Getting back on the bike.

It was great meeting so many friends at Salute, and I'll post about that tomorrow, when I have more time. Today, however, I am getting the copies of To the Strongest! ready for posting tomorrow and also prepping some Spartans for one of the games I'll be running at the Wargames Holiday Centre on the weekend 15th - 17th May. 

Painting permitting, I plan to make one of the four or five games I'll run Pyrrhus' siege of Sparta.  Some of these fine chaps will form an additional phalanx and others will man Sparta's improvised wooden wall of wagons. The minis at the top are being repainted from various eBay purchases; mate Nick is painting some more for me. Happily Spartans are easy to paint!

To the Strongest has landed!

...just in the nick of time for Salute.  Phew!  The print quality looks very good, and I am rather chuffed to put it mildly. A huge thank you to all those who helped get me to this point! Now I just need to introduce Mrs. Bat to the new warehouse facility in our hallway, and schlep half a tonne of books, minis and boards to Excel.

If you'd like to pick a copy at Salute, you can still pre-order from my shop- I'll refund postage costs

http://bigredbatshop.co.uk/collections/all/wargames-rules

and collect from Agema Miniatures (TE11), or just turn up with twenty quid on the day at either the Agema miniatures stand or Caliver Books (TL11).

Orders for delivery by post will go out next Monday/Tuesday.

Furiously flocking

Today I am furiously flocking my new terrain boards for the Cremona game at Salute on Saturday! Here I'm applying corn-stubble to a couple of fields and adding patches of long grass to break the flatness of the boards up.  It's a lovely sunny day and I'm playing '70s rock.  :-)

Eagerly anticipating Salute

Sid and Nancy (above) are eagerly anticipating the Cremona 69AD at Salute.

My game is just about the furthest game from the Salute entrance (see map below). When you come in, don't get caught up in the crowds near the entrance- stroll purposefully along the central aisle, past the stage, looking neither to your left nor your right (blinkers might help here) until you reach the far seating area. Cremona will be the game just to your right, with the bridge and all the Romans. And Sid and Nancy.

If you are collecting a set of the To the Strongest! rules that you have pre-ordered, they can be found at the Agema Miniatures stand TE11 (the black asterisk above), Greg will have a list. You can pre-order the rules or buy them on the day, too.

River boats

Here is a small squadron of newly-painted river boats for my Cremona game on Saturday, when the will be carrying a commando gladiator raiding party.  

Later on, I will add seating and some German style rowers on benches that I am sculpting, and I will hopefully be able to play some riverine games.  I have a nice cataphract liburnian from Thomas Foss that will provide suitable Roman opposition.

All laagered-up!

Here is my completed wagon laager, which I'll use with my Celts and my (projected) German and Goth armies. The photos were somewhat delayed due to camera issues (thanks to Ian for uploading). All photos are clickable!

The minis are a mixture of Foundry, Black Tree and Crusader.  All the minis were painted my mate Nick Speller, who did a splendid job! I painted the wagons and clutter.

All of the figures are removable- later I plan to add some Goth and Spartan wagon defenders, to maximise the use of the vehicles (take note, Nick!  ;-)  ).

The Foundry German civilians are a splendid bunch of minis!

The Germans have been at the lager- boom boom.

The carts are a real mix bag.  The majority are Front Rank and Irregular, but some are scratch built and others are old Minifigs from the '70's.  There is even a Citadel Adventurer's cart!

I'm also planning to make up some tents and other vignettes to sit behind the laager.

The wagons will be used as wagon laagers in games of "To the Strongest!" Their next major outing will be at Partizan in May. 

In other news, I'm now pre-selling my rules for collection at Salute on Saturday 25th, and postage out the following week, they can be found HERE.

My new lance and shock missile (=pila) chits that may be useful with the game can be found HERE.

Oh- and Monger has helped me to set up a "To the Strongest!" Forum.  I'm in the process of populating it, now.  If you have questions or comments about the game this would be a great place to ask them!

Best, Simon

Via Postumia tombs

My Bloody Cremona game at Salute is set along the line of the Via Postumia as it approaches to Cremona.

I thought it would be nice to depict some of the characteristic Roman roadside tombs and monuments, so I made these up. And when I say that I made these up, well, they aren't based on any particular Roman research.  ;-)

The figures are lovely Aventine Miniatures; they look suitably archaic and the pose of the horse is just right for an equestrian statue.

Here is another Aventine general, this time on foot.

The pedestals are made from very old (= 50 years!) Lego bricks and Games Workshop bases; I spent a little time "distressing" them with a scalpel.

They were sprayed white, stained with inks and I then "applied" lichen and moss to age and weather them.

Sometimes the Romans liked to use pyramidal shapes, echoing Egypt.

And finally I made a simple tomb around 30mm long.

The tombs will sit under the cypress trees alongside my Via Postumia in my "Bloody Cremona, 69 AD" game at Salute on Saturday week. If you are coming to Salute, you can find my game at GM11 on the below map, marked with the dark red asterisk. It is next to the large rest area at the far end of the hall from the entrance. Please do drop by and say hello! If you want to join in the game for a half hour or so, perhaps to get an idea of how the rules work, I'm sure we will be able to fit you in. Mark Freeth of the Wargames Holiday Centre will also be there, helping out and taking bookings!

Greg at Agema Miniatures will be selling my "To the Strongest!" rules at Saltue. You will be able to collect your pre-orders made from my shop from his stand, TE11, marked on the map with a black asterisk. He will also have some great Salute deals on his miniatures...