Thursday, 12 September 2013

Numidians WIP


A hurried WIP shots of some fresh troops to expand my Roman and Numidian armies, for a later game at SELWG.

Monday, 9 September 2013

Thapsus is going to Colours on Saturday...

...and I'm looking for some players!  Thapsus is a 1000+ mini participation game, set during the Roman Civil Wars, and I'll be running it twice each day, on Saturday and Sunday.  This means I need up to two dozen players over the weekend, and ideally I'd like to get some players booked in up-front.


The rules used will be my own "To the Strongest!" Lite set, and I'll be able to explain the mechanics and get the game underway inside 15 minutes. I intend to run the game each day at 11:00 and 14:30, with an upper limit of 2 hours of play, which will be enough to decide the battle one way or the other.

So... if you are going to Colours and fancy a game, please drop me a line at simonmiller60 AT gmail.com, and I'll book you in for one of the 4 sessions. I can accommodate up to six players at a time, so please bring your friends!

Tuesday, 3 September 2013

Thapsus goes to Partizan!

On Sunday I had a pre-dawn start up to Newark for Partizan.  I had a nice clear drive up the A1 in my new-ish war wagon. As my games get bigger, I find that the task of loading and unloading everything is getting more taxing... and this year it was quite a job!  


I eventually got the boards set up, ate a bacon butty, and John arrived and helped me to set up the troops. The above view (all photos are clickable) is from the salt-lake side, across the isthmus, towards the sea at the rear. The more numerous Pompeians and their Numidian allies are on the left, and Caesar's legions on the right. There is a light scattering of scrub and olive trees, but no terrain that will impact the battle.


Here's the view from the sea wing. I eventually decided to name the ship "Venus", after Caesar's patron goddess (and the scurrilous song!).  Hilariously, Dug kept forgetting to move it, but brought its ballista into use by the end of the game.


Above is Caesar, beautifully painted by Andres of Einar Olafson, and received just before the game. He's a conversion using Foundry, Aventine and Warlord parts, and I'm going to paint a standard bearer to accompany him.

Later Dug, Dr Phil and his son Tim arrived, and we were quorate to kick the game off. A brief run through the rules (the Lite version of my own "To the Strongest!" set), and we were off! The players looked a little slack-jawed when the first unit was destroyed, within 30 seconds of play commencing. Shortly after this, I demonstrated why it is important to remember to move one's elephants... in a blue-on-blue incident, mine rampaged back through two of my units and trampled my general to death.  The 3 Aces are my failed saving cards.


On the other wing, however, Tim's elephants performed prodigies and smashed deep into the enemy lines (below).


This enabled us to turn the flank of Caesar's legions, but unfortunately they had done much the same to us on my other wing.  Below, playing cards are used to activate units and resolve combat.  The first time I've not needed to take dice along to a game!


Below is a shot of the clash of legionaries in the centre. Several cohorts eventually managed to turn onto the flanks of other cohorts.


I estimate that  we managed to only get 2-3 hours or so of play in during the whole day, as we started late, chatted to lots of people, did some shopping, took pictures of other games and so forth, so we didn't quite finish the game.  Caesar was ahead at the end, though, but not by as much as on the day in 46 BC, so, in that sense, it was a moral victory for Scipio.   Below is a shot of the late-game carnage; I was running out of places to put my casualties!


We had a great day, so thanks to Dug, John, Dr. Phil, Tim and Craig, who played, and a big hello to everyone who called by to have a look!  Especial thanks to Dug for his photos, and John for helping me pack up at the end.  Dr Phil and John had some useful suggestions for rules tweaks.  Oh, and huge thanks to the Partizan crowd for being such great hosts!  

Monday, 2 September 2013

A few shots of Partizan...

Yesterday I took my Thapsus game to Partizan.  I had a great time, but not nearly enough spare time to get around all the games.  Below are a few that were near to our table.  Tomorrow, I'll post some shots of our game.


The Bunker's Operation Thunderball (Entebbe raid) game was stunning.  Those aircraft were even bigger than they look here!  There was some lovely craftsmanship in this game.


Below, the Ugandan airforce.


And finally, the terminal building.


I'd love to play this scenario, someday, to see if the rules mechanics are as good as the modelling!

Next, we have David Imrie's Roman game based on "The Eagle of the Ninth", I think.  The minis are terrain were painted to an exceptional standard.


The fort, below, is one of Touching Histories; I have its twin.


And finally a War of the Spanish Succession game that Goat Major and LT from WD3 were running.  Lovely minis...


...and the Belgian town was to die for.  But what's that in the main street?  ;-)


The venue seemed very busy, and the event well run.  It was an enjoyable day and I ran into quite a few people I know, largely from previous trips to Kelham.  Partizan remains quite my favourite show!

Saturday, 31 August 2013

Thursday, 29 August 2013

Beach II


This is the sea flank for Sunday's Thapsus game.  The unfinished beach is at the back, and the sea darkens as it gets deeper, and is lighter near the shore as it shelves up to the beach.   I'm in the process of coating it with many layers of Gloss Acrylic varnish.  I'm hoping this will work almost as well as Yacht Varnish, without the strong smell of the latter, as I need to apply it indoors.  Seems to be working so far; it's starting to look "deeper".  I've also made a couple of darker-looking river boards, for use on the swamp flank.

I also finished the final reed-bank section last night, so they are good to go.  In fact I find myself quite close to being ready for the game...

(Note to future-self- the sea is Crown Matt emulsion Laguna Bay Feature Wall, shaded with a little Dulux Sapphire Salute, and Buff Titanium near the shore.   On the river boards I mixed in some Dulux Enchanted Eden and Brown Umber, and a little Army Painted Strong tone in every coat of the varnish).

Wednesday, 28 August 2013

Le WS&S 68 est arrive


It looks very interesting, not least because it includes this blogger's own spread on Caesar vs. Scipio; the Battle of Thapsus (page 24). I note that there is also an article by BatMate Roger Murrow, on Leipzig, and a bonus piece about his Leipzig re-fight, and several other very promising looking articles... If you don't have a copy on its way in the post, you can buy it here.