In Search of...The Gasgans

Mentioned in four of the DBMM Book 1 lists: 

(4) Zagros & Anatolian Highlanders [full army]
(20) Syro-Canaanite & Ugaritic [ 2 x Irr Wb(F) ]
(22) New Kingdom Egyptian [ 4 x Wb(F) ]
(24) Hittite Empire [ ^ 9 x 2h chariots; ^ 9 x Irr Ps(O) archers or slingers; ^ 12 x Irr Wb(F) ]

Trying to search on the internet for Gasgans didn't result in much...until I put in the alternative names for these people...Kaska or Kaskians.  Even then it was pretty much only Wikipedia (and copies thereof) that gave me anything.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaskians

Seems like they wore little other than animal furs and boots.  Bows, javelins and shields were the weapons of choice but I have no doubt there would be many slingers..

Among 15mm manufacturers only Khurasan has any dedicated figures (shown above) :

http://khurasanminiatures.tripod.com/gasgan.html

Khurasan gives them skirts and the royal bodyguard a sort of Villanovan crested helmet.

If you are willing to look a little further 'abroad' there is quite a bit more information on Anatolian highlanders:

http://www.warlordgames.com/history-highland-tribes-of-the-zagros-mountains-gutians-and-lullubi/
http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg.mv?id=206594 [Mysterious Guti]

Warlord Games have some 'highlander' figures available but I don't know the scale (and finding out is not easy).

https://gamewire.belloflostsouls.net/new-early-highlander-axemen-and-javelinmen/
Other pages on Warlord Games (main site) have archers, slingers & proto-chariots.

Given that I am seeking to add 4 elements to my NKE (20mm) army I had to dive into Plastic Soldier Review for help.

HaT 8132 - Sumerian Infantry - some of the javelinmen

Both need shields adding, boots painted on and (for the Lullabi) trimming but that is do-able (even for me).  Whether I will have 12 figures in my stockpile is another matter.

HaT 8121 - Assyrian Allied Infantry - only some of the bowmen (and not suitable for the royal guard).

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Just coming off my painting table are more 20mm Libyans and Nubians. As I now have a surplus of both these nations I am thinking about forming some DBA v3.0 armies.    We shall see!

Under Conversion

From Armati to DBM - carrying out a conversion.

The full Armati army - sorry about the quality of the picture.

I have started sorting out my house.  It's an ambitious project as the 'spare bedroom' is a step back into the Victorian/Edwardian era. You expect a 'very humble' shopkeeper to appear at any time. 

The main bedroom has also suffered from years of 'I'll just put it down there'.  In addition half of the attic is devoted to wargaming materials and the rest is....who knows! (I'm not that brave!).

First step was to remove all I could from the 'master bedroom' - figures going upstairs and unused books to the 'store room'.  So far, so good provided that I don't actually need to breathe in the smaller room.

Second task was to clear the walkway in the attic.  This involved putting all my figures into boxes and filing them into eras - from Ancients to WW1 (East Africa). Fantasy was tagged onto the end.  I felt rather pleased with myself for achieving that.

Third task is where I hit a road bump.  In the 'Ancients' section I sorted the biggest boxes first - 20mm Egyptian, Trojans, Sea Peoples, Medes, Assyrians and Sumerians.  I originally built out the first two to full Armati size with all the options.  Since I never really liked that set of rules those troops have languished in dark obscurity for almost two decades.  So what to do with them?

As I still play DBM the logical approach was to carry out a conversion....Hmm!  Like everything else in life nothing is ever that straightforward.  The earlier DBM NKE list diverged only slightly from Armati but the DBMM 2016 version is a new animal entirely. 

DBMM (2016)1.22 - New Kingdom Egyptian 1543 - 1069 bc

Waifs & Strays - another poor picture.

(a) Surplus to requirements (not on the DBM list):

(Hittite) 8 x 4 spearmen
(Nubian)  4 x 3 Wb(F)
(Generic) 3 x 7 Hd

(b) Compulsories - 1 have all of these except - 8 x TF   (which I can improvise).                

(c)  Optional Elements (shortfalls):

4 x 2h, 2c, LCh            
1 x Irr Lh(I)           
8 x Reg Ax(O) or Reg Bd(I)       
4 x Reg Bd(X)           
8 x Reg Bw(I)           
4 x Reg Ps(O)           
6 x (SC) Irr Ax(O)/(I) or Ps(I)   
8 x (NSC) Irr Ps(O) bow       
4 x (LPB) Irr Ps(I)           
8 x TF               
4 x Irr Bts(S) Bari           
4 x (SC) 2h, 2c LCh           
4 x (G) Irr Wb(F)           
2 x (A) Reg Ax(I)           
2 x Reg Bd(O) Shardana       
26 x Reg Bd(F)           
16 x (L) Irr Wb(F)           
16 x (S) Irr Bd(O)(F) Sherden   
20 x (SP) Irr Bd(F)                               

Of course I don't need to build out the entire army this time just a workable 450 ap.  That means I will have to paint up some Wb(F) - Libyans are the easiest. Caesar are the only manufacturer that I could find but that line has been discontinued.  After much searching on the internet I have ordered two boxes - that should give me enough for 16 x 3 Wb(F) = 48 figures.

