Roman Velites

[BrianC]

Hi all,

I am painting up 2 BGs of Roman Velites and was wondering what I should do about colouring. I have 2 legions done, one with red shields and the other white shields. So I thought I should paint up 1 velite BG with white shields and one with red. Does this make historical sense? I have seen pics of miniatures where the tunics are all different colours from green to blue and white etc, same with their shields. Should I worry about conformity and just paint my velite's shields differently?

I must admit I do like the look of the conformed legions but just wonder if the light troops should have a more jumbled look.

Thanks for any advice

Brian

[philqw78]

The velites were part of the Legion and Drilled, so regular troops.

[BrianC]

???? I have no idea what this answer means in relation to my post above I was asking about painting.

The velites were part of the Legion and Drilled, so regular troops.

[KingHassan]

Any research at all, even just a little bit and you would be thanking him.

[BrianC]

Well I have read about 3 books on Rome and its army, but have read nothing about Velites. I have also done searches online looking for pics but can't find anything so I guess I'll just paint them as I have seen other pics with different shield colours. I was hoping for a more definitive and explicit answer.

Keep in mind this is not my period, I am just branching out into ancients. I am a hardcore WWII gamer and that is where the bulk of my knowledge is. So this is all new to me.

Brian

[Hepius]

I don't think you are going to get an absolute authoritative historical answer on this one. I'd paint them all the same color as they are regulars/drilled. In my Republican Roman army I gave all of the heavy infantry red shields, the velites yellow, and the cavalry blue. It is a common combination (probably because it is the combination found in one of the Osprey books.)

Good luck. I love wargaming that period.

Hep

[BrianC]

Thanks Hep.

One thing I did notice in the books I have read is that very little is for certain about this period. Even some of the accounts are wrong or at least there are differences depending on who you read. I think I'll take your suggestion and to me it would look better having the velites with matching shield colours, one BG red and one white. But I thought I saw in an Osprey differing colours but I can't recall which.

And I am finding myself drawn to this period the more I play and learn about it. Although I must admit having read how barbarian like the Romans were is a little disconcerting but I guess you can't judge based on our current lifestyle.

Thanks again

Brian

I don't think you are going to get an absolute authoritative historical answer on this one. I'd paint them all the same color as they are regulars/drilled. In my Republican Roman army I gave all of the heavy infantry red shields, the velites yellow, and the cavalry blue. It is a common combination (probably because it is the combination found in one of the Osprey books.)

Good luck. I love wargaming that period.

Hep

[philqw78]

???? I have no idea what this answer means in relation to my post above I was asking about painting.


philqw78 wrote:
The velites were part of the Legion and Drilled, so regular troops.

Well since they were part of the legion, paid, drilled troops, one would expect them to be uniform although there is scant evidence. So paint them in a uniform way.

[ars_belli]

There is currently no surviving information to indicate what color Republican Roman velite shields might have been, and any modern illustrations or recreations are going to based on educated guesswork. Personally, I would favor painting your velite shields in the same color as the rest of their parent legion, so white with white and red with red. But ultimately, you should go with what looks most 'historical' to you.

Cheers,
Scott

[BrianC]

Thanks for the info guys.

Phil your reply to me was puzzling because what you wrote was cryptic to me in that there is no proof one way or the other so I would not make an assumption just because they were drilled. For all we know the standards for velite could be a lot lower than the heavier troops.

And Scott I have heard the same before about what feels historical to you, the gamer. Its not like I am painting T34's where I know what colours were used as well as markings or not. But in this period you seem to be kind of on your own. Still its nice to fight with colourful armies rather than all drab colours.

I'm glad you guys answered the way you did because I have 16 figures already painted with white shields and have 16 more to do this weekend.

Thanks again

Brian

[philqw78]

Yeah, sorry Brian, I should have been more explicit but didn't have any thing to back up being any more explicit.

One of my big failures is using as few words as poss.

[jlopez]

I reckon your painting should be consistent throughout so if the legions have uniform shield colours, so should its velites.

Personally, I went down the road of individual tunic and shield colours for my legions. Either way there is no hard evidence other than the legion name/number was written on the shield. I took the line that since most of the pre-Marian legionnaries were supposed to provide their own kit, there would have been little uniformity. However, painting them in a uniform colour allows you to use them for the Late Republican Roman period too.

Julian

[peterrjohnston]

Phil your reply to me was puzzling because what you wrote was cryptic to me in that there is no proof one way or the other so I would not make an assumption just because they were drilled. For all we know the standards for velite could be a lot lower than the heavier troops.

There is, or maybe more accurately now, there was a long-standing convention in ancients that
figures for regular troops should all be the same, including painting. As drilled in FoG is approximately
the same as regular in other rules - the convention would be all the same.

Personally not something I stick to, I try to find as many different figures and poses as possible.

If you wanted to be really accurate troops long on campaign would be a real mix - Hannibal's
veterans in Italy being a perfect example.

[BrianC]

I like your style in this regard. I am finding that I am trying to acquire figures from different manufacturers and then paint and base them for a move diverse look. With my velites I actually did buy some from Magister Militum and another company just to give a different look. I like how they are different. I think I will do that with the Carthaginians as I build more BGs. I always need a reason to buy more miniatures

Thanks guys

Brian

Phil your reply to me was puzzling because what you wrote was cryptic to me in that there is no proof one way or the other so I would not make an assumption just because they were drilled. For all we know the standards for velite could be a lot lower than the heavier troops.

There is, or maybe more accurately now, there was a long-standing convention in ancients that
figures for regular troops should all be the same, including painting. As drilled in FoG is approximately
the same as regular in other rules - the convention would be all the same.

Personally not something I stick to, I try to find as many different figures and poses as possible.

If you wanted to be really accurate troops long on campaign would be a real mix - Hannibal's
veterans in Italy being a perfect example.