DR Bugbears vs Rohan

I popped up to CHCH for work yesterday so took the opportunity to take up some figures and have a game of Dragon rampant vs Ian in the evening. We played 32 points and though a tad rusty quickly got into the swing of things.

I ran my bugbears

1x Elite foot general

3x bugbear warbands (bellicose foot)

2x wargs (lesser warbeasts)

1x ettins (large warbeasts)

Pretty much everything in my army had wild charge

Ian ran the stoic defenders of Rohan

1x elite riders general

1x elite riders

1x heavy riders

2x heavy foot

1x light missiles

The battle started well for the bugbears and their allies, managing to defeat or badly damage both cavalry wings of Rohan while the infantry stood on the banks of the river and watched on and their glory hungry general and his amtes met their maker and the bugbear warlord was feeling confident the victory was in his grasp. Alas, once the cavalry had been dealt with by the wargs and ettins the Rohan infantry showed a bit more mettle and stoically defended the river bank vs the waves of bellicose bugbears. Slowly they were driven back but counter attacks and missile support finally put paid the bugbears and the bugbear army literally melted away.

A fun game and each army played very differently. We were both a bit surprised at ho robust Rohan’s heavy foot were and they really turned the tide once the cavalry had been delat with.

Next time I’d probably look at a little missile support but overall as really happy with the way the bugbear army played.

A horde of bugbears emerge out of the northn wastes and head towards an undefended ford, the ford of Isen?

Before the bugbears can reach the ford a force of Rohan cavalry and infantry arrive to stop the incursion. 

A force of wargs drives the Rohan light cavalry back on the hill. In the foreground the bellicose bugbears head for the ford.

On the other hill the other pack of wargs also drive off the Rohan cavalry after discovering the usefulness of being uphill (i.e +1 to armour, pretty damn handy)

The riders of Rohan are driven back.

But they come back for more.

 Then the ettin wades in too.

After several rounds the ettins and wargs prevail, killing the elite riders and the Rohan general. The bugbear warlord now smiles and senses victory. Momnts later the rohan archers finish off the ettin which had 5 wounds. 

Time to send in the bugbears. This should be a doddle but alas the bugbears are about to learn why the heavy infantry are so good on the defence.

Anglo-Saxon battle tactics ##1: Find a hill and sit eon it
Anglo-Saxon battle tactics #2: Find a river and site behind it

And that is it, the Saxon battle tactics manual.

 Slowly the bugbears force the Rohan infantry back. 

Things are looking good but somehow...

It ends up looking like this. The Rohan infantry saw off wave after wave of bugbears and in the end retained the ford. Who needs cavalry?

Thoughts
It was a great game. 32 points made for a good sized game with a nice variety of troop types. We both made a few tactical mistakes but learned heaps and were both impressed at the resilience of vanilla infantry... when defending river banks.

I hope to get up to CHCH for another game soon.

Craig

Sabot bases

I want to be able to use my bugbears with both Kings of War and Dragon Rampant so have had some sabot bases made by Joe at Titan Terrain which will fit the bill nicely.

In non game related stuff. Moved into my new place. Last week we had a hail storm the likes I've never seen before, hail the size of golfballs. Thousands of cars (including mine) damaged and I also managed to lose all my guttering and got 20 holes in the roof of the conservatory.

The noise of the approaching storm was incredible then we had about 30 minutes of the most intense hailstorm I've ever witnessed.

The conservatory had a heavy plastic roof that didn't really work. I was planning on replacing it with glass but now it will be taken care of by insurance.

The gutter is a tad holy. 

All the trees around town were surrounded by a circle of shredded leaves.

Craig

A Howl from the North

Once again I’ve been a  bit slack at updating my blog this year but I’ve been busy the last few weeks so not been doing too much gaming related stuff. I’ve just spent a couple of weeks on holiday, visiting my younger brother in Gisborne and have also settled on a new house which I take possession of this coming Friday, so am in the middle of organising to move as well as sorting out all the stuff associated with the sale.

When time has allowed I’ve been slowly chipping away at various projects but not doing as much as I’d like. I’ve been rebasing quite a few figures as I’ve been working on my Fall of the West Goths and Hun forces- still more infantry required and need to get myself some Late Romans to add to this army.  