Next job is to work out a good DBM army - maybe Chris or Andy could help there?

Keep Safe and don't go stir crazy!!!
(Wasn't there a song called "They're Coming To Take Me Away Ha! Ha!"?

Monsters! Monsters!

In my search for behemoths and creatures for my 20mm HotT armies I happened to look in the kids section of Asda.  For the princely sum of £3......

 .....you get 6 dinosaurs of a suitable size.

For comparison I provided some Caesar Orcs:

Now I have to check what colours these dinos should be.  "Walking With Dinosaurs" put forward the idea that these creatures were far more colourful than previously thought.  Alas yet more research to do!

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On another matter......I was sorting out the unpainted pile within my Khmer/Cham 15mm box when I discover these:

The Khmer are all Irregular - these are clearly not.  Does anyone have any idea what these strays are?

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Round-Up

Saturday 22nd June 2019 - Gt. Houghton

4 games of DBA v3.0:

(1)  2.3a Classical Indian v 2.10b Tamil Indian - 4:1 win
(2)  2.23a Pre-Islamic Arab v 2.22c Parthian - 4:1 win
(3)  2.64b Middle Imperial Roman v 2.22c Arabo-Aramaean - 4:3 win
(4)  2.2 Mountain Indian v 1.43c Massagetae - 5:2 loss

Monday 25th June 2019 - WDW

Sparse attendance today with only 2 games going on:

Rapid Fire (WW2) - Germans v Americans
DBM - Patrician Roman v Early Ostrogoth - a close run thing.  The Roman right broke first followed by their opponents on the same flank.  Roman losses mounted until half the army was gone. 

Thracians et al

15 elements of Thracians from a plethora of manufacturers.  Only the centre front element is a regular.  These figures were hurriedly painted for the 15th October as I didn't have enough.  The earliest option has some Ax(O) upgraded to Ax(S) by adding a long spear.  Less that two of my elements fit the bill so I'm still looking for suitable alternatives.  Maccabean Jewish maybe!

My current reading - yer ak-tu-al lit-rature - abridged version though.  Interesting writing style.  Will review in due course.

With the arrival of more plastic figures I am being tempted by this (new) period.  The lack of suitable Turkish troops may, however, hold me back.


Round Up

Saturday 6th October 2018 - Gt.Houghton

4 games of DBA v3.0:

(1)  2.22 Arabo-Aramaen v 2.19a Early Seleucid - the terrain fell in my favour - 1:4 win.

(2)  3.25b Arab Conquest v 3.29 Thematic Byzantine - I tried to hide my Blades on the hills but I needn't have feared the enemy cavalry - my bad - 4:0 loss.

(3)  4.44 Mamluke Egyptian v 4.17 Later Crusdader - poor melee dice (3 ones in a row for 3 kills) - 4:0 loss.

(4)  2.15 Alexandrian Imperial v 2.3a Classical Indian - I managed to restrict the movement of Ian's forces - 1:5 win.

One game of DBN - Prussians v Spanish - lucky dice on my part - 1:5 win.


Monday 8th October 2018 - WDW

Franco-Prussian war - continuation of last week's scrap - "1871" rules
ACW Ironclads - practice game run by John Smith
DBM - Sung Chinese v Mongols.  The Sung Wb were annihilated but the game timed out in a draw.


Monday 15th October 2018 - WDW

"1871" Battle of Beaumont (Franco-Prussian War)
DBM - Thracians v Scythians - on paper this was an even match-up but my poor deployment resulted in a 7:3 defeat.  The C-in-C's command had to take on two enemy forces, plus our flank march took ages to arrive.  Not a good day.


Saturday 20th October 2018 - WDW

Napoleonic (Chris)
ACW Ironclads (John Smith)

I didn't attend this meeting and nobody has reported back to me.  Hopefully further details will arrive with the pidgeon post.

..And Then Two Came Along At Once (part 1)

I know ...doesn't post anything for ages then...

Painted at last - as 'generic' Carolingian medium cavalry.  These early Sarmatians have languished in my spares tin for decades.  On their first outing (as Croats would you believe) they did OK. 

The Dark Ages has never had much appeal for me - row upon row of Irr Sp(O) and, even worse, Irr Sp(I).  The thought of having to paint so much crud leaves me cold. 

Still......after having to re-base my Celts from Wb(F) to Wb(O) recently I looked again at the Book 3 army lists.   There is a need for Irr Wb(O).  I wonder if some judicious painting might provide sufficient disguises!


Round Up - for Saturday 15th September see part 2


Monday 24th September 2018 - WDW

"Sink One & Sea" - ACW Ironclads
Villers-Bretoneux 1870 (FPW) - "1871" rules
Bolt Action - WW2 Germans v Americans
DBM - Samurai v Tuaregs - mutual destruction with  both armies breaking in the same bound.


Monday 1st October 2108 - WDW

DBMM - Marian Roman v Han Chinese
Villepion 1870 (Franco-Prussian War) - "1871" rules
DBM - Carolingian v Avar.  After both sides failed to get a waterway the terrain favoured us (steep hills on the flanks).  As C-in-C I threw the opening dice - two of our commands got a one - sigh!

