Thursday, 1 January 2015

BigRedBat's 2014

For BigRedBat, 2014 was a year of much wargaming, even more painting and vast amounts of word-processing!

2014 highlights

Partizan in the Park was my favourite wargaming event of the year.There was a positively Churchillian vibe when the event had to be moved into tents at the last minute. On the day the sun shone and the atmosphere (and lighting) inside the tents was fantastic. It was a great game and I met lots of friends!


T'other Partizan was my second favourite gig of the year; me and a bunch of mates put an awful lot of lead on a table and refought the battle of Pydna 168BC. It looked good and it was a whole lot of fun! Perseus' phalanx reversed history when it managed to hack its way up Mount Olocrus. I also really enjoyed meeting Scrivs, Mog and the Wargames Illustrated crew.


On 28th November I published the "To the Strongest!" rules that I've developed to run games large and small. I'm pleased to report that these have sold very well, and I have a lot of plans to develop them next year, including a hard copy version in March and, hopefully, a Napoleonic version late in the year. If you've not picked up your set yet, you can find them here: http://bigredbatshop.co.uk/

2014 lowlights

The main (only?) 2014 lowlight was the unexpected and sad death of Allen Curtis. Allen was a brilliant chap to turn to when one had a question on anything "Ancients", and has left a very big hole in the heart of the hobby.

Scores on the doors

Last year I based 954 miniatures in 50 units. I had hoped to get a round 1,000 minis on bases, but in the event 954 feels like quite enough. Next year I resolve to base fewer miniatures! Anyhow, I'm running out of space to store the blighters.

Despite these prodigies of basing, the lead mountain grew by an alarming 559 unpainted miniatures, and now includes no less than 1,927 part-painted but un-based 28mm minis.  

Unexpected obsessions

Late in the year I suffered a very severe attack of my Spanish Ulcer. Consequently I barely based any ancients in November and December, but I do now have three divisions-worth of 1814 French Napoleonics. As yet virtually no artillery, though, and no opposition apart from a lonely dozen Prussians. And not enough time to take photos.

The pen is mightier than the sword

Due to the pressure of writing my rules, I have played fewer games myself this year than usual, and less time to blog. I shall try to fix that next year!

2015 plans

I'm going to run an extended version of the big Cremona game at Salute in April; this will mean painting Romans in considerable numbers and terrain building. I'll expect be doing something at both Partizans- not quite sure what, yet, but I would love to do a bigger game, even, than Pydna.  And a massive weekend of gaming at the Wargames Holiday Centre in May. And there is talk of a "To the Strongest!" competition in February... 

And finally, Happy New Year, everyone! I hope we all have a great 2015. May all your dice roll 6's, and none of your cards be Aces!

Wednesday, 24 December 2014

Merry Christmas, everybody!


We wish you a merry Christmas,
We wish you a merry Christmas,
We wish you a merry Christmas,
And a Happy New Year!

The very best to all my fellow bloggers and visitors! 
In 2015, may all your dice be sixes and none of your cards Aces.

Best, Simon


Friday, 19 December 2014

To the Strongest! Facebook Site

I have just set up a Facebook site for the rules, where I'll let people know all the latest developments, especially new army lists as they become available.  It can be found at:


In other news I have reorganised all the army lists so far into five separate "booklets" and an index. I will add more booklets over time, and some booklets will be later be subdivided.  So far I have:
  • Kingdoms of the East
  • Rise of Rome
  • Rome's Empire
  • Late Antiquity
  • Medieval
All of the booklets and the index are available for free download from the BigRedBatShop.  

I've added a half-a-dozen new lists over the last week (including Ptolemaics, Saxons and Normans), and expect to post some more shortly (Goths, Huns, Vandals etc).

Can I say a huge thank you to everyone who has bought a set of To the Strongest!  I am very pleased to say that I have sold a whole lot more sets than I had expected to by this stage, which is why I'm working so hard to get the most important lists published.  If there is a particular list you are after, please post in comments and I'll try to prioritise it.

I hope to have time to play a game, myself, in the first week of January; something a little different...

Tuesday, 9 December 2014

Men at work..

Over the next few days I'll be giving the BigRedBatCave a much-needed makeover.  Please bear with me whilst I do so!

If you have any difficulty viewing any part of the screen, please drop me an email or add a line in "comments".

Thanks, Simon

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!