Lohwand: The Legions of the Tharkallan Empire

Legio II Augusta

Equites Singulares

Scorpio Bolt-shooters

All of the above are 60mm scale Early Imperial Romans by Expeditionary Force, Singapore, otherwise known as XForce. These figures are a large part of the reason I wanted to get into large scale gaming. If XForce didn't exist I might not have bothered. Or, at least, had I given it a go, the Lohwand campaign would have been many times more difficult.

The Tharkallan Empire in my campaign has always intended to be a Roman inspired force, but I have waffled between Empire or Republic. These figures are Early Imperial Roman so I think I am going to end up with the Tharkallans resembling the legions of the Principate, at least in part. 

I did have a list of Tharkallan Legions named after gemstones, but now I'm not sure I like the idea. The original intent was to make the armour the appropriate colour as indicated below, as if it was lacquered:

The Carnelian Legion - Orange or Red/Orange

The Obsidian Legion - Black

The Sapphire Legion - Blue

The Topaz Legion - Golden Yellow

The Emerald Legion - Green

The Amethyst Legion - Purple

The Ruby Legion - Red

XForce makes five different designs of legion figures, including the Praetorians. And then there are the Auxiliary, making six options. This is another reason XForce attracted me to the scale and range: the variety. Each of those options could be used to represent a legion. To start the ball rolling I've ordered Legio II Augusta, which I intend to use for the Carnelian Legion. Assuming, of course, that I stick with those names.

To be at least semi-historical there should be ten cohorts with the first cohort being double strength. I am waffling between one box or two representing a cohort. I think two is probably better. However, I am not going to collect twenty boxes of each of the variants! (Not unless I win the Jackpot anyway.)

So, probably, a legion of the tabletop will be assumed to only be part of the force, the rest distributed in garrisons around the place. Again, probably, a first cohort with maybe three boxes (so not quite double strength) and then two other cohorts of two boxes each will be a field legion. That might be a reachable long-term goal. It might also allow me to field multiple legions on the table at the same time which would be visually appealing. 

Each legion would also have a command element. I think during the Principate the Romans were lacking in cavalry so maybe a single unit (two boxes) per legion. Would they be uniformed to match their legion, I wonder? This may be one way the Tharkallans differ from the Romans. Hmmm...

Lastly, each legion would have support from a pair of scorpio bolt-shooters. Luckily, that is a single box from Xforce.