"making 28mm galatians." Topic

I'm kitbashing a Galatians army into existence…. but need to know which kits to use?

I'm having a hard time finding chariots that LOOK Galatian… most of them have a chap with spiky hair, and some British looking ponies on the front. Thoughts on more gallic looking chariots?

Also having a tough time finding suitable head swaps for the helmets. I'm thinking of using WGF numidian heads, along with Gallic heads to get that hellenized look. But I'm not sure if the helmets will be suitable.

Help!

Thanks
Austin

Its all a question of the given period

I'm thinking around 120bc

That's long enough after settlement, and well before conquest enough for me. It also gives me the option to fight more classical opponents, while tangling with some less classical opponents as well.

I think Foundry Bronze Age range? They also have naked riders on some of the British chariots. Mike Adams P.S. It appears that the chariots are NOT listed on the Foundry site. Relic has some very nice ones, but you might have to buy a pack of naked warriors!!!!

I forgot G. B. has one with naked noble. Mike Adams

See Simon at BigRedBatCave

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Were they still using chariots as late as 120 BC? Offhand, I can maybe see the commanders in one, but not units of them as such. Having said that, you could then morph the army backwards in time?

There are no chariots mentioned in the Roman campaign against Galatia in 189, so they'd probably given them up by well before 120.

I'm not sure if there are any surviving representations of specifically Galatian chariots for earlier periods – there's a yoke on one of the Pergamon reliefs, but not a whole vehicle.

For some reason I was thinking they had chariots up until conquest.nm I guess only Britons did?

So essentially a later Galatians army is Gaul, with classical allied cavalry and infantry?

I'm no expert on the Galatians, but I am intersted in them.

I expect you're right about the army composition – I would go with infantry, noble cavalry, and possibly some local subject levies adding asian-style bowmen/slingers (maybe even some asian-style mounted archers). I find it hard to believe that by 120 BCE they were still uninfluenced by the military techniques of their Greek/Persian subjects and neighbours.

My understanding is that Galatians 'Hellenized' a bit after settling in Anatolia and their kit became more mixed. So, they still used the large celtic shields (which may have also been adopted in modified form by the Greeks as the Theuros shield). Still relatively open order infantry with spears and longer swords than the local weapons. And still some crazy dudes fighting naked, and with a widespread penchant for moustaches. But they probably used captured Hellenic helmets and other gear at home, and when on tour as mercenaries likely picked up additional Hellenic gear from their employers. I can't see a warrior in that period rejecting good quality gear just because it wasn't the La Tene pattern helmet his great grandfather preferred ;)

I remember seeing some colour plates by McBride of later Galatians (not an Osprey book, one of the other publishers, title something like 'Armies of the Successors: The Ptolemaic Army'). The Galatian soldier was quite Hellenized and looked a lot like a Thorakitai. I'm trying to recall whether he was wearing pants – if so, that was the main feature to distinguish him from the Greeks.

If I was kitbashing 120 BCE Galatians I would use mainly Gauls, and in all of the units add in some figs wearing Hellenic helmets, maybe a few with Macedonian/Greek body armour. Head swaps in metals can be a nuisance, but in plastics a set of Warlord's Macedonians would set you up with a lot of helmeted heads and size-wise would fit with Warlord's Gauls.

With any luck BigRedBat will see this thread. Simon seems to have a very well thought out vision of classical troop types.

…I have a unit of nekkid Galatians in Ptolemaic service, based on the McBride that Pattus mentions. The nice thing about building a nekkid unit, is that one can convert Germans, Celts or even Greeks. I used a mix of these to build my unit.

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I'm afraid I know little else about Galatians. For later Galatians I'd imagine that Pattus is along the right lines. Just maybe the blue cloaks and white shields that they used in Ptolemaic service, reflected use back in Asia Minor. I suspect they fought in relatively close order, though, as they were drawn up next to the phalanx in the Macedonian line of battle.

Cheers, Simon

I know the picture Simon is referring to, and it's a good starting point. There's another picture as well, maybe in the other book in that series (it focused on the Seleucids), that shows a Galatian talking with a couple of other "ethnic" soldiers in Seleucid service.

Overall, it sounds like a fun army to research and put together.

I like the idea of a more cultured Galatia.
Thanks for all the help so far!

I settled on the 189-100 Bc era, so my Galatians would be at their peak (and admittedly so I had extra troops for my successor armies!)

According to my hail Caesar book, (biblical-classical) the Galatians used Greek and Asiatic mercenaries as cavalry….. is this accurate? I would think they would have their own cavalry… same with skirmishers?

I'm getting WGF numidians to kit up as some allied light infantry, they look grecian enough to pull it off… but am not sure what else to get? Thracians?

