Will's 18th Birthday goes on tour to Rome

Day 1 - Rome

Will outside the Colosseum

We arrived in Rome on late Wednesday afternoon, and after a quick walk into town to get our bearings from the apartment, the plans were reviewed on places to visit the next day.

Being close to the centre of the ancient city we started with a tour of one of the most iconic structures in the city, the mighty Colosseum. This is my third visit to this building and it still takes the breath away when considering the engineering that was involved in its construction and the tragedy and drama those long empty stands must have witnessed.

This is the third time I've been here and I am still amazed by this building

The shear scale of the Colosseum is awe inspiring 

The view of the Palatine Hill and the entrance to the Forum

From the top of the Colosseum we could see the next sights of our tour of the city. With the Palatine Hill and the remains of the Imperial Palace, the Forum below and the temple of the Vestal Virgins, the Via del Fori Imperial, Mussolini's "get in on the act" contribution that actually destroyed significant archaeology in its building, but that forms a straight route to Trajan's magnificent column and the recently opened Trajan's Market.

Emperor Augustus with Trajan's Market behind

Needless to say the camera was on full time duty as the monuments came into view and Will and I were constantly chatting about various personalities that were associated with the sights and the commentary of Mike Duncan's The History of Rome podcast.

Emperor Trajan

I think this is Trajan receiving homage from captured Dacians, from Trajan's column

The first day was "full on" and we arrived back in the apartment and were able to start the "Rome on Tour - Knock Out Challenge of Julius Caesar" with Will and I playing the first match with further games to include Will's brother Tom, to establish who is the Emperor, Tribune and Pleb.
Julius Caesar - Columbia Games

The end of a great day, playing Dad at Julius Caesar, in Rome, living the dream!

Day 2 - Hadrian's Villa, about 20 miles outside of Rome

With Friday morning we were up early to catch the train and bus out to Hadrian's Villa

The day was hot with not a cloud in the sky and the villa being about 20 miles away from Rome is situated in beautiful countryside. With the bird song and quietness compared to Rome it was easy to see why the former emperor had chosen to base himself here.

The ornamental pond leading to Hadrian's party rooms was something that Will had been keen to see after seeing Mary Beard on TV talking about Hadrian and his lovely palace at the side of this pond.
Mary Beard - Hadrian

The Temple of Venus at Hadrian's Villa

There was quite a bit of travelling on the Friday and we were shattered when we got back to Rome, but Will and I got in few more turns of Julius Caesar, with all to play for on the last turn.

Day 3 - Ostia (Rome's Port), The Augusts Peace Altar, Trevi Fountain, The Pantheon & The Spanish Steps.

Saturday was going to be a busy day with another train journey out of the city heading towards the coast and the mouth of the River Tiber at Ostia, where the remains of the ancient harbour are to be seen. The peace in Rome under the Emperors was a delicate matter and the populace were kept compliant with games and bread. The grain to make the bread was principally obtained from Egypt and landed at Ostia.

The road into the ancient Port of Rome - Ostia

As at Pompeii a lot of the town was protected from destruction, in this case by sand deposits as the town was abandoned gradually, due to plagues of mosquitoes in the nearby marshlands. Thus, unlike Pompeii, where the town was frozen on the day of its destruction, Ostia shows the signs of its gradual abandonment as the harbour of Rome was relocated to Portus.

 Ostia - The Port of Rome

The dedication to the Emperors involved in the construction of the trading zone in the city

The trading area with the offices associated with the Port Trading groups forms a centre piece to the town. The mosaics outside each office building is thought to indicate the trade group associated with that office.

The dedication to the Emperors involved in the construction of the trading area was interesting reading as we all took turns in working out the Emperors mentioned. See if you can spot Hadrian, Trajan, Septimius Severus and Marcus Aurelius.

The elephant mosaic is thought to indicate the trade in ivory from Egypt in this office

The theater overlooks the trade area

With the morning spent wondering around Ostia and a packed lunch it was back on the train to Rome and on to see the sights north of our apartment in the city.

One monument that Will was particularly keen to see was the Ara Pacis, which is on first sight a big white box, but in its day was painted in bright colours, the remains of which can still be seen on the original pieces.

Will is studying this altar as part of his classics A' level and seeing the thing in all its glory was an important addition to his studies.

