Roman Civilians in 54mm

A Roman farm in th Italian countryside

Click on the pictures to enlarge your view

Last year I was going to run a Roman vs Carthaginians game at Historicon 2024, but that project was superceded by Pickett's Charge from the American Civil War. I had already painted a large number of 54mm plastic Romans and Carthaginians in 2022 and so I have more than a good start on building the forces for a Hannibal game at Historicon 2025. I will be posting a lot of other pictures about the military side of the project, but today I want to present some of the civilians and vignettes that are likely to be seen "roaming" around the table (see what I did?).

I like to position villages, forts and farms in the corners of my game tables. There they are out of the way of the battle and allow me to present various vignettes of the eye candy variety. First we have a farm in the Italian countryside. The farmer is not rich by any means, but he has enough resources to work a small farm and have a few slaves to help with the hard labor.

The Italian Farm

The farmer and his wife converse with the carpenter in his employ . 
These are 60mm King & Country figures.

The farmer inspects that harvesting of the hay or wheat crop in his fields.
 He also has a grape vineyard, shown in the background.

The farmer takes some of his harvest to a nearby town market.

Overhead view of out Italian farm,

Another view of the farm,

The Italian Town

Another corner of my game table depicts a midsize town that has a river port from which the farmers in the area can ship their grain to Rome.

A view of the town with a ship floating into the dock area.
Roman soldiers do their drills on a nearby parade ground.

The boat turns out to be a Roman warship.

Wide angle view of the town  central plaza or forum, and the dockside area.

The Dock Area

I have collected a number of Playmobile Roman Greek warships and will eventually paint and covert all of them. The first converted ship is shown getting ready to land at the dock, but a small cargo vessel appears to be blocking access to the docks.

A small cargo boat unloads some fruit and grain as well as something
that looks like contraband. Roman soldiers keep an eye on things.

An entrepreneur sets up a market stall along the docks.

Here are more pictures of the activity quayside,

We can see some of the farmer's grain stacked up on the dock awaiting transport to Rome.

Roman soldiers guard the warehouses where the valuable merchandise is stored.
An antiquities trader seems to have attracted a lot of attention.

A Roman Centurian is interested in what is going on with the cargo ship.
He wants it to heave off so that his warship can land at the dock.

The Town

The farmer has delivered his goods to the dock, gotten a receipt from one of the traders, and now his is looking to quench his thirst at the local Tabaran.

The local wine tavern.

Some carpenters ply their trade in the town.

A rich landowner rides in style into the town. The wagon driver has to stop
at a checkpoint before he can enter the town.

A view of the town's forum, the center of life and activity in the region. A 
visiting Senator, with military escort for his safety, roams the forum stopping
to speak to some of the citizens to catch up with the local scuttlebutt.

The Military Post 

The town is large enough to merit the establishment of a military post to protect the citizens and ensure the free flow of commerce.

A very important person arrives at the camp.

The legatus legionis waits at his tent. He wants to finish his business so 
that he can take up other pursuits.

It is good to be a legatus in the Roman army.

---but trouble looms on the horizon as some of the Unfriendlies appear.

Most of the civilian figures in these pictures are made by King & Country and the soldiers are largely from John Jenkins Designs. Both ranges are 60mm in size.

I will be posting pictures of the Roman and Carthaginian armies in the near future.

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