"Jim the Barbarian", true to form, charged forward on the Avar's left flank but came a cropper against some Ps(S).  Only 4 elements lost though.

It was the Avar centre that collapsed with some unlucky dice (and uncharacteristically good ones for me).  Half the Avar army gone by 20.30 hrs and only one element on our side (my command of course).

Fighting Off the Siren Calls

The new dancing season has started and I already have 6 bookings this month.  The prep work takes up too much of my valuable wargaming time.  I didn't manage to get to the Saturday library 'gig' or even to the club yesterday.  Painting has ground to a halt in spite of the fact that I have a number of cavalry 90% done.  Let's hope that things ease up a bit!


Round-Up

Monday 27th August 2018 - WDW

Bolt Action - Japanese v British in the pacific
Oregan (boardgame) - I came second again.
DBM - Early Byzantine v Ummayid Arabs.  When the clash of Kn(F) came I threw only ones and twos.  Andy managed fives and sixes.

 
Monday 3rd September 2018 - WDW

Bolt Action - Americans v Germans (WW2)
Napoleonic Naval - Trafalgar rules
DBM - Early Burgundian v Free Company - a hard scrap with, once again, one of my commands breaking (six bowmen in one round).  The EBs are pretty resilient so we managed to erode the enemy sufficiently to see them off.  A 7:3 victory.



Saturday 8th September - Horbury Library

Napoleonic naval batle - no details yet.


Monday 10th September 2018 - WDW

Bolt Action - Japanese v Americans in the pacific theatre
ACW Naval (rules unknown)
DBM - Early Burgundians v Later Hungarians.  Andy fielded Bw(I) against Ben's Bw(S)!!!!! 4 of the WWg were also shot down.  A 10:0 win for the Burgundians.

Time for a 'Catch-Up'

After a flurry of painting the brushes have sat idle.  That doesn't mean, however, that nothing has been happening on the wargames front.


Monday 6th August 2018 - WDW

ACW Naval
Revolution (boardgame)
DBM - Scots Common v HYW English (0:10 to the Scots)
I wasn't there so thanks for the info Deany.


Monday 13th August 2018 - WDW

Napoleonic skirmish (Forager rules)
Age of Eagles - French v Prussians
DBM - Welsh v Early Byzantine.  When Andy sprung 8 x Kn(F) out of the wood it was all over bar the shouting. Our Wb(F) was massacred.  An ignominious defeat - we were packed up by 2100 hrs.


Friday 17th August 2018 - Gt. Houghton

Just for a change we were playing "DBA in the New World" (rules on 'Steven's Balagan' web page).

1)  Tarascans v Aztecs - I was (mostly) on a hill and awaited the Aztec onslaught.  It was then that we found out how weak Bd(O) are against Sh(S).  Maybe the term "Warrior" would be better for this class as they incorporate Wb, Aux and Bd(I) into one classification.  It was a 0:8 win for me.

2)  Aztecs v Later Spanish -  the dice deserted me so I went down to a 9:1 defeat.

3)  Colonial Spanish v Later Spanish - I had half-pikes but couldn't make them count.  Again the dice gods spurned me - only a 6:2 loss this time.

The rules seemed to work OK but the troops have to be handled carefully.  Modifications are needed to encompass the evolution of DBA to version 3.0.  As a consequence we did make a few mistakes.


Friday 17th August / Saturday 18th August - WDW

A big re-fight of Borodino organised by Chris - see the (Wakefield & District Wargamers) club website for details.


Sunday 19th August 2018 - Newark

I did consider going to 'The Other Partizan' but couldn't be bothered to make the 40 mile drive.  It seems that others made the same decision (eg Wargaming Girl).  Maybe having 3 shows at the same place in relatively short succession is a little too much!


Monday 20th August 2018 - Al's Garage

I took along Latins (this time with Gallic and Syracusan allies) to face off against Al's Early Carthaginians.  The set up was 'mirrored' with both armies concentrating on their left flanks.  As a result plenty of time was spent trying to get into contact.  Our Gallic Wb(O) was too slow to make any impact as were the accompanying chariots. 

The fighting front rotated 70 degrees clockwise which made moving figures tricky.  When we pulled stumps our side had taken more casualties but nowhere near enough to break a command.

Had we both used a more conventional (and confrontational) set up something other than a draw might have happened.

More Painting Progress

9 elements of 'Roman' cavalry.  The eagle-eyed will spot some Spanish (Mike's Models) and some mounted hoplites.  The rest are indeed Romans but painted mostly as more generic dark ages figures.

The 2h Lch that I purchased at Newark.  Not certain which dynasty it is supposed to be from!  The bases are too long to fit the model on straight - hence the skewed frontage.

I found 20 of these languishing at the bottom of my 'Dark Ages' box.  The riders are a special made by Mike's Models somewhere in the seventies.  An advert in Slingshot asked for people to buy some as the commissioner had to purchase a minimum amount.  They are Early Sarmatians (the horses may be MM or Minifigs).

