On the painting bench....WSS.

 I recently went back to adding to my favourite collection- my Age of Louis XIV or Marlburian. I hadn't painted any figures for quite a while- so many others to do!!  A few years in fact so in November I ordered some figures from Front Rank. I decided on Imperial Troops ( Hapsburg Austrians) as I only have two battalions and decided to add two more.

I painted the Daun Regiment and then the Osnabruck Regiment.

I find myself just adding units- even if they didn't serve in any of the theatres that I am gaming.

Assyrians and Elamites...at it again!!

 After the last game, Ross went back to his army lists ...and decided to make some changes to his Assyrian army. He did away with the large number of the 'Line Infantry' and bumped up the number of archers. He took the maximum number of 'Archers of the Guard" and made sure that he had as much firepower as possible. Then he picked up the phone and hurled abuse down the line. Realising that  he had mistakenly called the local Chinese restaurant, he apologised and then called me. I then received the full brunt of his poor attitude and the challenge for a rematch.

Assyrians and Elamites!

 So my Elamites were finally ready- done in one year! Ross dusted off the Assyrians and an historical match was fought. I found using the Elamites an interesting experience as they really had no hard hitting combat troops, just lots of firepower. The Assyrians on the other hand did have some good solid combat troops, but not quite the firepower of the Elamites.

My Kallipani chariots- which are really just troop transports with firepower.
Lots of firepower but not great if charged.

The wagons must get through!

At the Club Meet, ( Company of Dice) this month, Spyros and I put on a Pony Wars game with 'Spuds' joining us. Using The Men Who Would be Kings rules, we played an umpire run scenario where each player ( Spyros had A and B Troop and Spuds had E and F Troop) had two troops of US Cavalry commanded by a Lieutenant and they had to escort a couple of wagons off the table- lengthways- through Indian territory. 

The players first priority was to get the wagons off the table. Each one had a value of five points- which could be reduced by enemy action ( this would prove crucial in the final result). Each surviving trooper was worth one point. The 'Hostiles' were randomly generated and controlled by the umpire. Their main course of action was to skirmish, although if they outnumbered the Troopers by two or more to one- they could charge in to count coup and take scalps!!

Spyros' two troops and their wagons on the left. One of Spuds' Troops on the right.

The peaceful Indian village - about to be disturbed by four troops of US Cavalry and some bloody great wagons.

The trouble with the Swedes...........

 A look over a couple of the historical games that we've played in the GNW, (Holocwzyn, Lesnaya) showed that the Swedes lost those games both game-wise and historically.  Yet in the rules we use, the Swedes have significant advantages for moving quickly, charging fiercely and other advantages over troops who do not have the same tactical doctrine- especially in the initial contact. The poorer firing capability means that they avoid firefights and get 'stuck in'. 

There were good reasons for those defeats. Usually factors such as delayed deployment or poor deployment.

In our games the Swedes tended to suffer too many casualties and by the time they got into hand to hand contact- which they invariably won- they couldn't exploit the success. Or the dice didn't allow them to get stuck in early enough.

After giving the Swedes all the advantages and extra dice and better modifiers ......it doesn't mean that they will always win. Which is just as well- no one would want to play against them!

BUT in a small scenario, with the Swedes deployed and ready......it's a very different story!!!

The Swedish right flank. Four Squadrons of Cavalry..and one Regt. of Foot.

The Table.

The Scenario was for the Swedes to drive the Russians and Saxons from their defensive position. The key objective was the big hill to the right of the road at the center rear of the allied position. The Saxons held the middle. All drilled; good solid troops who can deliver deadly, steady volleys. All musket armed. The Russian brigade was split. Two were drilled and two were raw and all armed with musket and pike. One drilled and one raw were holding the far right flank, a section of the table that the Swedes ignored.The other two were smack bang in the middle of the table. The six drilled squadrons of Russian Dragoons were on the Allied left. Two guns out in front.

Predator!!

 One of my all time favourite movies- with Arnie. Predator is a classic....and is just crying out to be gamed. I saw online that someone had come up with the stats for Blood and Plunder for the movie 'Prey' which is American Indians against an earlier form of Predator...and while I was watching the movie Predator with my wife ...I looked online and found these beauties on Etsy!!

Poles and Muscovites- small scenario

Polish Pancerni

 I opened up a scenario booklet and was looking at one of the scenarios- a holding action. A small force stopping a larger force from pushing thru their line of defence. I looked up the required forces and put the Muscovites on the table as the defenders and the Poles as the attackers.

