DanWW2 | 22 Jun 2016 5:06 a.m. PST |
I've got a small force of Warlord Games Early Imperial Romans (lorica segmentata, curved rectangular shields), and having all the resistance of a magpie when confronted with new and shiny things, a number of Caesarian Romans (chainmail, horse hair plumed helmets, large oval shields) I was wondering if these two differently equipped forces would ever have overlapped, either in the same or opposing armies? |
GarrisonMiniatures | 22 Jun 2016 5:19 a.m. PST |
Well, apart from anything else you could call the Caesarian Romans 'Praetorian Guard'! But yes, some Legions would change before others, some Legions may not change anyway. |
TKindred | 22 Jun 2016 5:30 a.m. PST |
Lorica hamata, or mail, was used through the entire Roman period. If anything, it would be the default armour. I have both Republican and EIR period forces, and I routinely mix the minis within each. Although new styles of armour came into vogue, the transition wasn't as fast or as complete as many would believe. For some bit of consistency, I usually clip the plumes off of the helmets of the rank & file. |
Henry Martini | 22 Jun 2016 6:30 a.m. PST |
But would new styles supplant older ones faster in the case of helmets than with armour? |
dragon6 | 22 Jun 2016 9:54 a.m. PST |
Nope. Armor is expensive and so are helmets. They get reused if possible |
Frederick | 22 Jun 2016 10:28 a.m. PST |
I agree with Dragon6 – the Romans were if nothing else practical; they would almost certainly keep using armour/helmets until they were very worn |
Korvessa | 22 Jun 2016 10:45 a.m. PST |
Wasn't that the point of holding the field after a battle? You got to loot the battlefield for weapons & armor? I know some would end up as trophies in temples, but have to believe much was used. |
Deuce03 | 22 Jun 2016 10:54 a.m. PST |
Using Caesarian miniatures for Imperial armies would be fine; the lorica hamata stayed in use in some form throughout the Roman Empire and as mentioned above may still have been the default form of armour even while the lorica segmentata was used. However it doesn't go quite so neatly the other way. While the date of the introduction of lorica segmentata is debated, it seems it didn't start to appear until the later reign of Augustus, so it probably wouldn't be appropriate for an army of the Republic. The same might go for helmets, too: the Gallic type most often depicted on Imperial legionaries was only just starting to come in at the time of Caesar's civil wars. I'm not sure about shields: I'd imagine they probably changed more quickly than armour, and "rectangular" shields might have supplanted the more rounded scuta completely at some point. But then oval shields never disappeared completely, so you can probably still get away with it, although if you're only planning on playing as EIR you might want to get some rectangular scuta to make it clear your Caesarian models are actually contemporary legionaries in mail and not just a case of you throwing whatever you can find onto the table ;) |
GarrisonMiniatures | 22 Jun 2016 11:18 a.m. PST |
If you're talking about EIR armies, not many battles between 2 Roman armies, so a Legion won't be picking up 'newer' Roman armour. |
DanWW2 | 22 Jun 2016 2:38 p.m. PST |
Thanks- lots of excellent information! It's Good to know that I could use them as opposing forces in an early Imperial context, or combine them and use the Caesarian figures as units that hadn't received the latest armour yet. Just a few hundred Romans and opposing barbarians to paint now! |