LoTR- The forces of Gondor

Over the past week or so I've continued on my Gondor project, completing a unit of heavy cavalry and also rebasing the last of the infantry. I am happy with how they have all turned out and should make for a colourful force for Middle Earth Rampant.

The host of Gondor assembles: A mixture of Crusader miniature Norman infantry and Footsore miniatures Goth cavalry. 

 Knights of Gondor: These are the lovely Footsore miniatures Goth nobles on cataphracts. What can I say, I am an absolute fan of Footsore! I' had these guys lying around and have added ordered another units worth. I was toying with the idea of using the Footsore Norman cavalry instead but as I had a couple of packets of the Goths in my lead pile and they had cloaks thought they'd do. I've have kept the shields plain so that they can also pull double duty with my Rohan force as an elite heavy cavalry unit if necessary.

And the infantry units.

 Now I need to get these guys on table and get a game or two in. 

Craig

LoTR- Gondor

I've had some Crusader Miniature Normans lying around for a few years now. Originally they were purchased for my Crusader armies but didn't fit sizewise with the Perry's I used for the rest of the force so have been ignored for some time and been languishing in my miniatures drawers. However, I've decided that they'd be perfect as the basis for a Gondor force for Middle Earth Rampant and so have been rebasing them and tidying them up. I have added some Gripping Beast rimless Norman shields and also Fireforge plastic spears- which look more like tree trunks in the photos but aren't too bad in the flesh.

I think I've mentioned before how I really dislike Peter Jackson's interpretation of Gondor. Plate armour just seems wrong to me and so I can't bring myself to using the GW Gondor range of figures. I think Normans fit the bill and are probably more in keeping with the Anglo-Saxon feel of the setting as imagined by Tolkien so will be using Normans as my Gondor troops.

So far the force consists of:

• 1x elite foot commander
• 2x heavy foot
• 2x heavy missiles (crossbows)

I've two more units of heavy foot to do and I need to get a couple  of units of cavalry. I am in two minds over the cavalry and tossing up between Footsore Normans, Goth or Ramono-British ranges but am leaning towards the Footsore  Noble Goths with the Gripping Beast Norman shields to tie to force together.

The good think about the Rampant series of rules is you don't need too many figures for a force- as they are these guys are 22 pts. Once I've finished the other two units of infantry and add a couple of units of allied Rohan cavalry till I get some Gondor knights the force can easily push 36-40 points which is about size of standard game will will be playing.

Craig

Dragon Rampant- Isengard vs Carthage?

It is Waitangi day today and this evening Kent and I finally managed, after several failed attempts, to get a wargame in. He's never played Dragon Rampant so thought I'd teach him the rules but alas I'd forgotten most of them. However, we managed to muddle our way through a game, the rules becoming clearer as the game went on. 

Apparently the Urak Hai invasion of Carthage happened sometime in the 3rd Age but as no hobbits were present at the battle  to report on it, it has since been lost to the annuals of (Middle Earth) history.

Kent used his Carthaginians and I my newly rebased Urak Hai. I built us a couple of 40 point armies with the troops we had available.

Kent's Carthaginians
1x General (elite infantry)
2x Carthaginian veterans (Heavy foot)
2x Spanish scutarii (light foot= short range missiles)
2x Italian hill tribes (Warband)
1x EWlephant (Greater warbeasts)
1x Carthaginian cavalry (Heavy riders)

Craig's Uraki hai
1x leader (Elite inf)
2x Uraki hai (Heavy foot-offensive)
1x Lesser Urak hai (warband)
1x Urak hai crossbows ((Heavy missiles)
1x Warg Riders (light riders)
1x wargs (lesser beasts)
1x Troll (Greater warbeast)

The battle was a bit of a free for all, just trying to relearn the rules. First person to destroy more than half the opposing force won.

The Urak Hai deploy

And from the Carthaginians line

the Urak hai general and the troll prepare for battle

 Advance! The troll and elephant surge forward, each aiming to prove that he is the king of the battlefield.

 Come on then, bring it on! The troll bounced off the elephant and retreated (the combat was a draw).

The Carthaginians continue to advance

 Elephant vs troll take 2. I'll rip yo tusks off and shove them down ya gob!

 Alas, by now we'd remembered about command rolls after casualties. The troll failed his roll and left the battle in a bit of a huff. The crossbows got their revenge though and turned the elephant into a very large pin cushion on the next turn. 

The Wargs (lesser beasts) charge a unit of Italian hill tribesemen

 The Carthaginian veterans continue to plod their way forward.

 Getting closer...

 Crossbow-orcs and Urak hai clash with the Carthaginians and there are several inconclusive engagements between the heavy infantry units.

The Italian hill tribesemen sense an easy victory vs the crossbows but the orcs retreat in good order- well as good an order as they can being orcs.

 The dice indicates three wounds suffered (a mere scratch) and the glass bead that the orcs are disordered so good for sweet F.A.

 The Urak hai general charges the Hill tribesemen- 'cos he can.

 What happens when you get hit in the flank using the optional unit facing rules? Well apparently your armour value s reduced by one so the warband Urak hai go from Armour 2 to Armour 1c(meaning every successful die equals one wound as opposed to the usual 2:1 vs bellicose foot). Luckily Kent only rolled 3 hits (out of 12 dice needing 4+ per die)

 The battle is close, next destroyed unit on either side wins.

