Greeks throw off the Persian yoke of tyranny!

So tonight Mark came over to play a bit of DBA. My Greeks had a bad time of it last time out, losing both games, so tonight I was hoping for some revenge.


(Mark playing with his camera and not paying attention to how many elements he is putting on the table).

The first game saw my Greeks as defenders, and we threatened a littoral landing on the right flank so Mark deployed defensively:


(notice anything fishy about this picture?)

With Mark deploying in a strong defensive position near his baseline, I landed midboard with the plan to join up with the main forces as the right flank- I was going to fight diagonally across the board.


(and that little prick of a psiloi hiding in the bushes eventually killed a hoplite at +2:+2 by doubling me)

I was stuggling to implement my plan, my cavalry had overlaps on bow in the open for 3 successive turns missed every quick kill by rolling 1s, Mark was pipping 6s like crazy, and eventually I lost 4-3 when his warwagon drove along the shore and got in behind my lines shooting us in the arse before I could kill 4 Persians in the trenches.

The second game saw some more dreadful die rolling on my part even though I got the matchups I wanted. I was rolling 1s and 2s everywhere and lost 4-1. I was ready to quit DBA forever. I even threw my die in the garbage, fortunately there were no hammers handy.

Game 3 started, this time it was going better for me and I had him down 3-1. But as I am looking at the board there are still a bloody lot of Persians left to fight. So I count the elements, and there are 11 Persians still on the board and 3 in the dead pile. I ask Mark how many elements the Persians are supposed to have, and it dawns on him- he has been playing with 14 elements all night long (see the first pic above for yourself)!!! He almost soiled himself from laughing so hard. He forgot to bring his rulebook, he explained, so he didn't double check the army composition against his list before we started like he does usually. And I never counted his army either.

Aha....

So we play one last game, this time 12-12, and the Greeks finally pulled one out 4-1. Two differences. First, we had the same number of elements to start with, second, the die I was using obviously saw what happened to his predecessor, who was festering in a pile of coffee grinds in the bin. So he towed the line and produced reasonable results.

I liberated the offending die from the bin, and put him back in the box to tell his mates to behave better next time or it will be the hammer.

More Celts

I finished another 10 celtic foot this weekend, I assembled and based them on Friday, then painted these fellas yesterday and today. There are 22 more to paint up and then my 28mm Celtics and Romans are complete!

These guys came out pretty good- the models are actually the German warband bodies with celtic heads. The back 3 ranks are based 3 figs on a 60mm x 20mm and the front figure is the metal Arminius-"Hermann the German" chieftain from Wargames Factory. I quite like him, it's a nice sculpt with a lot of character. You can really tell the difference between the quality of metal and platic in this shot- the detail on Hermann is much deeper. The plastics are just a bit shallow in the folds of cloth and faces, but I still like them and you cannot beat the cost savings relative to metal.



(aside- I wonder if "Herman" is a reference to Herman Rarebell the drummer of the 80s metal band the Scorpions who had a short solo career as "Herman the German"? The sword is definitely in scale for a heavy metal referenced character. Man, I loved the Scorpions!)

Next up: I have a half-dozen Zvezda mounted crossbowmen to finish off for my Hundred Years War French. These will play a role in a cheveauchee mini-campaign for Impetus I am planning to run at the club. It's a snappy little piece found in Supplement 1 for Impetus. More on that later....

Penultimate WF Celts

I have mostly finished a unit of 12 WF 28mm plastic Celtic cavalry. I really like WF products since they are so versatile in what you can do with them, and the molds are improving with every release. These were not bad, although the horses (ponies really) have quite a few gaps and I'm not crazy about them.

I used simple, bold colour schemes with lots of contrast, but avoided plaids and checks since I haven't perfected how to do them. I also declined to paint designs on the shields because when I do they look like a 5 year old painted them. So I might order some transfers, or I might just leave them looking cheap and cheerful- they are for gaming afterall. I also still have to do the grass and some stones to finish the basing, but I usually leave this until I have a batch to do at once.

