Sunday, 13 September 2015

More Vandals!

These are my second and third units of Vandals, this time painted by Shaun Watson (Redzed).


The first unit (above) are armoured "heavies" and the second unit (below) are unarmoured. The only change I made to Shaun's minis was to give a few the excellent Goth transfers from Little Big Men studios, many of which are based on the designs of Late Roman units. I've mounted them on deeper bases (67mm deep - five such units can fit in a 4L Really Useful Box).


Vandals are likely to have had short beards with many having long blonde hair. I really need to get going on some Vandal foot soon. I pe that these units will eventually fight the projected Aventine early Byzantines.

For my To the Strongest! rules I've created a pair of Vandal lists, because the proportion of cavalry seems to have increased steadily after they crossed the frozen Rhine in late 406 CE - by the time Belisarius whupped them in 533 CE they certainly had a very substantial cavalry contingent. I've just edited both lists and they can be downloaded for free from here.

This week I've been recovering from Partizan and sculpting tack and armour onto my Aepycamelus minis, of which more anon.

Lastly, my next gaming outing is at SELWG on Sunday 11th October, where I'll be running (as ever) a big game - Antiochus Soter's 278 BCE "Elephant Victory" over the Galatians. If anyone is coming to SELWG and would like to play (or better still help) please drop me a line as soon as possible!

Wednesday, 9 September 2015

Ecce! Lasiurus egregius!


Behold the BigRedBat! This lovely stand of Asterix-style Romans was unexpectedly presented to me on Sunday by the Newark Irregulars, as a very generous counter-gift to a baboon I donated for their Keren game. For the curious, the BigRedBat tag is a reference to a model I made back in '02. The minis are lovely and will provide a garrison for my Roman camp in many games to come!

Luckily Tabletop Mog was present to record the very instant of presentation in his below action shot (from the left: the left half of Steve Jones, the eponymous Bat in tasteful shirt being presented with model, James Morris and Scrivs. 


I've not had enough time since returning to get my pictures of our collective "Arthur and Maximus" game together. However Scrivsland has some great pictures of the game and the other excellent games at Partizan, and Wargames Illustrated took some beautiful photos too. Hopefully in  a few days I'll have time to do a post.

The last Kelham Partizan was a memorable event.  It was great to meet so many friends new and old including the Newark lads, Muswell mate Ian; TtS! stalwarts including John Thompson, Dave Lycett, Mark Emms and Simon Wilson; paint-gods David Imrie and Andres Amain, Jack Glanville, Darrell Hindley, Bunker Shaun, Meeples Nigel, Craig Daisho Cartmell, Daniel "Glutter" Mersey, Harry Sidebottom and Tom, WS&S Guy, WI Daniel and all the others (many apologies) who I've forgotten (I'm dreadful with memory, especially names and faces). Tricks and Laurence did their usual super organisational job. The next Partizan will be at Newark Showground on 22nd May 2016, one for the diary!

Friday, 4 September 2015

Vandali


These stunning Footsore Miniatures Goths were mostly painted by mate Saxon Dog and originally served in a small Arthurian army. I have exchanged the shields, retouched, rebased and painted a couple more to join them (sadly rather less well) and they have become the first unit of a new Vandal army, of which more anon. Below are a couple of close-ups of David's stunning painting; they are clickable.



There will be a Vandal force in one of my games at the Wargames Holiday Centre in November.

Wednesday, 2 September 2015

Maximus and Arthur


Newark Irregulars and BigRedBat proudly present...

Maximus & Arthur

Two battles from either end of the Arthurian era!


Around twenty years ago, we started gaming the Age of Arthur armed with Bernard Cornwell books, Foundry and Gripping Beast miniatures and boundless enthusiasm for an unpopular period. Games at Partizan always fired our imaginations. Our table this Sunday 6th September will feature two battles, separated in time by perhaps 150 years, featuring models from the collections of Steve Jones, Martin Hogg, James Morris and myself. I will be running the games using my ‘To The Strongest!’ rules. If you'd like to play (and haven't mailed me already) please drop me an email at the address on the left. We will run each game twice, AM and PM, lasting around 90 minutes or so. No previous experience of To the Strongest! is required.

Magnus Maximus against the Picts, c. 380 AD

Magnus Maximus, a Spaniard, was the first of a line of soldier-emperors to build upon a British power base.  In 383, he took an army from Britain, crossed to Gaul, and defeated and killed the Emperor Gratian.  Prior to his usurpation of the imperial throne, it is believed that he mounted a campaign against the Picts to subdue the area north of the wall, and it is this we imagine in this first game.  The villa is perhaps geographically unlikely, but nothing says ‘Fall of the Empire’ quite like a crumbling Roman estate…

Arthur against the Saxons: The Battle at Fort Guinnion, c. 530 AD

"The eighth battle was in Guinnion Fort, and in it Arthur carried the image of the holy Mary on his shield, and the heathen were put to flight on that day, and there was great slaughter upon them’ – Nennius

This game is a more conjectural affair following a traditional (if unprovable) theme of Britons vs. Saxons!  The warlord Arthur is giving battle to the invading Saxons of Cerdic somewhere in lowland Britain, near the Fort of Guinnion (forts and rivers being the most likely locations for battles in this period).  The Britons are bold, chivalrous and Celtic, the Saxons numerous, ferocious and unwashed: who will win?


The beautiful command stand above was painted by David Imrie and is the new pride of my collection! David used him as King Arthur, but I will use him as Magnus Maximus, the late fourth century usurper to the Western Imperial throne, who led the armies of Britannia onto the continent in an attempt to take Rome. David individually highlighted each scale on the barding... bonkers. I've merely rebased Maximus onto a round command stand as he will be a detached general in my rules.

Tuesday, 1 September 2015

Equites Catafractarii Iuniores


This is my sister unit to last week's clibanarii; these are the Equites Catafractarii Iuniores, a Vexillationes Comitatenses unit under the control of the Comes Britanniarum. Unusually, I painted most of these myself some years back; I have just "tarted them up" a bit including rebasing and giving them new bling-y lances. They can deploy in line or cuneus.


Sunday, 30 August 2015

Equites quarti clibanarii Parthi


These superb cataphractoi were painted by Shaun Redzed Watson, who very kindly sold them to me last year. I have rebased them and named them after one of the units from the Eastern empire, the Fourth Parthian Clibanarii. We don't know exactly how clibanarii differed from cataphractoi. In my armies, the eastern clibanarii will ride half-armoured horses, 'cos that's how the minis came!


The basing is a bit of a departure for me; instead of the normal 3 bases for  a units, I have divided them into 2, so that they can either form a deep wedge or a line as I choose. 

I am really delighted with them!  It is very likely they will be on the table next Sunday at Partizan for the very large game that I'm putting on with James Morris, Steve Jones, Scrivs and Mog. If you are coming to Partizan and fancy playing, please drop me a line!

Monday, 24 August 2015

Sanctus Germanus

Saint Germanus was the Bishop of Auxerre who visited Britannia in the 5th Century to combat an outbreak of Pelagian heresy. Whilst there he supposedly led the Britons to defeat a large Saxon and Pictish raid in what is sometimes referred to as the Alleluia Victory.

I have re based these lovely figures painted by Shaun Watson (Redzed) as a command stand for a projected Arthurian-era Romano-British force. I believe the minis  are Westwind, and the stand itself is half round, designed to be placed in front of a unit as an attached general in TtS! terms.

It would be fun to have a mini campaign with a fervent continental bishop wandering around Britain, suppressing heresy and battling foreign invaders.