The Muscovite position. On the southern side of the road- a unit of Nobles ( Dvor) a units of Boyar cavalry a streltsi shot unit, big gun and just off screen at the bottom, some cossack light cavalry.
To the north another Boyar cavalry unit, two units of Streltsi, one with shot only, the other as 'German' infantry- pike and shot. Their mission was to stop the Poles pushing along the road.

My new Vikings take the field...and lose...but my old Romans win.

 A couple of games from the last couple of months......

Ross was aware that I had finished my Vikings. As he has Byzantines, Normans and Muslim forces that are all from the same period- I took my army off to his place and found an army waiting for them!

What did I find? A Hamdanid Arab force - awaiting my plundering and rampaging Vikings.

Both from the same time period - mid 10th Century....but very different in composition!

My Vikings. Anchoring my left flank on some low hills.

Terrain

 I had an itch to make some terrain...but couldn't decide time frame or period...and then made the mistake of watching the old "The Mummy" movie  with Brendan Fraser...and couldn't resist......hmmm...Hamunaptra !!

Egyptian terrain it was!

Do I have any ancient Egyptians? No.

Crusaders and Fatimid Egyptians? No

Napoleonic French and Mamluks? No

So???

Well I do have a set of rules and some figures for an Osprey set call Gods and Mortals.....so Egyptian myths I guess. Close enough!
I didn't really have to 'make' anything. all of this was either 3D printing or aquarium supplies or columns for wedding cakes from Spotlight! Some glue, some paint, some sand and some MDF bases with a few other bits and pieces.

All the Egyptian style pieces sitting completed on my work mat.

Muscovites and Poles vs the Ottomans

 Well, there's lots of them- and I threw them all onto the table earlier this year.

A combined Polish and Muscovite force took on my full Ottoman army...and it was a blood bath.

Paul commanded the Muscovites, Ross the Poles and I of course commanded the mighty forces of the Sultan!!

Elamites, Vikings and Austrians.......what?

 The Elamites have been arriving, and having had some time on my hands recently, I finished my Vikings. I am powering through the aforementioned Elamites and and about 60% of the way through the infantry for my WAS/SYW Austrians.

I feel I have achieved something!   I even had time to work on some 18mm Crimean War figures.

Viking Berserkers

Viking Command Stands

Another project? Seriously??

 Yes, I know I'm painting SYW Austrians..and yes..I am still working on my Muscovites....and adding a few bits and pieces to my Poles...oh and yes there are still some 18mm Crimean War figures on the painting blocks......and I do have a few more Vikings to go.......but the conversations went something like this......

FIRST CONVERSATION
Me: "Hey Ross what army are you going to use?"
Ross: "Assyrians."
Me: "Do you have any opponents for them?"
Ross: "No"
Me: "So your army is Assyrian- 8th and 7th Centuries BC  ...right?"
Ross: "Yep"
Me: "Any particular ruler?"
Ross: "Yep."
Me : "You're a man of many words. Which one?"
Ross: "Ashurbanipal"
Me: "Ruled from 669BC until 631BC? Considered the last Great Assyrian King?"
Ross: "Yep"

Hmmmmm.... I did a bit of reading.

SECOND CONVERSATION
My kids:"Hey dad, What do you want for your birthday?"
Me : "Elamites"
My kids: "What?"
Me, rolling my eyes : "Elamites. Actually Neo-Elamites. In 28mm. A people who fought the Assyrians. Eureka Miniatures make some."
My kids..rolling their eyes. "Okay".
(NOTE- They KNEW who Eureka Miniatures were!!)

THIRD  and FOURTH CONVERSATION
My kids: "Hey dad, What do you want for father's day?"
Me : " Elamites"
My kids..rolling their eyes again: "Okay".

My wife: "John, what would you like for Father's day?"
Me: " Elamites"
My wife- looking across at the kids who just nodded. "Er...ok...."

FINAL CONVERSATION.
Me: " I'm gonna do a Neo-Elamite army from the 7th Century BC."
Ross: "Why?"
Me: "They were opponents of your Assyrians. Ashurbanipal destroyed the Elamite kingdom in 653BC or so. There is a relief in the British Museum that depicts the crushing of the Elamite army. It's called the Battle of Ulai Relief. "
Ross: "Good choice." ( very talkative- TWO words!!)

A game of 40k

I hope readers of this blog won't object to a 'sci-fi' post!

