...Painting French Indian War/AWI models, specifically base coating the Uncas, Hawkeye and Chingachgook models by Conquest/Warlord, which now await the dip and I have also begun a bunch of Perry AWI US riflemen, all super models!
These will shortly go to the dip with 8 Foundry NW Frontier Sikhs, 12 Foundry NW Frontier Gurkhas and 4 LOTR Elves who have been base coated for a while now.
I hope to actually have pics to post of some new fully painted models in a week or two, all being well - probably the Conquest characters, as they have really taken my interest.
Next on the base coating table will be 20 Old Glory Pathans for the NW Frontier and a bunch of Perry and Conquest Woodland Indians.
Next update will be some pics of recent Dux Brit and WAB campaign games...
Sunday, 15 June 2014
Sunday, 1 June 2014
Dux Britanniarum - The Wagon Train
The other week, I played a superb game of Dux Britanniarum against one of the many other 'Andys' at the war-games club. Andy and I are not yet playing a campaign, but we do occasionally play a scenario and that was the case this evening. We decided to play the wagon train scenario, simply because Andy had never played it and I had only played it once, being thoroughly mauled by Mike W in the process. This game was rather different!
In the first place, I began the game with 3 turns of movement for the wagons and for my escort and an extra point of force morale! This should have been fine, but a series of bungled dice rolls meant that the wagons crawled along the road and the escorting troops ended up bunched on one side of the train. Inevitably, the Saxons appeared in the very worst place, with every possibility of attacking the train in the rear and slaughtering my escort.
The pic above shows why I was a little concerned as we turned the cards for the first turn!! Anyway, I was luckily able to swing my forces to meet the Saxon threat, although I was not able to form into a shieldwall. So, Andy launched his first attack, aiming to hit my troops hard early on...unluckily for him, the dice let him down and he came up short.
At this point, I launched an attack of my own so the group of Saxons that was meant to be the attackers became the attacked. By virtue of a helpful 'Strong Arm' card for the warriors in the formation, the Saxons were forced back and fled off the table. Strike one to the British as the wagon train crawled onwards towards the fort, whose escort were by now on the way...
However, the Saxon elites now crashed into the victorious Britons, smashing them apart and driving them back in disarray. Only the fact that the British commanipulares and accompanying warriors were forming up safely and the fact that the wagon train was now actually beginning to motor along the road gave any cause for celebration in the British camp at the end of turn two...
At this point, the battle hung in the balance. The fort's garrison of levy was hurrying to the escort's aid, the wagons were moving like the proverbial greased lightning, but the Saxons severely outnumbered the escort and were in position to flank them, destroy them and then take the wagons at their leisure. However, getting the drop on the warriors opposing them, the British lord's formation launched a blistering assault that smashed the enemy apart, aided, if memory serves me, by a very effective 'Strong Arm' card. However, this left them very vulnerable to being flanked. It was vital that they activated before the Saxon lord in the next turn...
Fortunately, they did! This enabled the British lord to move out of the Saxons' line of sight and thus prevent the flank charge. Accordingly, Andy sent his elites on a long advance after the wagons, which continued to fairly gallop along the dirt track to the dubious safety of the fort. This advance also brought them up to within striking distance of the sally party of levy that had advanced from the fort to meet the train.
Andy was really going for it at this point. He had lost 60% of his force, the morale was getting low and the wagons were getting away, so he shot after them as fast as possible. However, the levy provided an important distraction. I had advanced them over there with the sole purpose of forcing Andy to fight them, as this would slow him down, hopefully just enough for me to get there with my elites and then it would be game over. Would the levy do their job? With 33% of my own force out of action, this was the key moment. The levy formed shield wall and waited, while the wagons hurtled onwards...
This combat was a monster! It lasted over two activations (The Saxon Lord and the British noble with the levy) and thanks to two 'shield wall braced' cards meant that the Saxons were only hitting at full throttle on two out of four rounds of combat. The end result was inevitable and the levy were sent flying back in disarray due to excess shock, but they did hold just long enough for the British lord to mount his assault on the rear of the Saxon elites. As this attack went in with a carpe diem hand (including 'Aggressive Charge') there was only one way that this would end...
