6mm Roman Triarii

Progress with my Painting Challenge projects has been relatively swift by my standards since I was let in on a sympathy vote. I'm working on several things at once, partly to keep things interesting for me but also to maintain a reasonable level of productivity without cutting corners on quality. I am rather strict about varnishing for instance and like to leave at lest six hours between each of the four coats (2 Gloss & 2 Matt) that I apply. I can't sit around twiddling my thumbs in the meantime and having several projects at different stages means I always have something to do.

My 6mm Roman Republican army has grown again, this time with four units of Triarii. These were the oldest and wealthiest legionaries in the army and were usually positioned in the third rank behind the Hastati and Principes. They could afford the best equipment and typically wore heavy metal armour and carried large shields and long spears. By the time of the 2nd Punic War experience rather than wealth was the primary selection criteria for the Triarii. They were still the best armed troops although now they carried larger oval or rectangular shields rather than the smaller round ones of earlier periods.

Republican Triarii

As with my other Romans these minis are by Baccus and are very nicely cast with very few minor defects and virtually no flash to be removed. A handful of the helmet plumes either broke off or were miscast but these are so few as to not ruin the overall impact of the finished units. Its tempting to think that these are virtually identical to the Hastati and Principes that I have already painted but close inspection shows that these really are distinctly different figures with appropriate armour for their class. Some parts of the models were sticky to reach when painting but overall this was a simple paint job just requiring some patience rather than masses of skill to complete.

Triarii

From behind their armour vests are very visible

I rocketed through these in double quick time spending just two evenings painting the figures and a couple more for varnishing and basing. Whether I can maintain such a pace remains to be seen but if I can I could get my whole Punic War period wrapped up by the end of the challenge! Having said that I also have some WWII North Africa stuff to work on for the challenge. It all depends on how long I wait before my large order of Carthaginians arrives from Baccus. I'll let the Paint Gods (or Royal Mail) decide which direction I go in next.