A Bit of a Round Up

I thought it about time to do a round-up of things I have found on the net...................


(1)  After a break of several months Rod is back this year with seven contributions to the Jacobite cause:

British Infantry Sappers
British Siege Artillery
Cope's Supply Train
Dismounted Jacobite Cavalry
Dutch Coehorn Mortars
Lady Anne Macintosh
Siege Gun Emplacements

https://rodwargaming.wordpress.com


 (2)  Some Errata for two popular rule sets:

Chain of Command - Errata & FAs
http://toofatlardies.co.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/CoC-Errata-FAQ-1.pdf

Sharp Practice - Errata & Questions Answered
http://toofatlardies.co.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/SP2-FAQ.pdf


(3)  First published in the eighties it has now been revised.  Some of the text can be viewed on this site:

Armies of the Macedonian and Punic Wars Paperback by Duncan Head (Author) - £24.99 paperback
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Armies-Macedonian-Punic-Wars-Duncan/dp/1326256564

(4)  A Mission for Pikeman's Lament
https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/duxrampant/viewtopic.php?p=4253#p4253










(5)  "The Mill" Edition 2 - produced by Peter Pig

https://www.peterpig.co.uk/ - scroll down a bit to "New Things"

After the demise of Wargamer's Journal I was happy to see this new endeavour.

(6)  If you are looking for alternative wars for "Rebels & Patriots" you could start with this list on Wikipedia.  Plenty of scope for experimentation.

List of wars - 1800–1899

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wars:_1800%E2%80%931899

(7)  Chinese War Wagons

Looking at the latest videos by Tony Aguilar I found two 'un-boxings' of 3d printed items from Rod Felderman:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pz2AVt5L20 - War Cart (hand pushed)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lq-zsE8DiVY  - Asian War Wagon

I have emailed Rod to find out prices, etc and will post the results when available.

..And Then Two Came Along At Once (part 2)

Saturday 15th September 2018 - WDW


Bolt Action (WW2) in the pacific theatre:

"In a lookout post on a small island off the coast of Manila in June 1942, a sleepy spotter was roused into action by the distant whirring of the engines of a flotilla of Japanese landing craft. He immediately radioed this news to the nearby US base who promptly dispatched a battalion of marines to the beach area. By now the Japanese task force were landing and overhead came the thunder of their first naval bombardment. This stunned the newly arrived marines but they soon rallied to engage the Japanese in deadly close quarter combat. They were slowly thrown back by the overwhelming force of frenzied fanatic warriors.

 Marine reinforcements arrived only to be confronted by the second naval bombardment which once again stemmed their progress! By now a second Japanese force was arriving on the US right flank, taking the thinly spread defenders by surprise and quickly captured the first of their objectives - the bridge over the river Kwai! The battle had intensified and all along the marine lines and the counter attack was being repulsed. Spear armed fanatics were being mown down by their progress was unabatted!  Motorised units struggled to penetrate the dense jungle of the island`s hinterland and hopes of a quick victory was evaporating.

After 6 hours of bitter fighting, the marines were forced to retreat and conceded the conquest of the island to the imperial forces of Japan. The Americans were left to lick their wounds and regroup for the battles ahead.

So ended the first engagement played by members of the Wakefield and Ossett wargames club on Saturday 15th September using Warlord Games Bolt Action rules.

Those involved were - John Dean, Ian Harris, Dave Churm, Andy Smith, Andy Gledhill, Jim Ellis, Stu Lowe, Richard Lawrence & Mike Yewdell.

Thanks to John Smith`s [for his] excellent landing craft models and Ian`s buildings."

Photos are on the WDW Facebook page.  Report by Mr Dean.


Renaissance - "Baroque" rules:

"Andrew and Tim played a pick-up game of "Baroque", organised by Chris and loosely based on Mohacs, with Andrew as Hungarian and Tim as the Turks. Working on the basis numbers had been exaggerated, the Turkish army was slimmed down somewhat.

The Turkish foot drew up on a low range of hills, with all the cavalry on their left. The Hungarians drew up with foot in the front line, and mounted behind each flank.

They had a lot of difficulty getting their cavalry out, giving the Turks an excellent opportunity to destroy them. "Unit of the match" award goes to a Landsknecht musketeer unit, which warped probability disgracefully, seeing off several overwhelming attacks, and buying time for the rest of the army.

