Saturday, 10 June 2017

ECW 2


Terrible photo but the ECW minis are coming on- I now have 60 "under the brush". The chaps on the left will be Royalists and the right, New Model Army. Two things I have learned thus far:-
  1. ECW minis are not faster to paint than ancients; especially musketeers.
  2. One needs to do a bit of research to get them right, there's more to them than there might as first appear...

Friday, 9 June 2017

Normans

I'm going to try to get back to two or three posts a week. Here are some Normans that Shaun McTague painted and which I've detailed. I plan to produce a good-sized Norman army and a Byzantine army to fight it- probably next year, though, as the ECW will take priority. Most of the minis are Crusader, with some from the newer Foundry range and a few GB veterans at the back.


Tuesday, 6 June 2017

Opening a new front...

I'm sorry for the recent lack of posts- I've been very busy writing "For King and Parliament" for release late this year and it's cut right across my blogging time. I still have loads of units that I completed for the last WHC gig in april that I've not photographed and posted, and a fair bit of other stuff, since.

In the meanwhile, here are some English Civil War minis which I've just repainted from eBay purchases, still on their painting blocks. I am assembling a generously-sized ECW army for a demo game at Salute next year. They are better than they look in the photo; will look great, based.


Also on my painting trays are three elephants, a unit of Galatian horse, a hundred or so Normans and half a Florentine army. I need to recover my focus...

Friday, 19 May 2017

Nellie news

Aventine have produced some new ride on crew for their new resin elephants, and Keith kindly sent me some photos which I reproduce here. 







These are really great minis- all the heads are separate so it is possible to introduce extra variety. I plan to mount my crewmen on magnets so that I can interchange them with Indian riders; my elephants will be able to do double service, under Poros. It may also be possible to mount a howdah on the same magnets, which will give even more uses for them. Excited, I am!

Wednesday, 17 May 2017

Edgehill at Partizan

On Sunday at Partizan (the excellent wargames show in Newark) Andrew Brentnall and I will be running a participation game of our forthcoming "For King and Parliament" ECW rules. We have spaces for players- if you'd like to book a 90 minute game, please drop me a line via https://bigredbatshop.co.uk/pages/about-us ). Alternatively, just stop by for a chat!



The game will feature Andrew's 12mm collection, but I'll be bringing some 28's along, too.


We very much hope to see you there!

Sunday, 23 April 2017

In-action shots of Raphia at Salute

Yesterday at Salute I was so busy failed to take a single photo, but happily chum Ian shot some lovely pics of our game. Most of the photos were shot during play and you may be able to make out chits, playing cards and ghostly hands, here and there.

The Egyptian phalanx- massed machimoi in the foreground.
The rather smaller Seleucid phalanx

Seleucid horse and elephants charge

Silver shields to the left rear

View from the dunes on the flank

Arabs- far from being the toughest unit on the table, but one of my personal favourites.

Almost 1K phalangites in this battle

The whole enchilada
 
A Ptolemaic "African" - they struggled against their larger adversaries

Ptolemaic xystophoroi

Clash of the  battle lines

Another African

Medes

Greek mercenaries on the Ptolemaic right

Ptolemaic guard (in the background)


Echecrates' Thessalians hold the Ptolemaic right
Galatian nudists in Ptolemaic service


Huge thanks to the team who worked so hard to set out  run the game- Ian Notter, Andrew Brentnall, Shaun McTague, Mike Brian, Mark "WHC" Freeth and Chris Cornwell. Many of the minis were painted by Shaun McTague and Craig Davey and some by Nick Spelller- hi Nick! The minis are a mixture of Foundry, Polemarch, Crusader and others. Most of the elephants are lovely Aventines.

Many thanks to the players- too- who really seemed to enjoy themselves! The first game was played in just over an hour, which absolutely astonished me and must be some kind of record for a 1600 mini game. The Seleucids won both games, although Antiochus was killed in the second one which was, therefore, something of a Pyrrhic victory.

Salute was a great show- although the venue is somewhat impersonal its meeting the people and many friends that makes it, for me. The Warlords organisation this year was extremely efficient and professional. A big hi! to every one I chatted with and to everyone I missed!  

On a final note, I have extended the current "To the Strongest!" rules sale to midnight tonight, for people who saw the game and want to buy a set with a 25% discount (or anyone else for that matter!). You can find them here:

Tuesday, 18 April 2017

Raphia at Salute 2017


On Saturday I'm taking Raphia to Salute; I hope to see as many of you as possible, there! 

We will be on stand GG08 which is a great central location! I'll be running it as a participation game- once at 11AM and again at 2PM.  If you fancy playing, please mail me at simonmiller60 (a t) gmail (d o t) com and I'll book you in.


In other news, I currently have a 25% off sale on the rules- if you don't already have a set, you can find them here!  I won't be selling anything at the show- will be far too busy chatting.  :-)