A Bit of A 'Round-Up'

 Two From Helion:

(1) Elephants & Gunpowder - SE Asian Warfare 1380-1700  by Stephen Turnbull (now there's a name I haven't heard for a while).

I have had this book for about 2 weeks but only just got around to looking at it.  

 

 (2) Kerns & Gallowglasses - Newly arrived - another one going into my reading pile.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Saturday 1st March - DBA - Gt. Houghton

2.70a Burgundi                                v  2.78a  Late Imp Roman (W)               5:2 loss
2.80a Attalid Hunnic                       v  2.72d  Other Frankish                         4:2 loss
2.83a Visigothic                               v  2.81c  Amorican                                 4:3 loss
3.21b Lombard                                 v  3.65   Nikephorian Byzantine             4:3 loss

Near the end of the last game I was 3:2 up and in a good position.  Ian remarked that I was going to win but I managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory (thanks dice gods). 
 

Saturday 15th March - DBA Gt.Houghton

2.49   Marian Roman                    v 2.45c  Spartacus                    4:0 win
1.61b  Early Carthaginian             v 1.36c  Sicel                           4:3 loss
1.12   Sumerian Successor            v 1.6a   Early Bedouin             5:3 loss
1.25a  Middle Assyrian                 v 1.20b  Syro-Canaanite          5:2 win
 

Saturday 15th March - DBA - Gt.Houghton

3.78   Scots Isles & Highlands     v  3.46 Norse Irish                     4:2 loss  (CC)
4.47   Golden Horde                     v  2.58 Alan                               4:0 win   (CC)  *
1.53   Saitic Egyptian                   v  2.7  Achaemenid Persian       4:1 win
2.47b  Early German                    v  2.49 Marian Roman               4:2  win
4.49   Anatolian Turkoman           v  4.56 Order of St. John           4:0 loss

* neither of us got our third group onto the table.  CC = Collision Course

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 

Phoenicians

Making good progress but stuck on the Light Chariots and Artillery.  Need more MDF bases as well.

Breaking up the 'old' Carthaginians - Pt.1b - Phoenician infantry

 

 

Q) When is a Hoplite not a Hoplite?         A) When it's an Auxilia!

When creating one of these 'peripheral' armies I look to use up as many 'old' figures as possible and reduce the need to re-paint to a minimum. So what evidence has some googling brought to light?  [Thanks to Chris for his help with the research, although any errors are entirely my own].  Incidentally there is an article on the Phoenicians in Slingshot 261 but I cannot source it (and am unwilling to pay out £40 for the SoA CD).

According to the DBA list (1.35 a-d) Phoenician foot can be either 4Sp or 4Ax.  Presumably this is due to inconclusive evidence concerning their battlefield role!  However.....on the wargames table it will be necessary to differentiate.  

 

 

Duncan Head's book  for Montvert  on "The Achaemenid Persian Army" shows a drawing of a figure from a C7/6 ivory box from Carmona in Spain.  He says it matches Herodotus's description of Phoenician Marines: "...helmets of nearly Greek style and linen cuirasses...shields without rims, and javelins". "a" is the figure; "b" a reconstruction. Obviously the manner of holding the weapon is wrong; but it looks to me more like a typical "hoplite" way of holding a spear, rather than a javelin.  [Chris]

Elsewhere, Head says the Phoenician cities were low on manpower, and so recruited greek mercenaries. 4,000 of undisclosed type are referred to at one point.
[Chris]

Armies & Enemies of the Near East (AANE) p190 (fig 192) - an infantryman is shown, with a sort-of extruded round helmet with cheek pieces, but no neck guard. He has a man-sized spear, and a round shield with again an "extruded" point. A shield is described, round, with eight white petals, a red centre, and small red dots on the leaves. No other colouring is given. The background is black. He wears a round-necked 'T-shirt' with short sleeves; not clear whether he is wearing shorts, a skirt, or a tunic (partly under the T-shirt?). Fig 191 - 4h, 3c Chariot and warrior are both Mid 7thC. [Chris].

 

I found 6 x 4Sp Carthaginians (old 'strip' Minifigs) in the box and decided to re-paint them as Phoenician 4Ax.  I'm not good at shields so just tried to give just  a flavour of the AANE illustration.

For comparison the 6 x 4Sp (later Minifigs) are much bigger - completely out of scale with the earlier castings.  The photograph doesn't convey the disparity adequately.

