Friday, 13 December 2013

Shipbuilding II


I've decided to revive an unfinished project from back in the summer, which is to convert the above Zvezda "Thomas" kit into a Roman trade ship. The hull is already assembled (and a fine hull it is, too; the quality is excellent), and next I need to start work on "Romanising" the the Medieval Superstructure. Watch this space...

Thursday, 12 December 2013

Not Magnesia!

Mate Ian came round last night, bringing his 15mm collection, and helped me play-test the latest version of my "To the Strongest" rules, including the first army lists.  I had decided I wanted to explore the Polybian legion, and the Seleucids, as I want to tackle Magnesia next year, or perhaps in 2015. We picked two armies of around 180 points each, and set to!


Ian has an extensive collection of 18mm minis, which we don't use often enough.  Above, we used around 300 minis to depict a Roman and an allied legion.  The game could have been played with around half of the minis we used, but more looked prettier!  The Roman camp is below; I made that.  



Ian's Xyston Successors (above and below) are stunningly well painted.  Ian's Seleucid army for the games included a couple of units of tough cataphracts, some scythed chariots, escorted elephants and a mass of Galatians.



My favourite shot of the game is the one above.  The Hastati and Principes were organised in units of 24, but with the elements staggered to look like maniples (Ian's idea; a good one!).  During the game, my legions piled into the phalanx, but weren't able to make much of an impression, although they came very close to breaking through towards the end of the battle.


Some Carthaginian chariots (proxying for scythed) almost saw my flank off.  Almost...


Ianichos piles on the pressure! I ran the game from a pdf version of the rules, on the iPad (right). I have come to prefer iPads to paper rules, especially when they have hyperlinks embedded in them.

It was a very enjoyable game, and nail-bitingly close.  I was ahead for much of it, but just couldn't kill the final unit I needed to slay, in order to win. Ian eventually caught up and his surviving elephant committed the coup de grace on my cavalry unit, for the win (below).


The rules worked out very well, and very little needs to be tweaked before the next game. The points values, used for the first time last night, seem to be quite well balanced.  Hopefully we'll get the next test game in, early in January!

If anyone would like a play-test copy (or a recently updated version if I've already sent you one), please do drop me a line at the address on the front of my blog.

Wednesday, 11 December 2013

BigRedBatCaveAnnex

Back in April, I managed to get a much needed wargames storage cupboard, built into an old laundry cupboard.  Today I (finally!) got around to fitting a shelf, and I've started to pack away the gaming boards that have, for several years, stood against the wall of my dining room.


It's rather more than 8' tall and will hold all of my 4' by 2' gaming boards, in 2 stacks, one above the other.  There should also be enough additional space in case I need to add a third set of gaming boards, down the line!

Tuesday, 10 December 2013

My painting table overfloweth


On the painting.basing tray, some of Saxon Dog's Foundry Perry EIRs have joined the Foundry Perry LIRs, Numidians and Greek cavalry, and the Aventine Polybians.  3 Roman periods on the go at once!  Now where are my A&A MIRs...

Monday, 9 December 2013

Batty

I came across an old photo of the eponymous Crimson Bat, that I built in 2004, and couldn't resist posting it!  Batty has a wingspan of around 30", and is a one of a kind.  I really need to get the old Gloranthan toys out, in 2015...


I've also attached some other photos showing how I made her.











I'd should also take some new photos of the finished model, to show her in her full majesty...

Saturday, 7 December 2013

The hills are alive, with a charge of static


Last week, I re-flocked my old, balding, terrain boards using my zapper. During this week's game of Longstreet, the new, improved boards made my one colour spring-green hills stick out like a sore thumb, so I have added two different blends of flock on the hills, too. I have found that a 4mm grass in a summer green works particularly well.

In the longer term, I intend to add more colours to the boards, and perhaps even patches of flowers, to break them even less uniform.

Friday, 6 December 2013

Forming up


I've been busy painting and basing this week, with nothing complete enough to post, in the last few days. However here are the WIPs, for what they are worth. Clockwise from the top:-

  • An extra base of Aventine Polybian cavalry
  • A Foundry late Imperial Legion, 6 figures completing an eBay purchase
  • A rhomboid formation of later (shielded) Thessalians
  • My twelfth (and final?) unit of Numidian horse
Eclectic, neh? After these are finished, I'll crack on with the Perry EIRs.  My 52 unit target is slipping away from me... :-(