Tuesday, 23 September 2014
Laager II
Lousy photo, but all the wagons are primed black, and the bases have been grouted.
I've decided that the civilians in the wagons will be removable, so that I can used them for any laager-related need, from Sparta to Adrianople.
Saturday, 20 September 2014
Getting laagered-up
I've been to busy writing to do very much modelling, recently, but am trying to get back in the saddle. This is a revival of a truly ancient project, which I've been working on in a very desultory manner, since 2009.
Recently I've bought and assembled the additional models I needed to complete the project, and mate Nick Speller has painted all of the civilians for the wagons, so I have no more excuses for delay! These pieces will form a one metre length of laager. A second phase will be to incorporate the civilians who will man the wagons, and the third and final phase will be to built a camp to go behind them.
Some of the models are from Irregular, and some from Front Rank. A couple of the old ones are Minifigs, c. 1975!
Tuesday, 9 September 2014
Pydna at Partizan
My brief tour of the Midlands culminated with our Pydna game at Partizan.
The Pydna Project was a joint venture between myself and friends Keith Branagh from Aventine, Craig Davey, David Imrie and his friend Jack Glanville, Dug Page-Scott, John Thompson, Shaun "Bunker" McLaughlin and Andrew Fielden, most of whom brought miniatures to the event.
I had initially planned a Zama-sized 1500-mini game, but the project spiraled upwards until we had 2,850 miniatures on the table on the day, recreating the battle at 1:30 scale. The phalanx (not including supports) was 2.8 metres wide, and 4-6 miniatures deep. David Imrie was kind enough to re-base his Roman legion in a similar style to those we already had, giving us the required 4 legions of around 200 miniatures each. Simon MacDowall kindly let me use the briefing and order of battle from his recent piece in Wargames Illustrated.
Here's a shot of the deployment (all pictures expand when clicked):
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| View down the phalanx, looking up the hill towards the legions |
I build the terrain, which was roughly 6 metres wide by 1.6 metres deep, with a nearly invisible grid. To recreate the slopes of Mount Olocrus upon which the Roman formed up, I jacked up the rear nine boards by 130mm and supported it underneath with timber and Really Useful Boxes, so that a giant slope ran the entire length of the battlefield.
Here's a link to a 30 second video showing the table after deployment; this is too good to miss!
Here's a link to a 30 second video showing the table after deployment; this is too good to miss!
The rules we used were my "To the Strongest!" set (to be published in November), which I originally designed to play large games at shows. I was able to shout (!) the basics across the table to the players in around 15 minutes, and field questions as they went along. We didn't need to consult the rules. The game took 3 hours and ten minutes to come to a suitably bloody conclusion.
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| Mid battle |
The Macedonians attacked fiercely from the outset, all along the line. From my position on the Roman right (assisting a 13 year old tyro called Solomon), I could see that the Keith's Macedonian Agema were making fast progress, successively carving their way through Dug's velites, hastati and principes. There were some local Roman successes, with Solomon pushing forward with the Numidian elephants.
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| The killer taxis |
However Aventine Keith managed to kill a unit of triarii and get a taxis of the Macedonian guard phalanx (above) to the top of the hill, turn it through 90 degrees (not easy) and march through the rocky terrain at the top of the hill (not at all easy) to kill the four more units of triarii (pretty darned difficult) required for a Macedonian victory.
We all had a terrific day and it was great to catch up with friends made at previous Partizans and through blogging. An especial thanks to everyone who helped with setup and knock-down! My hat goes off to Richard and Laurence for organising the event, and dealing efficiently with the curve-ball delivered by the Kelham owners (an unexpected stage in the main hall).
Onwards to the next big game; perhaps Magnesia?
Sunday, 7 September 2014
Kent 55BC
A short video of a game I played today with Scrivs and Mog, to show them my " To the Strongest" rules. Mog's legion was roughly handled by the Britons, but managed to hold on (barely) until relieved by Caesar and the Xth.
I also played a game of Chain of Command with Scrivs lovely minis and terrain, the report is here. Thanks for a great day! Very nice curry supper with Saxon Dog and friends, too. Off to bed for a dawn start...
