Monday, 8 December 2014

Gratianenses WIP


I'm a little up against it, but had time to grab a couple of WIPs shot of my new Auxilia Palatina unit, which was mostly painted by Shaun Watson. I really like the animated poses of these Black Tree minis. Proper photos in a few days time.  Below, the bases are grouted ready for painting.


Regarding To the Strongest!, I am currently working on Alexander and the Successors, and have a couple of new lists available for free download from the BigRedBatShop (Rise of Macedon, Alexandrian Imperial).  

You might also like to look at one of the things that has been slowing me down, recently!

Wednesday, 3 December 2014

Leones to Gratianenses

Last night I repainted the shields on the "Leones Iuniores" as the Gratienses, as discussed in a previous post.  I also took the opportunity to reduce the width of the rawhide edgings and to weather them.  Here is the before...


And here is the after...


I'm pleased that they look sufficiently different to warrant inclusion in my Late Roman army.  Proper photos to follow when they are based.

On the "To the Strongest!" rules front, I have added several new armies to the free spreadsheet of army lists, including Germans, Dacians, Sarmatians and a "Rise of Macedon" list for the Armies of Phillip II and Alexander.  It can be found here.  I am pleased to report that the rules are selling well!

Monday, 1 December 2014

More fun with the Notitia

I've been looking at Luke Ueda-Sarson's excellent Notitia Dignitatum site, which is the site for the Late Roman shield design alficionado.

The good news is that there is a similar design to my other unit.  I hesitate to copy images from the site due to copyright, but the Gratianenses have a very similar shield design to what I thought were the Leones Iuniores.  It turns out that, due to the failings of a copyist back in days of yore, the names of some of the units most likely have the wrong names.  My Leones Iuniores are, in fact, probably the Leones Seniores. The Gratienses probably aren't the Gratienses, either, but someone else!  It is all fearfully complicated.  However it means I can retain both units, and can probably "fix" all of the shields in an evening's work. Tomorrow evening's work!  

Saturday, 29 November 2014

You wait years for one Leones Iuniores to come along, and then two arrive at once!

Whilst I was finishing the rules, my very own Spanish ulcer started playing up very badly, and I've not painted any ancients for a month.

Now, however, I'm slowly recovering and am going to base some lovely figures I bought off Shaun Watson earlier this year.  First, though, I want to repaint most of the helmets in steel, and weather the shields, so I have mounted them on temporary bases to facilitate this.


Shaun's unit are the Leones Iuniores.  But, I hear you say, surely BigRedBat already owns a unit of Leones Iuniores? (below)


Shaun's are so much better painted than the above unit that I painted myself, however, I just couldn't resist them.  I'll have two, and probably sell mine later on.  Or just maybe, there is another unit with a similar shield in the Notitia... I do recall some similar shield designs.  I shall have to take a look at Luke Ueda Sarson's excellent Notitia resource.

To celebrate their unpacking I have loaded a free, illustrated Late Roman Army List for my To the Strongest! rules into my shop.  It can be downloaded from here.  

Friday, 28 November 2014

To the Strongest is released!


Over the last few days I have written about the mechanics of the rules; today I'll talk briefly about what's contained within them.

The rules come in the form of a 68 page PDF, illustrated with many photographs of beautifully painted figures (including many by leading painters) and of games, small and large. Diagrams They can be printed off or run from a tablet, such as an Ipad. When run on a tablet, the many hyper-links enable players to navigate swiftly to the appropriate section of the rules.  

I've just launched the rules in my new eShop, the BigRedBatShop, as the modest price of £9.99! They can be found here, where you can also download a number of free army lists:


Next week I will get some army lists out, and hopefully have time to play a game, myself!

Thursday, 27 November 2014

To the Strongest D-1



The To the Stongest! rules cover a period of two thousand or so years of history, and thus require a generous number of types of unit to represent the various combinations of warriors and weapons encountered.  There are consequently twenty nine different unit types, which expand to thirty eight when variants are included.  Moreover, units can also be small, standard-sized or deep and veteran or raw, which gives a huge amount of wiggle room when it comes to modelling historical units.

Units have a save factor representing their armour, shields and drill.  This is expressed as 6+, 7+ or 8+, representing the card they need to play to save against a hit.  Some units have bonuses to their saves in certain situations; units with long spears, for example, gain a save bonus when charged by cavalry.  It is also possible to add additional gear; crossbowmen can have pavises, for example, and longbowmen optional falchions and mallets.

Some troops have unusual qualities; cataphracts, for example, save on a very low 6+ representing their very heavy armour, but may become disordered when charging or moving too fast.  Scythed chariots play a bonus to hit card when they charge two boxes.  And whatever you do, don't play an Ace when activating a cannon to shoot...

The most common missile weapons are the javelin and bow, although all of the usual suspects are present.  Unusually ammunition supply plays a part in the rules.  I wanted to created a model where skirmishers play a significant role at the beginning of a battle but decline in importance as it progresses.  Ammunition supply is also very important when modelling armies with a high proportion of shooters, such as Henry V's longbowmen.  Units typically have between two and four ammunition chits, and there is a small additional reserve in the baggage train. 

I have included points values for all the troop types, partly because they can be very helpful when building a couple of evenly-matched armies for an evening's play and partly for those people who want to play competitively.

Tomorrow I'll make a final post about the rules in general, and where to buy them from.


Wednesday, 26 November 2014

To the Strongest! D-2


I mentioned yesterday that I'd describe in outline how shooting and combat are tackled in the rules.

Firstly, the rules are quite decisive.  Most units only have two hits, and skirmishers, in particular, are only ever a single failed save away from destruction!  In fact it is not uncommon to see units of skirmishers perish inside the first thirty seconds of game play.  Formed units, however, have two or sometimes three hits and can attempt to rally if they are disordered by enemy action.

Shooting is very straightforward; units play a card to activate to shoot and a second card to hit.  If they hit, then the defender must play a card to save, usually requiring a 6, 7 or 8 depending upon its type. Veteran units save on a number one lower than the average.  

The sequence of a melee is as follows.  Once players are familiar with the rules, each melee is usually resolved inside ten seconds, amidst a flurry of playing cards. 
  1. Charge – the active player plays a card to activate a unit to charge.
  2. Evade – some defenders may be able to evade.  If the evade is successful and the box is now vacant, the attacking unit must advance in, and the melee is concluded.
  3. Attacker hits – if the charge was successful, the attacking player plays a to-hit card on his baseline, requiring either a 6+ or 8+ to inflict a hit, depending upon its type.
  4. Defender saves – if hit, the defending player must play a saving card on his baseline.  This card may sometimes be modified by terrain or other factors.  If the defending unit fails this save then it will be disordered or even lost, depending on its type.  If it is lost, and the box is now vacant, the attacking unit must move in, and the melee is concluded.
  5. Defender strikes back – if the defending unit has survived, and did not try to evade, then the defending player now attempts to strike back.  He does this by playing a to-hit card on his baseline, requiring a 6+ to 8+ to inflict a hit, depending upon its type and whether or not it is disordered.
  6. Attacker saves – If hit, the attacking player must play a modified saving card on his baseline.
There are also tactical factors that can effect saves; cover, for instance, or infantry standing to receive an uphill charge.

Tomorrow I will write about some of the different types of units encountered in the rules.

In other news, mates Scrivs and Mog played a very pretty Roman vs. Carthaginian game yesterday, and here are some links to their respective blogs: