Hold On Tight, Lion Rampant

I'm finally managing to get somewhat organised, blog-wise. These are a few doctored images of a game played between gaming chums Derek, George and myself a few weeks ago. The game was based on Scenario E: Hold On Tight (I think). The object was to reach the bridge as quickly as possible and hold it against the enemy. In this particular game this involved Derek and myself taking on George.

You may notice it took an eternity to get my forces into the game with Derek pushing on and reaching, and holding, the bridge first. It didn't help that my deployment decision was terrible, plus I was using my notoriously unlucky dice. Well...any dice I use seem to be unlucky.  

Derek and myself managed to hold of George's forces and gain enough glory points to secure the win. I had to stop myself from celebrating with a small victory dance as winning games is a habit I somehow haven't managed to develop. There's few things more annoying than a bad winner. The game took place at [Asgard Games Uk] in sunny Walsall, West Midlands.

If you want to see far better photos please pop over to George's page [Hrothgars shed blog] and read the proper game review.

ECW Casualty Markers, The Pikeman's Lament

These markers are used to keep track of individual losses for multi-based figures. whilst playing the (as yet to be released) 17th century skirmish ruleset from Osprey, The Pikeman's Lament. The modified figures are taken from the Warlord Games 'Firelock Storming Party' box set.

As I don't particularly like to depict the face of death (I prefer to put the emphaise on gaming when wargaming) I covered the face of one of the plastic 'causalities'. As making these bases are quite time consuming and uses up relatively costly figures, for future markers I will probably just produce simpler bases with the detritus of the battlefield.

A YouTube video of how I made similar markers (for Bolt Action pin markers) can be found [here].

I had previously relied on having loose individual dice to mark casualties but when die are being scattered across the tabletop it is very easy for these to get lost amongst the chaos. Using markers like this also then at least you have a decent chance of being able to keep track of things.

The co-author of the new The Pikeman's Lament rules, Dalauppror, has come up with an unusual basing system which can be used with the rules. Keeping true to the spirit of the original rules (i.e. newcomer friendly and flexible), this basing method doesn't have to be strictly adhered to, it's just a recommendation to aid game play. Details of Michael's method can be found [here].

It isn't a basing method that I'm going to use simply because a lot of my figures are already based in groups of four. If you're going to be using the core mechanics of the Lion Rampant system then it may be worth considering, especially so as I believe that this group of rules will be considered future classics of their type.

Playtesting The Pikeman's Lament, Osprey Games

As I'm sure many readers will be aware, Osprey Publishing are releasing more and more board games and wargame rules. The company have recently announced another half a dozen titles to be released over the coming months, details of which can be found in the following link: 

Osprey Publishing Wargames The Big Reveal 

However one that isn't listed is 'The Pikeman's Lament'. This is the forthcoming 17th century pike & shot rule set, due for release in early 2017, co-written by Dan Mersey and Michael Leck. This will be the third variant of the successful and popular core Lion Rampant (LR) rule system. You can follow both authors progress on their blogs here [Mersey Books] and here [Dalauppror]. 

For obvious reasons I won't go into too much detail about the rules. I will say however that although the core mechanics are the same as LR there is enough difference in the new version to justify another rule book. In particular Dan & Michael have developed a simple and intuitive method of creating a campaign which revolves around your commanding officer. The chance of that character being killed off completely by a lucky strike is still present but new system allows the possibility that your officer may escape to fight again. The rules are still being modified and added to as playtesting irons out any issues, this is another reason why I won't be detailing many of the mechanics or principles of the rules as they may not even appear in the final book. 

Although the rules as designed for skirmish games I was curious if they could be scaled up for larger battles using my entire collection. A normal game would consist of around 40-60 models using 24 points per side. This setup consisted in total of around one hundred and fifty infantry, thirty six cavalry and two artillery units (working out at about forty points per side). 

With this larger scale of game to lose your activation in the first turn could be potentially disastrous (admittedly very funny to witness but very frustrating if it happens to you). Therefore a house rule we came up with was to divide each army into different infantry or cavalry companies/regiments made up various units. If you lose activation for one unit within a particular company/regiment you can then move on to the next company rather than passing control over to your opponent. This is similar to how you could play the game if multiple players are taking part. It is, of course, still possible to fail the first activation for every company (especially if you have the same kind of 'lucky' dice as me) but at least using this method you may get a better chance to move or fight with some of your figures per turn.

