@lloyd – loving the coverage! massive fan of historical era, couple of bits you may find useful:

time frames.

Republican Rome is the early stuff, so from the founding through to the Marian Reforms. Rome for a long time had a citizen army, you had the Hastati (young Romans, not much equipment but deffo the fittest and some of the strongest) in the front line, then the Principes, these were older Romans, more sort of middle class and could afford better equipment. These formed the core of the army. Then you had the Triarii, the very best in the army, best equipment, fought like Greek hoplites and were only sent in at the very last minute. The light armoured people you see in the Victrix box are the Velites, the absolute dregs of Roman society, peasants who couldn’t afford armour what-soever (but still had a duty as citizens to fight) so they fight as skirmishers in front of the army. The wolf skins allegedly were a means of being able to hide in the long grass of the Italian plains, from a distance they’d look like a flock of sheep or something, only when you got close and you realized what they were… You mentioned the Etruscans, Victrix Allied Legions box is just that. Once Rome conquered it’s neighbours they started levying forces from the conquered peoples, people like the Tarantines (who were exceptional horsemen) would provide the Roman Army with cavalry, while other states in the south of modern-day Italy (which at the time was actually called Magna Graecia – greater Greece. lot of these cities were Greek colonies that absorbed the local Italian tribesmen and created something new) Republican Roman era deals with the wars against Carthage, some of the wars with the Celts and Germans to the north (everywhere north of the river Rubicon was for a long time Celtic territory, known as Cisalpine Gaul, or Gaul beyond the Alps) so all that needed to be conquered to secure the borders. Also have wars with the Spaniards. Carthage had colonies in Spain, so to take out the Carthaginians, they first weakened them by picking off the colonies. Problem is, once they took over the Carthaginian colonies they ended up at war with the locals in much the same way that Carthage had been. Rome is able to beat Carthage but gets its ass kicked in Spain by a huge army of Numantines, a Spanish tribe from the north. The old Citizen Army system (Hastati, Principes, Triarii) just wasn’t working so a bloke called Marius instigated a series of reforms, the Marian Reforms to create Rome’s first ever professional army. Would still be supported by Auxillia from Rome’s allies, whether they be Italian or Celtic cavalry, Spanish infantry, Libyan infantry etc but the core would be the new model army. The Ceasarian era stuff represents the new model army at the tail end of the Republican era, this is when Rome starts to look east, they conquer the Greeks, the Macedonians, go into the Balkans, Anatolia, Judea, then Ceasar invades Gaul while Pompeii Magnus (Pompeii the Great conquers Spain). Crassus, another famous general (it was actually him, Pompeii and Sulla before Sulla broke off and caused another civil war, at which point the young Caesar takes his spot in the Triumvirate, the military council of 3 that took over for a while) leads an army east against the Parthians (the successors to the Persians) and the Seleucids (Alexander the Great’s Greeks that conquered modern day Syria and Iraq) Problem is, military reform wasn’t enough, they needed political reform. The empire got too big. Throw into that equation a new professional army (the men of the Legions actually swore their oaths to the Legion Legate (bit like a colonel/general) who supposedly acted under the mandate of the Senate and People of Rome (SPQR, Senatus, Populus que Romanus). That’s how you get the civil war. Different generals, different ideas of how the country should be run kicking the crap out of each other until Octavian eventually wins (becomes the first ever Emperor, Caesar Augusta, or Caesar the f*kin awesome)

Word of advice, the Wargames Factory stuff isn’t great. Was some of the first attempts at plastic kits and they easily look a bit dated compared to the newer stuff from Warlord or Victrix. One thing I would consider is the Celtic chariots and the Roman cavalry, the cavalry just need head swaps and they look great. Victrix Carthaginians look goof as Libyans and other north African nations.

On the Celts however, the naked horde thing is a bit over done. Sam could try looking at Gripping Beast’s Dark Age range and mixing them in with the Warlord stuff. The normal Dark Age warriors make great tribesmen whilst a box of Vikings (with a bit of conversion work) would make for great Hearth Guard. Barbarian tribes were huge, tens of thousands, so you had the hordes of tribesmen but every tribe would have an elite of a couple of hundred professionals, usually aristocrats who could afford the very best swords and the very best armour. Why did Rome spend so much time looking at new armour? Celtic steel was the best in Europe, it could cut through pretty much anything the Italians could make. Can do the horde if you want, but you don’t have to be pigeon holed with the Barbarians.

Sorry. Bit of a diatribe but any historical coverage whatsoever really gets me going hahaha