So what about the spearmen/hoplites then!  I have a large Greek Hoplite DBM army with figures from many manufacturers.   Most of them are painted but the 'spares' bag had something to offer.   Upon investigation the count came to 24 (just what I needed). Some have paint and some not.

This motley crew will be co-opted into the 'mercenary' corps.  Where possible any bell cuirasses or other bronze will be painted over.  Sorry - No picture as my computer was feeling peckish.

The only foot still required are some Psiloi so I added them to my last Donnington order - Villanovans and early Italians.

All I have to do now is paint them.....Ho Hum!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 February 2025 DBA results - Gt. Houghton

Saturday 8th February

3.78   Scots Highlands & Isles (DDBA)     v  3.45  Pre-Feudal Scots  (DDBA)         9:2 win
4.12a  Fijian                                                 v  4.12b Other Melanesian                      4:1 loss
2.40   Numidian                                           v  2.56 EIR                                              4:1 loss
4.47   Golden Horde                                    v  4.46 Ilkhanid                                       4:3 win

Saturday 15th February

3.79  Early Russian                                      v  3.40b Viking                                       4:0 loss
4.49  Anatolian Turkoman                           v  4.50  Palaiologan Byzant                    4:1 win
3.1a  Northern Slav                                      v  3.40 Viking                                         6:0 loss
3.63 Early Polish                                          v  3.53 East Frankish                             4:3 loss
4.4a Feudal French                                       v  4.23 Feudal English                           6:1 loss

Saturday  22nd February

2.11    Gallic                                                 v  2.10  Camillan Roman                      4:2 win
2.39a  Iberian                                               v  2.32a  Later Carthaginian                  4:1 win
2.80b  Sabir Hunnic                                     v  2.69b Sassanid                                   4:2 loss
2.7     Later Achaemenid                              v  2.12 Alex Mac                                  4:3 win

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

6 wins to 7 losses

Breaking up the 'old' Carthaginians - Pt.1a - Phoenicians

 

15mm Carthaginians were amongst my earliest 15mm purchases (mostly Minifigs).  A few figures were added over the years but mostly these soldiers slept soundly in the loft.  Now that I am, largely, converting my DBM armies to DBA they will get some wargaming usage.  The first DBA armies to be split off are the Phoenicians.

1.35(a-d) Cypriot or Phoenician 1000 - 332 bc

Maxima:

1 x 2h,2c LCh (g); 1 x 2h,2c LCh;
1 x 4h,3c HCh (g); 1 x 4h,3c HCh;
1 x 3Cv(g); 1 x 3Cv;
1 x 4Sp(g); 8 x 4Sp (hoplites);
7 x 4Ax (spearmen)
4 x 2Ps (jav, sling or bow)
1 x Art (bolt-shooter)

The only models that I don't have (or cannot approximate) are the LCh.  Some research required methinks.  

According to AANE by Stillman & Tallis (p189-190 figs 191-192): "Earlier types [of Cypriot chariots] would closely resemble 9thC Neo-Hittite or and Assyrian vehicles.......for yet earlier chariots refer to [fig] 115."

pp151-152 - Levantine chariotry 12th to 10thC bc: "The chariot remained virtually unchanged from earlier Canaanite and Syrian types."

Well...I can find some of these early types in my 'biblicals' box.

So that's the figures sourced.  What about some re-painting?   

The Phoenicians derived a considerable income from the sale of their dyes (especially the Tyrian Purple - middle).  I'm guessing that only the generals could afford to wear that particular colour.  The top and bottom could be worn by the citizen 'gentry'.

The shield shown in AANE (fig 192b, p190) "has a red centre and small red dots on white petals against a black background...other shields could have long, pointed bronze bosses."  Helmets seem to have varied (fig 191a p190).

I have a number of old Minifigs citizen spearmen with flat round shields that are destined for this Phoenician army.  The more 'modern' Minifigs (hugely bigger than their predecessors) will be retained by the revised Carthaginians.

The only puzzle left is the 'hoplites'.  Chris has helped me on this one so I will put up another post specifically on that subject.

Just a Few Notes

 It's been very quiet on the wargaming front what with poor health, car troubles and the weather.

Doesn't help that we now have a petulant brat in the White House and billionaires playing a combination of Monopoly and Risk. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Books - seem to have purchased a number of them recently - when will I get the chance to actually read them? 

