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!

Two the Strongest!

An advance date for your diaries (tickets not yet on sale). Seven Dials club is the place I've been hanging out at recently, a very nice crowd! Later we'll publish details of army selection and how it'll work.

Kinky Boots and Studded Leather

 

...a headline that promises much but delivers, little. ;-) 

I've been sculpting more riding boots on some coustillier-types to accompany my dismounted knights of recent posts. I'm getting a little faster on the sculpting, and a little better, too. This is just as well because I'll likely need quite a few, later on, when I tackle the Burgundian mounted archers. I've also discovered that liquid greenstuff is quite good for building up the legs of the boot.

Ultimately I covet this unit of Charles the Bold's. I think it would be great fun to model, and might be pretty good on the gaming table; dismounted knights with 2HCCW, extra longbows, extra stakes, veteran. Want 'em! Not cheap, points-wise, though.

In other news... For King and Parliament is storming through the Yarkshire Gamer World Cup of Wargames Rules. There is still time to vote; hopefully it'll make it through to Round Three and looks likely to be matched against "O" Group in the semi-finals.

Battles at Britcon

We had an absolute blast this weekend at Britcon. I cannot praise this event enough- the venue is superb, Sid does a great job at organising the tournament, and I enjoy Nottingham. The games were very friendly and there was enough tome to see most to a conclusion, and some of the armies were really beautiful. There were trade stands, too!  I attach some photos, below. I'm already looking forward to next year.

Before the photos though, the next round of the Yarkshire Gamer World Cup of Wargames Rules has begun, and For King and Parliament is up against Grand Manner, it's most serious opponent so far. It's very tight- just one vote in it- so any support for our niche period set with its hard to read font and renaissance woodcuts would be very greatly appreciated! You can vote here.

Here are some photos of my first game of the tournament, proper.

My Hapsburg-Burgundian deployment was the same in most of the games- a camp anchoring my right, with a bombard and crossbows in it, and a long line of pike stretching to the left. English longbows on the extreme left and Maximilian with  a bodyguard of dismounted knights to the right of the pike. In this game I had the stratagem to force march, and pushed my left forward. I was fighting Simon Purchon's Sassanids, he's a very tough opponent and I've rarely (if ever) beaten him.

You can see my line breaking up (above), as Simon shifted most of his strength against my left.

My right began to break up under a hail of arrows and lance-charges by cataphracts. 

Above, the noose tightening around my fortified camp. Assaulted from both sides, it was ultimately defended only by a bombard, which put up a valiant resistance in the face of attacks by no fewer than four enemy units!

Simon was well ahead after the first hour, but I managed to fight back and took a lot of medals off him before he was able to finish me off. This is what usually happens when I play Simon. Although I lost, I felt I'd put up a brave fight!  I'll show pictures of some of the other games, tomorrow.