wisdom for he has failed in numerous battles past when giving in to rage, which he now reserves for the battlefield. He plants himself firmly upon the earth with two feet, a bulwark of scarred muscle and chainmail, which says more proudly than words ever can – I am proud to live free, I am proud to die.



(As part of my effort to make each unit distinctive, the Draci-Cintoro are the leaders of the Iceni and therefore the culmination of the Celtic Identity; thusly the army’s themes have been dialed to the finest end of the spectrum. As befitting the most prestigious unit, nearly all members are armoured in chainmail or breastplate, with the exception of the female druid, the standard bearer and the carnyx-blower. Their plaids and the tartans are the most intricate in the army, save perhaps the upcoming Queen’s chariot. More instances of purple are used here than in any other unit, yes, I know purple was basically impossible to afford, I internally explain it as a weird red-blue they sourced. They are the unit with the most elaborate helmet crests to denote their status.

In addition, I wanted to hint at the future development of a post-Roman Briton, of the coming Arthurian kingdoms. As such, I wanted to imply they are proto-knights, with crested helms, quartered heraldry on their shields and coat-of-arms dragons on two of the shields. Their use of woad is amongst the lightest, they have begun to wean themselves away from the barbaric archetype, but not entirely. The king has a celtic spiral, various warriors have painted woad on bared faces, arms and hands.

King Toirdelbach has a bit of a A Star is Born dilemma, his Queen is eclipsing his own fame but the king is content with this. What fate has decided, he will let happen.)



(Unit 4 of 11 - Ancient British army - Basic Impetus)

[CliosPaintingBench]

Bit of a different medium of content this time to go with the usual post, but I've started a Youtube channel on miniature creating, focused on 1/72 scale and I've made a guide on my Celts / Ancient Britons so far.



The reason for making this is, ever since I started historicals nine years ago I never found any guides on how to go about making an army for a game system in 1:72 and I kind of had to figure it out by myself.

My hope is if there's anyone out there in the same predicament, wanting to start a historical game system in1/72 scale, post-Warhammer, without knowing what to do, there can be some advice out there on Youtube. Yes, that's an incredibly niche situation, but there you go. Be the person you wish you had to help you when you were younger, I suppose.



Also, working out how to embed Youtube videos was the hardest part of this post...

--

1/72 Ancient British Celtic Army



The Dewo-a Carbanto (Shining Day Chariots – Ancient Brittonic) thunder into battle with pounding hooves and blurred wheels, whipping forward with frantic roars and the wind howling past. Like all chariots their ways of warfare are tried and true, as formidable in the isles as they have been since their inception. They dash and wheel across the field, hurling javelins and when the time comes, dismount to clash with the enemy shield-to-shield.



A horse will not run into a steadfast shieldwall – it goes against their nature. But if the enemy is scattered or in loose formation, the Iceni will drive their chariots deep into the mass of the foe. To them goes the glory of first blood, to crash hard into the enemy ranks and hurl them aside in the crush of splintered shields and bone.



(As part of my effort to make each unit distinctive, the Dewo-a Carbanto are my first chariot unit and so are quite distinctive already. I envisioned them to be lighter and less elaborate than the queen’s chariot and so have less adornments. Regardless, they are plaid-clad with relative complexity to make their status as horse-owning nobility and middle-class warriors. I wanted my horses to reflect the glint of the Sun, and have given them bright highlights to capture the sense of light rippling in their hair. The shirtless javelin thrower is a conversion – I clipped a head from an Anglo Saxon warrior from Emhar, green-stuffed the join and added hair, as part of my commitment to make every model in this army unique.)

(Unit 5 of 11 - Ancient British army - Basic Impetus)

[PhilC]

Oh they're great! I'll have a look at your Youtube channel this evening.