The Wisdom of Normans

Today at my club NWA (Nunawading Wargamses Association) we had a day of Dark Ages gaming because tomorrow is International Viking Day (even though today is actually International Nude Gardening Day).

I helped to organise this event and it went quite well with four tables set up and over a dozen games played all together. We used the Shieldwall Rampant  rules adapted from Lion Rampant that I posted a couple of days ago. They worked well and most folks seemed happy with the results.

I spent the week painting up a bunch of Normans for the day and they were a roaring success of the battlefield although I used my Saxons for my first game. They looked nice performed well and did all the things that Normans should do (ie: shot guys with their crossbows and the milites charged guys.

I played both games against Ben of Monsieur le Rosbif & Johnny Frog fame.

His doughty Saxons were caught in a storm of wild charges by the Norman cavalry (the special rule that makes knights charge you)which ended with them wiping most of the Saxon host from the table. However, a group of Saxon archers on the other side of the river who resisted every command roll to cross ended up picking off the Norman knights one by one and turned a smashing victory into something less impressive.

So was there wisdom in paining up a bunch of Normans for today. Too right it was. They look nice they work well and now I have to think up an appropriate, yet stupid, name for my Norman commander.

I didn't get many photo's because I forgot my camera and my phone was running short on power. Ben took lots of photos and will probably write up some after action reports so go over to his blog and have a look.

Comes Richarde la tête

Count Richard Head

(I think that name might work)

Shieldwall Rampant Rules

At NWA (Nunawading Wargames Association) we've been playing a lot of Lion Rampant which invariably lead to a desire for a Dark Ages version. So I came up with Shieldwall Rampant.

I did a first draft which was pretty basic and it was quite good and a lot of fun to play. However, there were a few things that needed fixing as well as a bit more definition required for cavalry. So I worked on it a bit more and tested them out. A bit more tweaking was done and the result are the pdf that I'm hoping to post here (I don't know how to do it).

Anyway, they work well and add the flavour of the era. Cavalry is limited, as is archery. On the other hand an alteration to the Schiltron Special Rule into that of Shieldwall adds an extra bit of tactical decision making and the addition of another special rule: Thrown Weapons gives a static Shieldwall defence a bit of offensive power (not much though - Hitting on a 6 it took me 3 rolls of 12d6 to inflict 1 casualty).

Anyway, here's the download (I hope):

https://www.dropbox.com/s/6fdqfvwevtvu3ub/Shieldwall%20Rampant.pdf?dl=0


P.S. If you do happen to download these rules let me know what you think!

Cheers
IanKH

Some Allies for Rome

I finished some British cavalry to aid their Roman overlords in hurling back the Saxon threat.

The four riders on the right are from Eureka with head swaps from the Gripping Beast Saxon Thegns box. I think they look nice (although I doubt they are 100% historically accurate). I might add another stand of these chaps but we'll wait and see if this thought comes to pass.

The two on the left are Arthur and his standard bearer from Footsore Miniature. I have some of their British infantry in the post and I;m looking forward to painting them up. Footsore make lovely figures.

One Fine Day on the Saxon Shore...

For the moment it seems that I have enough Marian/ Cesarean Romans but how do you stop painting Romans once you start when you also want to paint figures for other eras? The answer is: paint Late Romans to protect Britannia from the Saxon menace.

These are a mix of Crusader (the unarmoured guys) and Footsore Miniatures (the armoured guys). Both ranges are nice looking figures but the animation on the Footsore figures is definitely superior. That's not meant as anything disparaging to Crusader. I knew this when I purchased the figures and I wanted the unarmoured guys to look a bit more stoic. I think they go well together.

I have some British/Welsh cavalry on the painting table at the moment which is a mix of Footsore (again) and Eureka. Eureka don't make any specific British cavalry but with a head conversion on some of their Dark Ages cav they came out very nice. I'll post them when they're done.

Shield transfers are by Little Big Men Studios 

More Celtic Shenanigans

Well, I decided to re-base my Celts onto large common 120mm x 60mm bases. I like the look of this basing style. Besides... I managed to spread out the figures with only 9 or 10 to the front rank instead of 16. Being warbands they will need a second row but I'm planning on making these second rows with even less figures to give the impression that most of the warriors are crowding to the front.

I also made a command stand using a variety of figures. The general is from Eureka's Beowulf range with a bit of putty added to make him look more like the noble general that he is.

Close up

I think I'll name him Duplexsix

The crazy skyclad guys

And a couple of chariots

My Salute Experience

I didn't go.
I've never been.

The End.

There be Dragons (Rampant Ones)

Well I relented and, out of sheer boredom, I downloaded Dragon Rampant by Dan Mersey on my Kindle.

And I really like it!

I've played his other game Lion Rampant quite a bit and Dragon is, of course, pretty much the same game but with a fantasy element added. What I liked in the reading was the old D&D feel of the whole thing. I use to be a big fan of fantasy wargaming but I've been very put off in recent decades by something that I can't quite place my finger on.

So, I decided to make a warband based on the Granbretan figures that I made for Eureka. It even inspired me out of my long time funk to start sculpting them again. So there will be more figures to add to the list in the future.

Anyway, I decided to start by finishing off this little chap that has been sitting on my painting table for the last 12 months or more. He was 99% finished and only needed a couple of dashes of paint, some varnish and a nice base. He is Astrovak Mikosovar, leader of the Vulture Legion and he'll be the commander of my first Dragon Rampant warband.