Eventually numbers and quality told, and the Turkish horse began to break in to the Hungarians' formation. On the other flank, the Hungarian nobility made heavy weather of breaking in to the Turkish line; however, they managed it eventually; and this was very much the position when we drew stumps, with each army winning on its left. A clash between the Hungarian pike and the A-class Janissaries in the  middle would have been decisive; sadly, we timed out.

We were very impressed with the rules, and intend another big battle (24 or so units a side) later in the year."

Report by Chris Jackson.

Incas, Nubians & Napoleonics

The first of the Incas to come off the paint table - and the simplest colour schemes.  The slingers are obviously modelled on a plate in the Osprey book - pity about the cloaks as they were not worn in battle.  I'm now working on the chequered designs - red & white to start with.

After fielding my 20mm Egyptians against the Nubians (a fortnight ago) I found that I had insufficient Nubian Bw to serve in both armies. So, scrounging up a dozen suitable figures I can now cover that particular shortfall.

There is still a shortage in chariots (especially for generals) so yet again I rummaged through my 'plastic mountain' to find some convertables.  Looks like the basic Airfix Roman models will fit the bill.  Of course the wheels are wrong but that problem can be solved by a visit to Irregular Miniatures at the next show that I attend.  

Already awaiting my attention are 3 (x7) 'biblical' Horde.  The Hebrews plus a few 'spares' should look the part in due course.  Why do I get the feeling that I have taken on too much?


Round Up

Saturday 21st April 2018 - WDW

I wasn't there as Montezuma had other ideas.  There were two games going on - Bob's "Setting the East Ablaze" Russian Civil War game and Chris' Napoleonic effort.

Castricum 1799

"In 1799, an Anglo Russian army under the Duke of York invaded Holland, lured by tales that the country was ready to rise against the occupying French. The rising did not happen; and despite the capture of the Dutch fleet (Quite a triumph in its own right) and some battlefield success, the allied army was forced to evacuate after a set back at Castricum on 6th October; and it was this action that we chose to fight out under "Age of Eagles" rules. The map and order of battle from the Age of Eagles scenario book "Power is my Mistress" by Steve Hojnacki formed the basis of our game, with added detail from "A Waste of Blood and Treasure", by Philip Ball (Pen and Sword; recommended). Chris started the morning commanding the Russians and British, handing over the commands of Dundas and Abercromby to Paul and James when they arrived. As in the original battle, Essen's Russians forged ahead of their British allies, the Lifeguard Cossack squadron leading a gallant charge in support of Fersen's brigade, which drove the French from Bakkum, while the Russian guns flayed the French on the Russian right flank. Pressing on, the Russians threatened to take Castricum next; but Mark, as Brune, held his nerve and fed reinforcements in, holding the Russians in front, and threatening to cut in behind their flanks. This was in no small way aided by the tardiness of Dundas on the left, and Abercromby in the Dunes on the Allied right. Padget's brigade of light dragoons, a potential battle winner, failed to deliver the knockout blow expected of it. Mark stormed the Russian Heavy battery with one of Gouvion's demi-brigades, and  Essen had little option other than to fall back to avoid being cut off.  As in the real battle, our Duke of York started the game in Alkmaar, arriving in our case two thirds of the way through. At this point, James and Paul arrived,  taking over as Abercromby and Dundas respectively. Headed by the Guards brigades, the British intervened at long last and the French were halted. Both sides lost heavily, but there was no doubt this was a French victory. The allies had failed to advance further towards Amsterdam, and could not afford their losses. Evacuation would have been unavoidable. "Man of the Match" to Mark, for not losing his head, feeding in reinforcements to hold the Russian infantry, and then cutting between the Russian flanks and the tortoise like advance of the British when under Chris's command (The Court of Enquiry acquitted James and Paul; Chris has been demoted to commander of the wagon train). Unit of the match? close call between Fersen's brigade, and the Dutch dragoons, who turned the tide of battle by cutting in through the junction of Dundas's right, and Fersen's left. All in all, an enjoyable re-fight, with a few lessons for the next time we give it a go."

Thanks to Chris for this report.

Plastics, Plastics, Plastics

Sunday 8th January 2017 - Calder Valley

At the Halifax model shop I purchased two boxes of soldiers:

1 x HaT 8128 Assyrian Army - a 'portmanteau' box containing a mixture of horse and foot.
     It will add to my collection of unpainted Assyrians.

