tinkering....

So I've fiddled with the page width and the image size........better?

A Duel in the Snow

A few pics from today's game. Another encounter between the Romans and the Germans and seeing as it's the last game John and I will get before the new year I decided to make it a little festive....!

Just a plain cloth and some Lemax pines from the garden centre. 

We used our version of the Neil Thomas Classical rules, which we've now modified quite a bit. However we like the simple systems and the fact that we can crack on with the game and not have to worry about what's on page 6, paragraph 3, except when uphill or in bad going, on a Tuesday, if wearing a bobblehat.

This time the Germans fought not as warband, but as heavy infantry. This put them on a par with the legions except for their armour.....quite an important distinction. The heavy armour of the Romans eliminated about a third of their hits and eventually this wore down the Germans and slowly their battle line was reduced. Although they can be victorious on the flanks, against the auxiliaries, the Germans just can't break the legions.  A great game all the same though!

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Plastic Landskechts from Pro Gloria!

Pro Gloria make some cracking figures and I have watched with increasing interest over the last few months as their project to develop a set of plastic landsknechts has slowly and inexorably crept forward.

Pro Gloria Indiegogo

 

 

 

 

These chaps, the 3ups for the die making process, look simply stunning and I'm exceedingly tempted to pledge my support for a box or more, once I work out what level of game I'd play. Either way I hope to see this project come to fruition as it represents the continued expansion of plastic figures into new and diverse periods and the success of another small company in our hobby.

 

Best wishes guys!!

 



Legends of the Feudal Times 2 - War in the East

A second game at my local club, this time featuring a Muslim army against my western retinue. Although there are no specific lists in the mods for "eastern" forces we simply changed the names of the French list to more suitable equivalents for this first attempt. The only actual mod we added was that archers could be mounted (by paying the cost of a horse) and that these could move half and fire full or move full and fire half. Very basic mods I agree, but we're after a game and if they work then they'll stay.

So, we set up the board using the "crossroads" scenario and off we went.

The horse archers predictably swept wide round the flank whilst the Westerners moved forward resolutely to square up to their foes, trusting that their heavy armour would protect them. The knight and archers turned to deal with the flanking Turks.

Honours would remain even on at side of the game due to poor dice throwing and forgetting to back off after losing melee. Not a huge error but one which may have opened the chance for archers/horse arches to shoot.

In the center it became a slugging match, with both sides loosing men.

 Eventually a head to the hills check was called and a battle which had already seen lots of ones thrown, was ended by another low score as the depleted Christians did a runner.

Time for a second game.....oh I think so...!

This time we picked "The Abduction" with my crusaders riding to save his son's intended from the hands of the infidels.

This time the horse archers went round each flank. The lord and sgt charged off and swept round the back of the large house only to find the lady in question had been moved.

The knight and footmen moved up and again crossed swords with then enemy.

 

 

 This time however the Christians had the upper hand and held back the Seljuks until such time as the damsel was located by the Lord and throwing her over his saddle he rode like the devil was on his tail for the table's edge and home while his doughty sergeant covered his back.

A lone horse archer sniped at him but to no effect and he reached the edge just as the another abductor met his maker and a head to the hills resulted in the remainder fleeing.

Two great games, much fun had!!

More next week apparently.

Misery gets a Laundry (1)

Following on the the LotOW game a few weeks ago I decided that the town of Misery needed a Laundry, one operated by Madame Lòng and her fearsome Black Dragon Tong!

First up, I took one of the Buildings I already had and decided to make a start with that. The laundry needed a sign and luckily google translate not only gives you the pronounciation but also the Chinese characters. So the double height building from received both and a nice lucky red paint job.

The building originally had a flat roof, but that wouldn't do. Instead of a shingle roof I decided to give it a tin one, just to make it a little different. This was a piece of corrugated card sprayed black and dry brushed up silver, since it's new. A stovepipe (from a soft drink straw) was added for the boiler. 

At the rear I added the drying area. Coffe stirrers were cut up to make the fence which was secured to some spare mdf bases with a PVA / superglue mix. This dries quick and strong but is not brittle like a normal superglue bond. The same spare bases were also used for the stands of drying linen. Cocktail sticks formed the poles with a thread making the line. Over this was draped a piece of masking tape (trickiest bit this!) to make the washing.

The next step is to do the internals. The room will be papered with a suitable design and separated with a Chinese style room dividing screed. I'll also be adding a suitably large barrel as the boiler. After that comes the Tong themselves and then the next part of their operation - the opium den.