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Tuesday 19 February 2013

Dux Bellorum Romano-British for Salute

Ok, so at long last, I can post something related to 'the other Dux B', or Osprey's 'Dux Bellorum'. Yes, I have agreed to join the supremos of Arthurian Wargaming (James Morris & Steve Jones, of course), plus a number of the other 'usual suspects, in demoing Dan Mersey's Dux Bellorum at Salute this year.

And, after a bit of to-ing and fro-ing about the hows, whys and wherefores, here are the new bases for the job!! For those of you who don't know, Dux Bellorum is an element-based game that relies heavily on the base size as a key measure for deployment and movement. We have agreed that we will use 120mm wide bases as they 'look about right' for 28mm (according to sir Steve of Jones on his blog and I have to agree that he is bang on the money there!)  However, as 120mm is a pain in the arse for movement purposes, we are using the good old traditional 4" as our equivalent of 'base-width' when moving troops.

You may recall me buying a load of sabot bases from Warbases ages ago for this purpose and that is largely what I have here. The only difference is that I decided once I'd got them that 4 models on a 120mm wide base looked absolutely crap for noble and companion cavalry. Accordingly, I fashioned '5 men per base' sabots for said cavalry using GW movement trays with balsa inserts, gaps filled with Green Stuff. These look great and are only a tiny bit over 120mm...not enough to worry about!

Here are the empty sabot bases I'll be using...

Home-made Companion/Noble Rider cavalry element base

WarbasesShieldwall infantry base - Close order foot

Warbases Bow base- I opted for a looser formation for this base to simulate medium infantry in slightly more open order

Originally planned as a Rider base, I opted to use this Warbases cavalry base for the skirmishing cavalry

Light troops - Romano-British Bow and Skirmishing Cavalry

Shieldwall Infantry

The 'main event' - Arthur's Companions (front) and Noble Riders behind

With regard to the army, I have been asked to supply 'Arthur's army' for a straightforward 32pts per side (standard army size) 'Arfur vs the Saxons' game while the others do some kind of mega game. This suits me down to the ground, so I have designed the following army. Clearly it is not one iota historical, but it is, nonetheless, what most people will expect to see from any game involving Arthur!!!

We have:
1 x unit of mounted Companions (kick-ass heavily armoured cavalry) led by the Man Himself (5pts)
2 x units of Noble Riders (armoured noble cavalry) @ 5pts each (10pts)
3 x units of ordinary Shieldwall infantry @ 3pts each (9pts)
1 x unit of Romano-British Bow (3pts)
1 x unit of Skirmishing Light cavalry with javelins (2pts)

This comes to 29pts, allowing me to add the strategem 'Imposing Horsemen' to make my Companions and Noble Riders even harder in combat for the additional 3pts.

When choosing models for the units, I opted to include my classic Romano-British 'Mounted Arthur' model to denote the unit of Companions (even though it's not 'necessary' - it just can't be Arthur's army without him!) and the Noble units are denoted by banners. This makes it easier to remember in the heat of battle which units are which should I ever opt to mix noble and non-noble units of the same type within an army.



So, there you have it...the 'Dux Bellorum' Army of Arthur as you might see it in Rosemary Sutcliff's books: Shedloads of rock-hard cavalry backed up by spearmen and a few light troops...Classic Arthur!!

All I have to do is learn to play the game and learn how to use the army now... all in about 2 months...less, actually as my first game is on 4th March!!! Yikes!!! I hope Dan is on hand on the day for the first run-through!!!!!

7 comments:

el frances said...

Very nice painting and photos !

Dalauppror said...

Looking very good !

Very nice movement trays and stunning minis !!!

Best regards Michael

Matt said...

Andy,

Delighted to hear that you'll be at Salute this year! I may finally get to say 'Hello' in person :o)

My wife, Jenny, and I are planning to attend either helping Rob B with a demo, or just as regular show-goers.

I'm quite keen to find out a bit more about Dan's Dux B as it may be a good way for me to get in to Arthurian gaming 'properly' without having to paint too many Romano-Brit figures.

Cheerio

Matt

DeanM said...

I like the look and dimensions of those bases/stands. Fitting tribute to the fine minis you've painted. Best, Dean

Anibal Invictus said...

Wonderful unit!!

Phil said...

Great looking minis, a fabulous work!
Phil.

Sidney Roundwood said...

That's a fine looking army, Andy. Right out of "The Lantern Bearers"! Good to hear you'll be at Salute - it'll be very good to drop by and say hello!