1 x Red Box RB72024 German East Asia Brigade (Boxer Rebellion 1900) - the uniform pre-dates my WW1 in East Africa figures but is useable in SW Africa at a slightly earlier time.  All I need to do now is generate some 'natives'.

At the Sue Ryder charity shop in Todmorden I picked up a boardgame:

After doing some research I found a components list on Boardgamegeek.  Trouble is that it bore no relationship to the contents of my box.  Further work showed that I had v2 (why can't Games Workshop mark the box or rules?).  This time there was an almost complete match.  The only things missing were 1d6 and 4 character miniatures.  Well nothing vital then. 

In time I will no doubt try the game out.  The cost - £1.25


Monday 9th January 2017 - WDW

Austrians v French 7YW ('Honours of War')
Later Achaemenid Persian v Scythian (DBMM)
Sioux v US Army ('The Men Who Would Be Kings')


Tuesday 10th January 2017

 Finally got around to sorting out the displaced old suitcases within my loft.  A light bulb went off saying "Use them as subject dividers".  So starting at one end I have used them to separate my plastic collection.  I didn't take too long so I pulled out the 'AncMed' cardboard box to sort it out.

Those of you that collect plastic figures will know that the biggest problem is, probably, supply.  As a consequence you tend to buy when you see it and horde until you have sufficient numbers for a given project. 

I sat in my warm living room sorting out the figures, identifying those where the labels had fallen out and amalgamating into 'period' or 'theatre' larger bags.  So now I have:      "Crusaders & Arabs" including an unopened box of "The Knights" Italeri 6009.
     "Rome & Enemies" - mainly Romans & Ancient Brits
     "Biblicals" - but 2 boxes of Sumerians are missing
     "Easterners" (mainly Chinese).

There was a last surprise - hidden under one of the flaps was a small bag containing 3 figures and a load of weapons.  I had found the 'safe place' where I had put my Incas! 

Sorting out my 'Renaissance' box will be next.  Re-uniting weapons with soldiers will revive my 'DBA in the New World' project.  Perhaps sleeping dogs...............

Phalanx 2016 - Let the Train Take the Strain

Yes an extra posting - what next?


Saturday 18th June 2016 - Phalanx @ St.Helens

So off I went on my 2.5 hour jaunt over the Pennines.  It didn't start well - at 09.09 the train turned up at Fitzwilliam to get me to Leeds.  1 minute late - not bad - only it was supposed to be the 08.46.  This didn't bode well but apart from having to stand to Wakefield  I managed to make the first connection.  Surprisingly Manchester Piccadilly & Newton-le-Willows changes also worked out.

The show was easy to find - walking distance from the station.  The bugbear - nowhere to get any cash.  Why don't these Leisure Centres have cash points?  After a 15 minute walk each way to a shopping centre I had my cash and could go to the 'Bring & Buy' (which was excellent).  I didn't buy a lot in the main hall - very little in 15mm.  Some of the games were interesting but not as good as Partizan.  The hall was also rather hot and stuffy.

Here's my loot:

1 box of Airfix 'Robin Hood' (B & B) - £2 - destined for the 'general box' 

1 box of Imex Sioux Indians  (B & B) - £3 - for conversion into various 'natives'

1 cardboard box labelled "24 packs - Conquistador Army"  Inside were 25 packs (I complained bitterly - NOT) of Naismith Design figures for £10. The next time I hand over my 'spare change' to the Cat Protection League I will add £2.

Also - 4 packs of 60 x 60 MDF bases (for my East African project).

The journey home involved 3 changes - Manchester Victoria, Stalybridge & Leeds.  The Pennine Express was 5 minutes late into Leeds but as I had 12 minutes for the changeover it was no problem.  The only gripe I had was when a bunch of charming lads boarded the Manchester bound train - they were very loud-mouthed and foul-mouthed - F-ing and B-ing relentlessly.  From Stalybridge a quartet of older gentlemen also had a somewhat limited vocabulary.

So would I go to Phalanx again?  I think not.  Train advertising doesn't mention the crass passengers you meet or the bawling babies.  2.5 hours is too long to endure for a moderate show.

