Spartan Cavalry and a couple of photos of the Spartan army so far.

I completed two units of cavalry for my Spartan army today, so now I have actually painted more figures than I need for my 500 point force for Clash-our small scale KOWH battles.

I can't wait to get these little guys on the gaming table.

Watch out, the Krypteia are about!

So in KOWH you can only have one troop of Krypteia (a sort of Sparta secret police) and the sword armed Spartans from the Death of Leonidas set work perfectly for this unit. I bent a few arms to vary the poses a bit. So those Scythians had best watch out, these guys are pretty tough.

Scythian Cavalry part 4

I'm still playing around with the new light box, and I think I need a bit more light.  Still, here is the latest Scythian unit.

This is a troop of Heavy Cavalry, the best cavalry KoWH allows, barring special types.  Strictly they aren't available to the Scythians, according to their themed list (page 80), however, I have a few issues with those themes. Certainly the archaeological evidence suggests a cadre of heavily armoured and well equipped, probably noble, cavalry.  They may not be as well protected as a 15th century knight, but against contemporary foes, they should be pretty tough.  Also KowH doesn't allow bows for the heavier cavalry (balance issues probably), though it is thought that just about every Scythian carried a bow.  I'll ignore them for the purposes of the game, but I have included a bow firing model in the troop.

If you've looked at Merlin's 'Clash' ideas (if not, why not?) then you will realise that I am missing the free hero and the mandatory regiment.  Those are next on the painting table (assuming I can resist the lure of more D&D monsters).

For KoW Varangur I'll use these as Mounted Sons of Korgaan.  Fun Fact; Kurgan is not only the name of the adversary in the first Highlander film, but also the name given to the burial mounds in which the Scythians buried their dead, and which provide a feat of archaeological treasures and evidence.  This similarity in names helped me decide to use Scythians for my Varangur.
I'll need a few more units for the 1000 points I am aiming at for my Varangur.  I am investigating the possibilities for a mounted wizard, and there are a few historical types that would fit in well with the theme.  I'd also like a few extra units, just to give some variety when choosing a force.

Scythian Cavalry part 3 (and a new toy)

I finished the next couple of troops of Scythians earlier this week, but I have held off showing them as I was expecting a new toy; a small fold up light box (complete with LED strip) in the hopes that I could improve my photography.  It arrived today, so I have been experimenting and have the results of the first test pictures.

A troop of Scythian Horse Archers.

The hope was that the lighting would be better.  I think there is some improvement, but I will play around with extra lighting (I still have some LED lamps from my previous set up,which was a converted cardboard box.  One thing the new light box has is it folds up into a small bag, very easy to store.

The miniatures are once again from my old army, so just needed some repair work to the old paint jobs, plus a bit more detail adding. 

I'll post the other completed unit soon.  I was more interested in trying out the new light box.

I only need one more troop to complete the 'Clash' force, plus the hero to lead them.  These will be started from scratch though, so might take a little longer.

Star Saga Mission B

I finally got round to playing Star Saga last night.  We had a couple of the Monday night D&D group absent, so three of us decided to give it a go.
Mission B - The Main Team in the missions book is for 3 Mercenaries, and the rules contain an A.I. system, so that seemed to be our best bet.

As you can see, despite receiving this some time ago, I haven't painted anything yet, partly as I always have a huge pile of 'urgent' things to paint, and partly as I wanted to see if the game was any good.

If you don't know Star Saga, it's Mantic's SF board game set in their Warpath universe.  The mechanics are similar to their fantasy game Dungeon Saga, and like that game and Dwarf King's Hold, it had a forerunner in Project Pandora.

Players control Mercenaries exploring a lab complex and fighting the various lab technicians, security guards and marines.  The whole series of missions tell a story, one of corporate greed and corruption, and black budget experimentation.

Some of the characters have been introduced in earlier Mantic products, such as Blaine and Wrath, the only violent Judwaan.  Others will make interesting additions to the Warpath universe, and I will paint up some of the Mercenaries as additions to my Rebs force.

So was it any good?  Well yes, we really enjoyed it!  The game ran smoothly, and the rules were pretty easy to follow (although I misread the hit points of the lab technicians, so they were an easier kill).  Mantic's decision to include training missions (as the did in Dungeon Saga) and an A.I. make it very easy to access the game.  Using the A.I. is pretty intuitive, much better than the one in Dungeon Saga, which I found overly picky and seemed a bit 'tacked on', though the game is easier for the Mercenaries than it would be with a human (or other sentient species) as Nexus player.

