Craig
Welcome to Craig's Wargaming Blog. Here you will find reports of games I have played as well as news about my current modelling and painting projects.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Conquest Normans
My first four units of Conquest Normans are finished and ready for action- they are very nice figures. In the end I decided to stick with 3 figures per base to match what Kent is doing.
Craig
Craig
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Gripping Beast Dark Ages Village
I ordered from War and Peace Games in Australia and they took less than a week to arrive- since the were out of stock on the GB site I was not sure they'd have any in stock but at $20 Aus or less + postage (fixed rate to NZ) they were a damn good buy!
I don't have much in the way of 28mm terrain and at present with so many figures to paint it isn't high on my priority to make any- although I am starting to think about ideas for camps. Anyway, these fill a much needed gap and I will probably add a few more of them in time, I am very happy with the price and the quality of the buildings.
All are painted with a mixture of test pots from a local DIY store.
I intend to make balsa doors for the two with open doors and also make a palisade and watchtower to complete the village- but I' not sure when these projects will get done!
I don't have much in the way of 28mm terrain and at present with so many figures to paint it isn't high on my priority to make any- although I am starting to think about ideas for camps. Anyway, these fill a much needed gap and I will probably add a few more of them in time, I am very happy with the price and the quality of the buildings.
All are painted with a mixture of test pots from a local DIY store.
I intend to make balsa doors for the two with open doors and also make a palisade and watchtower to complete the village- but I' not sure when these projects will get done!
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Impetus- Vikings vs Norse Irish
Time for some revenge vs Kent and the Norse Irish with their nasty FL VBU 4, javelin armed bonnachts. Each army was about 300 pts
I had come up with a cunning plan- more skirmishers to screen more heavy foot and and big blocks of infantry to soak up the losses!
Norse Irish (quantity/unit/pts per base)
The Vikings got to defend. I split my command into two equal(ish) forces. I had a cunning plan- big blocks of infantry screened by skirmishers, with their flanks supported by smaller blocks of Vikings- what could go wrong?
Kent also created two commands- he used his best troops (Huscarls and Islemen allies) to secure his flanks and his bonnacts held the centre.
Kent's other flank.
The two lines advance.
My troops take some minor losses from javelins- thanks to the skirmishers. But I completely forgot about using a Shieldwall!
To show I'm not completely biased- a view from the Norse-Irish lines.
Vikings prepare to charge.
The first melee- Vikings vs Higlanders. Alas it was a draw with neither side taking any losses.
In the centre one of my guards huscarls pulls up milimetres short of the enemy- whose idea was it to send my best troops through the broken ground?
At last progress is made on my left flank- but discipline category C with no commander handy do struggle to get rid of disorder! (Hence all the red counters)
Kent's skirmishers backed up by noble bonnachts clear the bad going of my vikings!
Norse Vikings clash with their Norse-Irish cousins.
Having cleaned up some Norsemen the Norse-Irish Vikings advance on a very badly mauled unit of my vikings (only 1 VBU left)
Kent's other flank stands firm- and has hardly been touched. At this stage I was staring down the barrel of another routing!
My left flank may be on the verge of collapsing but nobody told the vikings at the top of the picture!
The first flank charge ever! My vikings had turned to face the Noble Bonnachts and were overwhelmed by the other bonnachts surging forward- as it turned it to win Kent the game!
The final postions.
The last couple of turns were bloody as my vikings finally started to do damage in hand-to-hand.
Final losses: Norse Irish 14
Vikings: 18
Kent was one stand away from also breaking and so this one was much closer than our last encounter and would have possibly been more so if I'd remembered Shieldwall! A fast and furious game with lots of losses on both sides- using skirmishers to screen my main units , while also using the big units of vikings almost paid off. I will deal to those nasty javelins armed Irish yet!
Craig
I had come up with a cunning plan- more skirmishers to screen more heavy foot and and big blocks of infantry to soak up the losses!
Norse Irish (quantity/unit/pts per base)
| 2 | FL Nobles | 19 |
| 8 | FL Bonnachts | 19 |
| 2 | FP Mercenary Islemen | 14 |
| 2 | S Kerns | 12 |
| 1 | S Archers | 12 |
| Viking Allies | ||
| 2 | FP Huscarls | 15 |
| Vikings | ||
| 2 | FP Guard Huscarls | 26 |
| 2 | FP Vet Huscarls- large | 32 |
| 4 | FP Huscarls- large units | 26 |
| 2 | FP Huscarls | 15 |
| 2 | S Archers | 7 |
| 2 | S Javelins | 7 |
The Vikings got to defend. I split my command into two equal(ish) forces. I had a cunning plan- big blocks of infantry screened by skirmishers, with their flanks supported by smaller blocks of Vikings- what could go wrong?
