DBA Camps Finished !

 

Got the DBA  camps finished , here slightly out of focus the Greek one .

 

 

The Spartan Sacred Enclosure - not sure if the Spartans had Sacred Enclosures but it looks impressive and different .

 

 

DBA Camps

 

I hate making scenery ! , its the woodworking aspect that I dislike most . My woodwork teacher at school said 'you will only ever be fit to cut down trees and make firewood!' (this was when teachers could express themselves in this way without being sued or the pupil going into a fit of depression !) (do woodwork teachers still exist in this modern era ?). When we started playing DBA about 20 odd years ago we did not bother with each army having a camp , which was a shame as they can be captured and add spice to the game . So this time around I thought I would make a camp for each army . Luckily nowadays you can buy all manner of accessory to help as illustrated by the above selection that I bought at Salute this year.

 

 

OUCH !!! that hurt ! , having made the blood sacrifice to the gods of wargaming I continued with my task .

 

 

There that was not hard was it ! . The one on the left is a Spartan sacred enclosure (sic) and the one on the right for the Greeks - hence the amphora etc . The rather smug looking fairy was rescued from the jaws of the puppy - suspect it may originate from next doors garden . Will let the glue dry then spray them black prior to painting . Am now off to seek first aid for my finger.

 

 

300 Spartans ( Well 46 Actually)

 

In a burst of painting activity (or a 'Paintfest' as it is known locally) I have got the Spartan Army done to oppose my Greek Hopilites . In DBA an army only consists of 12 elements , the Spartan one is especially challenging as it has 11 bases of spearmen and only 1 of skirmishers  , one of the spearmen bases is also the Generals base .

 

 

I will be using the first edition DBA  rules as these are the simplest and the other subsequent editions got to complicated and legalistic !.

 

Finished !!!!

 

It is with great pleasure I can announce that I have finished painting my 15mm Greek Hopilite DBA army. Phew- it has take some time !, I have found it very hard work going back to painting 15mm Ancients after mainly painting 40mm figures of late - they are soooo b****y small !. I have started on their opponents , the Spartans ,which being a bit more regimented should be easier to get through - I hope !.    P.S I used shield transfers - my hand is NOT  that steady !.

 

 

P.S. 'A' has just pointed out to me that not everybody will realise that a DBA army comprises of only 12 elements.

 

Return of a Old Friend

Been sorting out some old rule sets for disposal and came across my copy of DBA version 1 , I sold all my DBA armies years ago as I had stopped using them and flicking through the rules was struck by the elegant simplicity of them (before the morphed into DBA 2.2 or whatever they are now !). I began to think I should start playing them again - simple and fun for solo games and a campaign system too !. I decided I would rebuild my Greek Hoplite armies as I seem to remember having some cracking games in this period . I have chosen Chariot Miniatures Greeks and have got enough to do a Greek Hoplite, a Spartan and a North Greek Army , 'A' was kind enough to pass on some unwanted figures as well . I've dug out my relevant Ospreys and have made a start of painting them (the great thing about DBA was always that you did not have to paint masses of figures), after painting 30/40mm figures going back to 15mm is a bit of a re-learning curve and I've decided to go with shield transfers as well . Here are the first few bases painted.

More Bronze Age Warriors.

 

I have taken some more photos of my North European Bronze Age collection , above a selection of various warriors in combat .

 

 

Skirmishers - skirmishing ! , mainly Foundry but with the odd Warlord figure (I think?) thrown in . I did quite a few conversions as there are not many variants out there.

 

 

Bronze Age Warlords with added plastic skulls and trophies.

 

 

Warlords in chariots .

 

 

A domestic scene- again Foundry figures , the cows are Gripping Beast , I have some pigs as well to paint up for this era . I have found that photographing these figures has got me interested in this period again and I am planning to paint up the few remaining figures I have . 

 

 

 

 

Bronze Age Warriors

 

Quite a few years ago or little group were into 'Warhammer Ancient Battles' rules and I must admit they revitalised or 25mm Ancient collections , this was also the era when 'Foundry' did some amazing army deals - really cheap ! (how times change). This prompted me to purchase 2 Bronze Age European armies , not the most popular choice but at that time I was actively involved in archaeology and this era fascinated me as it still does .

 

 

I did a lot of research into the dyeing and textiles preserved on various 'bog bodies' to get the right colours (there are a series of books by a Danish professor with wonderful name of  P.V. Glob !) and painted them up .Sadly they have not seen action for many years but I still  hold them in great affection, perhaps sometime in the future I will dig them out again and use them.