Italian Spearmen and all the latest TtS! News!

A chum in Sweden has very kindly printed me some components that allow me to convert the lovely Perry European mercenaries into passable Italian spearmen, armed with huge-headed langue do boeuf spears. I used arms from the light cavalry set (converted from the ones holding a bow).

Here you can see the spearmen fording the Fornovo in 1495. The spearheads are so very large, they look almost like spades! None of the spearmen are armoured; I wonder whether any had armour, but deliberately left it behind to more safely cross the swollen river?

In other news, here's a list of all the remaining tournaments I can think of.... we have a very busy Q4 ahead, positively bursting with TtS! events:

• We still have spare tables for the annual TtS! Open tournament in Edmonton, North London, on Saturday 13th October. If you think you might like to come, please email me and I'll put you in touch with the player who had to withdraw who can sell you his ticket.
• There is a TtS! get-together at the Games Bunker in Weston Super Mare on Saturday, 28 October 2023. This event is especially appropriate for new players, and emphasises fun over competition. You can book tickets here: https://www.thegamesbunker.co.uk/events/to-the-strongest-a-call-to-arms/
• There is a TtS! tournament at Warfare in Farnborough on Saturday 11th November.  You can book tickets here: https://wargamesreading.co.uk/product/tts/
• Lastly, our final event of the year, we have Two The Strongest!, our first ever doubles tournament, in Central London in November. This will be a cracking way to round the year off, not particularly competitive, all day bar, prizes and drinks afterwards. If you need a player to accompany you, we should be ale to identify one. You can buy tickets here: https://www.meetup.com/the-london-warhammer-gaming-guild/events/295928568/

Second Mantinaea at Colours

 

Yesterday we ran Second Mantinaea at Colours. Is was great to see to many friends and meet so many gamers who enjoy To the Strongest! Thanks very much to those who helped (especially Ian, Colin and Andy) and to everyone who played, or stopped by for a chat. It was a really super show and I spent far more than I should have. :-) Hot, though, so very, very hot. A big shout out to chum Andrew who couldn't come because he's had a brush with Covid, hope he's better soon.

While I was away though, Sharp Practice has been pulling ahead of TtS! in the Yarkshire Wargames Rules tournament on Facebook. If you've still not voted, could you give us a plug please? At the time of writing, the gap is around 55 votes, still surprisingly close, and I think we might yet be able to catch them! If not, we can go down, fighting gloriously, like Leonidas at Thermopylae. :-)

Updated TtS! Medieval Army Lists published and all the latest TtS! events.

I've latest version of the Medieval Army List eBook and latest news (at the bottom).  This 150-list, 293 page edition now includes six new lists:

• Rshtuni Armenian
• Bagratid Armenian
• Tulunid/Iqshidid Egyptian
• Daylamite Dynasties
• Bulgar (moved from the Ancient eBook)
• Early Byzantine (moved from the Ancient eBook)

The next Ancient Army List eBook will come out at the end of October and will be a Late Antiquity Special, with several new Late Antiquity Germanic lists and a lot of additional material added to the Gothic, Ostrogothic, Saxon, Frankish and Vandal lists. 

We have a very busy Q4 ahead, positively bursting with TtS! Events:

• At Colours in Newbury on Saturday I'll be running Second Mantinaea- please drop by and say hello, or even come and join in! We are upstairs near the B&B.
• On Monday evening I'll be on the Plastic Crack Podcast, no doubt explaining why Renaissance isn't finished.  :-/   
• On September 16th we have the Chalgrove tournament- good luck to all the players!
• Also on September 16th (diary clash!), I'll be talking about the location of the Battle of Ceresole, 1544 at the Helion Tudor Warfare conference in Birmingham.
• We have a spare table for the annual TtS! Open tournament in Edmonton, North London, on Saturday 13th October. If you think you might like to come, please email me and I'll put you in touch with the player who had to withdraw.
• Tickets have just gone on sale for Two The Strongest!, our first ever doubles tournament, in Central London in November. This We have a limited number of tables so I recommend early booking!   

Last but not least, some of you must have already encountered Yarkshire Gamer's World Cup of Historical Wargames Rules on Facebook. For King and Parliament fell (after a valiant fight) in the Quarter finals, thankd for all your votes. Astonishingly, To the Strongest! will shortly be pitted against Sharp Practice in the semi finals! Sharp Practice is a very popular (and by all accounts a very good) set of rules, and TtS! will need every vote that it can get to remain in contention... so please help us with a vote when it goes live.

Late Knight Progress

       

I'm close to finishing a couple of units of dismounted later knights (above) that, most unusually, I mostly painted myself. They are intended to be generic men-at-arms for those tricky moments when a unit of later knights is better off on foot (perhaps when there are nellies about!). The unit I fielded at Britcon performed rather well; in one game, cutting its way right through the heart of the enemy army.