The Saxon force morale dropped below zero as their last group lost its amphora and, to add insult to injury, the wagon train reached the fort, with the first of the three wagons getting through the gate at the end of the game! A resounding British win, albeit at the loss of 66% of the force.
If this had been a campaign game, we would have probably played it a bit differently, as Andy wouldn't have wanted to risk losing so many troops, but as a stand-alone bloodbath, it worked a treat. From my initial worry caused by the difficult deployment I ended up with a great victory in a closely contested and great fun encounter!
In the first place, I began the game with 3 turns of movement for the wagons and for my escort and an extra point of force morale! This should have been fine, but a series of bungled dice rolls meant that the wagons crawled along the road and the escorting troops ended up bunched on one side of the train. Inevitably, the Saxons appeared in the very worst place, with every possibility of attacking the train in the rear and slaughtering my escort.
The pic above shows why I was a little concerned as we turned the cards for the first turn!! Anyway, I was luckily able to swing my forces to meet the Saxon threat, although I was not able to form into a shieldwall. So, Andy launched his first attack, aiming to hit my troops hard early on...unluckily for him, the dice let him down and he came up short.
At this point, I launched an attack of my own so the group of Saxons that was meant to be the attackers became the attacked. By virtue of a helpful 'Strong Arm' card for the warriors in the formation, the Saxons were forced back and fled off the table. Strike one to the British as the wagon train crawled onwards towards the fort, whose escort were by now on the way...
However, the Saxon elites now crashed into the victorious Britons, smashing them apart and driving them back in disarray. Only the fact that the British commanipulares and accompanying warriors were forming up safely and the fact that the wagon train was now actually beginning to motor along the road gave any cause for celebration in the British camp at the end of turn two...
At this point, the battle hung in the balance. The fort's garrison of levy was hurrying to the escort's aid, the wagons were moving like the proverbial greased lightning, but the Saxons severely outnumbered the escort and were in position to flank them, destroy them and then take the wagons at their leisure. However, getting the drop on the warriors opposing them, the British lord's formation launched a blistering assault that smashed the enemy apart, aided, if memory serves me, by a very effective 'Strong Arm' card. However, this left them very vulnerable to being flanked. It was vital that they activated before the Saxon lord in the next turn...
Fortunately, they did! This enabled the British lord to move out of the Saxons' line of sight and thus prevent the flank charge. Accordingly, Andy sent his elites on a long advance after the wagons, which continued to fairly gallop along the dirt track to the dubious safety of the fort. This advance also brought them up to within striking distance of the sally party of levy that had advanced from the fort to meet the train.
Andy was really going for it at this point. He had lost 60% of his force, the morale was getting low and the wagons were getting away, so he shot after them as fast as possible. However, the levy provided an important distraction. I had advanced them over there with the sole purpose of forcing Andy to fight them, as this would slow him down, hopefully just enough for me to get there with my elites and then it would be game over. Would the levy do their job? With 33% of my own force out of action, this was the key moment. The levy formed shield wall and waited, while the wagons hurtled onwards...
This combat was a monster! It lasted over two activations (The Saxon Lord and the British noble with the levy) and thanks to two 'shield wall braced' cards meant that the Saxons were only hitting at full throttle on two out of four rounds of combat. The end result was inevitable and the levy were sent flying back in disarray due to excess shock, but they did hold just long enough for the British lord to mount his assault on the rear of the Saxon elites. As this attack went in with a carpe diem hand (including 'Aggressive Charge') there was only one way that this would end...
The Saxon force morale dropped below zero as their last group lost its amphora and, to add insult to injury, the wagon train reached the fort, with the first of the three wagons getting through the gate at the end of the game! A resounding British win, albeit at the loss of 66% of the force.