The photos in this post don't depict an actual game. This was just an initial setup to see if a large scale game was viable on our small table.

I'm currently working on a group of dragoons for my army so hopefully I shall be able to post more images soon. I'm on the look out for civilian and casualty marker figures for the period which I'm hoping to purchase at the forthcoming Derby/Donnington show.

Medieval Chapel, Tabletop Workshop

I received this model was a gift from a regular reader (cheers Derek) but as usual it has taken me quite a while to complete it.

This model depicts a small chapel which I feel is more appropriate to skirmish style games rather than a larger church model (said someone who made a castle great tower) and as such it will eventually form an essential focus for a scenario based on a real life event that took place in the 1432 and directly involved Lord Dudley and few of his retainers (or henchmen, it depends which side you were on).

The interior of medieval churches would often be a riot of colour as can be seen with a rebuilt medieval church such as an example at St Fagans Wales [here]. A smaller version can be found [here] but because I'm lazy I have left the interior plain.

Interior detail

Interior detail

Corner detail showing filled in location holes

Although the model is perfectly acceptable straight out of the box, regular readers probably won't be surprised that I couldn't resist altering it in some form (I was about to say 'improve' it but that's a matter of option) I wanted to give the impression that the church had been rendered and whitewashed. This is a feature rarely seen nowadays mainly because, ironically, the Victorians tended to remove it in an attempt to make the churches appear more medieval. To achieve this look I used Milliput to roughly fill in the gaps on the exterior walls but leaving just enough of the original surface detail to show though. I used Milliput rather than greenstuff because basically its the same stuff and a lot cheaper. Milliput is made from the same materials as greenstuff but has been mixed with chalk to bulk it out.

I made the model so that I could remove the roof and two walls. This was relatively easy. I initially glued two of the walls in place and then filled in the location holes that were visible from the outside. I didn't cut away any of the location pegs but I did covered the location walls on the over walls with thin pieces of greenstuff. 

Wargames Foundry Friar
shown for scale reference.

Unfortunately it appears that the manufacturer, Tabletop Workshop, no longer trades but it looks the model can still be bought online or possibly from old fashioned bricks and mortar stores if you're lucky.

Boris and Bobby, Perry Miniatures

Here finally side by side are the two similar figures mentioned previously. How I constructed the plastic figure is detailed in a previous post which can be seen [here].

One is a figure I made from plastic parts taken from various Perry boxsets and the other is a standard metal figure available from Perry Miniatures.

Front View

Rear View

All I can say is, if you're going to copy or steal an idea from someone than make sure it's from the best.

Hunting Party, Perry Miniatures

This set of figures came about as a exercise as to how I could use a number of models given to me as a gift. Why I made a sabot base especially for these figures will be detailed later. 

The pointing left arm was originally taken from the original Perry's 'Wars of the Roses Infantry 1455 - 1487 boxset but this was for a man-at-arms so was covered with plate armour. This was cut away and then greenstuff was used to remodel the cloth.

The second mod was so subtle that I'd forgot I'd actually done it until I came to write up this post. The right arm holding the spear was taken from the Perry's 'War of the Roses Light Cavalry 1450-1500' but as the set represents weapons for horsemen the lance looked too long for this figure. In order to correct this I cut off the spear tip, removed around an inch of the plastic shaft and glued the tip back on.

After (paint)

Before (paint)

I've used a sabot base because there are a set of special house rules available on the Dux Rampant forum which means the dogs can be used as a unit when playing Lion Rampant, which can be found [here].

The dogs were made for Simon Chick (aka Painterman) who has an amazing collection of late medieval figures and is mentioned on the Perry's Light Cavalry boxset as the 'go-to' reference for Burgundians, his blog can be found [here].

I was given these particular models as a give from a friend I met via this blog (hello Derek!)

(Medieval) Civilian Characters, Wargames Foundry

I bought these Wargames Foundry figures (Code: MED 209) a few years ago at a local show intending to use them almost as terrain pieces in games but for some reason never quite got round to painting them. 

Group shoot

With the advent of the Lion Rampant (LR) ruleset I've finally found a use for them. A number of scenarios for LR such as the Fugitive and the Messenger call for a few none military figures. You can of course use any spare knight or soldier miniature but I think it's more fun to use a dedicated/special figure plus it looks better on the tabletop.

Religious and  Lord of the manor characters - front view
"So you're collecting for the church roof?" 

