Lohwand: The Tharkallan Legions Revisited

 

Detail of the 1st Cohort

Cohort Organization

After a year of focusing on 60mm figures, I have determined that the sort of battles I want to fight will require more units and larger numbers of figures. The 60mm figures are great and I still intend to use them for smaller battles, skirmishes and Gangs of Rome style games (I'm getting GoR bases printed in the correct size) however, I've decided to go down in scale for the large battles.

After a tentative stab at 25mm, which didn't work out to well (the figures received actually measuring 30-32mm!!!), I've settled on 15mm. The above EIR miniatures are from Museum Miniatures. I like the poses and I especially like that they have the same helmet crest as my 60mm plastics. 

Now that I've decided on a smaller scale figure I've been tinkering with organization and figure ratio. Another thing that has changed is that I know a little more about Roman legion organization than when I started the Lohwand Campaign. Following on Peter Connolly, I now know that the cohortes were organized in six centuries, each of eighty men, and that a common formation was three lines of two centuries each. Each century would be formed in ten files of eight ranks deep. So the whole cohort would be twenty men wide by twenty-four men deep. 

Quite a change from my original proposal which had a longer frontage rather than depth. Above you can see what I've more-or-less decided upon using a 1:40 figure ratio so each century is two figures strong. I found some nice bases - via the Big Red Bat (To The Strongest) - that are aligned the way I want them, short edge to the front.

I put the centurion in the front rank, and behind I've made a little command grouping of Optio, Signifer and Cornicen. I'll have to make sure the first cohort gets an Eagle! And for the overall legion I'll have to hunt down a Legate and an Imagifer.

The thing I'm wondering now is whether I should leave it as that, with the cohort the smallest element of maneuver, or should saw the bases so that I can array the centuries all in a single line? I'm thinking if I got a metal plate and then used the magnets with the holes already provided, that would hold the three-part cohort in place if I did cut it up, but still allow me to split the centuries up if required.

The pics below show the whole hypothetical legion arrayed in the triplex acies formation:

The triplex acies

The full legion of ten cohorts

Lohwand: The Legions of the Tharkallan Empire, Part 3

Roman Centurion Portrait 

by Andrea Mazzocchetti

I've been working out some more things about the Tharkallan Empire which, as you know, is my "Not Rome". I've been pulling a few things together that I'd already thought out, like naming the legions after gemstones and associating them with the provinces, and also the order in which the provinces were incorporated into the Empire. See my previous posts for all that.

Today I thought I'd try working out latin names for the various gemstones. I also looked up the Roman legions on wikipedia and learned about how they were named - which seems a bit of a muddle. Not that that is a bad thing, and in the end I have come up with my own muddle. 

One thing I learned was that Augustus disbanded many of the legions he inherited and renumbered the rest in numerical sequence. So this is how I started out. I decided to use the format:

Legio <number> <province of origin> <gemstone>

When I started looking up latin versions of the gemstones, I discovered that Sapphires and Rubies are different forms of the same stone (IIRC) and that made me turn those legions into sister legions from the same province.

Similarly I discovered that Carnelian had a darker version, Sard, and that gave me two legions associated with that province. 

What I did was keep the sequential numbers for the overall list and then add a second legion for those two provinces. So, Legio <number+1> etc. This gives me multiple Legio II's and IV's which I think nicely parallels the Real World. (You'll understand when you see the list.)

When I came to the end I realized I'd forgotten one: the Chromatic Legion, which is to be a sort of Praetorian Guard. I'd also decided to have a Diamond legion, so that added another, and not wanting to have an odd number of legions I added a third. These all I listed as under the capital: Thark.

So here is my list:

1) Legio I Jharkor Corneolus [Carnelian]

2) Legio II Jharkor Sarx [Sard]

3) Legio II Dharjiin Obsidianus [Obsidian]

4) Legio III Dharijor Sapphirus [Sapphire]

5) Legio IV Dharijor Ruber [Ruby]

6) Legio IV Doblian Topazus [Topaz]

7) Legio V Dorel Esmaraldus [Emerald]

8) Legio VI Bisset Amethystos [Amethyst]

9) Legio VIII Voria Ambar [Amber]

10) Legio IX Kostaddi Turchesius [Turquoise]

11) Legio X Karasal Onyx [Onyx]

12) Legio XI Nemedia Beryllus [Beryl]

13) Legio XII Filkhar Gagates [Jet]

14) Legio XIII Granbreton Achates [Agate]

15) Legio XIV Arolanit Iaspis [Jasper]

16) Legio I Thark Chromaticus [Chromatic]

17) Legio II Thark Adamantem [Diamond]

18) Legio III Thark Basaltes [Basalt]

This is not to say this list is final, of course! And I'm not sure yet whether it includes Auxilia or not. Probably not...

The other thing I did today was start making other legion associations: protector gods and goddesses, symbolic and animal associations, etc. This came about quite easily based on the associations of the gemstones.

I still have to work on that so I won't show it just yet.

Edit: I've just realized that I've missed a number. When I reorganized the list, likely when moving Ruby to join Sapphire, I didn't renumber the others properly. So Legio VII is missing. A Lost Legion! 😎

Now I have to work out what that is all about...

Lohwand: Tharkallan Imaginifers of the Heartland Legions

 

Roman Imaginifer

Each of the Tharkallan Heartland Legions has an Imaginifer who stands with the Legate's command party overseeing the legion's part in the battle. The standard is topped with a golden image of the Emperor and is an embodiment of his authority and power; it is a symbol of the Empire's reach and indicates that the legion bearing it acts according to the Emperor's commands. But, in Lohwand at least, it is more than just a symbol.

Imaginifer Magic

The Imaginifer standard can act as a conduit for a Far-Seeing spell cast within the Imperial Palace. The standard bearer provides the power to allow the standard to function in this manner. As such the bearers must be specially chosen and trained. 

When activated a connection is facilitated between the Emperor's Far-Seeing device, either a Palantir or a Scrying Bowl, and the Imaginifer. Range is not generally a factor; at least it has not been to date, though stormy weather at either end can disrupt the spell. When used in this manner the Imaginifer image acts as a sort of viewport, allowing the Emperor to see what could be seen from the vantage point of the standard, just as if he were standing there himself. The Emperor can only see in the direction the standard is facing but the spell allows commands to be transmitted to the bearer who then shifts the banner as appropriately. 

The Emperor does not cast the spell himself, of course, but has a High Seer from the College of Magic enact the spell. The standard "sees" with excellent eyesight, which can be further enhanced to many times magnification by the High Seer. 

It is possible for the Emperor to issue missives or commands to the legion through the voice of the standard bearer though this adds an additional drain on his stamina and so must be used sparingly.