Last Levy - The Defence of Berlin - Bolt Action Unboxing

Osprey Wargames Resources

In case anyone missed the original post (details here) by the author of the new Lion Rampant rules, Dan Mersey, here is a very useful link to the Osprey Wargame Resources page <here>.

Not only are there quick reference and muster sheets for Lion Rampant the page has support material for all the previous Osprey rule sets.

OWG 1: Dux Bellorum
OWG 2: A World Aflame
OWG 3: In Her Majesty's Name
OWG 4: Ronin
OWG 5: Of Gods and Mortals
OWG 6: A Fistful of Kung Fu
OWG 7: On the Seven Seas
OWG 8: Lion Rampant

Make Your Own Wattle Fence - Wargaming Scenery Tutorial

Another YouTube video released by Ade showing the same method I used to create the wattle fence animal pen seen (here). Although normally associated with the dark ages or medieval periods this is probably the one piece of man-made terrain that can be used for all sorts of settings from ancients to the modern day. Wattle fences make an attractive addition to the table top and a nice visual contrast to regular hedges. 

Hopefully some of you may find it useful. If anyone has any suggestions or requests for similar tutorials please fell free to leave a comment and I'll see what we can do.

Lion Rampant Launched - Hurrah!

This week has seen the official launch of Dan Mersey's Lion Rampant rules from Osprey Publishing to (well deserved) positive reviews. I like 'em because they are:

• medieval based, 
• suitable for medium to large'ish skirmish games,
• Scenario driven,
• enjoyable to play without having to constantly refer to the rules,
• simple enough for even me to understand.

I was fortunate enough to have been sent a complimentary copy by Osprey a couple of weeks ago and was pleasantly surprised to see my name in the acknowledgments. I say 'surprised' for good reason: because none of my stuff actually made the final cut. 

If you want to see people who actually deserved their credit then please have a look at the following blogs:

Dalauppror

Cor Blog Me

Dux Homunculorum

After reading various blogs and comments I realised that some didn't know to what extent their contributions would be included in the published book. I, however, knew quite a while back that none of my stuff had made it into the book as the author emailed me to let me know. Naturally this was disappointing but perfectly understandable. The book is crammed full of illustrations and photographs from fellow bloggers, wargaming professionals and of course material from Osprey's extensive back catalogue. 

The author, Dan Mersey, had the decency to explain what had happened (i.e. lack of space). I thought I'd mention this (for a number of reasons) but firstly because Osprey still arranged to send me a free copy of the rules anyway. They were certainly under no obligation to send me anything at all.

I had planned a number of things to promote the launch, most of which I still hope to complete eventually but events in real life (you know, the bits that get in the way of playing with toy soldiers) conspired to put me behind schedule by at least two months. What happened probably isn't really suitable to discuss online as I wasn't directly involved but it was both exciting and terrifying at the same time (if you ever bump into me, please feel free to ask as I'll happy discuss it 'offline'). The numerous postings over the summer don't actually reflect my painting progress, it just some happened I had them ready to publish.

So what can you, dear reader, look forward to in the future from this blog? Well I'm glad you've asked. 

I will be detailing the mustering of my two Lion Rampant retinues, some of which I've already posted, and I'll be trying to explain the logic behind them (good luck with that one).

Probably of more interest will be the increase of gaming videos released on YouTube. The amount of historical games (or batreps as some call them) available to watch online are generally notable for their absence. The few there are normally consist of photographs and a voice over or a text summary. So we plan to, hopefully, record and post a number of games of Lion Rampant on YouTube. A lot of this depends of Ade's workload (editing videos is a surprisingly very time-consuming process) but that's the plan anyway. I believe the lack of material online is mainly down to the fact that it takes so long to edit recordings. To say it's a pain in the neck is an understatement. 

We are also currently organising a number of historical games to play and record, not just Bolt Action, but more of that in the future.

The amount of historical games available to watch online are generally notable for their absence. The few there are normally consist of photographs and a voice over or a text summary. So we plan to, hopefully, record and post a number of games of Lion Rampant on YouTube. A lot of this depends of Ade's workload (editing videos is a surprisingly very time-consuming process) but that's the plan anyway. 

We are also currently organising a number of historical games to play and record, not just Bolt Action but more of that in the future. Exciting times ahead.

So finally, am I going to continue to tell people my name is in the Lion Rampant ruleset? - Yep, probably.

Am I going to tell them know exactly what my contribution was (or wasn't) - Nope, I'm just going to act all coy and enigmatic (or 'smug' may be a better word).

Do I actually feel a bit of an interloper? - Err yep slightly, but if you want further comment then you'll have to speak to my lawyers Flywheel, Shyster and Flywheel.

Medieval Retinue

I can think of few things that more impressive on a tabletop than a great big bunch of colourful knights armed to the teeth with swords, maces and battleaxes riding into the thick of battle (often uncontrollably in my experience). These well turned out chaps will eventually form two units and the core of my English army for Lion Rampant (LR) games. There are three categories of mounted troops in LR: 

• Mounted Men-at-Arms - the elite attacking force, your knights in shining armour.
• Mounted Serjeants - well-armoured, non-noble horsemen (who can be armed with bows/crossbows).
• Mounted Yeomen - lightly armed and armoured mounted skirmishes equipped with bows/javelins.

In initial games they can pass as either Mounted Men-at-Arms or Mounted Serjeants but as I build up a greater force (i.e. when I make and paint more figures) then only miniatures mounted on caparisoned horses will be officially classed as Mounted Men-at-Arms, well in my games anyway.

Waiting in my painting queue are a similar number of figures to represent the Welsh opposition. These will be easily identifiable as being Welsh (or any over nation that takes my fancy to fight the English) as I'm using similar figures that are also noticeably different; more of that in a future post.

Below are links to posts detailing the various knights shown in the photo:

De Brian

Wyville

Stafford

King Edward I

Poyntz

Harcourt

De Somery

Corbet

Osprey Publishing games - wargames coming in 2015

Just noticed this tweet from Osprey:

Osprey Publishing games - wargames coming in 2015

There has been nothing officially announced from Warlord Games (as far as I know) but of particular interest was 'Bolt Action: World War I (September 2015)'. It is not too surprising seeing as they have recently released several WWI tanks but this, as far as I know, is the first official news that Warlord will be releasing a dedicated WWI rulebook this time next year. It would seem reasonable to assume that Warlord will also release figures to support the rules and tanks. This is something that I'll be following with interest.