After sleeping peacefully in their box for decades I have decided to convert them into something useful.  The Carolingian Medium Cavalryman illustrated in the Ian Heath Dark Ages book is pretty close but I will have to add a shield and disguise the quivers.

By adding a suitable figure from the spares box I will have 7 elements of generic DA cavalry for my Welsh and Breton armies. For once I am glad that I am a hoarder.

Round Up

Monday 31st July 2018 - WDW

Square Bashing - Russians v Germans
Wings of War - WW1
Hitler's War (boardgame)
DBM - Scots Common v Medieval Irish - a slow game with no conclusion


Tuesday 1st August 2018

Posted some pictures to the club's Facebook page.

Received Viking huscarls from Essex.  Unfortunately 10 of them were spearmen not axemen. In the fullness of time I will, therefore, have to purchase 6 more axemen.  Have started painting them already.

Painting Progress

15 x Viking Bd(O) - various manufacturers

On the minus side this leaves me 5 elements short (for my Welsh army) but I am awaiting a delivery from Essex of 20 figures. 

On the plus side, however, I have 12 x Viking Irr Bd(F) elements almost completed.  These can be used as Viking raiders or back ranks of Wb(F).

Also nearing completion are 7 elements of Roman cavalry.


Round Up

Saturday 14th July 2018 - Horbury Library

Postscript - even in the two 'modified' games the Romans failed to win.


Monday 16th July 2018 - WDW

DBMM - Hindu Indian v Early Byzantines
Wings of War - WW2 aerial combat - Brits v Germans
Square Bashing - Grmans v Brits 1915
DBM - Sicilian v Islamic Berbers - a damn close run thing.  With one bound to go the enemy only had to lose one more element for it to rout.  We needed two and a half.  Guess what happened!


Monday 23rd July 2018 - Al's Place

DBM - Thebans v Phokians.  At the drawing of stumps we had lost two EEs and the opposition none.  A really booooooring draw.


Sunday 29th July 2018 - Halifax

Another visit to the model shop purchasing only one box of plastics:

Strelets M071 - British Light Infantry in Egypt.

Bearing in mind that the French only fought the British, on land, at the tail end of the Egyptian war.   I probably don't need that many of these figures. 

The 'Tarleton' type helmets were worn by the British Legion during the American revolution so I can see where the surplus is likely to end up. For the mounted arm I can always use Mexican cavalry from Imex.

Gad Sir! The Heat!

Getting on with the vikings but the heat makes life difficult in so many ways.  Still I have managed to fit in some wargaming activities.



Monday 2nd July 2018 - WDW

DBA v2.2 - two games between Tim & Jim using medievals (basically WoR & French Ordinance).  Honours were even.

DBM 3.2 - Early Crusader v Syrian (an actual historical match-up). No Chris again as he's glued to the box (England were playing).   

I had the crusader left where a flank march turned up on the second bound.  Al thought that the game was over and that we would be rolled up.  Robin Hood must have been in our ranks as I fought off the enemy horse in spite of being 'sandwiched' a number of times.  Al also shot off many of the attacking Wb(F) in the centre. 

Inevitably the Wb eventually broke through our Sp (so C-in-C's command gone).  Our glorious leader desperately charged the Wb (with some side supports) breaking that command.  So a 6:4 defeat for us but a good game.


Sunday 8th July 2018 - Halifax

In spite of the queues for the Antiques Road Show I managed to get into the model shop.  Wisely I had let the train take the strain as parking can be difficult at the best of times.  Anyway..I purchase 3 boxes from (what seems to be) a dwindling stockpile of 1/72nd figures.

Imex 515 - Mexican Cavalry at the Alamo - this will join my small stock for this period.

Strelets M068 - French Line Infantry in Egypt - much needed opposition for the Turks.  Very difficult to remove from the sprue resulting in a number of breakages.

HaT 8130 Sumerian Chariots - 3 chariots in a box big enough for 6. 


Monday 9th July 2018 - WDW

"Forager" - Napoleonic card-driven skirmish game
"Wings of War" - WW2 Brits v Germans
Sc-Fi in 6mm - Andy's rules

DBM - Hatrene (Arabo-Aramaean) v Early Tamil Indian - Al's shooting wasn't so good this time and his command eventually broke.  However...all 3 Hatrene generals had managed to inflict sufficient casualties to break the Tamil army.


Saturday 14th July 2018 - Horbury Library

More outreach games - this time Romans v Barbarians (Celts).  I played 2 games (of 6mm) turning the Roman flanks both times.  When I left the game had been 'fudged' with the Romans now able to occupy the entire ridge.

The Postman Cometh

Tuesday 26th June 2018

Received a delivery from Alternative Armies:

1 x VNT27  Coatl Winged Serpent
3 x ARC7  Arab Camel Spearmen
3 x ME8a  Welsh Long Spear and Shield
1 x Druidess

I have been looking at the Winged Serpent for some time now but baulked at the £5 p&p charge.  The 10% discount on all figures (plus a free bonus figure) pushed me over the edge to place an order. 

Coatl Winged Serpent - in 4 parts - body, 2 x wings, crest.  This is destined for a HotT army (Aztec-ish) - maybe as a god or a behemoth.  Very nice sculpt (look on their website for a painted version).