Here's some links for pictures:
http://wargameamateur.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/phalanx-2016.html
http://battlefieldswarriors.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/phalanx-2016-wargame-show.html
http://willwarweb.blogspot.co.uk/

Knights & Days

Sunday 15th May 2016 - Halifax shop purchases:

1 x Waterloo 1815 - AP035 - Roger's Rangers -
http://www.plasticsoldierreview.com/Review.aspx?id=2047
I already have some of these - they could end up as dedicated French-Indian wars troops; be added to militia units of the American Revolution or be utilised as 'woodswise troops' for a (Renaissance) colonial army?

 1 x Dark Dream - DDS72005 - European Knights -
http://www.plasticsoldierreview.com/Review.aspx?id=1618

 The back of the box

The figures look more orange against the black background. Neither this nor the PSR shots do credit to the hideous pink they are extruded in (be thankful).

The obvious destination for these is for my proposed (DBA-RRR) Spanish  army of the Dutch Rebellion period.  I am also minded to replace the French 30YW Knights....then again some would make splendid generals!  With only 12 figures I will have to prioritise (or wait until I get some more).


Monday 16th May 2016 - WDW

DBM scrap between Sea Peoples and Makkan.  Pitting Bd(F) against Wb(F) means that you have to break through at initial contact.  After that the Wb numbers will tell.  What do you think happened?   Well at least it's a fair distribution - I have lost heavily with all three partners in turn.

On the other tables - Medieval Fubar between Sub-Roman British and some Arabs. 
                                  Impetus 100 Years' War fight


Wednesday 18th May 2016

Finally got a bit more painting done - nothing completed yet though.  Started on the Spanish mastiffs so that I can, eventually, field a Warband unit in my Colonial Spanish army. 

Some Slight Progress

Saturday 30th April 2016

Horbury Library -  one of WDW's 'outreach' days - 4 battles of the Hundred Years War - 2 against a young lad who did pretty well.  Afterwards I passed through Thornhill (near Dewsbury) where a heavy sleet shower almost stopped the traffic.

Sunday 1st May 2016

Halifax purchases:

2 x HaT 8293   WW1 British Infantry (Tropical) - these will go to my WW1 East Africa project.

1 x Mars 72019 Conquistadores
1 x Caesar 025 Conquistadores

The Mars (ex-Revell) have the war dogs but far too many sword-and-buckler men.  Renaissance troops for my English or Dutch Colonial army.

1 x Red Box 72051 Militia and Loyalist Troops (1745). 
 Still looking for suitable horse for the Jacobite Rebellion but otherwise now have a decent number to, at least, skirmish with.

1 x Model Color 70.927 Dark Flesh

Monday 2nd May 2016

Still only 8 degrees.  DBM - Tupi v Scots Common - heavy defeat for the South Americans.  
Battle for Normandy (SPI boardgame); Little Big Horn (1964 boardgame).

Thursday 5th May 2016 

Slight progress on the Renaissance front:

On the left - the Spanish Colonial general is now on foot - seems that his shield has taken damage already!
On the right - the final element for the Safavid Persians - Tufangchis shot. 

Perusing the Portuguese

 Monday 25th April 2016

Wakefield & District Wargamers AGM - it took a while - 18.50 to 20.20 hrs.   It was 4 degrees C outside.

Two tables were running before the meeting and continued afterwards:
(1)  Impetus Medieval - Lancastrians v Burgundians &
(2)  Black Powder (Sikh Wars).

Al & I managed a DBA game pitting New Kingdom Egyptians v Early Sassanid (it's the figures we had available).  I lost 3 elements in short order and looked doomed.  Whilst trying to hold on grimly and not loosing that one fatal element I scored 4 successes.  The dice gods are capricious handing me an unlikely victory.


Tuesday 26th April 2016

I finished another book - not wargaming related:

It's the fifth book written by a friend of mine.  The previous tomes have been light-hearted amusing stories about life in the Calder valley (Yorkshire).  This one covers her childhood in Devon during the 1950s and 60s.

I well remember the class-apartheid inflicted upon the poorer parts of Croydon (Greater London) during that time - especially in the field of education.  Jill was discriminated against in another manner - because of her gender - social attitudes, parental control  and legal constraints.

The book is well worth a read if you have any interest in social history - http://www.berringdenbrow.co.uk/


Wednesday  27th April 2016  (snowing)

After my stock-taking exercise with the Spanish I dug out the DBA-RRR Portuguese box.  According to the army slip I had gone for option (k) 1551-1700 with 13 elements consisting of:  2 x Kn(g) [1 Round & 1 Square]; 1 x Can; 6 x Sh; 2 x 3 Bd (Arabs) & 2 x Sk (Arabs).  This seems OK but it lacks the Lh (Ginetes) available in other sub-lists.

