Thracians vs Hellenistic Greeks- A fight and rematch.

Ross was impressed with his new Thracian army. So months ago he invited me over to admire the paint job- and get my butt kicked by his new army.
Thracians? Ptooi. ( That's a spitting sound to the uninitiated.)
Now I do know my ancient literature. Herodotus had claimed that the Thracians were amongst the fiercest warriors in the world and could have conquered everyone- but they were too busy fighting each other.
Okay- so what? - this was 2019. And besides Ross is a sh*tty general. My Greeks were going to teach these northern barbarians a lesson.

The report below was found by archaeologists digging in central Greece, just last week in fact. It was the despatch of an Achaean League general, Crapistos, a well known general, who went missing shortly after this engagement.  Strangely enough, it seems to follow the course of the battle that I fought with Ross.

Trouble on the Frontier again

Nick, Evan and James were fascinated by the Indigenous Warriors I had sitting on my shelf.
They demanded a game! So, being a congenial and willing host- the table was set up, the scenario was explained- and we had a good little game!

The warriors arrive- it's been a log summer, food is scarce- but the whitemen seem to have some to spare.

Romans and Seleucids

A post I started writing a year ago but never finished until now!
The Romans came out of hiding- (as readers of the blog would know, my record with my Republican Romans has been pretty appalling) to fight my Macedonians, parading as a Early Seleucid army.
Romans: Lochlainn and myself.
Seleucids: Richard, Phil and Paul. ( Ross was advisor in chief)
Two well matched armies with elephants, good infantry but the Romans were completely outnumbered in cavalry.

The Romans in line: Looking good lads!

Sydney- The Frontier Wars.

Inspired by 'A Grab Bag of Games' Blog  and 'Mac's Little Friends'  (see down the right hand side) I couldn't resist a game that represented historically what happened in my own back yard- So I bought some figures, made the terrain- bought some trees and hey presto- a nice little game!!

My solo effort was meant to give the rules a dry run- a group of warriors ( Just over 30) were hunting- and found a shearing shed and group on their traditional lands- a dozen or so Redcoats were in the area- they had to be - it wouldn't be much of a game if they weren't!

AWI- SPRINGFIELD 23rd June 1780

While the main focus of the war shifted south, the commander of the British Army in New York was under pressure to do something rather than watch the Continentals across the river in the Jerseys.

Our game represents the result of that pressure when Knyphausen crossed the Rahway River near the town of Springfield in June of 1780.

The British side of the table- the Rahway river - the crossings held by two continental units- the river was fordable along it's length but slow going and disordering for the formed troops. The buildings in the middle represent the small town of Springfield.

Battle of Binh Ba- Vietnam - Modern Bolt Action.

.

The table from the Australian end- the APCs and Centurions advance.

This battle was one of the major actions undertaken by the Australian Task force during the Vietnam War. On the 6th June 1969, D Company 5 RAR commanded by Major Murray Blake, was called out with a troop of Centurions and APCs as part of 1ATF Ready Reaction Force in response to enemy activity in the village of Binh Ba to the north of the Australian base at Nui Dat. Binh Ba had been occupied by Vietnamese forces ( 33NVA Regiment and D440 Battalion) and had to be removed.
For more pictures see 'No Duff Gamer' Blog down the right hand side.

The Town

ECW- Montrose, the Irish and the Covenanters.

I was taking stock of my Highlanders the other day- thinking about the fact that this year was the 300th Anniversary of the battle of Glenshiel- the Rebellion of the '19 and preparing to do the battle again!!
(Click on "Jacobite Rebellion of the '19" down the right side! )

Now all these Highlanders could also be put to use from just about any period from the 1600's to 1746, so I started ticking off in my mind what I could use them for- and had an idea after reading Trevor Royle's book: Civil War, The Wars of the Three Kingdoms  and decided on one word- Montrose!!