ToneTW wrote: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.
PaulRPetri wrote: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 ArmyThe
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)