My son and his friends are very big GW 40K fans and they get together to play games as often as life permits! All in their 20s, it is kinda nice to hear all the yelling and screaming coming from my garage as they dish out pain with 'fleshborers', 'plasma guns' , 'powerfists' or any other such weaponry.

He recently had 5 of them over playing a mini-tournament in the garage over a full Saturday. It may not be my historical stuff, but it's gaming nevertheless and my terrain is getting used. I put a couple of pictures at the bottom. 

Before the day that he held the friendly tournament, my son ran me through the new 40K (10th Edition!!??) rules. I hadn't played in years and my old Tyranids were brought out to swarm, natter, twitch, screech and devour.

The mission was to recover the remains of some imperial communications beacons. ( Objectives)

In my case, as the Tyranids, we have no use for them- but we had to get them to stop him using them for calling reinforcements. He needed to plug into them to call in more of his Chaos Legion...whatever that is!

Our game. I was Tyranids and he was some sort of smelly putrid miasma producing, disease carrying mutated space marines......I think I heard the word 'Nurgle'.....but he could have just been clearing his throat.

My deployment and plan. The beacons and comms equipment was spaced across the middle of the table.

War of the Austrian Succession and The Seven Years War

 Hmm.....another post..... another project. Early this year Ross and I were pondering the possibilities of New Year resolutions- what to paint.  In the end, after long deliberations we settled on the Seven Years War. We had played games in the past using Honours of War and liked the very fast nature of them. So we sent a bulk order away to Crusader miniatures- Austrians for me and French for him. Now why no Prussians ? I hear you ask....well we just preferred these two armies- and they were opponents in the War of the Polish Succession and the War of the Austrian Succession. In the Austrian Succession the uniforms are similar to the SYW.  Below are our painting efforts so far and we will have to order the cuirassiers, dragoons, officers, artillery etc etc...but for now it's fun painting these guys.

Hungarian Infantry from the army of Maria Therese in front. German infantry behind.

GREEKS VS GALATIANS....

 

A game that pitted my Hellenistic Greek army against the Ross' rampaging Galatians. Paul was siding with Ross and the ever insightful Chris gave me the benefit of his sage advice and quick wit.

VIKINGS!!

 Well, it had to happen. 

I have Normans.
Ross has Normans.
I have Anglo-Danes.

And someone keeps whispering "1066" in my ear. I swatted him away, but he tried the other ear. 
Knock it off Paul!!

Oh well, it was inevitable:
So I ordered some...and then some more..and some more....it's easy to do ...it's just a few clicks on my computer...and some numbers change in my bank account.

So simple!!

7th Cavalry on the Plains! The Sioux aren't impressed.

 Four troops of the 7th Cavalry were sent out after intelligence was received that a group of hostiles had set up a village a half day's ride from their fort.

Orders were to demolish the tipis and drive the hostiles away.

The Black Foot and Lakota tribesmen were not going to go easily. The white men were harassing them again. 

Using The Men Who Would be Kings with some amendments for Plains Wars Spyros and I played a great little game that looked like it could have gone either way until the men of  B Troop got through the defending Braves, setting fire to the tipis and the Indians decided to retreat.

Running Moose, chasing the Buffalo.

The Village at Peace.

Normans and Anglo-Saxons

 

Looking back to a couple of posts a looonnngg time ago I noticed that Ross' Normans had beaten my Anglo-Saxons a couple of times and I had only had a single victory against his mounted thugs.

It was time for a rematch!

My side of the table- Sitting behind a low series of hills. His crossbowmen unable to get too many hits.

It happens a lot......Muscovites!!

 I was sitting here one day admiring my Ottomans. I do that a lot.

Then, as is my wont- I started admiring my Renaissance Poles. I do that a lot too.

Then...I figured,  well..who else can I collect that I could admire....hmmm well....someone to fight the Poles...and to fight the Ottomans........well why not?

So I started 'window shopping' via the 'net. I do that a lot too.

I was looking at The Assault Group website. I do that a lot.

And ..well, like magic...all these figures appeared. That too happens a lot at my place... ....they just magically arrive on my doorstep.

The command stand- painted.

Republican Romans, Samnites, Gauls and Etruscans!

 A game that was fought years ago and I came across the pictures- thought I'd post them.

Two bloody huge armies- fighting across a river. An Etruscan/Gallic alliance fighting against a combined force of Samnites and Republican Romans.

We threw a lot of figures on the table- and rolled a lot of dice!