Components wise the game is well done.  The minis are some of Mantic's best one piece plastics, in my opinion.  One of the scenery pieces (the table with benches) is a beast to try and straighten out though.  Several goes with the hot water treatment didn't help much.  The rest of the pieces are pretty good.

I'm sure we will be playing again.  It won't replace D&D or other role playing, but it it s good game to have in the stable for the right situation, and it would be fun to play through the campaign.

Bonus Post for Good Service

A quick mention for Khadrin's Miniatures from whom I recently received some of the Splintered Light halflings for my Rhordian army.  (Some sort of transAtlantic trade deal presumably).
He kept me informed of all that was going on, and provided excellent service. 
I'll talk about the halfings in another post.

He also does his own stuff; see his page, and I am informed that he will at some time in the near future be doing half orc villagers, adventurers and dwarves.

More D&D Monsters

A quick diversion from the 15mm historicals today.  I've finally completed some more Reaper Bones minis for my ever growing D&D collection.  You may have seen some of the Undead from the collection, and I started some goblins a while back (they are nearly finished, honest).  The latest additions are hobgoblins.

These are from the Reaper Bones III kickstarter, the Hobgobagedon set.  I got several of these as I thought a good handful of troops would be useful in encounters.  The set came with two troopers, including rather nicely a female hobgoblin, and two leader types.  I have since increased the unpainted collection with a couple of packs of the troopers, more on those later.

Troopers, nicely armed and armoured.

Leaders, probably the hobgoblin king and one of his captains.

A bonus wraith, again a Reaper Bones mini that I just picked out of the pile as it looked fun to paint (it was).

All four of these minis have been lurking almost finished for quite a while.  The delay was largely due to me misplacing my clear bases.  Eventually I gave in and ordered some more from Green Stuff World (though many other sellers stock them), after all, when I find the others I have plenty more minis to base.

I really enjoyed painting these, both goblinoids and undead. I'm particularly pleased with the orange skin tone of the hobgoblins; very old school.

I did spend rather too long on them, multiple shading and highlighting layers, rather than my usual wash and highlight method.  The problem is that it kind of means that the rest of the hobgoblins will need a similar amount of attention.

The hobgoblin minis are very nicely done.  The equipment matched the Monster Manual pretty well, and the addition of a female trooper is excellent.  Given how long it has taken me to get these painted, I should have got fewer sets in the Kickstarter, as the leaders are less useful in multiples.  i may be able to convert a couple though.  It's a lesson to bear in mind for my Bones IV pledge.

Clash: small scale battles for KOWH

The pair of us have been busy working on a system to allow us to play small scale battles using the KOWH rules. Inspired by WAB's Border Patrol rules with an added chart to randomly select a scenario we present: 'CLASH'. Players get to choose a 500 point army and add a hero to lead them for free.

CLASH v2.

A set of guidelines to help create smaller battles with the Kings of War Historical rules. .

1: You may choose an army of not more than 500 points. Your points total may include the selection of one ‘Veteran’ ability to give to one of your units.

2: You may have a single Hero character from the Master List to lead your force (for free). He may be on foot or mounted as you wish, but you pay the extra points if he is mounted. Your hero also gains ’Inspiring’ for free.

3: Your force must consist of at least 3 units.

4:  You must include at least one regiment of 20 infantry (or 10 cavalry). You may select as many ‘troop’ size units as you wish. Hordes are not allowed. If you take a second regiment you may select another hero either from the master list or the army list, but unique Heroes (1) are not allowed unless specified by a scenario such as ‘Kill the King’. 

5: Your force should be a balanced force and should follow any army list restrictions.

6: Your force may not include war machines unless playing an agreed scenario that involves capturing the enemy artillery for example.

7: All games are to be played on a 4’x3’ board, with the scenery being arranged by a neutral player or umpire. Players then dice for table edge, highest throw having the choice.

Quick Scenarios: For the length of a game throw 1xd6, score of 1,2 = 6 turns, 3,4 = 7 turns and 5,6 = 8 turns unless the game is decided earlier. Throw 1xD6 for scenario type…

1-2: Capture: forces vie for control of a vital bridge, ford, hill, temple, etc…Throw 1xd6, score of 1,2 = ford, 3 = bridge, 4 = crossroads, 5 = hill, 6 = temple/church. The piece of terrain being fought over must be placed as centrally on the table as possible.

3: Flank Attack: each force secretly assigns between 50 and 150 points of their strength as a flanking force and note which flank it is intended to arrive on. Units may not be split between the main group and the flanking force. At the start of turn 3, players may roll to see if their flanking force arrives, needing 4+ on a D6, adding +1 to your throw each subsequent turn until they arrive.