The Ara Pacis

The Ara Pacis was paintakingly reconstructed on the two thousandth anniversary of the birth of Augustus in the early nineteen thirties and is now contained in an environmentally controlled building that will even protect the altar from an earthquake.
Ara Pacis - The Augustus Peace Altar

Will pictured with the two "bad boys" of the early imperial period

In the building there are several busts of images of the characters of the time and we managed to get a couple of pictures. Will can be seen between the two bad boys, Augustus on the left and his old school mate, right hand man and turn to enforcer Agrippa.
Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa

I also wanted to get a picture of the first lady poisoner of Rome, if we are to believe Robert Graves and other Roman commentators, Empress Livia wife to Augustus and mother of Tiberius. I always remember watching the TV series in the seventies and the brilliant performance by Sian Phillips.

Livia

Yours truly with the formidable Livia, wife of Augustus, mother to Tiberius

Next up we was a whistle stop tour of the Pantheon
Pantheon, Rome

The Spanish Steps and ending up at the Trevi Fountain in the darkness of Saturday night and the huge crowds of tourists.
Trevi Fountain

Another full day and by the time we got to our restaurant we were very tired. Still that's what its like when you are on tour and it's a cycle ride down the Apian Way tomorrow.

I hope you have enjoyed this little snapshot of our family trip to classical Rome. Please forgive any major errors in my commentary, I am not a classics scholar, just an enthusiastic amateur. We fly back home on Monday and I will be back next week with more wargame themed posts and an update on the final result of the Julius Caesar Knock Out Challenge.

1st French Hussars

It was a busy week for me last week as I was away on a training course prior to starting a new job. Being away from home meant a halt to any painting or modelling and with the work required I wouldn't have had much time anyway.

So on my return home, last Friday evening, I was keen to maintain progress towards the Oporto game and this weekend I finished off my interpretation of the 1st French Hussars.

Napoleon Series - French Hussar Regiments

Regimental War Record 1792-1815 (Battles and Combats)

1792: Valmy, Jemmapes, and Andrelecht

1793: Nerwinden

1794: Le Boulou

1796: Mondovi, Fombio, Lodi, Borghetto, Rivoli, Lonato, Castiglione, Alba, Roveredo, Bassano, Saint-Georges and Arcole

1797: Rivoli, La Favorite, La Piave, Tagliamento and Gradisca

1799: Paolo, Magnano, Valence, Alexandrie, San Giuliano and Novi

1800: Marengo

1805: Ulm and Austerlitz

1806: Jena

1807: Eylau, Heilsberg, and Friedland

1809: Braga and de Santille

1811: Sabugal

1812: Monasterio

1813: 1st Squadron , Juterbock, Leipzig and Hanau

1814: Mincio

1815: Namur

Battle Honours

Jemmapes 1792, Castiglione 1796, Eylau 1807 and Oporto 1809

The 1st Hussars have an impressive war record, although I was slightly surprised to see that Oporto 1809 was recorded as a Battle Honour. We shall see if they are able to live up to that "honour" when they take to the table in a few weeks.

The figures are from AB and though well sculpted were a bit disappointing in that they are depicted with their pelisses worn buttoned and thus covering up the scarlet collars as shown in the illustration above. Still not to worry, they make a welcome addition to the ranks of my French light cavalry, and leave me just one more unit to do.

Oporto Table - Update

This week has been taken up with a lot of pre-reading prior to starting a weeks training course for a new job. Consequently time to devote to the table has been a lot more limited but in addition to getting the Portuguese infantry finished I have managed to get the 1st French Hussars on to the paint desk and turn my attention to preparing the buildings that will represent the outskirts of Oporto, see the map for details of the extent of the town I am looking to model.

I am trying to capture the colour and roofscape of the town as pictured above. I think these two aspects are key to fooling the eye into seeing the town as a whole with relatively few buildings mixed in with open spaces and walled enclosures.

The buildings are mainly from the JR Miniatures range with a few Hovels mixed in for variability. I also have my rural buildings to bolster the collection when set up on the table. I have managed to get all the block painting and dry brushing done. I just need to do the detail work, but that will have to wait until after the training course.

