So new gladiators are on the way. One should be a murmillo who I want to convert into this terracotta figure (at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, UK).
I first saw it in my Caesars and Gladiators book which says this class of gladiator is unknown. It has the armor of a murmillo, but the helmet is a new type; it's all-enclosing and crested like a secutor's helmet, but has a perforated face mask like that of a murmillo.
The conversion will only be needed on the helmet. It should be easy: I plan on simply drilling more eyes holes then adding a tiny bit of greenstuff around the base to give the helmet a little more of a conical shape.
I'm not sure if I'll keep the old crest, or file it down and add a new crest like that on the terracotta figure, which is a little more dramatic in that it's larger and bisects the helmet from back to front.
In any case, it'll be nice to have a new gladiator class to add to the ranks.
Another figure I will turn into another retiarius. I'm excited about that one because I plan on painting him up like a celt, so it's gonna be woad city with those tattoos!
I also received a couple new Reaper minis today. I'll paint them up during or after this next batch of gladiators. I have one of the newer black orc sculpts and a bathalian pirate fellow.
An interesting figure, the crest coming down across the face would limit your view, the huge shield would limit movement while the short sword means you have to get really close.
ReplyDeleteI know the get-up's were all designed to hamper you in some way (and if you proved yourself 'un-hampered' they sometimes cut you in the side to slow you down!), but this guy is really up against it!
Three straight posts without any pictures? It's time for an intervention!
ReplyDeleteJosiah: Oh yeah, I've noticed the lack of photos, too. I think I may post some pics of old figures just so my blog doesn't look so ugly as of late:)
ReplyDeleteMav: Just to add to what you said -- I've read an interesting theory by Barry Strauss (in his book "The Spartacus War) that gladiators fought very little with their swords, but used their shields as their primary melee weapon until they were able to get close enough and find an opening upon which they would use the short blades.
So you can't see, your blade is short, and not only is your shield heavy, but your swinging it around as well as getting caught in the face with the edge of your opponent's shield. "Up against it" is right!
This is another reason I've been enjoying the Spartacus series; they employ a lot of shield work during their combats. Those writers are definitely reading the same sources I am :)
I read 'The Gladiator' by Alan Baker, but it was a couple of years ago, and I can't remember it in detail, I do remember thinking it wasn't hot on fine detail, and seemed to be more a collation of existing info., rather than an in-depth analysis!
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