Four additional elements are marked as "Early" - 2 x Bw (Civilisados Xbow) & 2 x Bd (Civilisados Foot - sword & buckler men).

So how to squeeze in the Lh and re-align the army?  Choosing option (b):

 Morocco - 2 x Kn(g); 1 x 3Bd (civ); 1 x 3Bd (Arab); 1 x Bw [compulsory]
                 - 1 x 3Bd (civ); 1 x Bw; 1 x Can; 2 x Sk (Arab) [optional]
                 - 1 x Lh; 1 x 3Bd (civ); 1 x Bw [build]

This leaves 6 x Sh plus 1 x 3Bd (Arab) floating.

The 6 x Sh can be used as a basis for List 1.40: English or Dutch Colonial 1607-1700.

(b) or (c) - 2 x Sh(g); 4 x Sh  [compulsory]
               - 1 x Cv; 1 x Drg; 2 x Sh; 2 x Sk; 1 x Gun  [optional]

The 'leftover' Arab Bd will, therefore, stay in the box (until I build another 'Arab' army).  More to ponder I think!


Thursday 28th April 2016

I came across an interesting discussion on a forum about the Fog Army List:
http://www.slitherine.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=70&t=23294&hilit=portuguese&sid=a69ecbd248c18b46219eaa8ef4144d8a&start=200

Seems that my caution was warranted.  Watch this space!



.

Painting At Last!

My charming neighbour was contributing her musical selection to the world at large and through the adjoining wall.  I turrned on Classic FM and retaliated.  Still its an ill wind........  I actually got on with some painting (see Wednesday).


Monday 14th March 2016

DBM - Lysimachid v Later Pre-Islamic Arabs.  Al had a hard fight on the left flank but he held on tenaciously.  The central pikes actually got into contact and started loosing figures.  On the right flank I was being aggressive with my Ax(S) & Ps(O).  Nevertheless it was yet another 5:5 draw.

On the other tables - a Star Wars scenario & a (rare) DBA fight.


Wednesday 16th March 2016

Here are some pictures of my new (and 15th) DBA-RRR army:

5 x 4 Wb (Spearmen) plus 1 x Janissary Sh

4 x 3 Cv plus 2 x Lh

The boss man on his donkey / ass

Do you know what it is yet?   The Maghrebi (list 3.3) fought against the Portuguese, Spanish, English & Songhai.  I have modeled the "Algeria 1570 to 1700 ad" version. 


With only 4 Renaissance figures left  on my painting board (Transylvanians) I will have to think about what to paint up next.  There is no shortage of plastic and metal candidates ranging from WW1 to Ancients and Colonial to Fantasy.   I am also planning to go to Triples this Saturday.  Only time will tell dear viewer.

Online Activity

Yes an extra entry.......because I forgot to add my recent online (wargaming) activities:

Sunday 29th November - "Galleys, Guns and Glory" rules by Thomas Foss.  Published by Skull and Crown Stratagem Inc.

 http://www.skullncrown.com/store/

I had seen these rules mentioned on the Edinburgh wargames club site and have followed the journals ever since.

Renaissance Galley page:

http://www.edinburghwargames.com/Renaissance%20Galleys.htm

 'Journal' references at the bottom of the page.

All I need now are some of those splendid wooden ships.


Wednesday - 2nd December - D3H2 - a 'Hordes of the Things update by Thomas J Thomas (to be compatible with DBA v3.0).

Thomas kindly sent me two files - D3H2 plus  "Ice and Fire" a DBA-like set of rules set in the Game of Thrones world.

Here's a  D3H2 test game by timurilank (plus the thread on Fanaticus Forum):

http://fanaticus.org/discussion/showthread.php?t=17926


After printing out 26 pages of GGG and 23 of D3H2 my black ink ran out - such is life!.

Dunbar or Bust!

Saturday 17th October - FoG Renaissance - I turned up around midday to see Chris and Al still playing the battle of Dunbar.  I took over the English (hiss!  boo!) and developed the cavalry attack on the Scots.  I had to make whatever headway I could as soon as possible.  If I didn't the Scots foot (twice the number I had) would fall upon my pbi.  As it happened we drew stumps at 16:00 when I had just attacked a foot unit in the flank.  There had been much consulting of the rules and head scratching.  Looks like we all need to become a lot more familiar with this particular rule set!