And wouldn't you know it. Kent's Spanish light infantry charge a unit of Urak hai heavy foot, cause 2 wounds to one and rout them off the table on a failed courage test.

A good close game and a chance to get to grips with the rules. It plays fast and furious, even with two 40 point armies on the table.

Cheers Kent, I look forward to getting a lot more gaming in this year!

Urak haI Rebased

My rebasing project continues. I have completed rebasing my Urak hai and Rohan forces using my new basing system. I'll try to get some photos of the Rohan tomorrow.

Most units now comprises of two bases- each 6cm wide.

• Cavalry: two 6x 8cm bases (each with 3 figures so 6 figures per unit)
• Light Cavalry/lesser beasts: 2x 6cm round bases with 2 figures
• Large monsters and leaders: 1x 6cm round base with either one large monsters of 3x command figures for infantry
• Smaller monsters: 2x 5cm bases per unit
• Infantry: two bases each 6cmx6cm (4-5 figs per base). Originally I was going to vary the base depth as in Impetus and some other systems to reflect heavier/ more driilled infantry from warband but have decided that the extra cm of depth protects some more fragile figures (eg spearmen) from taking knocks on the tabletop so have decided to standardise to one base depth.
• Missile troops: 2 bases each 6x 5cm deep, each with 3 figures. 
• Skirmishers: 2x 5cm round bases each with two figures on them.

 By having two bases equalling a unit (in most cases) in Dragon Rampant when a unit is reduced to half strength I simply remove a base to reflect the losses.

In Dragon Rampant terms the Urak hai will be the core of a 40+ point warband:

• 1x leader (elite foot)
• 4x Urak hai infantry (either heavy foot offensive or Bellicose foot)
• 2x crossbows (heavy missiles)
• 1x warg riders (light riders)
• 1x wargs (lesser beasts)
• 2x Urak hai scouts (Scouts)

Craig

More rebasing completed

I've been away a few days but finished off the rebasing of my light cavalry which will be used are Easterlings in my Middle Eaarth themed games I've also finished a medium cavalry unit which will be Black Numenorean knights for Dragon Rampant. These are simply the Rohan figures with different shields but they will do the job. The Easterlings are Gripping Beast's Huns.

Craig

Back to gaming...nearly

Well I'm back home and after a few weeks or getting things sorted which included moving house, I'm finally starting to get myself organised and ready to get back to some gaming.

I was up in Christchurch for a concert a couple of weeks back and caught up with my friend Ian who has just finished some  Nazgul on Fell Beasts for his Dragon Rampant/ Lord of the Rings forces. My phone camera doesn't do the subtlety of the paint job justice.

As for me, I'm looking at adding to my Black Numenorean force.

I'm also looking at modifying my basing system slightly, using 2x 6cm wide bases per unit, an idea I've stolen from Ian. My first decision? 3 Cav per base or two. I was messing around trying to sort this out and took a couple of photos.

First up three figs.

Or two?

I've decided I prefer three, looks more dynamic and so future units will have 2x3 figure bases per unit.

I painted these Rohan as Numenoreans a few years back, the only change was to replace the Rohan shields with some Black Shields from one of the historics ranges- I can't remember which manufacturer- and paint the figure some suitably dark colours.


I also have a small force of Gripping Beast huns which are being repurposed as Easterling allies (I'll have 4 units worth for bigger games). I've decide to use two x 6cm round bases with 2 figures per base for light cav/skirmishers as the bases look more...skirmishy. I really like the look that these give.

I also picked up a Nargul on a fellbeast last year and he will be added to the force too- but needs to be repainted.

Craig

Back into gaming... nearly

Well my year, 11 months actually, in Kiribati has come to an end. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the experience and this really has been one of the highlights of my life so far despite the many challenges the year has held. I’ve been looking forward to getting home but now it is almost time to leave I have mixed feelings about heading home but am looking forward to getting back into my hobbies, including gaming when I do.

I haven’t been able to do much in the way of gaming from out here. However, I was round at the deputy High Comms place a while back and noticed a large collection of Osprey’s and assorted military books. You wouldn’t be a wargamer would you? Yep. Alas we didn’t manage to get any gaming in but was nice to chat about rules etc now and then.

One thing that has kept me sane out here is my weekly Dungeons and Dragons session with my gaming group back home via messenger. We’ve been gaming pretty much weekly since 2001 so wasn’t going to let a small matter of pretty average internet access and being in the middle of the Pacific hold me back, and indeed it has been a real sanity check being able to have that weekly contact with the guys and the silliness that is our Tuesday night gaming sessions.

As I said I’m looking forward to getting home and getting back into a few projects. First off the block will probably be continuing my Lord of the Rings project using Dragon Rampant rules. I have been tempted to get a few more of those lovely Conqueror Models dwarves for my collection… we will see. However, being out here and seeing how little people have has made me reevaluate my own priorities regarding my discretionary spending so think I’ll be a tad more careful with gaming purchases in future- that’s the plan anyway.

I’ve only the tomorrow left and I’m off home, arriving mid-afternoon on Christmas day after an overnight stopover in Fiji. So expect a more regular updates in 2019.

Craig