Early Byzantine Skutatoi in Shieldwall Second Rank Added

Finally the gloss dried and I was able to apply a coat of matt varnish to the second rank of the Skutatoi in Sheildwall  yesterday. I know I keep raving about the quality of the Aventine Byzantines so please forgive me if I once more say, these Aventine Early Byzantines are such a high quality range. There is some very fine detail and they are expertly cast with no real flash to speak of. An occasional barely visible mould line but that is to be expected with any manufacturer of metal miniatures. 

The second rank were every bit as much fun to paint as the first rank which is not always the case in a unit that is largely uniform. As I type I have the third rank including the command glossed and ready for a matt coat in a few days. The final rank is in the process of having some paint splashed on and should be completed by the end of this evening. 

For anyone interested in what rules the miniatures are based for; I have used 40mm wide by 50mm deep bases on all of my Early Byzantine close order infantry miniatures. I plan on using *Swordpoint as my primary rule set as well as others. In order to place the mini's on the base and avoid just cramming them together, which would make no sense to me from an aesthetic perspective, I chose deeper bases oulined above rather than those prescribed in Swordpoint which are 4 miniature per base on a 40mm x 40mm for Close Order. If I get hit in the flank so be it! It will (probably) add to the fun. :>)

Here are some shots of the two ranks from the back which show off the details on the miniatures rather nicely. 

I have been spending quite a bit of time deliberating on what sort of banner design to paint up for the unit. Given that they are essentially low status warriors in the tier of the Eastern Roman military system where the real units of high status were the cavalry, I was thinking a more elaborate Chi Rho symbol below with a bit of decoration? I have an unarmoured Skutatoi unit that is up next on the painting table which I plan on just giving the smaller Aventine Banners with Emperor Jutsinian's Face embossed. Howver, that is for later.

I'm going to wait until the unit is completed before applying and filler/spackling and various grades of sand to the bases. 

Finally, an image of the first two ranks from a higher elevation which shows how the two ranks of Skutatoi interact with one another in the Shieldwall

*There is a lot to like about Swordpoint for this era as a great emphasis is placed on the line of battle, which seems to have a kind of evolution of it's own. If you look up Medieval Warrior's, Swordpoint Line of Battle video on YouTube (link below) you will see what I mean.