Arab camel spearmen - OK - too many flash lines and unimaginative pose.  Will probably not buy any more of these but stick to Peter Pig.

Welsh long spear and shield - useful upright figures that will provide greater variety in my growing Welsh army. 

Druidess - plastic figure - nice sculpt - maybe for a HotT army as an ally.

Service was quick and the figures well packed.  The stamps amounted to £1.40.  Given the excessively high charge for p&p I can't see me using their mail order service again - pity!


Round Up

Saturday 16th June 2018 - WDW

Age of Eagles - Durnstein 1805 (NE Austria) - Chris to provide report.


Monday 25th June 2018 - WDW

DBM - Syrian v Wars of the Roses (Lancs) - a close run game with the Lancastrians winning. 
Spearhead - Dutch & British v Russians (near future).
Germania Magna - tile & card game.  A frustrating game.  I struggled to pick up warriors for most of the game and when I did I no longer had the money to activate them.  Maybe it would be better with more players and/or tweaking the gold & tribal cards set-up.


Saturday 30th June 2018 - Gt. Houghton

More DBA v3.0 gmes:
(1)  Dacians v Gauls (0:4 loss) - we both made mistakes on this game but mine were fatal.
(2)  Early Sumerian v Zagros Mountaineers (3:4 win)
(3)  Umbrians v Samnites (4:0 loss)
(4)  Belisarian Byzantines v Italian Ostrogothic (0:5 win) - in this game the infantry (bar one Wb) were mere observers.  Ian attacked with double-ranked Lh but they failed to break my cavalry. 
(5)  War of the Roses (Lambert Simnel) v French Ordinance (4:1 loss) - my single victory was from shooting.  Otherwise once the Kn got in it was carnage.  With Kn quick-killing everything I had there was no way to win.  In theory Kn are killed on a draw - there were none.

Incidentally - TA & Co have three more DBA v3.0 games on their site:
 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbRAe5rGG3lYIHXFgkrC3wQ

Feudal Spanish v Fanatic Berber
Koguryo Korean v Tang Chinese
Hindu Indian v Rajputs

More Scraps from the (paint) Table

Realising my need for 3-to-a-base archers I purchased these at Partizan, Newark.  Turns out that most of them are, in fact, crossbowmen.  As DBM does not differentiate between bows this is not a problem for their main usage.  I will have to be more careful when playing DBA v3 though.

Still awaiting paint are the cavalry that I used on Monday plus a mass of Viking axemen.

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Round Up

Saturday 16th June 2018 - WDW

Chris was running a Napoleonic game.


Monday 18th June 2018 - Wrenthorpe

A rare trip to Al's garage to play a DBM game.  I took Latins (1.55) and Al fielded Philistines.  Andy used one of his famous (and complex) deployments for our Latins.  After loosing 2/3 of our Cv(O) to Al's Cv(S) the situation didn't look good.  Our allied Volscian Wb(F) seemed unable to get up to speed and broke before they reached the Reg Sp(I) opposition.  Luckily, enough of the enemy left flank had fallen so it was a draw.  A tough fight with a tricky army to use effectively.

Scraps from the (paint) Table

3(x7) Hordes - figures from Caesar H014 Hebrew Warriors.  Built for my chariot sub-period of ancients these mobs could also be used for 'Napoleon in Egypt' or even 'WW1 in the Middle East'.

These two are for my Renaissance wargaming.  Both can be used with the  "Irregular Warfare" ruleset and the dogs also for DBA-RRR.  IR only requires one priest figure but I thought that 3 looked more the part.  Of course they both might find a place in a HotT army as well.

I  have just finished some Chinese bow/xbow (hopefully more pics next week) and started on the Vikings.  Unfortunately, the chariot project has stalled owing to a lack of suitable wheels.


Round Up

Monday 4th June 2018 - WDW

The AGM meant that only two games were played:

Oregan (boardgame) - a 4-hander with yours truly coming in third.  Still a fun game though.

King of the Battlefield - French v British in India.  Unfortunately Mr C forgot the European troops so club 'Napoleonics' had to be drafted in to fill the gaps.  The game had to be abandoned when the business meeting started.


Title:  "Bonaparte in Egypt" 
Author:  J. Christopher Herold
Pub:  Hamish Hamilton 1962
Size: 424 pages

Notes:
An interesting read. 
The author is obviously not a fan of Napoleon. 
The British don't fight the French until very late in the day.
A Napoleonic pipe-dream.
Nap's lack of preparation, cares nothing for lost lives, only in it for glory, doesn't see (or want to see) the reality of the situation.

Altogether a complete farce of a campaign.

Thanks to Chris for the loan.

DBN....and All That!

Saturday 26th May 2018 - Gt. Houghton

5 games of DBN - my first exposure to this DBA variant.

(1)  Spanish v Prussians (13 v 12 points) - I made good use of my 'extra' troops (militia only cost half a point) - 5:3 win.
(2)  Austrians v Prussians (12 points) - a bit harder but I still managed a 5:2 result.
(3)  Austrians v Prussians (18 points each)  larger numbers gave me no advantage - I went down to an ignominious 2:7 defeat.
(4)  Austrians v Prussians (12 points) - increased numbers of CV & Lh (just to see how they worked.  Mine were pretty useless - 2:5 loss.
(5)  Spanish v Prussians (13 v 12 points) - a re-run of the first battle.  It came down to the wire - a 4:5 loss.  I made poor use of my 'extras' this time.