If this had been a campaign game, we would have probably played it a bit differently, as Andy wouldn't have wanted to risk losing so many troops, but as a stand-alone bloodbath, it worked a treat. From my initial worry caused by the difficult deployment I ended up with a great victory in a closely contested and great fun encounter!
Friday, 9 May 2014
Age of Warlords Round 1 Pictures
Andy Mac's Saxons (Brude's faction) vs Carl's Saxons (Conn-Ann's faction)
Andy M (Brude's faction) and Mike (Conn-Ann) with more Saxon-on-Saxon action...
Andrew's Saxons (Brude's faction) vs Grahame's Scots-Irish...the great Conn-Ann himself!
...And finally, a bunch of pics from the doubles game that I played with Bedwyr and the allied British war band (for Conn-Ann's faction) against Phil's Picts (the great Brude himself) and Tony's Saxons...
Andy M (Brude's faction) and Mike (Conn-Ann) with more Saxon-on-Saxon action...
Andrew's Saxons (Brude's faction) vs Grahame's Scots-Irish...the great Conn-Ann himself!
...And finally, a bunch of pics from the doubles game that I played with Bedwyr and the allied British war band (for Conn-Ann's faction) against Phil's Picts (the great Brude himself) and Tony's Saxons...
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| After I had lost both single combats, I had too dice for deployment of troops, hence my somewhat staggered lines on the right...Bedwyr's war band nearest the camera. |
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| Pict skirmishers and skirmishing warriors threaten my flank while Brude's main force hangs back from the ford... |
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| The allied British Teulu launch into Saxon Duguth...this should have gone our way, but superb Saxon dice on the break test and Saxon thrusting spears gradually whittle the brave Brits away... |
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| The Picts have stripped the my flank and are in the rear, as my warriors and Teulu converge on the ford... |
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| The Saxons inexorably forcing the battered Teulu back - just look at my casualties top and bottom, despite thrusting spears on my troops AND large shields! |
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| My Teulu turn to deal with the Pict skirmishers...they did this and then turned to deal with Brude, winning the combat, but forcing the Picts back into the ford! Blasted 'loyalty' (I had it too on my Teulu...) |
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| Where did all the Britons go????? |
Thursday, 8 May 2014
Age Of Warlords Arthurian Campaign Update
Brude waded through the ford, surveying the carnage. Dead Britons were plied thickly along the river bank and within the ford. On the slopes of the hill leading down to the river, Berct, the king of Brude's Saxon allies was busily heaving the mail-shirt off the dismembered corpse of a Briton noble - the king or, at very least, a prince, judging by the quality of the armour.
"You and your men did well, Saxon. It shall be remembered." Brude stared around him once again. He could not believe the destruction!Across the battlefield, his own forces had engaged in a brutal day-long struggle against the Briton king Bedwyr ap Custennin, a man whose forces had in recent memory inflicted mighty defeats on two Saxon kings and who had tested his own army to its limits. Although his light troops had stripped away Bedwyr's cavalry and archers, the Briton nobility had forced his own bodyguard back and the British foot had crossed the river, forcing his won warriors back in disorder. If it hadn't been for his allies crushing Bedwyr's allies... Brude forced the thought from his mind. The ford was won and Bedwyr's men had withdrawn, albeit in good order. They would fight another day.
But now, the work of ravaging the enemy lands would occupy Brude and his men, along with his allies. These Britons would rue the day they aligned themselves with Conn-Ann...of this Brude was certain!
So, round 1 of Age of Warlords is complete! The forces of Brude have taken a massive lead in this round, with 2 mighty victories, 1 close-run victory and 1 mighty defeat. Due to a player pulling out, I had to command two Briton war bands in my game, with the results as noted in the narrative above. My main force (Bedwyr's army) basically achieved a bloody-stand-off against Phil's Picts, with failed war band tests causing mayhem on both sides and the Romanised equipment of the Britons telling in the final combats, although Phil played it well, as he had 'loyalty' with his general, thereby ensuring that, in the final combat of the final turn, although he was almost certain to lose it, he would withdraw in good order and contest the ford which was currently being claimed by one unit of my combrogi.