Also where can I get some decent 28mm thorakites?

Thanks
Austin

Relic have a very nice set of active Thorakites and Thureophoroi:

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Polemarch has them too:

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Aventine has Thureophoroi:
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If you have compatible bodies you can do head swaps from the warlord plastic phalangite set.

Those mixed in with irregular and phrygian capped Galatians, would make for a convincing army. Right?

Hey, Simon, what figures did you use for those nekkid chaps?

Where did you get the cloaks?

Let me know

Thanks
Austin

Hi Austin, its all on the linky, just scroll down. Some cloaks are green stuff.

Cheers Simon

There is mention of the Galatians using both regular and scythed chariots at the "Elephant Victory" against the Seleucids

Bill

Which a&a figures did you use Simon?

Also what are your (anybody) thoughts on relic minis? Some of their ligurians and Gauls fit perfectly…

Anything in the Aventine range that would work?

I'm trying to diversify, so they don't look like just another Gaul army. I want the hellenized look.

Also what cavalry should I be using for these guys? Light infantry?

Thanks

Austin

=59913&cat[]=59633]link

I found these. Some of the infantry looks perfect.

What are your thoughts?

Thanks
Austin

Hmmm, the figs on the linked page look good, but I think they're 15mm, rather than 28s.

I found these guys in the 28mm "successors" line:

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Hellenic kit, but wearing pants and cloaks – says "galatian" to me! Only a couple poses, but if you substituted in a couple other types of Gallic shields for some of them, they would probably look more varied.

The guy with the cap might need a head swap, though.

There are also some thorakites and other Hellenistic troops in the successor line that you could use.

Best of luck with the project!

Thanks for finding those cappadocians!

The Gallic Celts I linked are 28mm. I have the box checked :) lol

The unarmored ones are the ones I like the most.

Thureopoi (or however its spelled) look the best for the hellenistic look. But none of them (from magister militum) have facial hair.

The ones from relic look AMAZING but my wallet says, get one pack and be done.

Thanks for the help again!

Austin

Okay, this project has me hooked – I just had another thought.

You might also look around for figs listed as 'celt-iberians'. The helmets are generally of celtic/monetfortino type, BUT the figs are often wearing greaves. The celtiberians didn't pick up the use of greaves from the Hellenes (or if they did it was in early contact with Greek or Phoenician traders…). But greaves could also be something Galatians may have used following the move to Asia. And as an added bonus, figs depicting Celtiberians often have cloaks…

Take a look at these guys from 1st Corps:

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Swap a few Hellenistic heads into the mix and they'd look even more exotic.

The 1st Corps figs are on the small side of 28mm, from what I understand, but Crusader also makes some bigger ones:

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No cloaks, and the poses with the disk armour probably don't fit as well, but they're something to work with. Heck, some of the guys with mail even have the greek-style leather skirts!

Also, I wouldn't be too put off by the lack of facial hair on the successors – a small bit of greenstuff, or even just a painted on moustache would do the job.

Anyway, have fun!

Thank you so much! +500 kudos!

I really appreciate the find. Most of these figures are going to be super useful.

So much to paint!

I'm so excited about this project.

Thanks
Austin

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Can anybody vouch for RAFM?

thanks
Austin

Good news and bad news. The good news is (in my experience) the company is highly dependable. Also, the castings are good quality and a very reasonable price.

Unfortunately RAFM's historical lines are pretty close to 'true-25mm', so they're quite small next to current 28mm figs. Also, they almost always have only one pose per pack (I think only command packs have several different figs), and often only one pack per troop type. On the bright side, the heads and shields are seperate and they sell a couple of head packs and shield packs, so you can get some diversity that way… if you don't mind assembling metal figs.

I think you could get away with having them in a 28mm army in their own units (I have one RAFM unit in my successors force), but I wouldn't try to mix them with other manufacturers' figs within units.

Sorry if that's discouraging – I figured you'd want an honest opinion!

I like the sprues bundle.

The model is just a Gaul though… he doesn't have any kind of hellenized look. I see that now lol. I was just excited to see the word "Galatian".

Will the heads look alright on 28mm models?

Thanks
Austin

I have used Rafm heads on smallish figures.. but they are true 25mm and not compatible with the new world of giants.

RAFM does have excellent war machines.. this ballista has served my Macedonians well for many campaigns.. note a RAFM helmeted head on an Essex crewman here.

Nice looking ballista!

Hey quick q for those who know:

What colors would clothed Galatians be wearing?

Obviously that blue cape, and some of the lighter blue colors… but would they retain the Gallic checkered patterns? Or stick to more hellenistic clothing patterns?

Thanks
Austin