In the end the Gallic/Etruscans won by the narrowest of margins- mainly because there were so many Gauls!

Gauls!

RAPID FIRE- 20mm

 Late last year, Richard put on a game with his outstanding 20mm WW2 collection of Rapid Fire - it was a scenario that called for a German Counter-attack during the early stages of the Normandy campaign by a Kampfgruppe of the 21st Panzer Division. 

The scenario called for the Germans troops to get a vehicle and a set number of figures off the southern end of the table.

Ross and I ( as the Germans) decided to hit the forward British defences and once it was cleared make a break for the table's edge- Unfortunately it didn't go as planned ( what plan survives contact with the enemy?). We failed to clear the first village- and even if we had, allied reinforcements had arrived at the second defensive position in the shape of Sherman tanks- so we wouldn't have got past them anyway! The Allies (Richard) won the game!

Battle of Wallhof Jan 17th 1626- Baroque

A couple of us assembled around Ross' gaming table on Friday night a couple of months ago and Ralph put on the Battle of Wallhof fought between the Poles and Swedes using his 15mm collection.

 

I love this period ( like all the others I play -I guess!) The Swedes have excellent infantry and more of it- but the Poles have more cavalry- and three units of the dreaded winged Hussars- classed as 'Feared Units' in the Baroque rules.

As we played through the game- a thought hit me- I also have these figures in 28mm...and have a home grown set of rules.....so a replay in a larger scale was on the cards too.

One of the Swedish foot units and a gun.

The Table at the start of the battle.

Battle of Lesnaya, September/October 1708

 

Another Great Northern War scenario and game.  My favourite period and my favourite style of game- an historical clash.

The Battle of Lesnaya was a decisive clash of the GNW. It took place on September 28th 1708 between a Russian army commanded by Tsar Peter I of Russia. (October 9 for the Swedish Calendar) His number two was Prince Aleksandr Menshikov who ably assisted the Russian ruler. The Russians numbered approximately 14,000 men. The Swedes, numbering 12,000 were commanded by General Adam Ludwig Lewenhaupt. Lewenhaupt was one of Sweden's foremost generals and commanded a well trained and motivated force. Some of his regiments were veterans of many years' campaigning. 

For Peter the Great it was his first great victory over the Swedes.

The Russian guns from the southern column deployed.

Swedes waiting by the town

Overview of the table. The Swedes were tasked with holding the village and the crossing in it- and the crossing at the very bottom right of the picture. They had no troops at all at that point- and as is marked a Russian column was headed straight down the road.

Ottomans and Teutonic Knights!

 

Sticking with my late medieval/ early Renaissance themed battles-  another game one afternoon when both Ross and I were on holidays- and it was a bloodbath!! 

His late Teutonic Knights came out of hiding to take on the Glorious Might of the Sultan and his Janissaries! 

The Ottoman army had Janissaries, finesse, style, colour, dash, archery, Janissaries and a nice big bombard.  Oh...and did I forget to mention I had Janissaries?

The Teutonic Knights lacked all that. They just charged. That's all..hell for leather, heads down, get the flock out of the way because here we come, charge.  

My Ottomans- heavily weighted on the right with Cavalry.

The Teutons....as you can see, off into the distance, a long line of people who think that diplomacy, negotiation, tact and any other sort of interaction starts and ends with a charge.

Renaissance Clash: Spanish vs Maximilian's Imperials!

 Ross and I played a game from the late Middle Ages/ Early Renaissance a little while ago.  I took all these photos at the start....then forgot to take more as the game progressed. It was Spanish vs Maximilian Imperialist. One of those games where I totally forgot to take the pics because it was such a close fought engrossing engagement.....so for posterity...I'll put them on the blog and in years to come kick myself for forgetting to take more pics!

The Spanish- left flank anchored on wood- lots of pike, some supporting shooters and a bit of cavalry.

Maximilian's boys- not quite as much pike- less shooters...but a bit more heavy metal- The Knights!

Thracians vs Samnites

 An interesting game between two armies that never actually met on the field of battle- but were both from the same time frame. Ross' Thracians came out to take on my Samnites. Both armies are made up of predominantly Light Infantry or Light Heavy Infantry.  Ross' Thracians have a lot more cavalry- I had two units for the Samnites- he had four for the Thracians. His Thracian Cavalry also have the ability to mix in Light Infantry , which slows the cavalry but gives a crucial +2 dice in melee.

My best troops- Linen Legion

Battle lines moving up.