4-5: Meeting Engagement: deploy both forces up to 12” in and fight it out.

6: Ambush: one side is allowed to deploy one unit in Ambush anywhere in their own table half. The Ambusher must write down the position of the concealed unit. All other units deploy up to 12” in.

Scythian Cavalry part 2

As promised, another troop of my Scythians/Varangur.  Did you guess that they would be a women only unit?

These are more of my old WAB Scythian army, again with the paintwork touched up and a few extra details added.  

Searching through the tin of minis I realised I could make up units of women riders.  If grave goods are to be believed, the Scyth were equal opportunity fighters.  Some of the graves of women contain armour and weaponry like many of the men, some don't, suggesting that it was specific to the individual buried there, rather than a general cultural practice.  It has also been suggested that the practice of women fighting amongst the men gave the Greeks the idea of the Amazons.  If/when I put together a 'legendary' Scythian army then I will field these as Amazons; for now they are either Horse Archers or Scythian Horse Archers.  In KoWH these unit types are slightly different, each having their own good and bad points.  Perhaps the men will be one type and the women the other?

For KoW they are simply Varangur Horse Raiders.

Yesterday I asked if anyone knew the manufacturer.  Early answers on Facebook suggest possibly Donnington Miniatures.  More investigation is required, as their website has few pictures of their Scythian range, but if it's the case I will definitely be a rabbit of positive euphoria* as I can add some extra cavalry and heavy cavalry.  Not more horse archers, definitely not.  I have more than enough of those.

*a happy bunny

Spartan Skirmishers

My latest unit is a troop of javelin armed skirmishers. With only 6 figures representing the troop, these figures seem to be poised, ready to move against the enemy.

Scythian Cavalry part 1

As Merlin has posted his progress with his Greeks, here is my opposing force.  I mentioned before that this is an army I had a long time ago.  Many of the minis are in poor shape (though surprisingly most of the spears are still intact).  I don't think I varnished my minis back then, I've learnt that lesson the hard way.  So 'painting' was largely repair work, though I did add some extra detail, such as some of the decoration on the clothing.

Here is the first unit (well, troop).  In KoWH they will be Cavalry, for my Varangur force in KoW they could be Mounted Sons of Korgaan, though I do have something else in mind for those at a later date.

There's not a lot to say about these; the paint jobs are fairly standard, little in the way of shading and mostly one highlight.  

I wish I could remember what make these are, as I would like a few more just to fill in the gaps. They are nice models,though the detail on the faces could be better, mind you faces are mostly covered by beards, so there's not much lost.

I do have loads more of the Scyth to be going on with, so there's plenty of time to hunt out reinforcements.  I might even get some infantry, though I am concentrating on all cavalry for now.

If you want to learn more about the Scythians the Osprey book "The Scythians 700 - 300 BC" by Dr E V Cernenko is a good place to start, indeed most of the range of minis I used are clearly based on the illustrations in that book.

Next time I'll show some of the riders who definitely don't have a beard problem.

Crimson cloaks - Spartans are ready for Battle

Here are a couple of photos of the Spartans based and ready for action. Plus a rare rear view of Spartans, who never run away of course! Just to see their crimson cloaks.

The bottom photo show some of the Greek Myth themed 'Herd' army I am also painting.

Here come the Spartans.

My thanks to MisterC for letting me post some of my figures on his blog as we both work on a KOWH project. Here we have the first phalanx of Spartans, just need their base texturing and painting. Alongside we have a musician and Argilus, the Spartan Hero who will lead them. All 15mm War and Empire figures.

And A Warm Welcome To...

Hopefully my IT woes have been corrected, so I can get a bit more done on here without waiting (at last count) half an hour for one picture to load.

Another new project that I'm fitting in and among is a return to 15mm Ancients.  Back in the day I played this with Warhammer Ancient Battles, now, of course, I'm looking at Kings of War Historical.
I have an ulterior motive; I think my old Scythian army will also do nicely for the Varangur in Kings of War (see Uncharted Empires for this 'not Chaos Warriors' list)

My 'Partner in Crime' for this venture is Merlin, and he come up with the idea of adapting the old Border Patrol sized games for KoWH.  We've both done a bit of work for this; both designing a framework for the battles, and painting a small force to try them.

Therefore, it seemed a good idea to welcome Merlin onboard so we can showcase our progress and discuss the rules etc.

Look out for his posts, I'm sure he will have a lot to say.