Levy Pikemen for Ptolemy

In response to a question about Raphia we decided to add some levy pikemen. The problem is what did they look like? Adam decided to add some heads with a felt/leather skull cap somewhat like those in films wore by priests and commoners alike.  We have produced the bodies headless so further down the line we will be able to make up all the possible variations of different bodies and different heads. PH28 are all unarmoured levy, PH29 have 2 unarmoured and 2 in linothorax while PH30 are all in linothorax. Each pack will have 5 heads 4 in the skull caps and 1 in a leather fancy job. When we get the rest of the bodies and heads prepared we will list them separately so you will order the body then the heads, that way we can also offer the heads separately as well.

 

To the Strongest rules now in store

Just received this afternoon Simon Millers To The Strongest ancient and medieval rules. He has a great website full of useful bits and pieces for both the rules and wargaming in general.

TTS coverIf you know Simon at all you will expect lots of really nice photos of “Wargaming porn” and you will not be disappointed. The site also has feedback from delighted customers.

 

There is a link at the top of the page for more info.

New General and horse along with musicians for the Sassanids

We have added another pack to the infantry to fill the gap we did not think was there, the musicians. Adam has crafted 2 drummers and a horn player and to fill out the pack there is another standard bearer/spearman. The pack has 6 heads(all figures are headless) and 3 standards. We also had a mounted general and his horse sitting waiting completion, this has a choice of either a sword or axe armed rider, loads of detail on both.

 

Sassanid armoured infantry with command

We have finished the infantry now for the Sassanid Range. These last 2 packs are for the dismounted Clibanarius or better equipped infantry. The SASS39 pack has 4 figures armoured in mail with a long coat over it. They are thrusting overarm from behind standing Pavais. The photos don’t show how they will look ranked up on a base as we mounted the pavais on a separate base. The command pack has an office holding his drawn sword and the standard bearer with the draco. This standard bearer could also be holding a spear and if asked we can produce enough of them to sell as a pack of 4 or a mixed pack of 2 wit 2 thrusting spearmen, just a thought. Next up will be the heads which hopefully Adam can get sorted for next week, then it ois the Samnite cavalry.

 

H4H figures

We have decided to stop selling the 2 H4H figures from today as charity items. It is difficult to administer this as our systems are not the best at keeping track of such and the numbers have dropped off. To date we have sold a total of 224 of the figures raising a grand total of £336.00 for the H4H charity. This has all been paid to them and we would like to thank all who bought them for their support.

We will consider doing the same again if we have a figure that fits the bill. The figures can still be bought but they are no longer a charity item.

Christmas Time

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all. We will be closed for business over the holiday period closing on Tuesday 22nd and only nipping in to check on emails until the Monday the 4th 2016.

 

Aventine is like the Royals, it has 2 birthdays. On the 1st December 2008 we set up Aventine and then for the next 5 months we bought casting and moulding equipment, learnt how to use it and prepared the first range ready for sale when we opened for business on the 1st April 2009. All you see on the site has been created by Adam and Keith since then. We would guess that there are around 250,000 Aventine little men out there now and a few Elephants as well. All this has been possible because of you our customers/friends and we thank you.

 

Next year we hope to start another grand project, the Byzantines, starting with the Early and progressing onwards. Before we start that we will complete a Samnite cavalry unit, add cavalry to the Seleucid section and revamp some of the successor infantry. YES Mike Adams, we will do Samnite cavalry soon. We still have to complete the armoured infantry command pack for the Sassanids, we stopped that to let Adam help out with the casting, we had so many orders that that was the only way to get them away before the posting deadline, it has been started and should not take long to finish.

 

Have a Merry time and don’t strain too many eyes painting, there is always next year for that.

 

Keith and Adam

Unarmoured infantry packs done for Sassanids.

We have added 4 packs of unarmoured infantry to the store, two with round shield and javelin and two with large shield and spear. As you can see, I have put the shields on the spearmen with the pointed end up as that is what we feel is correct way. The difficulty comes from the finds lacking any handles or other evidence to support either method. We feel that given historical precedent and practicality this pointly way up is the more likely. The Osprey illustrators have it the other way as in the first set of packs(the reason they were setup in that way). The models are such that you can do whichever way you feel is correct or just looks better.