Hellenic Progress

I'm finishing up bases for additional Psiloi and two Artillery elements for my Hellenistic Morph collection. When complete, I will have enough elements to field two complete Hellenistic Armies from a list of 38 possibilities, including the Macedonians, Successors, and Hellenistic Greeks. I will use my Spartan Army initially for Hellenistic Greeks that require more than two Spear; I plan to paint up additional Hoplites later.

Greek and Roman Busts
Photo from my recent visit to the National Archaelogical Museum, Naples, Italy

I took inventory of completed or almost completed elements to help me decide what to paint next. My first goal is to expand my options for a single Army, rounding out the collection for the second Army later.  As of today, I have completed:

• 12 Psiloi
• 4 Auxilia
• 2 Spear
• 6 Pike
• 2 Knight
• 3 Cavalry
• 2 Light Horse

With this set, I can field 12 different Book II Armies:

• Alexandrian Macedonian (II/12)
• Alketas (II/16c)
• Pyrrhic (II/27a)
• Eight Hellenistic Greeks (using Spartan elements at times) (II/31b,c,d,e, g,h,i,j)
• Later Macedonians (II/35b)

I have two Elephants cleaned up, but I am waiting for an order of "Green Stuff" modeling putty to arrive.  The Essex-brand Elephants are made in three pieces, so I need the putty to fill in the seams.
Once the Elephants are ready, I will be able to field 13 additional Armies.

In the meantime, I will paint up additional Auxilia.  Four more Auxilia bases will yield four more Armies, a good return on investment!

When I posted photos of the Hellenistic elements recently, the posting resulted in a fruitful discussion in the Yahoo DBA Group on washes.  I only used a light ink wash; many viewers recommended a darker wash to bring out a better contrast.  I experimented with different washe techniques on eight Psiloi elements.  I'll posted comparative photos in a future post, once the basing work is completed.