I have also started to translate a bit more of the terrain from the map, to which you can see the principle road network, with the French escape route being the right fork leading to the back of the table. I decided to lay the bulk of the road over the seam of the mat and boards to help minimise the impact of said gap. In addition I have used the benefit of the mat by adding undulating ground getting steeper to the rear of the table

I intend to make a mat to imply the edge of the town together with some more wooded mats. In addition I will add a few walled enclosures and crop areas to add to the overall look. You will also see I have alluded to the small brooks than ran down to the river with the bits of broken ground markers that lead through the open woodland.

All this clutter helps to break up the ground and cause disorder and fatigue to troops marching through it, something that is easily captured in C&GII.

Anyway that's all for now, more anon.

16th Portuguese (Lisbon) Infantry Regiment

The completion of the 2nd battalion, 16th Portuguese Infantry sees all four battalions of Portuguese infantry present at Oporto done.

The information about the regiment can be seen on my previous post about the 1st battalion.

The 2nd battalion on the right is seen pictured with the white Regimental Colour.

All figures are from the AB range with the colours from GMB Flags.

There are now only two units remaining before I can bring the Oporto scenario to the table, namely the 14th Light Dragoons and the 1st French Hussars. In addition I am planning to have a purpose built Seminary building and have some houses for the town to finish off.

I am away next week training for a new job and then I am away in Rome on a tour of the classical sights so I will update on progress on the project on my return. Don't be surprised if the odd picture of the Colosseum appears in between time.

Oporto Table Build - Day Eight and Done

That's it, no more flock, plaster, bark, ballast or floor tiles. The table is now ready for all the stuff that sits on it and distracts the eye away from all the little imperfections that might otherwise take the attention away from the actors that will grace this stage, namely the metal warriors of France, Britain and Portugal.

As you can see, the light olive flock is not an exact match but, I think, good enough to work once the table is set up for battle. This little exercise has got me thinking about another smaller battle fought over a river gorge, namely the River Coa and the Light Division's scrape with Marshal Ney. So when we get to 1811 I might have to get the cork bark out again!

Thank you to everyone who has joined me on this project and offered their encouragement. I really didn't know where this table design would end up in terms of the final look and the fact that all the comments I've had have been so positive really gives me a spur to press on with other ideas to depict key battles of the Peninsular War.

One thing that was highlighted was the little lines between the river tiles, that detracted slightly from the overall look. The answer was a small bead of PVA run along each seam and allowed to dry opaque. It really does seem to take the edge of the seams quite literally.

I was really keen to get this done within the week as I start training for a new job next week and then I'm off on a weeks classical tour of Rome which is an 18th birthday present for my younger son Will. We're all keen fans of ancient Rome in our family and I have another project lined up for "Hail Caesar", so I'll post a few pictures of the sights during that week. Then it's into the new job so time will be limited but I am aiming to play Oporto in May, allowing for the buildings to be painted and the two regiments of cavalry to get done.

The good news is that the Portuguese 2/16th Infantry are about halfway done so should be finished this week.

Once again thanks to everyone who got in touch and please drop me a message if there is something you want to know about this model that I didn't cover in the posts.

Oporto Table Build Day Seven

The temptation now is to rush the process to a close, but I am keen to take a bit of time with the build to consider the options. Just as when painting a figure, you get lots of ideas coming to mind about how to enhance various aspects and its worth it to just sleep on some ideas to get the right answer.

The colour selections of the flocks to go on the surfaces is going to be a learning process and whilst taking the ballast out to the river banks I decided I might as well paste up a bit of spare styrene to create a test bed for my colour options.

The test bed for the flocks

Ok so with a test bed set up for the flock and the river bank ballast in place, I went out for a quick six mile bike ride, a daily exercise designed to keep a man of my increasing age in some sort of shape. My bike riding is also where I tend to get my best thinking time as well.

Once I got back it was straight into finishing off  the river banks and testing the flock mix I picked up yesterday and I finally settled on a mix that was as good a match to the terrain mat that I could come up with.

The secret ingredient that came to me whilst out on the bike, chinchilla dust, a very fine sand that when added to the flock gives that slightly arid look to the pasture.

I only had enough flock to finish off one of the boards, but I'm quite pleased with the final effect. You will get a better idea when you see them all up on the table. In addition I intend to liberally apply various terrain pieces which will distract the eye and give an overall look, but bear naked I think this first board looks ok.

Let me know what you think.

Here is the other main board, just waiting for the flock treatment and with its river banks done.

As soon as the final work is done I'll post some shots of the boards up on the table so you can get a better impression. More anon.