The additional Briton war band that is being used in Grahame's faction was destroyed to the last man by Tony's saxons. I didn't play he game badly and Tony didn't really play it any better than me, but he won the crucial combats and made a couple of critical break tests that prevented major units in his army from being destroyed. So, although I felt I played well, the combined points difference meant that I suffered a mighty defeat! So bad was it for the allied Britons, that, not only did three characters die in the game, but two died permanently in the post-game sequence!!! Yikes!!!
Anyway, the results of round 1 mean that Brude's armies will be the attackers in round two, and the scenarios will be a variety of capture places, people, etc, scenarios.
Pictures from Round 1 to follow, as Mrs Geetarhero has the camera at a Michael Bolton concert this evening (steady...no nasty comments now...she really likes his voice...
Round two on Monday...
"You and your men did well, Saxon. It shall be remembered." Brude stared around him once again. He could not believe the destruction!Across the battlefield, his own forces had engaged in a brutal day-long struggle against the Briton king Bedwyr ap Custennin, a man whose forces had in recent memory inflicted mighty defeats on two Saxon kings and who had tested his own army to its limits. Although his light troops had stripped away Bedwyr's cavalry and archers, the Briton nobility had forced his own bodyguard back and the British foot had crossed the river, forcing his won warriors back in disorder. If it hadn't been for his allies crushing Bedwyr's allies... Brude forced the thought from his mind. The ford was won and Bedwyr's men had withdrawn, albeit in good order. They would fight another day.
But now, the work of ravaging the enemy lands would occupy Brude and his men, along with his allies. These Britons would rue the day they aligned themselves with Conn-Ann...of this Brude was certain!
So, round 1 of Age of Warlords is complete! The forces of Brude have taken a massive lead in this round, with 2 mighty victories, 1 close-run victory and 1 mighty defeat. Due to a player pulling out, I had to command two Briton war bands in my game, with the results as noted in the narrative above. My main force (Bedwyr's army) basically achieved a bloody-stand-off against Phil's Picts, with failed war band tests causing mayhem on both sides and the Romanised equipment of the Britons telling in the final combats, although Phil played it well, as he had 'loyalty' with his general, thereby ensuring that, in the final combat of the final turn, although he was almost certain to lose it, he would withdraw in good order and contest the ford which was currently being claimed by one unit of my combrogi.
The additional Briton war band that is being used in Grahame's faction was destroyed to the last man by Tony's saxons. I didn't play he game badly and Tony didn't really play it any better than me, but he won the crucial combats and made a couple of critical break tests that prevented major units in his army from being destroyed. So, although I felt I played well, the combined points difference meant that I suffered a mighty defeat! So bad was it for the allied Britons, that, not only did three characters die in the game, but two died permanently in the post-game sequence!!! Yikes!!!
Anyway, the results of round 1 mean that Brude's armies will be the attackers in round two, and the scenarios will be a variety of capture places, people, etc, scenarios.
Pictures from Round 1 to follow, as Mrs Geetarhero has the camera at a Michael Bolton concert this evening (steady...no nasty comments now...she really likes his voice...
Round two on Monday...
Friday, 25 April 2014
Northwest Frontier Terrain Finished!!! Hurrah!!
Well, after a long hiatus, I have finally managed to do a significant amount of work on my NW Frontier project which will be gamed using T&T Colonials and my own modified 'make it up as I go along' LoTOW rules.
Here are some pics of my terrain table. The base-cloth is a 9 x 4.5 foot piece of upholstery material that has been treated with various light coats of various sand coloured spray paints. The stepped hills are by Tablescape and have had a light coat of Plasticote 'Stone' spray paint - the stuff that comes out textured. The big rocky formations are aquarium ornaments or large rocks from my garden. The wooded hills are old GW ones which have had garden slate polyfilla'd into place, followed by a hefty layer of sand which has been painted with very watered down Foundry Base Sand Shade and highlighted with Base Sand.