Kent also created two commands- he used his best troops (Huscarls and Islemen allies) to secure his flanks and his bonnacts held the centre.
Kent's other flank.
The two lines advance.
My troops take some minor losses from javelins- thanks to the skirmishers. But I completely forgot about using a Shieldwall!
To show I'm not completely biased- a view from the Norse-Irish lines.
Vikings prepare to charge.
The first melee- Vikings vs Higlanders. Alas it was a draw with neither side taking any losses.
In the centre one of my guards huscarls pulls up milimetres short of the enemy- whose idea was it to send my best troops through the broken ground?
At last progress is made on my left flank- but discipline category C with no commander handy do struggle to get rid of disorder! (Hence all the red counters)
Kent's skirmishers backed up by noble bonnachts clear the bad going of my vikings!
Norse Vikings clash with their Norse-Irish cousins.
Having cleaned up some Norsemen the Norse-Irish Vikings advance on a very badly mauled unit of my vikings (only 1 VBU left)
Kent's other flank stands firm- and has hardly been touched. At this stage I was staring down the barrel of another routing!
My left flank may be on the verge of collapsing but nobody told the vikings at the top of the picture!
The first flank charge ever! My vikings had turned to face the Noble Bonnachts and were overwhelmed by the other bonnachts surging forward- as it turned it to win Kent the game!
The final postions.
The last couple of turns were bloody as my vikings finally started to do damage in hand-to-hand.
Final losses: Norse Irish 14
Vikings: 18
Kent was one stand away from also breaking and so this one was much closer than our last encounter and would have possibly been more so if I'd remembered Shieldwall! A fast and furious game with lots of losses on both sides- using skirmishers to screen my main units , while also using the big units of vikings almost paid off. I will deal to those nasty javelins armed Irish yet!
Craig
Monday, March 21, 2011
Syrians II
I finished my 4 bases of Turkomen light horse tonight- as well as the last few shields for my Vikings. It took 5 days for my order of LBM Studio transfers to get from the UK to NZ from when I ordered them- pretty good service!
Here are the Turkomens- the light's not too good I'll try to get some more pictures when I get home from work tomorrow.
The dead Norman is one of the features of the Conquest Normans, this particular Norman's impetueous nature obviously got the better of him! I will finish the shield tomorrow night.
Here are the Turkomens- the light's not too good I'll try to get some more pictures when I get home from work tomorrow.
The dead Norman is one of the features of the Conquest Normans, this particular Norman's impetueous nature obviously got the better of him! I will finish the shield tomorrow night.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Syrians for Impetus
Since Kent is working on his Crusaders I thought I'd better get cracking on finishing my Syrians- a nice change from painting Vikings!
I have just finished the bases and painted a stand of light horse- using the new only 2 figures per base system to see if I liked it. The rest of the figures were painted late last year.
I'm happy with the bases- beach sand from Kakanui (simply glued onto the base without any additional highlighting), static grass, Silflor late summer clumps and Woodlands Scenics Olive clump foliage- a nice variety of textures and colours to give the base some interest.
The Cavalry I'm less happy with- I'm not a fan of these Old Glory figures and they will be replaced by Perry's ASAP. However, the 2 figures per base for the Light Horse looks okay so I think I'll keep that. All the heavier Cav is 4 figs per base and I will continue with this arrangement- probably will do so for the Normans as well when I get onto doing those. I've 3 more bases of Turkish light horse and one more of heavier Syrian Cavalry to do first.
I have just finished the bases and painted a stand of light horse- using the new only 2 figures per base system to see if I liked it. The rest of the figures were painted late last year.
I'm happy with the bases- beach sand from Kakanui (simply glued onto the base without any additional highlighting), static grass, Silflor late summer clumps and Woodlands Scenics Olive clump foliage- a nice variety of textures and colours to give the base some interest.
The Cavalry I'm less happy with- I'm not a fan of these Old Glory figures and they will be replaced by Perry's ASAP. However, the 2 figures per base for the Light Horse looks okay so I think I'll keep that. All the heavier Cav is 4 figs per base and I will continue with this arrangement- probably will do so for the Normans as well when I get onto doing those. I've 3 more bases of Turkish light horse and one more of heavier Syrian Cavalry to do first.
