For few months I'm working this diorama and finally I finished it. A short story will accompany the pictures. The actors are presented as well.
Your comments and critiques are more then appreciated. Hope you like it (I'm keeping my fingers crossed ).
Cheers,
Zeno

"Summer of 106AD. Kingdom of Dacia.
Sarmisegetuza Regia has fallen to the enemy. Dacian forces are trying to regroup following the mountain passes but the Romans are in close pursuit, cutting off any attempts of organized resistance. King Decebalus was among the first to fall under the Roman pressure. He committed suicide to avoid inevitable capture and left the scattered Dacian forces leaderless.
In full retreat, one man above all, turns his face to the enemy, praying to Zamolxis to die with dignity and honour.
Out of mountain shadows, a strong howl, as it is coming from the heavens, is thundering through the valleys.
Man and Wolf, stand shoulder to shoulder to defend their land."

The actors:
Dacian Warrior, Romeo Models, 54mm. and the wolf (main dacian symbol)



The next two actors are known from previous posts:
Roman Legionary



Roman Soldier.



The action:

WOW, nice basework

Zeno,
This is fantastic work!!! Good job on the figures as always but I must say I'm most impressed with the base and ground work. The multiple elevations is very effective and I love the slice of tree as the actual base... I was planning something similar for a single figure of an Iroquois warrior. I have cut a piece of branch about 3" thick and 4" high with the bark on to act as a pedistal for the figure... gives it a very natural feeling.
I like the inclusion of the back story as well, gives some frame of reference to the scene and the way you wrote it as a story instead of a history lesson is more entertaining.
Great job overall.

Look forward to seeing you Sunday at our premier meeting... Happy Canada day!!!

Colin

Very nice....some may say the base is too large but i think it provides a sense of drama and an opportunity to show off your groundwork skills.

Colin

Thanks Ken. Glad that you like it.

Thanks Colin S. and Colin F. I'm glad that you like what I tried to do hear. In fact the ground (in scale) is the 5th actor of this display. The Dacian Wars were fought in the Carpathian Mountains and I tried to represent the difficulty of the terrain. About the size of the diorama: I choose this size because I wanted to present the actors far apart to make sense a spear throw.
I'm looking forward to see you both Sunday. Happy Canada Day to you too!!!

Beautiful work overall. A vignette, made legend.

Military miniatures painted by Eduardo Garcia

Thank you Eduardo!
Much appreciated.
Cheers,
Zeno

Great work Zeno - I really like the moss effects and the painting of the shields!

Thanks Dave!!!
It took some time to find the best way to stay in scale with the moss effect but patience is always paying off.
Cheers,
Zeno

Very nice work specially the base is stunning.
I read the story, but I cannot understand that the Dacian is waiting for the two romans who are gonna kill him. Why not swing his sword or something to defend himself. He is just waiting??
For me it are now 3 outstanded painted figures on a great base. I cannot see the interaction.
If you haven't give the historic information I should see less. Sorry if i being to hard.

Marc

Hi Zeno, beautiful work.
Cheers
Paul

Thank you, Carl!!!

Thanks Paul!!!
Hope to see you Sunday!
Cheers,
Zeno

Thank you Mark!!!
No Mark, you are not hard at all!!! You have a question and I'll try to answer.
This is not a close combat scene.
The Romans are chasing the Dacian for a while. He decides to stop and fight waiting for them. The Roman Legionnaire and Soldier are advancing together but few steps apart, due to the difficulty of the terrain. Suddenly they are making eye contact with the Dacian Warrior. They stop. Few seconds later, the legionnaire unleash the war cry, trying to intimidate his opponent and the soldier decides to use his distance weapon, the spear. This is the snapshot that the dio captured. It is a moment in time in which the dynamics of the movement is captured: Dacian Warrior. on high ground, is waiting for the enemy. The Roman Legionnaire is launching his war cry and the Roman Soldier is ready to throw the spear.
The size of dio was basically dictated by the lance throwing distance (a distance which makes sense) and I took advantage to present the difficulty of the terrain in which the Dacian Wars were fought. The terrain is the 5th actor in this diorama. I was thinking for a while that the terrain would take over and dominate the whole scene. Apparently it is, but if you look closely it doesn't. It participates together with the other actors at the whole scene. This was the intent.
It is not a standard display in which the groundwork is complementary to the main subject. Here is in a main role, like the others.
I'm glad that you asked this question and hope that the whole scene is clearer now.
Thanks Mark!!!

Yes, now it make sence.
Thanks for clearing it up.

Marc

I like it a lot nice work mate

I agree with Mark.

if a painted diorama needs written infos, that means the diorama does not work itself alone.....
Here we need your extra explainations to "understand" the story.

You've done a big work on the ground and paint, but for me it does not work....

A succeful diorama is when nothing else needed to "understand" the story......

Unbelievable! I love the painting, especially the shields. But the groundwork, the layout - the way all of the pieces are positioned, is just absolutely stunning. Very natural. I think I spent about 15 minutes looking this one over .

-Ronnie

Thank you guys!!!
All opinions are much appreciated!
Cheers,
Zeno