This unit has 4 armoured guys who could do for command or characters, plus 8 unarmoured guys who are just rank and file dudes. I am not sure what they will be used for yet- I have sizable Celts and Romans done now, enough for WAB or Impetus or just about any other system. They are mostly individually based 20mm wide so they could be ranked up just about for anything. I see Bob has gone for DBA 60mm basing, so I could do that too with some blutack or 2-sided tape and larger bases. CCA is another option. Not sure yet. I will use either these or my 28mm plastic Napoleonics for my MayDay game.

My last 28mm unit for this project is another 20 or so Celtic foot with 2 metal chieftains. When those are done I will post all the units, probably organized for a 1500 or so point WAB game. Maybe these guys would be good test subjects for breaking in the new WAB 2.0 when it comes soon [rubs hands gleefully...]

Border Raid WAB Campaign Continues

Last night Scott and I played the second battle of our WAB Raiding Season campaign (from Age of Arthur) using Shieldwall armies. My Scots soundly thrashed Scott's Normans in game 1, and even ran down and killed the Dux. So the Normans tried again last night. Like the first battle, this was a fight for 2 river crossings- a wide ford and a narrow bridge. Early in the game I sent my Viking Dogs of War mercenaries across the bridge in skirmish order and they created havoc- killing a unit of bow and a unit of pueri. When the Norman foot troops turned away from the bridge to run down my Viking raiders a warband of Scots raced across the bridge and ran down a unit of crossbow and the bridge was mine.

At that point, the ford was held by a large unit of Scottish nobles, lead by Angus McLovin, chieftain of the clan McLovin, supported by his wee brother Angus holding the battle standard and cousin Tim the Enchanter, a sagart of some renown. They sat in the ford in shieldwall, weathering the storm of crossbow bolts until the end of turn 7 and victory.

But nay! The noble warband blew their cool (failed it's warband control roll on turn 7), and bolted through the ford and smashed into a band of liberi- slaking their bloodlust on the garlic eaters. This of course opened the path for a squadron of Norman kniggots to trot into the ford and claim it for the invaders. The Normans can now cross into the home of the bravehearts and nervous sheep and conduct their raid.

In February we shall meet again...

First DBA games of 2010

My Asiatic Greeks tested out their bronze cuirass against Mark's Persians today and clearly demonstrated why the Greek colonies of Ionia became extinct. We lost both games, 4-3 and 4-1, and true to form, my general bought the farm in both games. In both games my ranks of spear got chewed up by bow in bad going by rolling 1s and 2s and dying doubled. There might be a lesson in there, either roll better or stay out of bad going. Hmm...

15mm Asiatic Greek DBA army

OK, first progress in 2010 is my Asiatic Greek army (Minifigs 15mm) for DBA (list I/52g). In fairness, these figs were based and primed in 2009 but I painted and decalled them on New Year's Day in 2010, so they count for this year's progress.

These are old Minifigs, all one pose and quite static, but I kind of like that look for DBA. I painted them in a variety of colours so they look a bit like Playmobile, but I wanted them to resemble a polyglot allied Ionic city state rebel army to face the Persians. Transfers are from VVV.

This army has 9 Sp, 1 Ps and 2 Cv (one is the general). It has more horsies than most other early hoplite armies, presumably reflecting the eastern Asiatic influence. Quite simple to use (line up your steady hoplites, use double ranked spear or psiloi support as necessary, and roll 6s) but the 2 Cv elements offer a bit of scope for some flanking or rambling. I have an excellent track record of getting my general killed, and a Cv general for me is just asking for trouble since the offensive foray option is just so enticing. I'm an aggressive DBA player, so mounted generals in my army often die prematurely on a 1-6 roll. I'll try these out tomorrow against Mark. I predict they will lose one battle due to a general casualty, but otherwise they are tough to beat since spear are +4 versus foot and mounted, plus there are support options. I reckon they will give Persians trouble but they might struggle against his Thracians (lots of Aux in bad going). I bet he brings the Thracians....

Introduction

Welcome to my blog. I have created this blog as part of my wargaming pledge for the New Year. I hereby pledge to paint my unpainted troops and vehicles for wargaming in 2010. I will not make any major purchases or start any new projects until I have painted my stockpile of stuff. There, that was easy.

The second reason I am creating this blog is to start having some record of what I have painted during a year so I can keep track of my projects. I would also like to record the games I will run and play in 2010. [I may also do some non-gaming related venting here and there too :)]