This weekend I’ve been down at my bach and have taken the opportunity to rebase some more of my Rohan cavalry for Middle Earth games (using my new larger bases) as well as rebased my bugbears and organised them into a force suitable for either Kings of War or Dragon Rampant.

The bugbears are all Reaper Bones which originally were used in our D&D games but one of my many projects has been to turn them into an army for Kings of War or Dragon Rampant. The idea is that they will represent a force that has emerged out of the northern wilderness to wreak havoc on the civilised lands.

A Howl from the North

•          Bugbear General
•          Bugbear Shaman (converted Reaper Gnoll shaman)
•          3x units of bugbears (hordes in Know or Warband in DR)
•          1x Unit of Ettins
•          1x Troll (GW)
•          2x units of Wargs (GW)

I’ve a few Reaper Bones Giants to add to this force too.I have also some Frostgrave Gnolls that I need to paint up and will become lesser infantry and scouts of the army.

I think I’ll give them a crack using Dragon Rampant once I have moved.

The shaman is a Reaper Gnoll with a Reaper Bugbear head-swap.

 Rohan rebased.

 Some goth archers.

I have also been doing some slightly different bases. I’ve got Joe at Titan Terrain to make me square or rectangular bases with rounded edges (look similar to FoW bases) and am really happy how they have turned out.

My next job is to get Joe to make some sabots so I can multibase the wargs or Bugbears to make larger units in Kings of War- 4 bugbears in an irregular formation will make a horde using the Ogres army list or 4 wargs will make a regiment.

Craig

Kings of War- Huns vs Germans

Kent and I had a quick game of KoW this evening, the game sure plays fast.

I ran my Huns and German allies vs his Carthaginian/German mix. The game ended up being a bit one sided die to the amount of shooting I could muster and Kent's lack of missile fire response. Even so, I enjoyed the speed, firepower and maneuverability of the huns and would like to use them some more vs late Roman style armies. They sure packed a punch both with missile fire an also in melee combat and were fun to use (at last).

Kent's latest figures,a stunning horde of Germans. Would love to see even more of these guys. Pretty sure they are all Foundry figures and to his typcial high standard. The multibase is fantastic! 

The armies deploy- we played the invade mission so the goal was to get as many troops on the opposing side of the board as possible. I spread my hunnic cavalry out across the board.

Kent's forces were pretty infantry heavy.

 Turn 1 my cavalry already zipping round the flanks.

In the centre to the two hordes close in on each other

My light cavalry have just destroyed Kent's light horse troops leaving mewith full mobility on my right flank.

Kent's spearmen destroy my skirmishers

My skirmishers hold up the Germans...briefly. In my turn my own warriors charge but on't casue anywhere near enough wounds.

 Then Kent counter charges and the elephant hits the warriors form the flank- they have now taken 24 hits and so rout. 

My Hunnic Cavalry mop up the spears.

The Hun general take on the elephant.

Kent returns the favour but the general survives and then runs away to live another day. 

A fun game but Kent really lacked options vs the firepower and mobility of the Hun cavalry. It was a fast and brutal game, as usual but maybe a tad hard for Kent' forces so will take a more suitable opponent next time- my ancient Spanish and Celt allies. 

Craig

Huns

Here are my rebased Huns for historic and Middle Earth gaming- they'll do double duty as Huns or Easterlings as required.

I've 4x stands of light cavalry

4x command stands- 2 generals/heroes, a standard and a musician.

All figures are Gripping Beast.

Wargs!

My rebasing project continues. A few months ago I picked up  dozen or so GW warg riders and half a dozen wargs for one of my many projects.For some time now I've wanted to have a large force of wargs and warg riders as part of the Operation Middle Earth project.  Over the weekend I based up and painted four units worth using my new light cavalry basing- 4 figures on the same size base as my heavier units. I am really happy with the dynamic look of the bases and looking forward to getting them on table soon.

I'm also working on a few command stands and finishing off basing up my Urak Hai and orcs to match my other forces.

Urak hai scouts- in Kings of War they'll be warriors with the pathfinder rule added.

I am also working on 4 units of  Huns (Gripping Beast) to match the same basing system and they'll be both my Easterlings for Middle Earth gaming or Huns for historic games. I've one base to complete before I'll post some pictures.

Craig