Wednesday, 3 September 2014
Pydna 168 BC at Partizan on Sunday
I am in the final stages of preparing for our Very Large Pydna 168BC battle to be fought at Partizan Wargaming and History in Newark on Sunday. Pydna was the last hurrah of the Macedonian army, and the Roman General Lucius Aemilius Paullus apparently suffered from nightmares about their phalanx for the rest of his life!
With 2500+ 28mm miniatures, I hope that this will be one of the largest ancient wargames ever played. We could do with four or five more generals (we ideally need a dozen), so if you are coming to Partizan and have 2 hours or so free, please drop me a line! Previous ancients experience is not essential, and I'll teach you the simple rules on the day.
Monday, 1 September 2014
Back from the Wargames Holiday Centre
Had a very enjoyable long weekend in Basingstoke gaming with a fine bunch of chaps at the Wargames Holiday Centre, near Basingstoke. Much lead was shifted, and fun had. Not a lot of photos were taken though. :-(
The below is of a game I am using to teach the rules and to test the maniple vs. legion mechanics for our Pydna game on Sunday. Watching the phalanx struggling up Mount Olocrus was a lot of fun. The Roman velites were particularly effective at discomforting the Macedonians.
Another battle was Megalopolis 331BC, AKA "The Battle of Mice". This was weighted in favour of the Macedonians, but the Spartans made them work very hard for their victory in both games.
The third of 5 was a battle in Kent in 55BC, with Caesar trying to rescue his ambushed foragers. He succeeded once, and failed once. I made good use of the WHC's very large tables and terrain boards for this one.
Alas I have no photos of the other two games. I was very happy with the way the rules worked, and took away some useful suggestions. But boy, am I knackered! :-)
Monday, 25 August 2014
Legio Secunda Britannica
These are the last of the figures from Craig Davey, which I've supplemented and based to form the greater part of a Late Roman legion. The Secunda Britannica (or the Secundani) were the descendants of the old British II Augusta legion that had been based in Caerleon for much of its history. In the Late Roman period they may have been withdrawn to Gaul to deal with the various crises on the frontiers.
This legion has two units of accompanying light infantry, one of javelinmen and one of archers.
I really like the conversion that Craig did on the light infantryman, giving him the trumpet from a cavalryman. All of the shields are hand painted; I was reasonably successful at matching Craig's style. Later I will need to paint another 24-man unit, because I want the legion to be twice the strength of my auxiliary units, and a command stand. This will involve a lot of work, on account of the shields, of which I can only paint 3 or 4 in an evening. With the new units and the cavalry I now have a quite respectable Late Roman army, and am going to spend a little time touching up the Picts who they will be fighting.
Saturday, 23 August 2014
Equites Honoriani Seniores
The Equites Honoriani Seniores are the first of four units of Late Romans that my friend Craig Davey very kindly sold me earlier this year, that I've recently based. The photo is clickable.
The Honoriani Seniores are a vexillationes comitatenses cavalry unit, briefly discussed on Luke Ueda-Sarson's excellent Notitia Dignitatum site. Their shield design features a pair of blue wolves (or bears). Some suggest that they may have been recruited from Taifals, a Germanic tribe defeated and settled within the empire. They appear under the Gallic field army, but were seconded to the Comes Brittaniorum.
Craig did a lovely job on these, including hand-painting the shields. They form a very timely reinforcement for my Late Roman army, which will be out for a run at the Wargames Holiday Centre next weekend, when they will (perhaps) be giving my Picts a good kicking.
Friday, 22 August 2014
Chairman of the board
Today I've managed to cut and paste green flocked paper onto the additional 15 MDF boards I need for our unfeasibly large Pydna game at Partizan. When combined with my existing boards, they will form an 18' by 5'4" table.
My joy at pasting these together is slightly confined by the fact that I have realised that they are in two subtly different colours; some in spring green, and some in autumn. I'm hoping that this discrepancy won't be especially obvious, within the Stygian gloom of Kelham Hall. ;-)
Thursday, 21 August 2014
Allied Hastati (and Legion) finished!
These are the Aventine Allied Hastati I was working on before my holidays. I decided to spend some extra time on them, to bring them up to my current standard. This included retouching, replacing some of the shields and partially re-basing them.
