Saturday, June 17, 2017

Warhammer Ancients Chariot Wars: Hittite Spearmen

Annnnnddddd...here's the newest regiment for my Hittite army.  Not a very successful effort, unfortunately.  From a distance they look okay, up close not so much.  As my eyes get older and weaker, faces get tougher to paint.
The Ral Partha Hittite line did not include any actual Hittite infantry figures other than the Royal Guards.  The troopers in this unit are the "Anatolian ally" figures from the series and I assume they are meant to represent warriors from the ethnic Hittite colonies that dwelt far out in the Caucasus mountains.  These settlements were far enough away from the heartland of the Hittite empire to maintain a degree of independence, but from time to time they did send contingents to fight in the armies of their western cousins.
I've painted them as early Hittites.  Sort of.  I've played pretty fast and loose with it.
My sources for this era claim that the Hittites were the first people in the Mediterranean basin to discover iron, and iron weapons must surely have played a crucial role in the Hittites' successes.  They were also very successful in keeping this technological breakthrough a secret for a very long time.  It was only when the Hittite empire was finally over-run by the Sea Peoples that the secret got out and spread.  I've painted some of these warriors with iron spear heads, while others, perhaps less wealthy, still use bronze.
So.  Although this regiment is a bit underwhelming visually, alas, it at least represents meaningful progress on my Hittite starter army.  I still need to get a general, a heavy chariot squadron and some skirmishers finished.  Then I can wrap it up for now and move on to my Egyptians.
And now...back to work on more Rogue Trader 40k stuff.  I've made a lot of crazy promises to myself about what RT stuff I'd get done before fall.

13 comments:

  1. Great work...I do like the old RP sculpts, and they are a nice size too.

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    1. Thanks, Springinsfeld! I agree, they are nice sculpts. Wish the range had had a few more poses though.

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  2. I think you are being a bit hard on yourself Mr. Mouse, these look rather good to me. That said I know what you mean about eyes getting older and weaker as just this year I have found myself with a pair of reading glasses - a bit of a faff, but at least it means I can see what I am painting again!

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    1. Thanks very much, Michael! Wouldn't know you've been having trouble by looking at your beautiful minis. Yeah I've just really been struggling with faces lately, especially eyes. Sigh. I'll just have to face reality and get a set of readers for painting, I guess. Getting old is the opposite of fun.

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    2. It was getting so bad I was having to take my glasses off and hold the miniatures right in front of my face rather than face the obvious truth and go to the optician - yes getting old seriously sucks!

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  3. These look great, no probs with the faces at all. I like the idea of using iron sparingly, gives the unit charicter as well as realism.

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  4. The faces look great to me - but I do agree with you that painting gets harder with even a little bit of age. I'm ancient (i.e. 42) and I find that it's harder on the eyes than it was only a couple years ago. Now I have to use reading glasses in order to paint.

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    1. Thanks, Matt. We're about the same level of old, then. Lame. Too bad life isn't more like a video game. We should gain more powers as we level up, not lose them.

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  5. Looking pretty damn good to me, sir!

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  6. Hi Mouse,

    Nice to be popping around your blog again enjoying all the new great posts! Just love your Hittite force you have been working on! I think they look fantastic and I look forward to seeing a full army shot so far too! And as for the eyes, it is a bummer but I found that it opened the door to new scales and new painting approaches/style. And moving the big guys around (ie 40mm or 54mm) is very satisfying! But having said that, 25/28mm will always be king!

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    1. Hey, Private Weird! Nice to see you're still alive and kicking! Glad you like the Hittites! I think the big chariot regiment is next...

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