The rules seemed to work once we got the hang of them.

 

 In the past I have downloaded DB Colonial from the same source -  KISR Publications - and even played a few trial games solo.  The results were entirely one-sided.  I was not impressed.

 I have since downloaded the ACW variant and read through it.  My initial thoughts were:

     (1)  a complicated set of rules.
     (2)  basing units requires careful picking of figures.
     (3)  there is a need for a number of status indicators.

Although I have a number of painted 1/72 ACW figures (mostly foot) available I will not be rushing into using these rules.  Quite a large amount of preparatory work is required first.

 This variant is for Middle East conflicts such as in Mesopotamia. Having recently purchased a few 'Lawrence of Arabia' foot figures I may wander that way.  Alternatively they may be adaptable to East or West Africa!

Others:
The 3 page AWI download was certainly not worth $4.  Nothing but tables - no background - nada. Given that the similar Franco-Prussian wars sheets are free it begs the question "what am I paying for?".   Also...Regular cavalry...really!!! 

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Round-Up

Saturday 19th May 2018 - WDW

A big Seven Years War in India game.


Monday 28th May 2018 - WDW

Spearhead 6mm Modern - Russians v Dutch & British - victory for the allies.
DBM - Xi-Xia v Early Samurai - Andy ploughed his Kn(F) into the opposition breaking the enemy centre (and loosing all but one of his horsemen).  Not long after that the Samurai left command broke as well.  I had spent my time 'corner-sitting' and messing around with Lh(S) - oh well!

Just back from Partizan, Newark

Approx 40 miles each way and my car's transmission starting complaining half-way down.  Still I made it there and back.  So what was my haul?

Picked this up for the princely sum of £3.

Two boxes of plastics found their way into my satchel:

1 x Caesar Miniatures - Orc Warriors (set 2) - this time in a reasonable tone of green
1 x Strelets - British Line Infantry in Egypt

Finally a few 15mm figures and some mdf items:

4 x bags 7mm square frames (for tiny dice)
2 x packs 40mm x 40 mm mdf squares [wrong size - I wanted 60 x 60 - my bad!]
8 x Museum Miniatures - Chinese archers
16 x Essex - Chinese archers
1 x unknown - 2 horse, 2 crew Chinese chariot

As usual the show was noisy (like being in an aircraft hanger), hot and a bit smelly.  Plenty of eye candy but somehow feeling a bit 'sterile' and 'colourless'.  The show may have suffered from 'Hammerhead' being there only 3 weeks before!

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 Round Up  [quite a lot this time as I have been occupied elsewhere for a few weeks].

Monday 30th April 2018 - WDW

DBMM - Kharakhanid v Wars of the Roses (Lancs)
DBM - Hindu Indian v Early Byzantines - another disasterous outing
Oregan (boardgame)
Congo - Imperials v Natives
Square Bashing - Italians v Austro-Hungarians 1916


Saturday 5th May 2018 - Janco Toys

One of my rare visits to this shop (it's way on the other side of Barnsley at Worsborough).  Purchased some inks and brushes.  Saw some stunning female customers in the Asda opposite (made me wish that I was young again).


Monday 7th May 2018 - WDW

7YW in India - Brits v French (Kings of the Battlefield)
Caesar's War (boardgame) x 2
Conflict of Heroes (WW2) - boardgame
DBM - Spring & Autumn Chinese v Neo-Babylonian - another ignominous defeat with 9 of 10 Kn(O) being destroyed.


Saturday 12th May 2018 - Horbury Library

The WDW outreach crew were playing WW1 Aerial dog fights.  We had one lady come over to our table and that was all.  Still the four of us enjoyed our game.


Monday 14th May 2018 - WDW

Spearhead - Modern Russians v British
Sun Tzu (boardgame)
DBM - Neo-Babylonian (Andy's version) v Spring & Autumn Chinese (Mk.2) - Ben decided the set up with the two Kn commands on our left and centre plus the large warband on the right.  A smaller Bd(I) command was to hold the right flank behind a wood.  Yours truly managed to throw a '1' for the allied warband which kept it out of the use for most of the battle.  Meanwhile my Reg Bd(F) crunched into the opposing Bw(X)/Bw(O) and demolished it.  Chris was not far behind in breaking the Bedouin allies.  What a contrast to the previous scrap.


Saturday 19th May 2018 - WDW

The Saturday gamers were playing but at this stage I don't know what.  Perhaps in the future dear readers........

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Post script:  I have been working on some chariots recently.  They are 20mm plastic conversions that should be fit to come into the daylight soon.. 

Bits & Bobs

I finally got around to finishing off the two Chinese chariots that Chris sold me (except for the bases):

This releases 2 of my 'dual use' 4h chariots to the early Carthaginians.

Still working on my Incas - long job with all those chequered patterns.