Wednesday 21st October - finished another book:

This volume is all about the slowly developing American colonies - English, Dutch, French, Swedish & Danish.  The period is characterised by religious intolerance (yet again) and empire building.  For those who play "Muskets & Tomahawks" there is a mass of information about real and projected conflicts.  The natives fought for and against various colonial powers sometimes as allies and occassionally as the dominant partner.

It becomes clear that political in-fighting meant that 'paper' strengths did not translate into boots on the ground.  Even if these theoretical numbers were achieved some garrisons were still tiny (and the guns in poor condition).  No surprise then as to how many times forts, outposts and minor colonies changed hands or were destroyed.

This volume does suffer from some rather poor english but does not become unreadable.


I shall take a break from factual books and go back to Star Trek or Star Wars -  just to give my brain a rest.

Sunday 25th October I will be Fiasco (Leeds) as I have voluntered to help out at a demonstration game - more of that next week.

Dutch & Moldavians

 First off ...... it's actually Thursday here in the UK (00.10 hrs to be precise).

Monday - no car so no action....well not for me anyway.  A DBM game did take place between Wars of the Roses (Andy/Al) and Medieval Spanish (Chris). It could not be a 'championship' game as the WoR army list used was declared to be 'illegal'.  Looks like a re-match will be on for the next meeting!


Wednesday - Dutch & Moldavians

At last I have finished 6 bases....and in the process 2 x  DBA-RRR armies.

First: Dutch Rebellion - 1 x General (Pi) and 1 x Kn (Huguenots).  The Huguenots carry 3 different guidons.  The general's flag is the 9-stripe version (you can have 3,7,9 & 11 stripes if you like).  Waterloo 1815 Cromwell's Cavalry being used yet again.  I will replace the general himself when a better figure turns up.

Second:  Moldavian (or Wallachian) - 1 x General (Kn), 1 x Kn, 1 x Lh and 1 x Lh (Szekely). The Kn are Zvezda Russians (the Persians in this period were the great armour makers who exported all over Eastern Europe (and others copied thier style). More Orion cossacks being put to use as Lh (I already have one painted element).  The Szekely are Lucky Toys Huns but I think that they look the part!  Finally the general was lifted from a Hussite war wagon set.  The standard is the Wallachian "army and naval war ensign before 1830".  The cossacks are there until something more suitable is manufactured.

If I want to turn out a Transylvanian army I need to remove the 2 x Wb and substitute 1 x Sh plus 1 x Sk (peasants with arquebus).  I already have an extra painted Sh element so only the skirmishers (and maybe another general) need to be built.

This leaves me wondering where I am going next with my DBA-RRR armies?  Perhaps I will take a break as Tony Aguilar is in the process of updating the rules to reflect version 3.0 of DBA. He may well decide to tweak the army lists as well!

Postscript:  turns out my use of Huns wasn't too far fetched - "The Székely historically claim descent from Attila’s Huns..." [http://greentransylvania.com/about-transylvania/szekely-history/]  I also found a few pictures of a Great Kurultaj (cultural event come horse meet) - http://www.digplanet.com/wiki/Great_Kurult%C3%A1j
Truth is often stranger than fiction.......

Something to Show For It.....

 For the first time of regular posting I have some pictures (scroll down).

Saturday - club meeting with a World War 2 game going on.  Not my 'cup of tea' so I turned up around midday to do some stocktaking.  Ended up doing precious little of that but did carry out a thorough tidy-up. 

There was also a 'book-swap' going on in the church.   I managed to pick up a Christian Jacq title that I didn't have in my collection - "Ramses: The Lady of Abu Simbel".

Monday - no club meet.  I had planned to make my annual visit to the Wakefield Games club but my car had other ideas.  The steering wheel was shaking when I applied the brakes.  Booked in on Wednesday at the garage.

Wednesday - started reading this book:

I get the feeling that it's going to take a while - will review it properly in the fullness of time.

Thursday - photographed some figures that I finished the previous day

These are all for my DBA-RRR "Transylvanian, Moldavian & Wallachian" army - 2 x Kn, 3 x Shot, 1 x 5Wb & 1 x Lh.  This still leaves 3 elements to be finished - 2 x Lh & 1 x Kn.

