Hi, all. I am about to embark on my first 6mm ancients project. I confess that ancients are not an area in which I have any particular expertise, so apologies in advance if this post seems uneducated. I ordered republican Romans and Guals from Baccus last year and am finally ready to put brush to figure.
I intend to go with the 28mm DBA base size standard, so 60mm frontage in the hopes of creating real mass effect on the table. I am looking to start with a single legion of 4 bases of blades, 2 bases of velites and 1 base of triarii.
At the risk of covering well trodden ground I am looking for suggestions as to how to base the Roman Blades units.
Experts, please correct me, but there seems to be some disagreement as to how the mid-republican legions arranged themselves in an actual battle line. I know the triplex acies formation was arranged in a checkerboard at least until the velites withdrew. But I believe the maniples of hastati may have closed ranks prior to actually coming into contact with the enemy creating a single, thinner line (I am thinking of the battle scene from the movie Spartacus). Though I have seen some internet images of bases representing the triplex acies (which look great), I am looking to replicate the actual battle line formation that would have been used by hastati and principes. If anyone can provide clarity as to what that would have looked like, it would be great.
I was thinking of doing 3 ranks of 12 figures, the first 2 ranks with the gladius and the third with pilum (incidentally, I have one pack of each type of figure from Baccus). If I were to go this route, I would likely use the command strip in the middle of the first rank on each blades base. As an alternative I was considering doing 3 ranks of 10 with a centurion and signifer on the extreme right of the first two ranks and an optio on the left in the third rank. I believe this would more faithfully represent a proper century formation.
Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!
Thanks,
Matt
