Sorting out the short ones

So with the cool gabled building finished I had some more time and banged out the two story buildings.  The last installment will be the three story buildings.  all four of these are simpler than the gabled building so assembling them went pretty smoothly.  It also did not hurt that I had already painted basically all the buildings so it was mostly just gluing.  I did have a problem with the doors (I forgot to paint them) and one was missing, but once those were sorted out all was smooth sailing. 

A Funny thing happened on my way to the forum.

     So, three odd things happened while I was refreshing my memory on Roman construction styles and figuring out which buildings to use for my Roman games.  

     First, I learned that the Romans invented Timber framed construction.  Timber framing was used for the lowest class people's buildings.  Basically, it was just a timber frame with various "stuff" (rubble, rocks etc) stuffed in between the timbers as a matrix and then the "stuff" was smoothed over with the usual stucco (sand and limestone).  Such construction was VERY susceptible to basically ANY form of natural disaster.  Earthquakes of course, flooding almost as much, and even fires could lay low entire sections of a Roman city with this sort of construction.

Sarissa's Lower Class Shop block kit

          Otherwise known as Everything wrong with Sarissa kits in general, plus new problems unseen before this kit.  Allow me to start this review by stating that I am not the high quality modeler/constructor that Anton is.  As you peruse this review any and all "quality" that the reader finds in this kit have probably come from my pathetic efforts.  This kit is GARBAGE, or as the Brits would say "a Tip". Read on at your own peril! 

     You were warned! 

     The kit itself is very simple. 

 

the kit contents

     There are three sheets of MDF.  Once again it is the usual 2mm stuff that is claimed as 3mm.  Really only about 2 and a half sheets are used for the kit the remaining sheet is largely wasted due to odd laser cut angles.  There is also a fourth sheet.  I will call it 'paper'.  Sarissa does not refer to it as anything.  The sheet is visible at the top of the above picture.  basically it is about as think as card stock paper or a bit thicker, but not a millimeter.  It is floppy like paper and a GRAVE disappointment.

Arthur and the Gang

     So, I finally finished the Gripping Beast Late Roman Infantry that I have been puttering away at for the last couple of weeks. I think they turned out rather well ( aside from the hand-painted shields, that is). Now all I have to do is build and paint the twenty-one cavalry  from the two boxed of Dark Ages Cavalry that I bought and round up some Welsh-looking lads to use a skirmishers and I will have my little army ready for battle.

 

a solid all-infantry force, but I need some cavalry and light troops 

A Sunday Post ... Perfect for a little religion

Well, I finally got the Temple finished.  The painting adds considerably to the production time as each side needs to dry before the next can be painted.  However, even my wife, who has nothing to do with gaming and an art background, was impressed with how this one looks when done. 


If you have been reading along with these reviews this kit is once again made out of 2mm mdf (the manufacturer claims 3mm, but that claim does not measure up!).  However, due to the significant amount of layering that goes on in this construction it has a much more solid feel when done.  This temple feels like it will survive the rigors of ham handed gamers!   

 

A visit to Menards

     Home Improvement and Builder's supply places are one of my favorite locations to find unusual accessories for wargaming. A while back I discovered Eco-Rug which makes a great table surface and I had some fun playing with that. A recent trip to Menards ( a Big-box home improvement store rapidly spreading across the upper Midwest of the USA) saw me finding several items of interest.

 

this delightfully textured square of high density polystyrene is intended as a base for air-conditioning condensers, to me it looked like a great base to fight the newly popular mirco-skirmish games (Frostgrave et al) on, in real,life it is a darker gray

Some Paint on my Post-Roman Britons

     Having returned from vacation I spent a few hours getting a splash of paint on the Gripping Beast Late Roman Infantry. Slow going but they are turning out fairly well.

 

the white tunics are a relief from the Imperial red

And Now we begin the Sarissa buildings

     While I await the Sarissa  storefront buildings I decided to start with some easy stuff.  So here I present the Bazaar section and the Slave market. 


      Now here is what a modern recreation of a Roman Market looked like