On the left - two elements for my "Dutch Rebellion" army.  It now needs only the 1 x Kn (Huguenots) for completion.
On the right - one more shot block for my European colonials.  They will pass for Spanish, Portuguese, English or Dutch forces for my Irregular Wars scraps.

Just the way I paint with odd figures sitting around.  The result in this case is a Wars of the Roses organ gun - Art(I) in DBM terms.  I had to add a block of balsa wood underneath in order to give the model some rigidity. 

Another Week Gone By

 ...and this time it really is Thursday (afternoon).

Monday - Irregular Wars - the first time played against a live opponent.  Chris won convincingly with his Mesoamericans (versus my Conquistadores).

My crossbow & shot proved to be very weak in melee (1) and the artillery even worse (-1).  The knights, on the other hand, were unkillable.  'Natives' out of command range were skittish and prone to run away.  Suit-wearers & cuachic were made of a much harder material.

Setting up went more smoothly than expected although I pre-set the terrain but offered the choice of starting side to my opponent.  Cards were drawn (but were largely forgotten about).  Dicing for army composition gave the 'natives' plenty of troops and the Spanish precious few.

We soon fell into the rhythm of Initiative - Shooting - Movement - Melee.   I'm sure we missed a lot of things in our 2 hours of play but there you go!  Finding references in the rules section was far from easy (not happy with the layout/format).  Didn't find the QRs very helpful either.

Looks like I am going to have to revise the rules layout. So far I have split them into sections - set up, main, campaigns, chance cards and QRs. Now I need to simplify and clarify.

An unforseen difficulty was that my opponent could not remember which figures represented what (he also had trouble with the facing of same).  I will have to come up with some way of marking and/or numbering each base.  Initial thoughts are for a 'rock' at the back of each base with a number painted on.  Needs some thought.

All in all it was a useful exercise and thanks to Chris for indulging me.

Weakly Posting

One of my readers suggested that  I post every week. I decided upon Thursdays.  Well it's 0049 Friday but that's close enough:

Monday - DBM - Chris put up Fanatic Berber versus Andy's Western Sudanese.  A slow business with both sides playing cagey.  Chris was waiting for his Spanish flank march to arrive (he's still waiting).  The game ended in a draw with the Berbers being close to a broken command.

Tuesday - turned out my Renaissance boxes to see what forces I could field for" Irregular Wars - Conflict at the World's End".  Looks like I have enough for an 'Aztec' type army or a Mayan one.  The Europeans can be fielded as Conquistadores, Colonial Spanish or Colonial Portuguese.  A few more bases of general-purpose 'natives' would be useful so I based up & flocked some slingers & warriors.

Wednesday - woken up at an ungodly hour so decided to get my computers sorted out.   A whole day to install Win7.  Reminded me of  a poem called "Reinstalling Windows" by Les Barker.

Thursday - so I got on with my painting didn't I?   Had a surprise visit from a friend with accompanying mutt.  Spent the day walking around the local reservoir and socialising.    The best laid plans............

Mae Cymraeg yw dod

The Welsh Are Coming!

Some additions to my Medieval forces - Welsh archers & spearmen plus a couple of crosbowmen.  The Welsh archers on the left are painted in a livery suitable for 'continental adventures'.  Welsh spearmen and right side archers are for 'home' use.  The xbow are more general-purpose as they are not French (and therefore not usuable for the Wars of the Roses).

Renaissance progress

On the left - mercenary pikes

On the right -  Wallachian or Moldavian warband

Whilst sorting out a box of items I came across some 3/4 painted DBA-RRR figures.  Unfortunately the explanatory note was missing - so an hour was wasted working out what these figures were.  Seems that I had planned 'Dutch Rebellion' and 'Transylvanian, Moldavian & Wallachian' armies.  Missing units are - 1 x Cv (Dutch) plus 2 x Lh (TMW).  Luckily I can make them up from my supply box.

Hopefully, when time permits, I will finish the painting and start on the missing units.

7 Years War

No DBM this week as we were on our second 7YW period scrap using 'Age of Reason' rules.  This time it was American War of Independence.  The battle turned on a charge by American dragoons on a line of Legion skirmishers - said skirmishers fled along with their supporting dragoons.  From that point on the British side collapsed.  As a re-fight of Camden it was not historical.

The previous week my right-wing cavalry were destroyed by the enemy horse with the infantry on both sides doing little.

