Invictvs is a website dedicated to my hobby—researching military history and collecting, painting, and gaming with 15mm historical miniatures. I am a self-confessed history nerd. I have a Master's Degree in History, I have done extensive research regarding the military systems presented here, and I think my scholarship is sound, but I want to be clear that this is not an academic site. My focus here has been to present readable narratives and eye-catching pictorials. I do have an interest in historical authenticity, but I would hasten to point out that the evidence for the military systems of most pre-modern peoples, including the appearance and accoutrements of its constituent elements, were poorly documented by contemporaries, contemporary artists often eschewed realism in portraiture, and the archeological record is usually far from comprehensive. Additionally, there are limitations imposed by the availability of appropriate historical miniatures (and my ability to modify existing figures), which has forced me to take some latitude in the interpretation of the appearance of some elements and/or to accept anachronisms in the portrayal of some of the warriors discussed here (plus, the artist in me prefers to paint and model figures with some additional flare). Finally, trying to translate dynamically evolving military systems into relatively static elements that can be used in gaming forces one to impose a degree of homogeneity that probably didn't exist in real life. Nevertheless, I think most visitors will find this site enlightening. Each gallery on this site contains a series of pictures of historical miniatures painted and modeled for use in historical wargaming, each gallery representing a different military system. Each gallery is accompanied by a brief overview of the history of the relevant civilization, the tactical stance of the constituent elements of its armies, the strategic posture of the military system as a whole, and some brief comments on the choices I've made for modeling each army. The time period for the military systems featured on this site range from approximately the late Bronze Age to the Early Renaissance, just prior to the widespread adoption of gunpowder weapons (approximately 1500 BCE - 1500 CE).  
 
Clicking on the gold buttons below will take you to the relevant gallery page for each military system. At the bottom of each gallery page will be further navigation buttons that will either lead you back to this page, or that will take you to a page that has more in-depth information about the relevant civilization. Below-right there are buttons that will lead you to information about me and this site, and Historical Essays on topics of interest to me (kind of a history blog). This site is a work-in-progress and a hobby, so please be patient if I am slow to update content, respond to email, or add features.
 
In the gold buttons below (and throughout the site), buttons with black text are active, and clicking on them will lead you to the relevant page(s), while those with red text are inactive, representing upcoming projects.
 
NEW MATERIAL:

Late Imperial Roman army photos just uploaded!