Warriors in Dux Britanniarum are fielded in units of twelve figures. They don't wear armour like the Elite unit but they have a helmet and carry the large oval shield for protection. They are armed with long spears and swords.
The warriors are all built from the sprues in the Gripping Beast Late Roman Infantry set which means you have fairly limited options for introducing some variety into the unit.
As you can see, the two basic choices are the figure standing holding the spear upright or the more aggressive thrusting the spear past the shield.
Extra variety can be achieved by embarking on a little craft knife work on the archer figures included in the box. The figures above and below have had their quivers removed and with some slightly laborious cleaning up, you get a figure holding his shield high in a defensive anti-incoming missile pose.
At first, I wasn't sure about including officer and standard bearer figures in Dux units but, when I received my first pack of LBMS shield transfers and realised that they included a transfer for the vexillium standard, those doubts pretty quickly evaporated. The transfer needs 'painting in' once it has been applied, but it looks gorgeous once it is all in place. It's just a shame that the standard bearer doesn't look a bit happier about being given the honour of carrying it into battle!
The only other option to add variety to this unit, is to give a figure who would be wielding a spear overarm, a sword instead. I decided to make this figure some kind of unit commander such as a centenarius.
The final shot of my warrior unit is from behind, as they bravely march ahead into the uncertainty of battle.
With the warriors completed, it's onto the third unit of the army; the Levy. There are 18 figures in this unit, so I'm almost a third of the way through. I think I'm really going to enjoy modelling and painting these as they are built from all sorts of bits and bobs, although largely based upon figures from the Gripping Beast Dark Age Warriors set.
