These are the last of the Foundry Ptolemaics. They need staining, highlights and varnishing. Then I have a final 50-odd un-armoured pike to face (who will hopefully be quick to paint), and a scary amount of basing...
Tuesday, 16 April 2013
Monday, 15 April 2013
New walls
Not the walls of a 28mm model city....
...but the walls of our new bathroom, finished at last, which is clearly inspired by the walls of a 28mm model city. And below is the icing on the cake, my new (but as yet unshelved) wargames storage space. This is around 70cm square by 2.4m tall, an awkward shape but I have a cunning plan to maximise the useful space. I'm currently giving some thought to shelving.
If you live in the USA or Australia, this probably doesn't look like much, but in London every spare cubic centimetre counts!
Sunday, 14 April 2013
Thapsus- part the second
Returning to The Thapsus in Dug's shed last Wednesday, from where we left the action, with the Optimates' elephants plunging into V Alaudae (the veteran "larks").
The elephants were quickly slain, but inflicted losses upon the veterans, who were immediately set upon by a unit of Numidian militia. Alaudae were the best unit on the battlefield, and the militia, probably the worst, but some phenomenal dice-rolling by Boot, saw the veterans broken, and the militia through the line into open fields beyond (below)!
Unfortunately, for them, the Caesarians were able to contain the breakthrough by bringing up reserves.
By this stage, most cohorts on either side had run out of pila, and were badly bruised. However, the superior elan of the Caesarian legionaries gave them an edge in every melee. Below, Scipio is getting a bit nervous...
...and the Caesarians more confident.
Eventually one of the Pompeian militia units broke, and a cascade of morale test failures swept away half of their cohorts: the battle was lost.
Interestingly, the paper copies of the rules I had brought along weren't used (except for the charts), as four of us had iPads (below) with the PDF version on them, hyperlinks and all.
Finally, here are the gamers, all together in front of the shed (now officially renamed the "Dug-out") Nigel, Daz, Dave, Boot, and Fletch (back), and Carlo, Mark and Dug (front). Thanks for the play test, chaps!
Saturday, 13 April 2013
To Bletchley!
I took a posse of North London gamers up to Bletchley today, for the Society of Ancients Chalons Battleday. The Battelday is about using as many different ancient rules as possible. We played with Simon MacDowall's attractive miniatures, and his Comitatus rules. Here are some shots, first my "Romans" and their allied Germans (foreground):-
And opposite, the dastardly Hun and their own German allies:-
I led the Roman side, as Aetius. After a lengthy scrap, the battle resolved into 3 combats; on our left, under my son Harry, the Romans were ascendant and the foe on the back foot:-
On the right, though, "our" Goths were badly bruised and either running for home, or thinking about getting off, soonish:-
In the centre, where I was (as Aetius), with our reluctant Alans, there was a terribly confusing kettle melee, which swung first one way, and then the other. Eventually, after killing one of Attila's sons in melee, I charged the man himself, in an attempt to win the battle before dusk fell:-
... and challenged him to single combat. Unfortunately...
...he killed me! (but I did, at least, wound him). This turned the battle into a defeat, for us.
It was a very enjoyable day. Simon MacDowall gave a very informative presentation about the battle, Richard Lockwood had everything nicely organised, and I got to chat to a couple of other gamers including Rob Broom and Phil Steele. Rob Broom's War and Conquest game is below, and looked rahter fine:-
There was also a very impressive Armati game, with a hi-tech table including magnetic hills and edges, which I intend to copy at some stage...
I'm afraid I didn't have time to photograph any other games, but it was a great day. I'm knacked!
If you aren't a member of the Society of Ancients, it's an excellent idea to join for the magazine, Slingshot, and to support excellent wargaming events, such as this one.
Friday, 12 April 2013
Thapsus, part the first
As I mentioned yesterday, Dug, mates and I re-fought the Roman Civil War battle of Thapsus 46BC, on Wednesday, using my draft ancients rules. I won't dwell too long on the background to the battle, as I'll be writing it up as a magazine article, but here are Dug and my photos; all pics are clickable!
Above is a shot along the table (8' wide by 6' deep), with Caesar's Populares on the left, and the Pompeian Optimates, with their Numidian allies, on the right. North is towards the bottom of the picture. On on the near flank the table is bordered by the sea, and on the far flank a salt lagoon (neither shown).
The Optimates (above) looked a bit scruffy, especially the natives; the Caesarians (below, background) look like that scene in Spartacus...
Above, Caesar's slingers getting the range of the Numidian elephants (below).
The slingers have found the range of the elephants; but the deceased pachyderms provide a useful vantage-point for Titus Labienus, on the Pompeian left.
Above, the Caesarian centre rushes forward, as in the historical battle.
...and finally, for today, the surviving elephants plough into a cohort of V Alaudae, supported by a mass of Numidian city militia.
Tomorrow I'll be at the SOA Battle Day in Bletchley, and hope to see you there! So Thapsus part II will likely hit this blog, on Sunday.
Thursday, 11 April 2013
Road trip!
Yesterday I spent a very jolly day in a shed in Cambridge, with Dug Page-Croft (below, with wife Jen) and his mates.
Dug very kindly hosted a re-fight of the battle of Thapsus, using my draft set of ancient wargaming rules, and my Caesarian Roman and Numidian armies, on the Zama boards.
It all seemed to go very well, and the sun even came out! I'll do a proper write-up tomorrow, when I have a bit more time, but here's a couple of (clickable) photos to be going with...
Tuesday, 9 April 2013
Salute?
I went to buy my Salute 2013 queue busters earlier tonight, and found that the ship has sailed; apparently they stop selling them 2 weeks before the event. Doh.
I could still buy at the door, but I now find myself in two minds about whether or not to go this year, partly because of the expense, and partly because there's nothing that is really saying "you must see this" or "you must buy this", to me. I don't tend to play in the participation games at Salute, either, I prefer to do that with friends, or at more intimate venues.
Shall I have a lay-in and paint some minis, instead? Hmmm...
EDIT- I have now located a ticket, and thought of a couple of good reasons for making the trip, so I'll be there, Saturday week!
EDIT- I have now located a ticket, and thought of a couple of good reasons for making the trip, so I'll be there, Saturday week!
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