"Macedonian Pikes and colours" Topic

Hi

I will be going to Partizan at the end of this month, which will be the first time I have been to a gaming show for 5-6 years. So I am looking to stock up on certain things to get my Macedonians started. Planning ahead as to what I want/need to buy and so have a couple of questions:

1) PIKE LENGTH:
I have read that pikes in era of Phillip/Alexander were 14-16 foot long (80-85mm @ 28mm scale), and that pikes in Successors era were longer, 18-21 foot long (100-112.5mm @ 28mm scale).

I plan on starting with Alexander's invasion force (specifically battle of Granicus) and then adding some Pyrrhic/Antognid units for later periods. (Thus for Pyrrhus as an example I would be using the initial units to represent Macedonian units and then adding Epirote/Tarentine units).

My question is would it look odd to have some units with 85mm pikes and some units with 100mm pikes? Or should I just go with all units with 100mm pikes and accept that not strictly accurate for Phillip/Alexander era? I am tempted to go with latter- i.e. all 100mm pikes.

2) MACEDONIAN PHALANGITES COLOUR SCHEME:
I have just read the Sekunda Osprey "The Army of Alexander the Great". The colour plates are a lot more colourful than I expected. I think I will need to get some more paints, especially dark purples, mid purples and golds, pinks, light blues and aquamarine blues.

Can anyone recommend specific paints, either Foundry packs or GW colours, for the above colours?

Thanks

James

PS: IIRC Alexander awarded the Companions purple cloaks in the asian portion of the campaign. Does this mean that beforehand they were (probably) with gold cloaks and purple edging as shown on the Foundry website?

I'd go with the 100mm pikes, it is a wargames army and I think that the regularity in length, while maybe not even strictly historical there, would look better on the table. Having the "right length" for the pikes probably doesn't really matter as much as having them look uniform for the later army as far as the aesthetics of it go.

For paints, I can't recommend foundry at all and the GW paints all changed their names recently so I'm at a loss there. If you are looking for some nice shades though try Cartoon Colours Cel-Vinyl paints.

For their colours they have a 1-30 of stuff so that you can get some nice shading in. So you could get purple, purple 10 and purple 5 for highlighting.

I have a few hunderd Macedonian pikemen and use them for Alexander and successor armies. My pikes are all 80mm.
I think it is fairly clear that they are pikes, and it is easier to handle then longer pikes. Longer pikes just don't fit in my boxes to stock them.

You can see some older pics of my troops at link
All pics are "clickable" to enlarge them.

Thanks guys

@ waaslandwarrior- it's easier for me to acquire 100mm pikes as more places stock them, including Foundry, Aventine, Gripping Beast and 1st Corps. From memory the only ones who I was looking at for figures that did 85mm pikes was Old Glory.

So to be honest it would be asier to stick to 100mm so I can ensure that all look the same.

Anyone got any suggestions on good paints for dark purples, mid purples and golds, pinks, light blues and aquamarine blues? Foundry or GW.

Thanks

James

I use craft paints and Vallejo. The Osprey on Alexander uses a different purple scheme than the current vogue. When I first started painting ancient I used a very red magenta purple… I was laughed out of town by the "experts" that followed the colors of the Osprey. Having picked up a Sea Slug at a local tide pool once or twice I have noticed the color that squirts out…. it is vibrant magenta-purple and stains anything. It is of course what the Murex dye came from.. Sea Slugs…

Here Johnny Shumate uses the old palette:
link

And here in a recent painting what the Murex purple looks like:

Lately as I have been repairing and updating older models I have been re-doing the old purple with new purple…

Oh and then there is the artwork by actual Macedonian employed artists that we have accessible after the Osprey was published:

Go bang your heads against the wall now..
JJ

Or you could do what I do – buy 100mm and cut a bit off ….. :-)))

Regards,
Craig

Thanks JJ.

Not a fan of Vallejo- I gues I am too clumsy to cope with their squirty bottles. I get on fine with Foundry or GW style flip-tops so will stick with one or other of them.

How similar is that Murex purple to the deep purple (laughs to self) that they depicted the Thessalians with in that Osprey?

I guess that discounts Foundry Royal Purple:
link

Leaves me with choice between Deep Maroon and Deep Mauve:
link

or

link

For the Pink I am torn between Wine Stain and Shadow Pink:
link

or

link

For blue I am pretty happy with Teal Blue:
link

That just leaves me still looking for a colour for golden yellow. I might take a look at new GW equivalent of old Golden Yellow.

Thanks

James

Hi Craig- the thing is that I do actually want 100mm pikes for my later Pyrrhus/Antognid Phalanxes. So I think I might just stick with them for earler Alexander invasion force.

I think it would look odd if some pikes are different lengths. If I stick to 100mm it appeals to my lazy side (less cutting involved)!

Cheers

James

@JJArtist

Can you point toward some reference regarding the bottom picture in your post?

Thanks,
Mike

That's the tomb painting from Agios Athanasios, nr Thessaloniki. It's one half of the picture, the other half shows a feast/procession. I believe it's dated to the early third century and comes from what is described as a Macedonian tomb on stylistic grounds.

Regards,
Craig

More on the tomb at Agios Athanasios:
link
triantafyllou.eu/?p=456
link
link

Cheers,
Scott

Thanks Scott