I have a Magnificent Egos figure of a half-orc Legionnaire wielding two gladii. I'm statting him up as a Dark-Kin member of the Legion of the Watchful Hunter. I'm wondering how to paint him. Given their nature and mission I don't see them looking like standard legionnaires. He's wearing Lorica Segmentata and the other standard gear complete with cloak. In terms of colors what would you recommend? A standard legion cloak is red, but these folks follow Cadic, perhaps black? On the other hand red looks like black in the dark so...

Look forward to your input...Hat I'm looking at you...

If it doesn't work I can always put him in another legion, I've just always liked the LOTWH.

Completely uneducated guess here, but I would suspect that similarly to modern militaries, the Coryani legions would all have fairly similar dress uniforms (used for parades, ceremonies, etc), and then would have 'operational' dress which would be job specific, per unit.

These guys would likely have armour and clothing which would be muted/inconspicuous, but they would likely also have the polished breastplate tucked away in a closet somewhere.

Personally, I would picture the Legion of the Watchful Hunter dressed like peasants/commoners during most of their operational time. Fairly easy to conceal leather armour and a dagger under poor fitting peasants rags, and no one looks twice at the poor.

At the end of the day, you could probably get away with painting the miniature either way, and have a good explanation for it.

Good idea, unfortunately this guy is clearly dressed as a Roman style legionnaire complete with Lorica Segmentata and shin greaves, weilding a pair of gladii. A really good mini actually and one I've wanted to use for a while. I do like the "lets dress like the indigenous people so we can blend in." As I recall the LOTWH were used for 'head-hunting' missions so I dare say they could mimic Milandisian Knights/Cantons as needed, or many other nationalities for that matter. Makes me think that high tier LOTWH players should have ranks in etiquette, battle and other appropriate skills to blend in.

I've seen Paul's mini for Vincens valBorda of the LotWH. His cloak is painted black. But I'm not sure if Paul is totally happy with it ... I had a similar conversation with someone at Arcaniscon about how to paint their Legionaire mini.

Hi Mike. Dark-kin isn't a problem, so welcome to the legion. Always happy to have additional members. Look my notes and the art referenced below. Sorry about the delay in responding. I've been out of town with very limited internet access and phones aren't the most conducive tools for long posts.

The Legion of the Watchful Hunter would be commonly decked out in blackened armor for field operations including a black cloak. A shadow armor rune would certainly be one way of accomplishing this, though there are more mundane ways. There is a higher mix of light and medium armor than many other legions, but they certainly have their fair share of troops in lorica segmentata. This isn't a unit that tends towards polish per se, going for impressive and imposing instead.

I could also see something along the lines of the following 2 pieces of art, at least for parade:

http://wiki.step-project.com/Perfect_Legionnaire
http://portohle.deviantart.com/art/Roma ... -293167439

The second one with a shadow rune that could be activated would work extremely well I would think.

Akira is right that in some cases they will be dressed as locals to blend in and interact with the populace though that's not the only way to handle infiltration and stealth assignments.

Eric, I'm happy with my slender black painted legionnaire figure. At some point I may go back and add a bit of dark gray highlighting in places. My only disappointment is that it isn't as stable on its feet as I would like.

With a sweep of his hat,

Paul

Thanks Paul that is the sort of information I was looking for. Not sure how often I will get to play Severus Ironhand, since I want to get my two primary characters Haakon val'Ishi and Ursula val Holryn to Tier 2. But if the mods appropriate I'll give him a try. Thanks again for the info. Hope you had a good Origins.

Historical note: In terms of armours, different types of Lorica were used by different types of troops at different points of Roman History.

Lorica Musculata - Literally a Roman-styled Muscle Cuirass, these armours are usually worn (in historical records, art, etc) by high-ranking Romans (like Emperors) and tend to be fairly ornate, what in Arcanis would probably be Royal Coryani Lorica Musculata. In Arcanis the Lorica Musculata is the Coryani version of leather armour and is typically used by scouts and support troops (such as archers) who in Roman terms would be Auxillia. In Coryani terms, these would be the mainstays of the Watchful Hunter and Anguis Retatus I would think.

Lorica Hamata - Chainmail cuirass typically worn by less well-equipped units, such as Auxillia. Cheap to produce, during the height of the Roman Empire this armour was supplanted by Lorica Segmentata, though it became more popular when Rome was under threat and needed to quickly raise armies. Probably not common in the Watchful Hunter, but probably would be more common in attached auxillia troops.

Lorica Segmentata - The typical armour of the Roman (and Coryani) Legionnaires, specifically the Heavy Infantry who ARE the Legions (light infantry--Velites--and support troops are NOT legionnaires in Rome). While the Watchful Hunter is viewed as a 'lighter' legion due to its Cadician heritage, the majority of the 1,000 members of the 'core' legion would probably be Legionnaires wearing Lorica Segmentata.

Lorica Squamata - This is scale armour, and in Roman times was more typically seen (but not exclusively) in more ancient Roman depictions, specially dating between the foundation of the Roman Republic and the foundation of the Roman Empire some 400 years later. If following "Roman" styles, this armour would probably be found more often in Auxillia formations or ancient sets of armour handed down in families.

I should also note that, while the Coryani Legions are much more uniformly equipped thanks to Enpebyn's forges and factories, the legions and the non-legion auxilia (archers, specialist troops, skirmishers, militia troops, levies, etc) of Rome would NOT have been uniformly equipped. New troops would be equipped as close to uniformly as possible, but patricians and families with longer traditions would pass their weapons down from father to son, so a Roman Legion would probably be a mix of all the above armour types