W-romans! Part Two - The background and first paint

Being a historical army means that I need a rough background for where it comes from, and what its doing there, plus the models have to be painted in at least some of the right colours. This decision was made easy by my trip to Wroxeter because as part of their events for that day they had a member of a re-enactment group dressed as a legionary! A picture and a few questions later and I had picked my background; the XIV Legion Gemina - Legio quarta decima Gemina.

The XIV Legion was one of the units used in the Roman invasion of Britain in AD43, and was subsequently based, among other places, in Wroxeter and then Deva (Chester). It was sent to eliminate the threat of the druids on Anglesey in AD60, before rushing back to the midlands in time to help defeat Boudica at the Battle of Watling Street near Wroxeter. In AD68 it returned to the continent to be stationed in Gaul, and by AD106 was in the east fighting the Dacians.

From a war gaming point of view this leaves it free to fight Gauls, Brits, Dacians and the Germanic people. The uniform is also handy because I was dreading having to paint massed hordes of the traditional Roman red - although it looks good when its well done I’ve never mastered it, which is why my armies tent to be darker colours! To my joy it would appear that a royal blue is the colour of choice for the XIV Legion, and below are my first two attempts at painting some legionaries, and the re-enactor at Wroxeter for a comparison. More updates when I have time/energy.