Round Up
 
 Monday 2nd April 2018 - WDW

Thinly attended meeting - bank holiday and pouring rain (of course).

Kings of the Battlefield - Hanoverians plus other 'German' states v French
WW1 6mm Mesopotamia - DBA variant No.1


Monday 9th April 2018 - WDW

Square Bashing - Austrians v Italians 1915
Kings of the Battlefield - Malburian
WW1 6mm - DBA variant No.2
DBM - Sha-t'o Turkish v Khurasanian - only picked the Turks because they were on the facing page.  Threw good combat dice to break the enemy centre. It was Andy's first foray into 'proper' Arabs.  He will, no doubt, alter his army composition and try again later. 

Slingshot 316:

Part 1 of an article by Nicholas Spratt - "Holiday in Cambodia" Many photos of the Bayon Galleries - interesting.

Otherwise a bit of a yawn - battles of Paraetacene, Chalons & Ad Decimum. 

Can't help thinking that the Society of Ancients / Slingshot has lost it's way.  In the 70s & 80s it was a resource for information hungry wargamers.  It provided a sense of camerarderie, even a community of sorts.  Now the internet is the first goto for obscure military information. 

Slingshot needs to find a niche.  I would suggest that extended battle reports would be better placed on the website / blog.  The internet is incredibly useful but much of its data is superficial (and access can be restricted).  Maybe more original research should be published.

Sad to say that I will not be renewing my subscription.


Saturday 14th April 2018 - Gt. Houghton

3 rounds of DBA v3.0

1)  Sea Peoples v Trojans - 4:0 to me
2)  Pre-Feudal Scots v Anglo-Danish - 5:0 win but a cagey fight until the end.
3)  Early Egyptian v Nubian - 3:5(7) loss. There was a point where we were 3:3 and I attacked a 3Bd with 2 x Horde and a Ps.  One Horde was on the flank but Ian escaped.  After that he killed both hordes plus two more elements.  The dice gods are ever capricious. 

This was the first outing for my 20mm 'biblical' plastics in quite some years.  The Egyptians were built as a full Armati, New Kingdom, army including all options.  For the earlies I had to improvise some horde from Hittites - that I only seem to have 8 x spearmen for!

Looks like I will have to unearth my stache of unpainted 'biblicals' to see if I can improve the situation.   Oh well - just another line of soldiers to paint - sigh!


Oddments:

http://fencingfrog.blogspot.co.uk/2018/04/scenarios-for-saga.html

4 scenarios for Saga - "Rescue the Hostage", "When you can’t pillage burn",  "I just want to get home" and "Death in a Tight Place".

Aldi purchase - 1 metre x 2 metre grass mat £6.99 - a hell of a lot better than the green paper that I have been using for test games.  Ideally it would have been 3' x 4' but you have to blame europe for something.

Some Painting At Last

As the snow was pelting down yesterday I managed to finish off four bases of Aztecs:

There is a motley crew of figures on my paint table at the moment including more Meso-Americans (mainly Incas), WWg(X), Welsh cavalry, early Carthaginian chariots, Chinese chariots and some Vikings.  Maybe I will finish them off at some date in the future!!!

Anyway...whilst searching for more information on Napoleon's Egyptian Campaign I came across another blogger:

History in 1/72

http://historyin172.blogspot.co.uk

85eme Demi-Brigade de Ligne
Delhi light horse
Delhis
Dromedar Corps Egypt 1799
Dromedaries (painted)
French foot
French grenadiers
Napoleon in Egypt
Napoleonic Turkish army
Nizam I Cedid
Ottoman army of the Napoleonic period
Ottoman army, more info
Turkish Napoleonic army

Now I'm researching the Incas, trying to find out how to best use the figures I have.  Cannot find anyone who manufactures a litter in 20mm (or suitable carrying figures for conversion/scratch building).


Weekly Roundup

Monday 12th March 2018 - WDW

French v Prussians - Age of Eagles - practice for Saturday's big game.
Germans v Americans - WW2 - Andrew's rules
DBM - Philistines v Medes - victory to the Medes after a bit of a struggle - nice to be on the winning side for a change.
DBMM - Alexander Imperial v Later Carthaginians - competition practice


Saturday 17th March 2018 - WDW

Eylau 1807 - French v Russians & Prussians - Age of Eagles - the big game run by Chris
"History of the World" - boardgame - a three hander where I came last (by a big margin)
"Braggart" - card game - great fun - my first game and I came last....but there was only 6 points between all of us.


Looks like Sunday is going to become my blogging day for the forseable future - too much is going on on Thursdays at the moment.

Big Battle DBA v 3.0

Saturday 10th March 2018 - Gt. Houghton

This is the first time that  I have played this variant.  DBA Version 3.0 rules has imposed DBMM dice allocation. 

I took my "Hellenistics" tin along and fielded the army of Antigonos Gonatos.  The inclusion of a Spartan Greek ally was to get a Lh element (AG has none).  My only other option was to take either 4 x 4Wb or 4 x 4Ax. 

Ian had Lysimachid - very similar army but no elephants.

Given the terrain my right wing were given the lowest dice, the centre the highest and the allied command was random.  Ian decided to lead with his left, support with the centre and refuse the right. 

