The Men Who Would Be Kings NWF AAR

Stephen was indisposed this week, so General Ballroom and I were free to play a colonial game using random activation without being forced to look at Stephen doing a sad face all evening.

I've collected both sides for NWF action using the TMWWBK rules but have only managed a couple of short solo games.
Fortunately they were ages ago, so I'd forgotten pretty much everything so General B and I could learn together.
Sadly however I'd not actually finished painting the movement trays for the Pathans, which slightly distracted from the look of the game for me. Must get the big brush out and crack on.

General B took the thin khaki line and I took the wily Pathans.

We did roll for traits but largely forgot about them. The British all rolled well for the Leadership but a few of the Pathan leaders were barely average.

The General drew up in a defensive position with a field gun protecting his right flank. Meanwhile the Pathans surged forward.

We soon discovered how powerful the field gun could be and the Afghan forces rapidly fled to the flanks in search of cover.
The British meanwhile were drawing up in Close Order and delivering murderous Volley Fire.

The left flank of the Pathan forces took a long time to get into position but were able to pick of a few Sikhs from long range.

Over on the right the Pathans stalled, or at least the one big unit of Ghazis did, which rather blunted the advance. One group of native warriors made it into the foothills, but then failed to Go to Ground for a couple of turns and were duly whittled down by British fire.

Eventually however flanking riflemen began to take a toll on the 99th Humberside regiment and a fierce charge by Pathan tribesmen threw them back.

Despite this however General Ballroom was able to steady his lines and bring the devastating power of the field gun and British rifles to bear which halted the native assault and pinned them in place.

Further fire from the field gun also neutralised the Pathan left flank and with that the evening fell and the battle ended.

The British field force was battered, but had held together whilst the Pathans melted back into the hills to lick their wounds.

This was a great fun game - the first turn or so saw a lot of rule-book consultation but by turn three we were rattling along. It plays very fast and the speed of the native advance (when they weren't failing activation tests) rather worried General Ballroom at one point.
Overall it had a good asymmetric feel - which is right for colonials I think and was sufficiently challenging to hold our interest.
It's very bloody though!

Next time we both agreed we need a scenario - otherwise it devolves into essentially natives hurling themselves onto British bayonets.
We'd also like some unit and leader cards just to help us keep track of traits and the like.
Brilliant to finally get a game in against a rel live opponent - looking forward to the next one.

Perry Miniatures Agincourt crossbowmen

As part of my "oh for god's sake just paint something will you" push last week. I applied liberal quantities of pigment and GW washes to these six models.
They're from the plastic French Agincourt set.
Very much quick and dirty they are however done (at least apart from basing - I've run out of the correct brown).

They'll eventually get another six models and form a unit for Lion Rampant.

OGAM Poseidon versus Hermes

A clash of the titans with the Gaming Heir as we pulled out the Greeks for a game of Of Gods and Mortals.

He took Poseidon (just the standard version from the rulebook, rather than the homebrew monster version he concocted for the last game) 8 Greek Armoured Hopilites, 4 archers, 4 Centaurs and the Nemean Lion.
I had Hermes, 8 Spartans (naked), 4 archers, Medusa and the Hydra.

I had slightly fewer points so won the roll off and set up the scenery. The Gaming Heir then won the roll off for first deployment and we duly deployed.

 Spartan Archers enjoying the view

 NSFW Nekkid Spartans

 Hermes, having a bit of a hop and skip

 The lion and the hopilites discuss pre-game tactics

 Archers of Poseidon enjoying a different view.

 The table from above

The game began with the hydra pushing toward the centaurs (who were, of course a bit drunk)

Foolishly I encouraged the Gaming Heir to attack - thinking the centaurs would whup the Hydra.

Then we read the rules and realised the Hydra was quite hard and the centaurs were duly destroyed.

Recoving the youth sent the invulnerable Lion to fight the Spartans. Not expecting to win, but expecting not to die and thus frustrate the Spartan advance. Which is pretty much exactly what happened for the next twelve trillion turns.

Hermes whizzed off to bully Poseidon's archers.
Meanwhil the aquatic deity wrought his vengeance upon the hydra.

Finally the Spartnas found a way forward, only to meet the Greek shieldwall AND the Lion.

Poseidon decided to unleash the Kraken - which went off to eat archers

 *Attenborough voice* And here we see the rare and beautiful Kraken in it's natural environment atop a grassy knoll.

In the centre the shieldwalls could get no real purchase on one another

So Poseidon decided to lend a hand

At which point Hermes razzed over, smacked him inna da heed and much to everyone's surprise banished him from the mortal real.
Whack!

However frevent prayer by the hopilites saw him return almost immediately.

At this point the gods spent several truns killing one another and being summoned back.
Finally Poseidon decide more beast unleashing was necessary and the Kraken headed for the Spartans.

With pretty inevitable consequences....

And with all my mortals dead the game was up and I was the loser.


We both really enjoyed this.
I like the Song of... engine and the Greek models are fun.
I must try an wean the GH away from his 40K obsession so we can play this more often.

WAB Late Roman Army for Peterborough

Many (many) moons ago I started painting some Late Romans for WAB.
Then it stalled and I got distracted and, you know, stuff.
Anyway Andy Hawes and his chums are organising an Age of Arthur WAB event at Peterborough later in the year.
So I've decided to try and use the event as a spur to finally finish off the Late Romans.
I'm also going to use the Lead Adventure Army Painters informal thing to galvanise me - aiming for a unit a month!
We shall see how I get on
I figure I can always bulk them out with Saxon allies if I don't quite get them done in time!