These are all Perry plastics, with some slight conversions. The original figures I painted were a bit too "shiny" and well armoured, so I've mixed in a bunch of scruffier chaps in brigandines and riding boots with a selection of weapons including pole-arms and a few bows. I'll take a proper photo when they are flocked and bannered. For the banners- I'm thinking Wars of the Roses. Something heavily folded so one can't make it out particularly well, so it fits the generic concept. :-)

PS To the Strongest! and FK&P are both currently up for voting in the Yarkshire World Cup on Facebook- both votes ,are too close to call, at the time of writing. If you'd like to vote for either (or, indeed, for their opponents) you can find them here (TtS!) or here (FK&P).

Rally Round the King!

Over on the Yarkshire World Cup of Wargames Rules poll, the King is in danger! Our FK&P rules are currently trailing a tantalising 40 or so votes behind the popular "O" Group rules, with only a little over a day to go. Can you help to save the King? If you've not yet voted, please vote here. Ask your friends to vote, too, please! If we make it though this round, I'll co-write another free scenario with Andrew Brentnall, and perhaps even take it to Salute!

Every day, once a day, give yourself a present

I take Special Agent Dale Cooper's advice extremely seriously; here is today's gift-to-self, some rather splendid TYW cuirassiers from eBay. The flags are anachronistic but easily changed.

In other news, FK&P is up against the popular O Group rules in what must be the plucky bantamweight contender's most serious challenge yet on the Yarkshre World Cup of Wargames Rules, all votes most gratefully received!  It's going to be a really close one, I reckon, could go either way.

Lastly, there will be a friendly TtS! event at the Games Bunker in Weston-super-Mare on 28th October, details below:

To The Strongest – A Call to Arms

Unlike most competitive events this event is a casual day and is intended to help newer players learn the rules. The day will take the form of three two-hour games and there will be no restriction on army choice other than it may not exceed 135 points. Lists must be submitted no later than 20th October to store@thegamesbunker.co.uk

The scale is 25/28mm. We will do our best to keep regular opponents apart for the first couple of games but in the last you may have to face your nemesis! There will be prizes but not for the usual reasons, so we advise bringing your favourite army and not necessarily your most lethal!

Timetable

10:00-12:00       Round 1

12:30-14:30       Round 2

15:00-17:00       Round 3

17:15-17:30       Awards

 What You Need To Bring

• One 25/28mm army, of 135 points value
• Markers to show the ammunition each unit has (eg. a unit of with bows has 3 arrows) - several D6 will do (you don’t need any dice to play the game)
• Markers to show disorder
• Markers or miniatures to show Heroes (most armies will have 2-5 heroes available in the army list), individually based heroic looking figures look good but a counter will suffice
• Tokens or coins to represent how many victory medals your army has (up to 15 usually)
• A scenic piece to represent your camp
• Two decks of ordinary playing cards (remove the jacks, queens, kings and jokers into a separate pile, shuffle the remaining 80 cards well)
• If you are able to bring a 6x4 Mat marked out with a 150cm square grid, could you please contact us to let us know. Please ensure it has your name on it somewhere or is easily identifiable.

Facilities

Parking is available in our car park or on the street. Disabled access is not currently available to all event areas. Please contact us if you need more information.

Tickets

Tickets are £20.00 each and are available here – https://www.thegamesbunker.co.uk/events/to-the-strongest-a-call-to-arms/

 

More Britcon Photos

 

I recently posted some photos of one of my games at Britcon, here are some more. This game was against Robert Avery's veteran Imperial Romans; veteran because most of them were, but also because many of them were Minifigs! Above, I threw my army forwards whilst Robert tried to turn my left and threaten the camp.

However, the camp was well defended and the Romans tried to break the left of my battle line. Above a flank charge on my general and dismounted knights, which happily they survived!

One of my  pike blocks broke through. My trouble was that it was too hard to kill the legionaries- every time I disordered them, they fell back and rallied. Some rallied like this two or three times.

However every time they fell back, I took ground, until they became pinned against their camp and baseline. 

Above I'd been doing my best to pretend that the rampaging Roman cavalry unit behind my lines wasn't there, but it proved hard to ignore. Before it could kill a unit though, my knights managed to chop up a unit of legionaries to win the game. This was a lonnnggg game- over three hours - more like a siege than a battle- and I was lucky to win it! Robert has an account of the same battle, here. The longer Britcon game durations really help avoid frustrating draws.

In other news, TtS! is up against Black Powder in the Yarkshire World Cup of Wargames Rules tournament- at the time of writing BP has pulled ahead- we desperately need every vote we can find!