Gallic Trumpeter - 60mm Expeditionary Forces

 

Here is a picture of a Celtic or Gallic warrior playing a war tune on this strange looking trumpet-like device. I do not know what the instrument is called, but it seems like every Celtic war band not of the musical variety (The Chieftans perhaps?) has one of these in its ranks.

The figure is a 1/30 scale or 60mm in size figure made by a company called Expeditionary Forces. The US stockist is Toy Soldiers of San Diego (TSSD). (UPDATE: the EF box lists the figures as 1/32 scale, but I believe that the figures are actually 1/30 scale).

The picture below illustrates the size difference between the 1/30 scale and the 1/32 scale figures. As you can see, there is a significant size difference in the two figures. The horn figure will be used in some fashion as a "command stand" figure

HaT 54mm figure on the left and the Expeditionary Forces 60mm on the right.

The large EF figure was a lot of fun to paint and while it has some nice detail to the figure, it is not difficult to paint. The figure is made from a hard plastic and the arms/trumpet need to be attached to the torso. Luckily, the joins are crisply cut and so the figure parts join together quite easily. I used normal "super glue" with a dab of green epoxy putty in the cavity to create a strong join. The I primed the figure just like I would for a metal figure: grey primer, and finished it with acrylic paint from the Reaper Master Series of paints. The helmet used Vallejo "Old Gold" color. There are several more figures in the EF command pack that I might assemble and add to the Punic Wars Celts in Hannibal's army. The set includes a mounted war band Chief that looks spectacular and so I might have to paint him and use him as the commander of all of my Celtic forces.

Packaging for the EF figures.

Comparison of HaT Carthaginians (on command stand) with the EF horseman.

These are the various pieces available for the assembly of the mounted Gallic
chieftain. You can choose different arms, heads and shields for your model.

At Cannae, approximately half of Hannibal's army consisted of Gallic infantry and cavalry. As of today, I have four Celtic war bands of 32 figures each and two 12-figure Gallic cavalry in my Hannibalic army.

Next Up On The Table: I am assembling a legion of Italian allies to join my Roman army. I am using the HaT Italians and will use the same Roman organization of three groups of 32 figures and maybe some light infantry.

vv