Sunday, April 15, 2012

More Romans and a few hairy Celts!

I have been a bit quiet of late, but that is because I have been slowly going mad painting Roman Red!
I am close to finishing an army.  In addition to the Warlord figures I displayed in an earlier post, I have added some more Black Tree figures.  I really like the Black Tree Ballista figures and their western Roman Archers.  I am working on an Auxiliary Cavalry unit and then they should pretty much be done.  All infantry are based on 40x40mm bases.  This was not for any particular ruleset, but to offer the greatest flexibility when playing.  Also below is another diversion!  War and Peace games had a ridiculous sale on the Warlord Celts plastic set, which I could not resist.  These figures are great fun to assemble and paint.  There is plenty of scope to individualize them and a real dynamic feel to the poses.  I don't intend on building and army of Celts, but as a contrast to the regimented Romans they were a fun project. 
32 Hairy Brutes looking for a fight!

2 Black Tree Scorpions and a larger ballista - sorry about the dodgy photo


The boys with the eagle must be in charge!

48 Black Tree Romans. 

The Little Big Men shield transfers really come up well.

Centurion 'bung-eyes' leads them into battle

Black Tree Western Archers.  These are really nice miniatures to paint.

Some very old Citadel Roman Eastern Archers- courtesy of tigerzouave!

Wargames Factory plastic Roman cavalry.  These guys are hard work to paint.  The detail is not great at all and really needed work to get them to this stage.  I have some Warlord Metal Command figures to add to them to hopefully make the unit look better.

The General!

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Polonian Fusliers


This brigade is made up of two regiments,  Fusilier Rgt.  Count JarosÅ‚aw Araszkiewicz



Like many units in Pangaea who sport   rose facings the turnbacks are rose..in all other cases apart from the Guards.. the turnbacks  are red..Officers wear breeches  in the facingcolour and a silver and red sash ,knotted on the right in the Polonian manner..all cockades are white.

and Fuslier Regt.Redmond  von Barrie


Monday, April 9, 2012

Regimental Fire and Fury Game - Take the Reb Depot!

Today we played a Regimental Fire and Fury game that involved three Yank Brigades attempting to capture a Reb supply depot. The Yanks outnumbered the Rebs who had three brigades but of smaller regiments than the Yank regiments. In addition all the Reb troops were Green except for their gunners who were Trained. The supply depot was protected by fortified lines which included a big 8" Columbiad gun. The lines covered one half of the table while the other half was forest and farm land offering an opportunity for the Yanks to make an approach that was not covered by Reb artillery or fortified lines. The game began with Yank artillery off the table pounding away at the Reb fortified lines on the Reb right flank. This had little effect and the Yanks soon lost heart in attempting to harm the Rebs in that area. Adding to this was that the Yank guns began to receive accurate Reb counter battery fire and the Yanks guns began to suffer losses. The Yanks had begun marching through the trees on the right flank on turn one and had gotten themselves into a position where they could now launch an assault against Jones Farm. They launched their assault and a close range firefight ensued in which the Rebs managed to do better than the Yanks. Dispirited by their failure to harm the fortified Reb right flank the Yanks then launched a major infantry assault against the Reb center. This came on in grand style and charged into the Reb lines. A fierce fight then occurred in which the Rebs, by pure luck (rolling 10 always helps), managed to hang on to their position even though having lost almost half the men from the regiment holding that part of the line. The Yanks tried again but by this time the Rebs in the center had been reinforced and managed to push back the Yank assault. On the Reb left flank things were beginning to look serious for the Rebs. The Yanks there were pressing forward and it looked as if the Reb brigade there might have to give ground, but once again a bit of luck intervened and the Yank player rolled the dreaded 1 for his maneuver test just when he did not want to roll it. This resulted in two of his four regiments which were 'Spent' by that time panicking and retreating in disorder. By this time the Yank player in the center had lost heart and was beginning to withdraw his brigade. Not to be daunted, however, the Yank player facing the farm threw in his reserve Brigade but it met with concentrated fire and while not hurt that badly was not obviously going to give the Yanks the quick breakthrough the Yanks desired. So the game ended with the Yanks falling back to lick their wounds and the Rebs thanking their lucky stars they had survived to fight another day. Thanks to Liegh (Lenoidas Cructhley), Peter (Hercules Williams) and Ian (Lightfoot Haidon) for a great afternoon of fun and a good game.

Big Betty the 8" Columbiad guarding the approaches to the depot.

The Table from the Yank edge of the table - fortified lines to the center and left, forest and farm to the right.
The table from the Reb end. The depot and all its goodies are in the right foreground.

Chatting the day away outside the depot store - the social pleasantries were about to be interrupted.

Jones Farm - nice fat chickens waiting for the soldier's cooking pots.

The depot with loco unloading - a nice prize for the Yanks if they could get it.

The Reb lines manned and waiting for the Yanks.

The assault through the trees reaches the farm and close range musketry erupts.

Hard fighting slows up the Yank advance at the farm.

Yank lines begin to thin as their casualties mount in the fight for the farm.

The Yanks begin their advance against the center of the Reb lines.

Leigh and Peter plot the Yanks next moves.


The single rank of Green Reb troops holding the center of the line look at the masses of Yank infantry advancing upon them.

The Yanks charge home against the center of the Reb line. Fierce close quarters fighting occurs.

Reinforcements finally reach what is left of the Reb regiment holding the center of the line.

Thursday, April 5, 2012

French Foreign Legion find a new Toy to play with

Here is the latest addition to my growing collection of toys suitable for modern wargaming. This one is a very nice die-cast Chinese SCUD like missile launcher. The scale is a bit ambiguous but seems to go well with 28mm and even 40mm if you are not too anal about exact matches in scale for figures of that scale. I am sure that this new toy will see action on the table top soon - no doubt as the target for for a Special Forces mission. The figures in these photos are Eureka miniatures 28mm modern French Foreign Legion - who have just happened to find this prize sitting unattended in the local bush.





Sunday, March 25, 2012