Wednesday, 14 January 2015

World's Strongest

Plans for the first ever "To the Strongest Tournament!"proceed apace, and I'm just starting to think about the loan armies I'll be bringing along for anyone who needs to borrow one.  I am minded to paint and base the last couple of units I need to base to be able to field this army:


http://bigredbat.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/EIR2

We still have 2 places left for the tournament - if you are free on Saturday 7th Feb and can get to the Oxford area, please drop me a line at the address on the left and I'll book you in!  

Monday, 12 January 2015

Sable Clan

These are mate Ian Notter's Sable Clan.  The Sables ride and herd Sable antelopes across the plains of Prax, and are pro-Lunar, so we often use them as allies for a Lunar army. There is a lot of work in this army; Ian needed to drill and mount each horn onto each antelope, which I gather was neither a quick nor an easy job.  


Above are the bulk of the tribesmen. We treat the closer-formation cavalry as lancers, and the others as bow and javelin-armed skirmishers.  Below is a close-up of the Khan.



The Shaman, above, is summoning spirits, and the giant blue sable below represents the tribe's founder, who may return in time of extreme need, along with spirits.



Above is a view of their camp and a herd. There's a lot of detail in these- have a look at the sable children play-fighting, below, and the woman with papoose on the left.


I do hope you have enjoyed these.  In a few days I will post some photos of some of the small independent Praxian tribes.

Sunday, 11 January 2015

Bison Clan

There was a lot of interest in yesterday's Praxian post, so I thought I'd show some close-ups of Ian Notter's lovely collection of nomads (shot against the vintage "Nomad Gods" board game).  Today- the Bison clan.


Above the mass of bison riders, mostly mounted on Westwind bisons.  These weigh a ton!  Below is a close-up of the khan.



Above is the bison shaman and a summoned spirit and below the tribe's founder.



Above, bison herds.  I have an idea that these could be stampeded within the game, perhaps moving somewhat randomly.  Below is the bison camp.


I love the care that Ian put into these; almost every mini is a conversion, and the tepees are scratchbuilt.  Tomorrow I'll post photos of the Bison clan's Sable foes.

Saturday, 10 January 2015

Back to Prax

In days of distant memory, long before I got into Ancients, I used to do a lot of Gloranthan gaming with a group of friends known as the "Glorygeeks".  We used the Hordes of the Things rules, and later Command and Colors to run battles set in the Runequest world of Glorantha.

I thought it would be a lot of fun to get some of the old models out and try them with a slightly adapted version of my "To the Strongest!" rules. The majority of the figures are from Ian Notter's collection. It proved pretty easy to fit all of the troop types in- the Lunar mages of the Minor Classes became cannon, for example, and the Rhino Riders cataphracts. 

I played the progressive (=evil expansionist) Lunar forces, with their Sable rider allies, fighting against Ian's coalition of reactionary (=freedom loving) Praxian nomads.  My left consisted of the Sable riders; more skirmish-y than their Bison-riding foes, and moreover half of the heavier sables were "lost!" off table, to boot. Below the chief and his shaman look down from the hill upon a rather scary buffalo herd!  All photos are clickable.


My right had a screen of Lunar infantry (the Red Dragoons and Steel Sword Legion) protecting no less than three units of Minor Classes spell casters. You may be able to make out the summoned "Lunes" that will shortly be driving some of the nomads (and Ian) insane.  On either flank of the line are a pair of War Triceratops, with archer crew.  Opposite the mass of crimson soldiery is the lighter Praxian wing; Pol Joni horse-riders (looking very much like native Americans), the Pavis Royal Guard on their zebras, a combined unit of Ostrich riders and the virgin Yelnorans on their unicorns. On the hill are the Baboon Troop and some Rhino riders are in reserve.


I'll briefly describe the game.  In the first turn, the Praxians rode forward and fired a withering volley at the Lunars. The very first arrow...


...seriously wounded the Lunar commander, who retired form the field, calling for a healer. In the first Lunar turn the furious mages launched wave after wave of Lunes against the Praxians, and one unit after another was driven screaming from the battlefield (I was phenomenally lucky).  

    
To cut a long story short the ponderous Bison advance pushed the Sables back, and flanked them; it was looking pretty hairy on my left.  However the Lunars drove all before them and were threatening the Praxian camp, and the nomads decided to "leg it" whilst they still had a chance.  


My shooting and spell casting was incredibly lucky, not least because there is a roughly 1 in 12 chance of the mages (= cannon) driving themselves insane up each time they cast a spell! We had a very enjoyable game, washed down with a delightful bottle of Trivento Argentinian Malbec. After the game we have both started to plot expansions to our Praxian forces, of which more, anon.

As well as being a fantasy game, this was unusual because it was the first time we played with numbered chits, drawn from a cup, instead of playing cards. You may be able to make some out in the photo above. They worked really well and I'll start selling them from the To the Strongest! shop in the next week or so. 

Monday, 5 January 2015

The first ever "To the Strongest!" Tournament


A friend, Stephen Dover, is organising the first ever "TtS!" tournament called "The World's Strongest".

It will be a fun open competition using the “To the Strongest” Rules run in 28mm at 120 points (roughly a dozen medium sized units a side) on Saturday 7th February 2015.  It will be held at the Millstream Day Centre Benson, Oxfordshire, OX10 6RL, with registration from 9.00 AM for a 9:30 AM start. 

Everyone will get three games in during the day, so it'll be a great chance to see how the rules work. It isn't intended to be unduly competitive, more a fun day out with some limited death and destruction!

You can build an army using any of the free army lists in the TtS! shop:  to-the-strongest.myshopify.com  If there isn't already a list for your favourite 28mm army, I will write one for you. If you don't have a suitable 28mm army, I can lend you one of mine- I will be there purely to help with the umpiring (unless the numbers are odd, muwhaha...).

Entry costs £6, and if you are interested, mail me at the address on the panel just to the left of this post and I'll send you the full details, including Stephen's contact address. The Day Centre is a relatively small venue and we only have around a dozen places, so please book early to avoid disappointment!

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