I also based up a very nice Aventine general and aide from Shaun (Redzed) to command the legion, which is now complete (and only 4.5 years late for Zama at Bletchley). Better late than never! :-)
Their first proper outing will be at the Wargames Holiday Centre, on Saturday/Sunday week, where I want to blood them and also test out the mechanic for pike vs. pila that we will use for the huge Pydna game at t'other Partizan on the 7th September.
I gather that Mark Freeth still has some one and two day places for the second Ancient Rome at War weekend on 30th/31st August, so please drop him a line if you fancy yourself as a budding Scipio!
Tuesday, 19 August 2014
Trees of Trasimene
I have just come back from a very enjoyable holiday in the Umbria area of Italy, to the east of Rome I took the opportunity to take some shots of the countryside, as in the future I might want to model the scenery for a future Battle of Lake Trasimene, or fighting in the area in later periods.
The scenery today is divided between flat-bottomed valleys, devoted to agriculture and ideal for warfare, and steep heavily wooded hills. The shot below depicts the view that Hannibal's Celtic allies might have seen down towards Lake Trasimene, although the plain at the bottom is probably rather wider and better drained than in 217BC. Moreover, it was misty on the morning of the battle.
The trees are interesting. On the hills there are many deciduous trees, including oaks, that would be readily familiar to British audiences. Intermixed with these, however, there are exotic conifers that give a very characteristic view to the landscape, and which would make a model battlefield look very authentic. Some of these are shown below. A note of caution; some tree species such as the poplar have been developed since Roman times, but I believe the below would have been around back then.
My favourite Italian tree-type is the pencil-thin Cypress (two shown, above left). One can't have too many of these; they look particularly fine along a ridge-line. The taller the better. The pine on the right was also rather common and suitable models are readily available from China, on eBay.
My favourite Italian tree-type is the pencil-thin Cypress (two shown, above left). One can't have too many of these; they look particularly fine along a ridge-line. The taller the better. The pine on the right was also rather common and suitable models are readily available from China, on eBay.
The Umbrella Pines (above) are majestic trees, with a most unusual appearance. I'm hoping to be able to convert some model trees to resemble these.
There are huge numbers of olive trees, often neatly laid out on a grid. The silvery green leaves are very hard to imitate, though.
There are huge numbers of olive trees, often neatly laid out on a grid. The silvery green leaves are very hard to imitate, though.
Here is the modern shoreline of Lake Trasimene. Modern Italians frolic in the sun where their ancestors fought and died; and who can blame them? It was a lovely day.
Finally above is a shot of the reed banks just along the shore of the lake. The reeds are perhaps 1.5m high. The shore to the right of the Roman column would have been very marshy. Some Romans waded out into the water, neck deep, in an attempt to escape, only to be hunted down by the Carthaginian cavalry.
I'm clearly going to need a whole lot more trees! :-)
Umbria is a beautiful region and I can heartily recommend it for a sunny rural holiday, with great food and historical cities.
I'm clearly going to need a whole lot more trees! :-)
Umbria is a beautiful region and I can heartily recommend it for a sunny rural holiday, with great food and historical cities.
Saturday, 9 August 2014
Wargames Bloggers Quarterly
The Wargame Bloggers Quarterly (WBQ) is a FREE community driven electronic magazine (PDF e-Zine) composed of the best wargames and miniature painting content from the collective blogosphere.
The purpose of the WBQ is to help promote wargaming and miniature painting and ensure that the best material generated by participants in the hobby is available to the wider community in the long term.
Any individual is free to submit content to WBQ for publication. Submissions may not have been published in any other e-Zine, printed magazine or other publication to prevent copyright infringement (with the exception of the author's own personal blog). All content remains the copyright of the author at all times and will be fully credited upon publication.
If you want to know more about WBQ you can read our charter here or you can contact the current Editor-in-Chief via email on wargamebq@gmail.com.
Important: WBQ is specially designed for tablet and/or PC viewing and contains high-resolution images and other content that look great when zoomed in or viewed full page. Make sure you download your copy rather than view it online to get the very best experience!
- Volume One - Issue One - August 2014 (PDF - 25Mb)
Thursday, 7 August 2014
Allied Hastati and Triarii
This is a (clickable) work in progress shot of the hastati and triarii of my allied legion. These lovely Aventine figures all date back to the 2010 Zama game, and, unusually, most were painted by me. I've retouched them, and replaced some of the shields. This legions is going to have a "horse" theme, with some careful use of LBMS transfers. Now they just need some matt varnish, and a little work on the bases. Once that is done, the allies will be complete.