My central attack was successful breaking the opposition (in spite of loosing an elephant).  The two flanks were in trouble at times with my right eventually crumbling.  Intervention by the 'spare' troops, from the centre command broke Ian's right flank.  Game over.

Strangely enough victorious troops are not required to pursue.  Broken troops cannot make any aggressive move(s) - they can only be held or flee.

I made several mistakes including double-ranking my spears and forgetting about side supports.  The Wb and elephants were pretty useless.

An interesting experiment - don't know if I will be in a hurry to repeat it!!!

Game Two:  DBA v3.0 - AG (again) v Gauls.  A steep hill allowed me to close down half the board with a few Aux & Ps.  I massed my remaining troops on the left and overwhelmed the enemy - 4:0. This time the elephant did it's job.



Weekly Roundup:

Monday 5th March - WDW

"Black Orchestra" - boardgame - trying to assassinate Hitler
"King of the Battlefield" - Prussians v others (a mixture)
"Age of Eagles" - French v Prussians
DBM - Early Armenians v Han Chinese - my army had plenty of Aux but all the terrain ended up in my opponent's half of the table.  Still, I had overwhelming numbers so I pushed forward.  The dice gods were not smiling upon me this day - neither in movement nor fighting.  Two of my commands broke.  Their losses were in single figures.


Saturday 10th March 2018 - Horbury Library

Andrew was conducting an ACW game.  I was required elsewhere (see above).

Napoleon in Egypt - part 3(b)

No posting last week as I was down with some horrible lergy.

Whilst idling at the keyboard I did come across another blog featuring Napoleon in Egypt (and WW1 East Africa).


1866 and all that...
http://stracmark.blogspot.co.uk/

3rd Dragoons
4e & 22e DBL
6 Horse Limber
7e Regt de Hussars
22e DBL & Artillery
22nd Chasseurs a Cheval & Palm trees
75e DBB
85th & 88th DBB & Artillery
85th DB & Artillery
85th DBB & Oasis
88e DBB & Dromedaries
88eme DBL & Generals
Artillery
Books
Camel artillery with Ottoman driver
Camel limbers & Artillery
Dromedaries (dismounted), regiment of
Dromedaries (mounted), regiment of
Dromedary unit, mounted
Egyptian Ruins - part 1
Egyptian Ruins - part 2
Egyptian Ruins - part 3 (final)
Egyptian Village - part 1
French Army Parade
Lead (and Plastic) Pile

These are not the blog entry headings but rather the main (Nap) items within.  The painted figures are mainly metals or Perry plastics.


Wargaming  Roundup (2 weeks this time):


Monday 12th February 2018 - WDW

"Lost Battalion" WW2 boardgame
Impetus - Indians v Persians in 365 bc
"King of the Battlefield" - French v Hessians & Hanoverians
DBM - Pyrrhic v Antigonos One-Eye - Chris lost the cavalry battle on our right flank whilst I struggled to hold the left.


Saturday 17th February 2018 - WDW

I wasn't there so only limited information available at this stage.

Napoleonic
Colonial
"Oregan" boardgame
One other boardgame


Monday 19th February 2018 - Wrenthorpe

DBM - Early Crusader v Syrian - I managed to break the Armenian ally but Al went down to the warband assault.

Thursday's Leftovers

I didn't want to make yesterdays posting too long so here is the usual weekly fare.

Internet Picks

(1)  Australian Civil War 1933-39 [Alternative Time Line] - for those who like the idea of VBCW but not the setting/factions:

http://shelldrakewargames.blogspot.co.uk/2018/02/a-right-bloody-mess-australian-civil.html

(2)  Flags in Foreign climes - some suitable for Napoleon in Egypt and the Haitian fights:

http://miniaturasmilitaresalfonscanovas.blogspot.co.uk/2018/02/banderas-n-5-durante-la-revolucion.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+MiniaturasMilitaresPorAlfonsCnovas+(MINIATURAS+MILITARES+POR+ALFONS+C%C3%80NOVAS)

(3)  Basing ships for wargaming (any scale)

http://philbancients.blogspot.co.uk/2018/02/basing-ships-for-wargaming-any-scale.html


Weekly Roundup


Sunday 4th February 2018 - Vapnartak, York

Really cold and trying to snow.  Two false alarms and too many people.  A dearth of book sellers.  Didn't buy much - should have emailed suppliers before I went.

OK....so what did I buy?  18 foot, 6 cavalry & 2 carts (all from Museum Miniatures).  8 Vikings will join my growing Welsh DBM army.  10 Arab blades and 6 horse will make those tins heavier. 

The 2 carts are intended for Indian armies as anti-elephant devices.  I will attempt to convert them into WWg(X) for some of my Chinese armies.


Monday 5th February 2018 - WDW

Impetus - 10mm Samurai fight (again)

Setting the East Ablaze - trying to get the Russian Tsar out of the country whilst the Reds try to capture or kill them.

DBM - Galatians v Polybian Roman.  Jim didn't have much to do on our right flank.  I marched forward with a mass of Wb(O).  Andy had to hold off the mounted Roman hordes on the left. The Roman centre and right collapsed.