Sunday, 21 April 2013

BigRedBat's Salute Highlights

I spent yesterday dashing madly around Salute, abut only managed to get a few snaps of games that "grabbed me", and often didn't record the groups that produced them.  I'm afraid it is a selective and incomplete list, but here goes!


The above game is Wargames Soldiers and Strategy's Wrath of Heaven, where I helped out for an hour.  The terrain was beautifully detailed, and the minis delightful, mostly painted by one of the WSS staffers (Christine?).  Mark who ran it was a natural GM, and the kids who played had a lot of fun.  Even the one whose ninja he cruelly slaughtered. ;-)   I very much enjoyed hanging out with the WSS crowd, including Guy and Jasper.


The above Siege of New Victoria game, set on Mars, was an absolute corker; half a dozen airshps battled above the fortress.  Oshiro model terrain did the terrain, and I believe Red Planet Miniatures the models.


The above "30 Seconds to Dog Green" Battlegroup Overlord, game was absolutely stunning, especially the cliffs, beach and bunkers.


This 28mm Normandy  game was called "Inland from Utah".  I was very taken with the column of obsolescent German (ex-French) armour.  I didn't recognise the Airfix Le Haye Saint until tonight!


Talking of armoured columns... the South London Warlord's Slammers game was a stunner.  The buildings were incredibly detailed, a labour of love.


The table was about a mile long!  These guys seemed to be lurking in ambush.


The other Warlords game was all Harryhausen, in 1/12 scale, such a brilliant idea.  The skeletons were scary... and I was worried what the Talos might get up to.



Above is a lovely Troy, Aeneas and family were busy escaping from it.  Run by the Tin Soldiers of Antwerp.


I spent a very happy 20 minutes discussing the Austro-Prussian war of 1866, with a chap at this table.  Very nice 10mm Pendragon miniatures, and plenty of them.


Above and below is the 54mm Victrix game.  The detail on the minis was astonishing, I was very taken with the hobnails on the boots (below).


Last but not least, the Dux Bellorum games run by Guitarhero Andy, James Morris and Steve (Jones?).  The games looked great, we had a nice chat and I gather that they deservedly won an award.

I forgot to take pictures of the huge, and stunning, Waterloo game.

I didn't manage to meet half of the people I wanted to, and have probably forgotten half of those I did meet.  However I did meet a whole "list" of gaming bloggers, including Big Lee, Postie, The Angry Lurker, Tamsin, Sebastien and Stephen of the Legatus blogs.  I also met various Lardies, my mate Nick Speller who gave me some newly painted toys (of which more anon), Simon Comitatus MacDowall, and an old friend, Craig Cartmell, who wrote "In Her Majesties Name", which last demo looked superb, but which I also failed to photograph.   Apologies if I also met you and have forgotten to mention it!

It was a very enjoyable day.  It seemed very busy, compared to last year, but not unduly crowded.  On the whole I felt that there were fewer impressive demo games, but it didn't seem to matter, as much fun was had by all!  I'm very glad that I went, after all.

Friday, 19 April 2013

Spring cleaning...

I’m having a “flash sale” of minis (if they don’t go today, it’s the Salute Bring and Buy for them!)


I have a large number of Foundry World of the Greeks phalangites, all in attacking poses to take levelled pikes.

3 packs of armoured phalangites

4 packs of unarmoured phalangites 
3 packs of Eastern phalangites
42 loose unarmoured phalangites
24 loose armoured phalangites
4 loose painted armoured phalangites

Total 150 minis.  I’ll do the lot for £90 plus postage, less than half the price from Foundry.


I also have 42 Crusader Successor pike, including command, like these.

I'm looking for 60p a figure (half the list price!), for a total £25.20, plus postage. If you are at Salute, I could give them to you there.


Finally, I have 96 Crusader Early Imperial Romans spare- 87 legionaries, and 3 each centurions, signifers and cornicens, like these.
I'm looking for 60p each plus postage (£57.60), which is also about half the list price. I could deliver at Salute. 


Alternatively, I'll potentially trade for other Ancients ranges.  


Cheers, Simon


Tuesday, 16 April 2013

30 more pikemen


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...

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. 

Both sides committed their second line of cohorts, as the fighting became general (below).


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.