Wednesday, 6 August 2014
Partizan in the Park Video
An excellent video of the games at the recent Partizan in the Park, from the chaps at Wargames Illustrated. It is very interesting to see closeups of the games I didn't have time to see properly on the day. The standard of the games was exceptionally high! I love the terrain on the fist game; I'm going to need a whole lot more terrain for my expanded Cremona.
Tuesday, 5 August 2014
Allied Principes
Today is the turn of the allies. These two units are the Allied Principes, and I think they look even better than their Roman colleagues. They are of course Aventines and came from the brush of 2 different (unknown) painters, one of whom is very good. I did a little highlighting and shield work (LBMS shield transfers). All photos are clickable!
The figures are very animated and look very heroic, with their plumes and feathers. Below, I have a command stand for the legion, too.
Both of the legions are now nearly finished; I just need to "tart up" my own allied hastati, and base some miniatures that Shaun has painted for the Roman hastati. I will need to paint some Roman horse, too, but there's no time for that just now!
Monday, 4 August 2014
Pydna boards
... and they are literally boards at this stage!
I've four big boards and 9 smaller boards to cover with static grass sheet, and then add patches of flock, selectively. When finished, they will make an 18' by 5'4" table, which I'll use for various large games over the next year or so.
I've four big boards and 9 smaller boards to cover with static grass sheet, and then add patches of flock, selectively. When finished, they will make an 18' by 5'4" table, which I'll use for various large games over the next year or so.
Sunday, 3 August 2014
Principes
These lovely Aventine figures were painted by David Imrie and Shaun Watson (Redzed), and I'm very pleased to own them, as they are both far better painters than am I. Luckily, they had both used the same shield design.
Finally, here is the command stand; I absolutely love the Centurion, and what Shaun did with the crest. The two figures behind were painted by Nick Speller.
The new legions are coming on apace, and I may take them along to the Wargames Holiday Centre for the weekend there on 30/31st August. They will certainly be at t'other Partizan on 7th September.
Next... the Allied Principes...
Saturday, 26 July 2014
Res ad triarios venit
Or "It comes down to the triarii!"

The triarii were the reserve line of the Polybian legion, and if they needed to be committed, then it was a bloody battle that could go either way. These are lovely Aventine figures, that I bought beautifully painted from Shaun Watson (Redzed), do have a click to enlarge the photos. I've only needed to repaint the plumes to match the colour theme for this legion, and base.
These are part of a huge refight of the battle of Pydna, 168BC, that I'm working on for t'other Partizan, in Newark on 7th September. I'm collaborating with Keith and Adam from Aventine, the illustrious Saxon Dog, Craig Davey and others. This will be one to catch!
The other big wargaming project that I'm working on, in parallel, is my second "gig" at the Wargames Holiday Centre on the weekend of 30th/31st August. This time, I'm adding Spartans to the mix, and more Late Romans. The battles will be, tentatively:
The Battle of Mice 331BC
Kent 55BC
Tacfarinas’ Revolt AD17
Take the High Road c.350AD
Siege of Sparta 272BC
The Elephant Victory 273BC
Thapsus 46BC
Count Theodosius vs. the Barbarian Conspiracy 368 AD
Mark still has some spaces, but it is filling up quickly, I gather, so please do drop him a line, quickly, if you'd like to come along.
The Battle of Mice 331BC
Kent 55BC
Tacfarinas’ Revolt AD17
Take the High Road c.350AD
Siege of Sparta 272BC
The Elephant Victory 273BC
Thapsus 46BC
Count Theodosius vs. the Barbarian Conspiracy 368 AD
Mark still has some spaces, but it is filling up quickly, I gather, so please do drop him a line, quickly, if you'd like to come along.
Wednesday, 23 July 2014
Roman Consular Army WIP
Monday, 21 July 2014
Lago Trasimeno
Six months ago, we booked our holiday in Italy. The maps just arrived, and I find we are less than 5 miles from the north shore of Lake Trasimene! What are the odds of that? Especially with me in the middle of basing a Consular Roman army. :-)
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