Welcome to the first installment of the Ancients Wargamer blog.  First, I’m very honoured and excited to have this forum to discuss the miniatures wargaming hobby.  Ancient Warfare has become one of the ancient wargamer’s best sources for information.  From essays on tactics to discussions of specific pieces of equipment, Ancient Warfare is now providing the wargamer and hobbyist with a regular installment of well-written and well-researched articles and reviews.

This column is an attempt to go one step further and provide some specific wargaming material to reinforce the theme of each issue.  It may be something as simple as a discussion of available 28mm models for a certain period or it may be as esoteric as “how to use religious iconography in your Carthaginian army”.  In either case, I plan to post lots of photos of painted miniatures and terrain!

I’d also love to hear from the readers.  Your feedback is very important and will certainly influence the direction of the column. 

So without further ado, I’d like to play a little “catch-up.”  Ancient Warfare IV.1 dealt with the early Italian era.  This is one of my favorite periods (as a very-amateur Etruscologist) and I just happen to be working on an early Etruscan 28mm army.  In the spirit of full-disclosure, I’ll mention that I’m a partner in a small boutique miniatures company called Gorgon Studios and we produce a line of early Etruscan models; the source of many of my painted examples.  However there are some other companies that produce excellent figures for this period.  In particular, Aventine Miniatures produces a fantastic range of later Etruscan model and some Italian Hill Tribe figures.  Similarly, Crusader Miniatures have produced great lines of Samnites and Oscans.  Just in the last few years, it seems wargamers interested in this period have found themselves with greatly expanded choices for their armies.

I’ve been steadily building the true core of my early Etruscan army; the 1^st class hoplites.  These Etruscan citizens are equipped in the style of their Greek hoplite contemporaries, so I knew that I’d be painting lots of shield devices.  Now, it must be said that there are several companies out there making very nice shield transfers.  These save lots of time and look great when applied carefully.  That said, I’m sort of a “shield purist” and I enjoy hand-painting this iconography.

I decided to go with an emphasis on maritime symbols for my Etruscan shields.  As a seafaring people and prolific traders, I felt that the Etruscans would invariably display this aspect of their daily life in their warriors’ personal heraldry.

I’ll leave you with some photographs of my early Etruscan army so far.  I hope to revisit my progress in future posts with lots more to show.

So, again, thanks to Ancient Warfare for the opportunity to take a regularly-scheduled look at the wargaming hobby.  I’m excited about some of the upcoming themes and I’ve already got some projects planned.  Until then, keep painting.  I know I will be.