There is also a Last Valley hill and a GW modular plastic hill on here. Rocky outcrops are from a variety of manufacturers and the whole thing has been enhanced by lots of lichen.
Apologies for picture quality, but I can only really do this sort of thing in the evening and the light in my kitchen-diner is dire for photography.
Some pics have a bunch of Old Glory and Castaway Arts Pathans in them. I painted them using my dip and highlight method. About 40 more of those and 3 companies of Anglo-Indians are in various stages of painting as we speak.
The style is undeniably 'old-school' but the great thing is that I can do up to an 8 x 4ft table, can pack the stuff in two large Really Useful boxes and run participation games at the club. I am really pleased with it. I also have 3 typical middle eastern buildings that will work, although I'd like a Pathan watchtower...
Anyway, pics of the terrain...
Thursday, 10 April 2014
Age of Warlords - WAB Arthurian Campaign Introduction
Brude MacBrude, mighty Bretwalda, king of all Britannia, heaved himself upright, cursing inwardly as the entirety of his kingly hall spun wildly. Forcing back the instinct to vacate his churning guts, the huge Pict warlord flung back the fur coverlet on the royal bed and lurched unsteadily towards the door.
On the other side of the bed, the young Briton serving girl lay unmoving... Brude shook his head...he couldn't even remember taking the girl to his bed...By all the gods, those Saxons could drink!! He had always been a drinker, able to drink all-comers under the table and into sweet oblivion, but those Saxon kings...they had taxed him to the limit. Still, Brude wagered that they were in a far worse state than he this fine spring morning... Hair of the hound, that was what was needed...
"WINE!!!!" he roared, wincing at the explosion of agony behind his eyes as his mighty voice echoed across the hall.
"Wine..." he repeated again, finally reaching the door and, hurling it open, he breathed several deep lungfulls of clear spring air. It was chill, refreshing. Just what was needed.
Standing framed by the doorway into his royal hall which was situated on a hillock in the centre of the sprawling Pictish Broch, Brude reflected on the events of the previous three days.
Those four Saxon and Anglian kings came to him without fear, he had noted. But then, they were new come to Britannia, having fought their way into the lands of the coward Britons who had fought him in the Great Wars from five years before. These Saxon and Anglian kings had not yet seen the fierceness of the Pictish sword, the flight of Pictish javelins, the arrows from concealment that had destroyed warband after warband in the Great Wars... Great days indeed.
Yet now, more petulant Britons and their puny Saxon allies were threatening his rule, rebelling against him, Brude MacBrude the Bretwalda. Well, that was fine...let them rebel! His spies had told him all he needed to know and, over much fine Briton beef, Briton Wine ('tribute' from his subjugated neighbours, of course) and fine Saxon ale, alliances with the newcomers had been made and signed in blood. These newcomers would fight by his side and the rebellion would fail. It would fail anyway, he thought, but better that our fine Germanic allies should perish in its demise than fine upstanding Pict warriors.
So it was done...
On the next new moon, the alliance would strike, crossing the river borders into the rebellious kingdoms for combat, pillage, loot and slaughter. A new Age of Warlords was begun and Brude MacBrude, mighty Bretwalda of Britannia would prove once again that he was master of this land and its pathetic people...
On Monday, we start our WAB campaign, Age of Warlords, set in 500AD in Britain. It uses army lists based on those in Age of Arthur, but uses 1000pt army lists with various modifications to allow smaller unit and more characters. If anyone is interested in the army lists, rule changes and scenarios, do let me know by replying to this thread with an email address and I'll then link you to a Dropbox folder with all the stuff in. I won't publish your email address on the comments section, so if you want to leave any other comments please do so separately so that I can publish those.
Look out for more posts as the campaign progresses....
Here's a few pics from a practice game I had with gaming buddy Mike W on Monday. We were playing the Battle of Mt Agned and were trying to gain control of the aforementioned Mt Agned while denying the other war band access to the hill.