Sculpted by one of the Perry brothers (I'm assuming Michael as he tends to favour the medieval period) these form part of the large range of figures produced by Wargames Foundry. Although these figures are more appropriate for the High to Late Middle ages (they are from Foundry's 100 Years War range) I've be using these for both my 13th century and WoTR games.

Contrary to popular belief and Hollywood the vast majority of people didn't clothe themselves in various shades of brown or filthy raps. It is true that there were strict rules as to what you could wear according to your social status but if you look at contemporary illustrations combinations of red, blues and greens materials are often portrayed. 

Ladies of various social class with the posh Lady of the manor on the right

Black clothes were also popular but idea of the colour being jet black isn't quite appropriate, with various shades of grey probably being more accurate description. What we today would consider true black was a difficult and expensive colour to achieve due to repeated dying process required to produce it. It is probably also this reason you occasionally see it chosen as livery colours by such wealthy people as the Duke of Buckingham for example. It was a deliberate display of wealth and would have indicated the wearer was a person of note or was employed by someone who was. It would have been immediately obvious to someone of the period to identify the class of a person by their choice of clothes and the colours they wore.

This, to a certain degree, still remains the case today whether we realise it or not. Most people will have preconceptions upon seeing someone dressed in a shell suit, baseball cap and trainers just as they will seeing a person wearing a tweed jacket, flat cap, corduroy trousers and Hunter Wellingtons.

Working types - front view

Working types - rear view

Fashions in medieval clothing changed considerably, although obviously not as rapidly as it does nowadays. For a insight into medieval clothing take a look through the famous [Luttrell Psalter].

There is a direct connection to Dudley illustrated in the Psalter but I'll detail this in another post.

Wilhelm Bremen, Modified Man-At-Arms, Perry Miniatures

Wilhelm, or Billy to his mates, presents a slightly less well off man-at-arms as indicated by the fact he has a lack of lower leg armour and is wearing boots. It's a nice touch from the Perry's as not everyone could afford a full harness. This armour is more Gothic (i.e. German) in style with it's distinctive fluted detailing.

Details of how this model was achieved can be found [here].

WIP

Wearing his lucky red leggings

The city of Bremen is unofficially twinned with Dudley. I say 'unofficially' because I believe the status is technically 'Befreundete Staedte' which means 'Friendly City' even though Dudley is actually just a town (one of the biggest in the country after Reading). It's probably better to think of the relationship as 'drinking buddies' seeing as both have a strong brewing tradition.

I also suspect that the fact that my old primary school sports kit [here] matched the home colours of the football team SV Werder Bremen [here] wasn't a coincidence either.

Sir Boris of Bilston, Modified Man-at-Arms, Perry Miniatures

Seems appropriate to repost this, all things considered:
This is the completed figure I made up from various bits and pieces all taken from the Perry medieval plastic boxsets. Some of the thought process (haha, as if) and techniques are detailed in this previous post/ramble can be read [here].

The choice of blond hair for his bob was deliberate as I wanted to introduce an extra element of colour to the model and hopefully make him stand out on the tabletop. He does now bare an unfortunate resemblance to the current Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, who's full name is actually 'Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson' which does make him sound like a proper medieval baron.

The post title comes from that fact that Johnson was,very early in his career, sent to the midlands by his employer The Times newspaper in an attempt to show him how real people lived. He lodged in Bilston, near Wolverhampton with “a woman called Brenda”. He even claimed that it was this work experience that turned him into a Tory.

My policy on cake is pro having it and pro eating it."

As this miniature bares an unintentionally similar resemblance to another metal Perry figure [here] I may paint up that model and label him Sir Michael of Lichfield in honour of Michael Fabricant, MP for Lichfield, who also sports an equally distinctive (I would say 'comical' but my mom told me not to be rude to strangers) blond hairstyle.

In an attempt to keep this blog balanced I did try to find a bad haircut among the members of the opposition but met with no success (although Ed Miliband did sport a corker in his youth which resembled Henry V's puddin' basin style).

I'm unsure which retinue this model will eventually fit into. I have several options that I have planned including those for the Earl of Warwick, Lord Audley or the Duke of Buckingham, all with relatively local connections. These characters would have enjoyed far larger retinues in real life but I'm limiting them to the six men-at-arms as allowed by the Lion Rampant rules. As I am a benevolent dictator I will probably also allow them to have a limited number of billmen or archer units. Lord Dudley will of course get a full strength retinue (my toy soldiers, my rules).