Warhammer Ancients Chariot Wars: Egyptian Royal Guard Regiment

The last three years or so have been a time of mighty upheaval and convulsion for me, not that I'm complaining or anything.  Things are what they are.  At times there has no breath of leisure in which I could pursue my old painting and gaming hobby.  In other moments the time was there, but the inclination was not.  After a time I just about gave up on my blog, but now that the raging floodwaters have abated and retreated into little calm pools, I've started thinking about it again.  One thing I now know I will never lose is a love of miniature warriors, monsters and tanks, the menagerie of tiny companions my wife refers to as the 'Little Men'.  Even the Big Board, that simple assembly of heavy ply wood sheets and felt, supported by thick legs of green plastic milk crates, is a good friend, a partner in joyfully irresponsible frivolity for nearly thirty years.  The blog has documented the growth of my collection, and a few of the great adventures, (though not nearly enough), that have taken place on the Big Board.  It has also provided motivation  to keep painting, and a link to friends with similar interests around the world, whose beautiful and imaginitive works provide so much inspiration.  I've put ten years into it, and I feel like I should keep it going.  

Here is something that I did manage to paint during the deluge.

I took this regiment of Egyptian Royal Guardsmen with me to Kosovo and started them there, but only finished them a few months ago.  Each trooper is armored and armed to the teeth with spear, shield and axe, and they have a nice, tough, determined look about them.  They are all Ral Parthas from their 1990s Ancients Range.  I wish the range had had a more extensive selection of command figures, but I really like the sculpts.  they paint up well and they are a nice size.

When I started this blog virtually everything I posted on it was Oldhammer Fantasy or 40k.  Since then I've lost none of my love for fantastical themes, but it's hard not to notice that the majority of my collecting and painting efforts have drifted toward the historical.  The lead mountain now includes great peaks and spurs of Biblical, Colonial, Renaissance Old West, Pulp and second World War Figures and they all seem to be looking at me expectantly, waiting for me to bring them to life with a little sand and pigment.  Some hard choices may lie ahead, since it occurred to me a few years ago that at my age, it is most likely not possible for me to finish painting all the figures I own within the span of years left to me.  Yes, I've done the math.  I have that many.

These are the first pictures of minis I've taken in the club house in my new home in Washington State.  Took these with my phone.  Haven't quite figured out the lighting yet.

So I add these to my Libyan skirmishers and Egyptian Marines.  Next I need to add a Pharoah and some chariots.  The chariot models in this range and very beautiful, so I'm looking forward to getting to work on them!

Warhammer Ancients Chariot Wars: Egyptian Light Infantry

 Made a little progress on painting up some of the Ancients slope of my lead mountain....a regiment of Egyptian light infantry armed with javelins and shields.

 In Warhammer Ancients, troops classed as light infantry can form up and fight as regular line troops or break ranks and engage the enemy as skirmishers.  I'm interested to see how that works out on the table top.

 As usual the figures are all from Ral Partha's 1990s line.

 It was a fun regiment to paint, perhaps in part because the figures don't have a lot of paraphernalia to have to pick out with the brush.  Skin, some simple clothing, weapon and shield.  That's it.  So they go pretty fast.

 Some of the individual troopers.

The trooper figures are all the same casting but I don't mind that too much.

"Advance!!"   What's next?  I have no idea yet.  Archers, maybe?  Or a chariot regiment?  Meh.  I'll know when I get there.

Warhammer Ancients Chariot Wars: Libyan Skirmishers

I told myself I was going to finish my Hittite starter force before  I moved on to Egyptians, but these guys turned up on Ebay a couple of months ago, and the price was certainly right, so I had to get them.  I found them to be interesting looking troops and when they showed up in the mail I figured I might as well paint them while the inspiration was there.  Once lost, who knows when that inspiration might return?  That's how I justified breaking my own rule, anyway.

 The figures are all 1990s Ral Parthas; despite the very limited number of poses in that line, I like the sculpts and the size of the minis a lot, and I'm going to stray from the RP line as little as possible in building these armies.  Ral Partha made 2 Libyan figures, an archer and a javelin man.  There are twelve of each in this group.  That should give my Egyptians plenty of skirmishers for a start.  I do want to add some Nubian archers later, though. 

Rather dashing fellows, these, what with their tall ostrich plumes and their long cowhide cloaks...they really stand out amoungst the other bronze age guys I've collected so far.

 Unique to the Libyan national costume was the 'phallic sheath' .  Doesn't look too comfortable, but I guess its better than getting one's dork hung up on North African thorn bushes. 

 Still struggling to get the light right in the Fortress of Solitude.  Most of these pictures came out weirdly dark, even though I was dousing them in all the lights I could get my hands on. 

 Grr...Only now, as I post, do I notice the chip in the paint on this guy's hair.  Aghh.  I hate that.

On to the javelin men...

Guess I'll have to change the color I've edged all my bases with.  The flock blends nicely with the my mat, but the edges all look banana yellow against it.

Well there's the start to my Egyptian army, I certainly didn't get as far as I'd hoped on my Chariot Wars armies this year, but its not a bad start, I guess.

Marching into the rising sun, a contingent of Canaanite infantry are suddenly beset by a powerful  Libyan warband...