Rif War - one of my peripheral interests - two books on offer so I troubled the plastic.  The Spanish Foreign Legion were fighting from 1909 with the more famous French forces as 'Johnny Come Latelys'. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A useful resource discovered via another blogger:

MagWeb Master Magazine List

https://stefanov.no-ip.org/MagWeb/maglist.htm

A real treasure trove of articles on wargaming subjects.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DBA 'Missing' 15mm Armies - the annual availability check has been carried out with somewhat predictable results: 18 - 10 - 25 - 54

Under Construction by me are:

Book 1 - Assyrians       
Book 2 - Armenians & Jewish
Book 3 - Slav, Spanish & Norse-Irish
Book 4 - French, Maori, Scots Common, Islamic Persian, Jalayrid, Portuguese & Spanish)

I have plenty more in the unpainted lead mountain but, for the time being, I am ignoring armies that Ian already has.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DBA - Gt.Houghton - Mon 6th Jan

An odd day (of the week) and only 2 games:

1.44a    Babylonian v         1.34c Hebrew         4:2 win
2.25      Bosporan v            2.23 Arab                4:3 win

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Next posting - 3D Printing - examining this labyrinthine world.

 

Where am I going in 2025?

 

Happy New Year 2025


It seems that "the old order changeth" whether we like it or not.  Of course we still have egotistical madmen running countries - Putin, Trump, Kim Jon Un, et al.  

Mere wargamers, like ourselves, cannot change anything significant on the world stage so we have to concentrate on our hobby.  Trouble is that the ground is shifting even there.  Look at the number of figure manufacturers that have gone out of business and others that are following closely behind.  The cost of postage and petty (EU & US) regulations are also making everything harder.  Covid has conditioned us to get home after work and stay in.  Look around your local club to see how many of your colleagues are pensioners.

On the micro scale I find myself no longer interested in building forces for DBM.  As far as I'm concerned DBMM is a curate's egg - only good in parts.  So this leaves me with DBA.  

When I first started wargaming (1975) metal figures were hard to get. I had to travel to Peckham Rye in order to get a few Garrison and/or Hinchliffe models. On the other hand Airfix 20mm could be had in many outlets including 'paper shops'.  This is how I got into 'Ancients' - Brits & Romans.

Also available were ACW and AWI.  The former I collected, and even painted forces for both sides based on the rules in the Airfix guide.  Nobody else at the Croydon club was interested.  

From the latter I amassed considerable numbers for AWI.  Conversions were made so that I could represent Germans, French, Spanish & Native Americans.  Many rule sets were tried out but without much satisfaction.  To me, this period requires a free-flowing rule set not based on 7YW linear tactics.  It also needs to be unbiased. Recently 'Live Free or Die' has come out and WTF have a suitable sub-set.  All I need to do now is find someone who is prepared to experiment with them.

In Southampton (1977) I joined in with whatever was happening in the church opposite the Mayflower (cannot remember what it was called before that).  Renaissance, WWI Aerial dogfights, 19C Colonial, Naval under sail, etc.  By the time I had moved to Shirley (1978) the group played at the Ordinance Survey building.  Ancients were the most popular period at the time (6th Ed).  I worked near Minifigs and passed it on a (week)daily basis.  Understandably the shop was shut so I walked on by down the notorious Derby Road towards the industrial estate.

In the 80s/90s I travelled around quite a bit spending time at King's Lynn, Derby, Portsmouth, Stowmarket, Utrecht & Groeningen.  Ancients were the only constant (6th to DBM). Early 2000s saw me settled in Yorkshire and a member of the Wakefield club.

Now I'm looking at sorting out the loft and the larger bedroom - wish me luck dear readers.

Christmas - Bah! Humbug!

 

Old Age is not for Sissies

Whilst still relatively young we take our ability to carry out simple tasks for granted.  Climbing the stairs, walking in a straight line, carrying stuff, etc.  It comes as a nasty surprise when you can, no longer, casually climb a loft ladder.

I entered my third quarter this year and have been subjected to a considerable number of medical investigation since my birthday.  It feels like I am some rusty old banger that the mechanics think should not be on the road anyway.

Previously I stored most of my wargaming materials in the loft space.  Now I am 'strongly advised' not to risk steps, ladders and chairs.  Not the end of the world as I can get my 'irregular friends' to bring something down each time they visit.  