Chris & Al seem to like these rules and for infantry they are fine giving a reasonable result.  For cavalry it's another story - very lengthy procedures plus a dominence of the battlefield.  I don't know enough about the general period to say if this is historical or not but certainly in the American theatre cavalry were not usually very effective.

On the other table was an interesting board/miniature game - Spartacus.  Four players took the part of Lanistra (gladiator school proprieters).  Everybody seemed to enjoy it, even the spectators.

Go West.....

(now who didn't think of the Village People?)



Just been west in fact - well as far as Halifax anyway.  My haul from the model shop consisted of:

Caesar - Fantasy 102 - Elves 
HaT - 8289 - Bengal Lancers
RedBox - 72067 - 17C Turkish Artillery
Imex - 535 - American Infantry
Strelets - 111 - Turkish Artillery

You can find pictures of all of these on PSR.


(1) Elves - look in the 'Features' section of PSR for Fantasy figures.  Having come across this page:

 http://combatzonechronicles.net/cozoxc/1889.htm

I was determined to find a few boxes of these warriors. 

(2)  Bengal Lancers - my first box has ended up being painted for the Tai Pin rebellion - these will be fighting the, later, Boxers.

(3)  17C Turkish Artillery - an alternative element for my Ottoman DBA-RRR army.  The other gun will probably end up in the hands of the Transylvanians.

(4)  American infantry for the Mexican-American war.  The floppy hats are peculiar to this period so I bought a box.  I passed on the Mexican infantry as I can easily convert some of my hillock of Napoleonics.  Incidentally the Mexican cavalry make good AWI horse.

(5)  Turkish artillery for the Russian Turkish War of 1877.  Re-painting these will add to my colonial Egyptian army.  Unfortunately there were no Turkish cavalry available - which is what I really wanted.

Altogether not a bad haul - when I will get around to painting them is another matter though!





      

Experimenting with New Rules

My new year's resolution was to get more painting done.  Unfortunately the weather has not been co-operative.  My painting room is much too cold and it's impractical to relocate. 

So what have I been doing?  Well I have now read through 'Irregular Wars' for the second time and made copious notes.  I even prepared for a trial game by cutting out 30mm x 30mm squares and marking them appropriately. 

I decided to strip down the game to it's bare mechanics - so discarded random army and terrain selection - along with the chance cards. 

On the kitchen table I made a few, preliminary, moves until some of my fingers turned white.  Back in my living room (the only warm one) I cut out some 40mm x 40mm squares.  All I need now is relief from sub-zero temperatures!

Progress on the wargaming front is obviously going to be very slow for a while.

Returning from Recon

"4 plastic Blue Dice,

3 pots of paint,

2 boxes of soldiers .....and...

a book on Border Reivers."

My booty from Recon 2014:

Now that I have given up on Armati I'm looking to re-base my New Kingdom Egyptians, Trojans & Sea Peoples/Philistines for Impetus.  Depending upon what is needed whether I draft these figures into an existing army or use them as the basis for a new one - time will tell.

At last I managed to find this book on the Bring & Buy (at £4).  Only read a few pages so far but it looks interesting.  A DBA-RRR force created from Curours (plus head-swaps) seems possible. 

The 2nd Edition of these rules (pdf) came into my possession earlier in the week.  A huge improvement over the previous version - but a lot more pages to read.  I'm almost tempted to buy the book when it comes out!

Purchased on the weekend before Recon, at the Halifax shop.  These useful figures will go into my 'stock pile' until they are needed.


Finally Monday saw a DBM battle between Polybian Romans versus Axumite Abbyssinians in Arabia.  Again we managed to face off our camels & light horse against his Light horse (Numidians this time).  The enemy threw a "1"  to make their ally unreliable.  Sensing victory our hordes advanced.  Light Horse Harry (Chris) quickly threw a "6" to get his command moving and avoided contact for most of the game.  After 3 hours we declared a draw with fewer than 10 casualties per side.

Polish Presence

Finished the last bases for Polish-Lithuanian 'Commonwealth'. 

Commander & 2 x Lh

Armoured cossacks & 'winged' hussars

As an experiment I used a mid-green background.  As you can see the lights appear to have turned it turquoise!  The 'light-bounce' is also strong.  Guess I will go back to the white sheet (even if it does go a bit pinkish).

Anyway that's the Polish-Lithuanian army completed - by substituting another Lh for the WWg.  I will get around to building that wagon then the Lh can go to the Transylvanian army.