Wednesday, 6 May 2015

Crimson and bronze II


I seem to have painted/repainted an entire unit of 27 Spartans in six nights, which is about as fast as I have ever manages. It was a lot of fun and so I've decided to paint enough to round out one more unit, and some lights. Curiously not one but both of the part-painted units I purchased on eBay had the Spartan lambdas painted upside down!  :-)

In other news I've bought a small Aventine Oscan army on eBay that I intend to round out later this year into a good-sized force. I've arranged to buy another mate's collection of Athenians, so I should be able to open up some new wargaming fronts in the autumn.

Sunday, 3 May 2015

Crimson and bronze


I've been working hard on an extra Spartan phalanx for my trip to the Wargames Holiday Centre on May 15th through 17th. I am planning two games involving Spartans; one with the Spartans meeting Antipater in the field for the famous "Battle of Mice" and the other Pyrrhus' siege of Sparta. The other three games will involve various flavours of Romans and their enemies. No previous knowledge of the "to the Strongest!" rules is required. If you fancy coming up for a day or the whole weekend, please drop me a line and I'll put you in touch  with Mark.

Tuesday, 28 April 2015

Getting back on the bike.

It was great meeting so many friends at Salute, and I'll post about that tomorrow, when I have more time. Today, however, I am getting the copies of To the Strongest! ready for posting tomorrow and also prepping some Spartans for one of the games I'll be running at the Wargames Holiday Centre on the weekend 15th - 17th May

Painting permitting, I plan to make one of the four or five games I'll run Pyrrhus' siege of Sparta.  Some of these fine chaps will form an additional phalanx and others will man Sparta's improvised wooden wall of wagons. The minis at the top are being repainted from various eBay purchases; mate Nick is painting some more for me. Happily Spartans are easy to paint!

Friday, 24 April 2015

To the Strongest has landed!


...just in the nick of time for Salute.  Phew!  The print quality looks very good, and I am rather chuffed to put it mildly. A huge thank you to all those who helped get me to this point! Now I just need to introduce Mrs. Bat to the new warehouse facility in our hallway, and schlep half a tonne of books, minis and boards to Excel.

If you'd like to pick a copy at Salute, you can still pre-order from my shop- I'll refund postage costs

http://bigredbatshop.co.uk/collections/all/wargames-rules

and collect from Agema Miniatures (TE11), or just turn up with twenty quid on the day at either the Agema miniatures stand or Caliver Books (TL11).

Orders for delivery by post will go out next Monday/Tuesday.

Thursday, 23 April 2015

Furiously flocking


Today I am furiously flocking my new terrain boards for the Cremona game at Salute on Saturday! Here I'm applying corn-stubble to a couple of fields and adding patches of long grass to break the flatness of the boards up.  It's a lovely sunny day and I'm playing '70s rock.  :-)

Tuesday, 21 April 2015

Eagerly anticipating Salute


Sid and Nancy (above) are eagerly anticipating the Cremona 69AD at Salute.

My game is just about the furthest game from the Salute entrance (see map below). When you come in, don't get caught up in the crowds near the entrance- stroll purposefully along the central aisle, past the stage, looking neither to your left nor your right (blinkers might help here) until you reach the far seating area. Cremona will be the game just to your right, with the bridge and all the Romans. And Sid and Nancy.


If you are collecting a set of the To the Strongest! rules that you have pre-ordered, they can be found at the Agema Miniatures stand TE11 (the black asterisk above), Greg will have a list. You can pre-order the rules or buy them on the day, too.

Sunday, 19 April 2015

River boats


Here is a small squadron of newly-painted river boats for my Cremona game on Saturday, when the will be carrying a commando gladiator raiding party.  

Later on, I will add seating and some German style rowers on benches that I am sculpting, and I will hopefully be able to play some riverine games.  I have a nice cataphract liburnian from Thomas Foss that will provide suitable Roman opposition.