Mike's dice failed him spectacularly in this game, but they finally came good on the very last turn enabling him to turn a mighty defeat into a close-run one. Basically, when pretty much my entire army (well, apart from the archers and one unit of combrogi that Mike had seen off) was camped on the hill, Mike launched his sole remaining unit (a unit of Duguth) against my Teulu in a suicidal charge to try to contest the hill. He lost the fight and needed to roll 4 on 2 x D6 to stay in the fight. Which he promptly failed to do, but on remembering that the character in his unit was the ASB, he re-rolled and got...A 4!!!!! Brilliant end to the game!! See Mike's blog for his take on events.
On the other side of the bed, the young Briton serving girl lay unmoving... Brude shook his head...he couldn't even remember taking the girl to his bed...By all the gods, those Saxons could drink!! He had always been a drinker, able to drink all-comers under the table and into sweet oblivion, but those Saxon kings...they had taxed him to the limit. Still, Brude wagered that they were in a far worse state than he this fine spring morning... Hair of the hound, that was what was needed...
"WINE!!!!" he roared, wincing at the explosion of agony behind his eyes as his mighty voice echoed across the hall.
"Wine..." he repeated again, finally reaching the door and, hurling it open, he breathed several deep lungfulls of clear spring air. It was chill, refreshing. Just what was needed.
Standing framed by the doorway into his royal hall which was situated on a hillock in the centre of the sprawling Pictish Broch, Brude reflected on the events of the previous three days.
Those four Saxon and Anglian kings came to him without fear, he had noted. But then, they were new come to Britannia, having fought their way into the lands of the coward Britons who had fought him in the Great Wars from five years before. These Saxon and Anglian kings had not yet seen the fierceness of the Pictish sword, the flight of Pictish javelins, the arrows from concealment that had destroyed warband after warband in the Great Wars... Great days indeed.
Yet now, more petulant Britons and their puny Saxon allies were threatening his rule, rebelling against him, Brude MacBrude the Bretwalda. Well, that was fine...let them rebel! His spies had told him all he needed to know and, over much fine Briton beef, Briton Wine ('tribute' from his subjugated neighbours, of course) and fine Saxon ale, alliances with the newcomers had been made and signed in blood. These newcomers would fight by his side and the rebellion would fail. It would fail anyway, he thought, but better that our fine Germanic allies should perish in its demise than fine upstanding Pict warriors.
So it was done...
On the next new moon, the alliance would strike, crossing the river borders into the rebellious kingdoms for combat, pillage, loot and slaughter. A new Age of Warlords was begun and Brude MacBrude, mighty Bretwalda of Britannia would prove once again that he was master of this land and its pathetic people...
On Monday, we start our WAB campaign, Age of Warlords, set in 500AD in Britain. It uses army lists based on those in Age of Arthur, but uses 1000pt army lists with various modifications to allow smaller unit and more characters. If anyone is interested in the army lists, rule changes and scenarios, do let me know by replying to this thread with an email address and I'll then link you to a Dropbox folder with all the stuff in. I won't publish your email address on the comments section, so if you want to leave any other comments please do so separately so that I can publish those.
Look out for more posts as the campaign progresses....
Here's a few pics from a practice game I had with gaming buddy Mike W on Monday. We were playing the Battle of Mt Agned and were trying to gain control of the aforementioned Mt Agned while denying the other war band access to the hill.
Mike's dice failed him spectacularly in this game, but they finally came good on the very last turn enabling him to turn a mighty defeat into a close-run one. Basically, when pretty much my entire army (well, apart from the archers and one unit of combrogi that Mike had seen off) was camped on the hill, Mike launched his sole remaining unit (a unit of Duguth) against my Teulu in a suicidal charge to try to contest the hill. He lost the fight and needed to roll 4 on 2 x D6 to stay in the fight. Which he promptly failed to do, but on remembering that the character in his unit was the ASB, he re-rolled and got...A 4!!!!! Brilliant end to the game!! See Mike's blog for his take on events.
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