Wednesday, 26 August 2020

To the Strongest! War of the Roses

 TtS WoTR.jpg (63.83KiB)

Chum Antony Spencer has designed some stunning new digital miniatures for an online TtS! Wars of the Roses campaign, which he will run starting on 7 September. It'll be similar in some respects to the very successful 1066 tournament we ran in the spring, but as well as the tournament element, the outcome of the battles will determine whether York or Lancaster triumphs n the wars.


To join in you'll need a reasonably capable PC, broadband and the Tabletop Simulator software available from Steam. Antony or I can help you with these and with the rules. The new Wars of the Roses mod can be found at https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2207109539.


If you'd like to take part, please email me at the address above and to the left, and I'll forward your details straight to Antony- or if you are on Discord you may be able to contact him directly. 

I suppose I'd better get some practice games in... :-)

Saturday, 22 August 2020

Going full Vauban

 


On a whim, I've bought myself a c.17th fortress. I have slowly been accumulating late c.17th minis and they need a secure base of operations!


This came from Germany, and mostly made from foam, with resin details. It's around 75cm square.

That gate needs some outworks- the whole fort does, really, earthworks and a ditch. It would also be nice to add a house for the governor.


I'm quite taken with it- with a little additional detailing, I think it will look very good on the table.


I particularly like the sentry points. 

The model came from More Terrain in Germany and was very reasonably priced. I'm really not sure how I'll use it- perhaps on the edge of a table at a show, just possibly in a siege.

Thursday, 13 August 2020

Burgundian pike

 

I've recently entered into a golden period of finishing minis, but haven't taken many pics, which I'll try to remedy over the next few days. Here is a unit of 48 Burgundian pike that has been on the back burner for 3 years or so. The first minis were painted by Lionel Bechara, but most were painted more recently by Shaun McTague. I finished them (highlights, shade washes) and added flags from the Perry box, which didn't look much on the page but which look great on the pole. The bases are FK&P6a's. Later, I'd love to add another 48 minis not in the Burgundian livery, but rather in various coloured uniforms with guild flags. 

At the moment I seem to be working on Swiss, Burgundian, Milanese, Venetian and Florentine armies, in parallel. :-/ I'm loving the Perry plastics.

Tuesday, 11 August 2020

New Ancient Army list eBook released

 


I've just released all of the TtS! ancient army lists in a new, free PDF format, replacing the original Excel format. The lists are now in a single eBook, instead of 8 separate booklets. The format is much more user friendly than before, with hyperlinks from a contents page that you can use to whizz around them. I also took the opportunity to edit the style of the lists and buff the spelling and grammar.

I think you will like them, You can order from here. Enjoy!

I hope to publish the equivalent Medieval army lists eBook by the end of August.

Wednesday, 29 July 2020

More long pointy sticks



A quickly-snatched picture of some Burgundians that I’m working on- mostly painted by Shaun McTague, with some by Lionel Bechara and a couple painted by me. I’m adding facial details, highlights and shading. 

This block will be 48 strong and will provide opposition for my Swiss (who are presently awaiting reinforcements). Later, I quite fancy adding some Low Country contingents, which often served in some Burgundian armies in the livery of their own cities, perhaps under guild banners, and which would help me to field Maximilian’s Hapsburg Burgundians.

Tuesday, 14 July 2020

Switzers II


I've finished up most of the remaining minis for the first two Swiss keils- adding a highlight and matt ink wash over Shaun's painting. I now just need the final 2 dozen pikes, the flags and some new bases that I've had designed for the project. In the meanwhile, I will base the 18 skirmishing arquebusiers and a command stand, which will help clear some space for the expected reinforcements, and I'll prep some more minis for the remaining 2 (or 3?) keils.

Thursday, 9 July 2020

Switzers I


Here are my first two Swiss pike keils, forming up. All the minis are Perrys, painted by Shaun McTague, and highlighted and inked by me. They are mounted in threes on temporary painting blocks (magnetised Jenga blocks).


Here's the Berne phalanx, and mascot. The spare painting blocks are for the balance of the minis- Shaun has painted most of these and I'm filling in the gaps at the rate of 15 minis per day.


...and here's Uri. 

I plan to have 4 keils of pike (possibly 5). When completed, each keil will have 96 minis- mostly pike with a few halberdiers and command minis.  Several will also have an attached unit of skirmishing arquebusiers, and there will be a handful of light cavalry.   I'll also have the option of fielding a keil of pure halberdiers, for the early period, and I will be able to swap out some of the central pike, for halberdiers, in the transitional period. I'll describe the basing system in a later post.


Here's a close-up- I'm using the metal Perry Swiss heads on plastic bodies, with some metals mixed in, and some conversions. The chap in the middle, Lofty, is a cut'n'shut (WotR torso, Swiss legs) who came out on the tall side. Shaun, who painted him, calls him "the man with the two bums". :)

It's a big project- 500++ minis- but with Shaun doing the heavy lifting, it's going rather swiftly. I'd like to think I'll have the first two keils based in around a month's time. 

PS If you fancy a Swiss army of your own, have a look at the Swiss army list for TtS!, and also the special rule for "field squares."