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Conquest Normans
This week I've been working on some of the new plastic Conquest Norman knights. What can I say? They are the best plastics I've made so far- lovely poses and proportions- I can't recommend them enough! You even get 3 extra figures and Conquest are now releasing a horse sprue so that you can make use of these too. I also have a box of the Crusader Normans, I haven't compared them size wise yet but I' so happy with these guys that I'll be using plastics for all Norman types in future.
A few people have complained that the horse heads are a bit flat but this is a minor quibble, I may end up using the horses for many different forces! One plus of the horses is that they are all interchangeable so you get even more variety in poses, maybe another head or too for even more variety wouldn't have gone astray but other than that they are great.
Downsides? A few more arms for variety may have been handy! I plan to convert them to Welsh, Saxons and am even thinking of trying to make a few Muslim types!
Not sure what I'll do with the dead horse models? I may use them to put where the knight stands are killed.
I was going to put four figures per base but it was looking a bit crowded and so after consultation with my "does it look good" expert- my 9 year old son, we decided 3 figure looked better, so three it is. Which means I can make a lot more stands! So I think in future I'll stick to the DBA suggestions- 3 knights or cavalry, 2 figures for light horse- will save a bit of time in painting and cash in buying.
Perry Muslims
Kent is currently working on his Crusaders army so not much point carrying on with my Normans, I think I'll try to work on my Syrian army next. I've a few Old Glory Muslim Cavalry but they aren't my favourite figures so I think I'll upgrade my Muslim Ghulums for my Syrian army to Perry Miniatures which are my favourite range in this period. I am tempted to try and convert a few Conquest Normans into Syrians but we will wait and see.
Gripping Beast Dark Ages Buildings
Gripping Beast has a fantastic range of Dark Ages buildings which can get bought very reasonably from War and Peace games in Australia- reasonable for me as the shipping is not too bad to New Zealand. I ordered most of the range of Thursday and they should arrive in the next few days.
Work in Progress- Conquest Normans
The first stand nears completion.
Basing
They may look a bit sparse compared to some of seen online but 4 figures per base just looked too crowded, so three it is.
A few people have complained that the horse heads are a bit flat but this is a minor quibble, I may end up using the horses for many different forces! One plus of the horses is that they are all interchangeable so you get even more variety in poses, maybe another head or too for even more variety wouldn't have gone astray but other than that they are great.
Downsides? A few more arms for variety may have been handy! I plan to convert them to Welsh, Saxons and am even thinking of trying to make a few Muslim types!
Not sure what I'll do with the dead horse models? I may use them to put where the knight stands are killed.
I was going to put four figures per base but it was looking a bit crowded and so after consultation with my "does it look good" expert- my 9 year old son, we decided 3 figure looked better, so three it is. Which means I can make a lot more stands! So I think in future I'll stick to the DBA suggestions- 3 knights or cavalry, 2 figures for light horse- will save a bit of time in painting and cash in buying.
Perry Muslims
Kent is currently working on his Crusaders army so not much point carrying on with my Normans, I think I'll try to work on my Syrian army next. I've a few Old Glory Muslim Cavalry but they aren't my favourite figures so I think I'll upgrade my Muslim Ghulums for my Syrian army to Perry Miniatures which are my favourite range in this period. I am tempted to try and convert a few Conquest Normans into Syrians but we will wait and see.
Gripping Beast Dark Ages Buildings
Gripping Beast has a fantastic range of Dark Ages buildings which can get bought very reasonably from War and Peace games in Australia- reasonable for me as the shipping is not too bad to New Zealand. I ordered most of the range of Thursday and they should arrive in the next few days.
Work in Progress- Conquest Normans
The first stand nears completion.
Basing
They may look a bit sparse compared to some of seen online but 4 figures per base just looked too crowded, so three it is.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Vikings Finished
12 bases worth now complete- 6 to go, although I'll probably halt and 16 and paint some Normans.
My plan is to field:
2x Guard
2xveteran huscarls- large units
4x huscarls- large units
4x huscarls
2x skrimishers- javelins
1x skirmishers- bow
My plan- two large blocks each of one veteran + 2x regular huscarls with the smaller huscarl units protecting the flanks and the guards huscarls in the centre, or flanks depending on where I th8ink they will be the most use.
Tow large blocks of 3 units per block
My plan is to field:
2x Guard
2xveteran huscarls- large units
4x huscarls- large units
4x huscarls
2x skrimishers- javelins
1x skirmishers- bow
My plan- two large blocks each of one veteran + 2x regular huscarls with the smaller huscarl units protecting the flanks and the guards huscarls in the centre, or flanks depending on where I th8ink they will be the most use.
Tow large blocks of 3 units per block
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