Only problem is when stuff comes down it has to go somewhere.  I have been a hoarder for so many years that finding even 'working space' is a challenge. It didn't help that some while ago the 'front room' floor collapsed owing to dry rot so everything had to be pushed out going wherever I could find space.  I have yet to recover from that particular disaster.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Talking about old age - a recollection of a summer trip to the club:

"4 x DBA armies ready to engage for battle.  I loaded up the car and sped (well crawled actually) to the club.  The hall was like the Marie Celeste - empty.  Joel arrived a few minutes later.  Neither of us knew what was going on.

After waiting about 10 minutes, and seeing a gorgeous young lady pass by, we re-scheduled for early June.  So I had spent the morning painting Germans for nothing!  Incidentally researching the 'Germans' revealed that they were, in fact, Visigoths.

I went round to Casa Pinder to see if there was a game on there.  Sure enough I was able to join in a DBM scrap between Akkadians and Sumerians.  So I got a game anyway!  Well...not quite.  Andy & Chris flank marched onto the same side with Chris being forced back.  When time was called it was a draw...but only just.  Al and I had been little but spectators.

I mentioned the girl encounter and how such creatures had not been around in my youth.  Andy suggested that rationing wouldn't have helped."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DBA - Gt.Houghton - 20th Dec 2024

3.63b    Early Polish                   v 4.30  Teutonic Order              4:1 win
4.61      Italian Condotta             v 413d  Medieval German        5:1 win
3.28      Carolingian Frankish     v 3.18  Breton                           4:1 win
3.30b    Magyar                           v 3.52  Normans                       4:1 loss
3.40a    Vikings                           v 2.68b Pictish                          4:1 loss

It might be helpful if I explain why my DBA battles involve such, apparently random, enemies.  We play in Ian's cellar where he has access to all his stock. I have to transport figures in the back of my boneshaker/car.  Each session I take along whatever is close to hand - 15mm and/or 20mm (based for 25mm scale).

I declare what armies I have with me and Ian checks the enemies that he can field.  The dice decide which particular enemy I am to face.  Sometimes that works to my advantage and sometimes not.

My Polish Kn were about 80% painted so they made the cut for the first game.  The 2nd to 4th games came out of the Eastern European Dark Ages tin.  Never used the Condotta before.  Carolingians are just a better army that the Bretons.  It also helped that the dice gods were on my side!

Magyar were fielded on a whim - not a good idea - totally outclassed by the opposition.  The 'solid' Vikings did not do well in the terrain and were too slow.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I Should Open A Library!

 3 publications arrived on my 'to read' shelf this week - 2 from Osprey and one from WI.

MAA180 - Published 1986 - Martinez & McBride

I wanted some better illustrations of the ancient Spanish so I risked getting this, somewhat, venerable booklet.  The colour plates look like someone threw sand over them - a heavy greenish-yellow dusting.  Plate G shows a dead elephant - was this just a baby?  Cannot believe that African bush elephants were so small!

 

MAA475 - Published 2011 - Chartrand & Rickman

This fills out my knowledge of the Spanish forces in America during the Revolution.  Always fancied building a 20mm army for this period.  Most soldiers can be formed by re-painting existing Airfix (and other) figures.  

The only exception are the Cuera cavalry. Given the low numbers required I may end up doing some conversions.

I happened to be in Pontefract on Wednesday and thought to go look in W.H.Smiths.  The latest edition of Wargames Illustrated had a 'free' gift in the pouch entitled 'Never Mind the Matchlocks'.  Obviously related to the popular 'Never Mind the Billhooks' rules by Andy Callan.  Matchlocks concentrates on the ECW rather than the Wars of the Roses (see 'Billhooks).

I had been avoided building any DBA-RRR armies based on the ECW but many of them have figures that could be seconded.  Perhaps Jim will put on a battle at the WDW club!  

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile back on the DBA front:

Saturday 23rd November - Gt.Houghton

2.80b   Hunnic      v  2.83b   Later Visigothic    5:0 loss
2.53      Ancient Brits    v  2.54a   Scots-Irish        5:1 loss
2.40      Numidian    v  2.32a   Later Carthaginian    5:2 win
2.39b   Ancient Spanish v  2.47a   Early German        4:1 loss

I was expecting game three to be a 5:2 result but a loss.  Still...can't complain I broke my losing streak.  Just remains to see how Sat 30th goes!