I have a finished unit of unarmoured spearmen:

I also have a unit of armoured spearmen who just need a command finishing and their shields sorting out. So I started on finishing off the command last week.

But I knew I'd bought some other stuff, so I scrambled up in to the loft to see just what I had actually got squirreled away.

A mysterious box, a mysterious bag and a pair of blisters

Blister one is some Late Roman casualty figures in resin from Curtey's miniatures. Not essential (or even very useful) for WAB, but nice to have.

Blister two is the Musketeer Vortigern and banner bearer model. Clearly bought some time ago as Musketeer has been Footsore for several years now.

The myterious bag contained three other mysterious bags

Bags 1 and 2 are some "Romano British" Musketeer models that came out a bit after the initial release - ideal for adding variety.

Bag three is some Gripping Beast Late Roman casualties. So I've got the dead and dying thing well and truly covered. Just as well as any of my regular opponents will attest.

Finally a mystery box. That I picked up from the Gripping Beasty Boys at Salute a few years ago. (I've not been two the last two Salutes and I didn't buy it at the one before that. Or probably the one before that either)

What's inside is a mixed unit of Musketeer spearmen and archers. With no command.

Plenty to be going at there for the time being.
However I think I need to do some thinking about the army.

In my head it's a late Roman Army, just about the time the legions departed.
I've got two solid spearmen units almost finished.
I'd like a unit of Peydts I think - representing local militia types (with Chi-Rho shields to differentiate them from the trained Late Roman professionals).
I would also like some cavalry, chiefly because the Footsore stuff is so very nice.

 I obviously had some sort of plan when I bought most of this but I'm buggered if I can remember what it was.

With what I have I can do
Tribune and Decurio ASB
24 commanipulares with light armour, large shield and javelins
24 Milites large shield and javelins
24 Peydt large shield
8 Sagittari
Which is already comfortably over 1K points

Of course I could give my General Fabricae and then make the Commanipulares Milites with light armour. That would mean I could have a unit of Heavy Cavalry...

I think I may need to seek some advice...

Paint table Sunday

I have been in something of a painting funk recently - I couldn't be bothered to get any soldiers and paints out (I am not fortunate enough to have a permanent space I can leave them set up) or even think where to start.
In the end this week I forced myself to just paint something, anything to try and kick-start things.
So I did.
And here's what I've been up to:

 An Orky Deffkopta - these are dead good in the new rules, and the fact that only one of the three I use was finished was beginning to irk me. So this is the second one, moved on quite a bit - still a little tidying up to do, but nearly there.

High Marshall Helbrecht for the Gaming Heir's BT collection. A fantastic example of the sculptor's art and therefore far to fussy and detailed for the likes of me. A proper faff and I'm barely a quarter of the way through...

Some Musketeer Late Romans. Now Footsore Romans but they were Musketeer when I bought them!
This is part of my New Project(tm) of which more to come later this week...

I also painted some Perry Agincourt crossbowmen, but as they're pretty much finished they'll get their own post in a day or two.

40K 8th Ed Marines v Orks v Nids

In an inversion of the natural order of things Steve has actually written his version of this game up before I've had the chance!
But don't read it yet. Read mine first.
I'll link to his again at the end.

Earlier this year Warboss Gruzzkup laid claim to the shattered remains of once mighty Imperial World of Ilkestaaan IV.
In an attempt to reclaim the planet a force of Salamanders Space Marines has been dispatched to the planet.
However the first slimy tendril of another, grimmer alien threat is also beginning to ensnare the doomed world....

I would have Orks. I nearly decided to try out the Son and Heir's now discarded Eldar before realising they'd make my brane hurt.
Stephen decided he'd use Marines. Picking from his all the colours of the rainbow assortemnt of the Emperor's finest he settled on the green ones.
General Ballroom meanwhile had grown an extra pair of arms and a chitinous carapace and would be playing with Tyranids.

 Gruzzkup assembles da ladz

 Ooooh. Melty

 Yikes, Infestation

 More meltiness

The Tyranids deployed in one corner, I deployed diagobnally opposite - in order to stay a safe distance away which forced Steve to deploy across the table from a sackload of Genestealers.

I decided that I should follow Orky ancestral finkin' and attacked the age old nemesis the Space Marines.

 Yikes, Here dey come!

 Stab, stomp, slash!

Pretty soon I'd killed a dreadnought and a whole squad of marines. And the apothecary, for no reason other than lolz.

I had however lost most of my mob of boys, my nobz and my warboss in the process. The Marine Captain was weak, but still handing it out.

This left the 'Nids free to gambol playfully about the ruins.

Right up until they raced across the board and started eating my Trukk

At about this point if it were a Black Library novel the two hereditary foes - Orks and Marines would have shown grudging respect for one another and united against the rapacious alien menace.
Instead Steve killed the rest of my boys and then shot a Deffkopta.

Meanwhile the Salamanders were also being pounced upon.

The Trukk didn't last long, and although the boys were a decent match for the 'stealers but time (and green bodies) were running out

Finally the 'Nids faced off against the elite fighting Assault Marines.

And ate them all double quick.

The game was over, neither Steve nor I had many men left and the 'Nids were virtually untouched. The conquest has begun...

Another fun game of 40K.
The 'Nids seem a bit frisky TBQH. I think Burnaz may be the way to go.

Oh yeah, you can go and read this now.