D'Isigny Villains

A small group of armed tax collectors walking between villages on the edge of Sherwood Forrest.

What could possibly go wrong?

Why on earth am I painting some vaguely Robin Hood themed miniatures?

Basically...I have them.

I was sent a pair of Norman Chest Bearers, along with some plastic outlaw-types as a 7TV Secret Santa gift and if you've been reading this blog for any amount of time, you'll know I'm nothing if not easily distracted.

The Norman Chest Bearers are really nice models from Crooked Dice which I would never otherwise have bought. They were remarkably easy to paint with only half a dozen base colours washed and highlighted.

I opted to go for a colour scheme inspired by the Lego Black Falcons (the baddies in the castle range) I had as a child. The idea for this came from this video from the Peachy Tips YouTube Channel - although I chickened out of trying to paint the heraldic falcon.

My only criticism of these miniatures was that the rods that support the box are far too chunky to go into the hand holes, even without the even wider metal caps on the end.

Using thinner metal rod was an easy fix, but I still don't know how they were supposed to work.

Currently leading this group of nefarious tax collectors is a model I got for free from one of the Partizan shows.

It is apparently Sir Walter D'Isigny, one of the Norman followers of William the Conqueror, who not only founded the village of Norton Disney, but also is apparently the ancestor of one What Disney.

I'm not going to grumble about the quality of a free model, but there is a nasty mold line in his helmet and the proportions are quite different to the Crooked Dice models.

I wasn't keen on the positioning and shape of his left hand and so opted to cover it with a spare kite shield I had knocking around.

I've opted to base these in the same manner as my Lord of the Rings miniatures as I plan to have the outlaws pull double duty when I get round to them, and I might even start basing all of my generic fantasy/medieval miniatures in this way to keep things consistent.

Acquired: 15

Painted: 101

Lead Mountain: 671

Show & Tell

Due to.a range of differing circumstances, I haven't been able to attend any wargames shows this year, and so when Matt suggested going to Partizan in Newark this weekend, I jumped at the chance.

I didn't go with any particular intentions to buy anything, but I was more interested in seeing what I could grab for a bargain and look at some intimidatingly detailed demo games.

For example, this one...

This massive game was by Shrewsbury Wargamers (I think) and is themed around the battle of Rourke's Drift, but using Warhammer 40k Praetorians as the British and Orks in place of Zulus 

Interestingly, the chap I was talking to wasn't aware of the Bloodbath at Orc's Drift campaign from the very early days of Warhammer Fantasy Battle.

One of the things I like about wargames shows is that they remind me that I'm also a historical gamer, something that is easy to forget in an online space that is dominated by the grim darkness of the far future.

For example, this eastern front game in a ruined city reminded me just how long it has been since I played a game of Bolt Action.

It's also a reminder that I should probably build more terrain as good looking boards make a massive difference, as is clear from this Vietnam game. However, I'm always stumped by the question about where I would store it all.

It's aldo good to see what else is out there. This really involved, multi-level board reminded me that Burrows & Badgers is the sort of silly thing that has the potential to garner my interest.

I've previously resisted due to other games demanding my attention, but I'm nearing the end of several projects and so since might open up for some anthropomorphic shenanigans.

Mind you, there are other projects I haven't looked at in some time that I could easily return to, such as VBCW, something for which I do have a few bits and pieces still to put together, and I still need to return to Vlad's Army for 7TV, which covers a lot of the same ground in terms of terrain and miniatures.

Speaking of 7TV, although this board was using homebrew rules, it definitely had the same vibe as 7TV as Martians attempted to stop the world's billionaires colonising their home planet.

In the centre of the picture you can see Jeff Bezos and his delivery drone, whilst Donald Trump is just visible on the platform behind the rocket discussing the most wonderful plans that anyone has ever seen (everyone has been telling him they love this big, beautiful plan) with an unseen Elon Musk, who is dressed as Homelander from The Boyz, naturally.

And so we get to the part where I reveal what I picked up:

1. The show miniature is a Polish paratrooper, which I'm not sure I gave a use for, which is a shame.

2. I bought a boat because I've decided that I do want to work towards a proper board for Carnevale, and making it a dock should reduce the amount of streets I'll need to build.

3. My Blood Angels will be getting reinforcements in the form of a single Terminator and a very old Vindicator, which needs some TLC.

4. I grabbed Pirates of Lunar City, a feature pack for 7TV that I don't already own. I want to get back to the game and I find the feature pack provide good motivation.

5. Finally, and providing the biggest hit to my running totals, I bought 33 Napoleonic British from a very persuasive member of the RAF on their charity stall. These will allow me to build a second Sharp Practice army for the War of 1812.

I genuinely enjoyed this show as I think I've been so focused on clearing my backlog for a while, that I haven't thought about other things I'd like to work on. After today, I think I have a few different and exciting projects to look forward to.

Acquired: -42

Painted: 447

Lead Mountain: 356

Show & Tell

I'm not sure why, but I don't get to as many wargames shows as I used to. It might be due to having a less historical focus to my painting (as most shows lean that way); it might be my relentless focus on reducing the Lead Mountain; it might be that my regular companions for these sorts of things are knee deep in 3d printing.

Whatever the reason, Matt and I made the decision to get ourselves to Partizan in Newark last weekend.

There's something timeless about most wargames shows. Mainly the same companies with stalls in pretty much the same places, selling largely the same stuff.

They're more of a market than a show.

Which is not a bad thing.

Of course, there are the display and demo games, representing a significant level of effort and commitment from the groups that put them together.

Due to the work required, there are obviously games I've seen before as if you have a 20'x8' board of Indian Mutiny terrain and miniatures, you're not going to just leave it packed away forever.

There are also new things to see, such as this much larger scaled game of Battlefleet Gothic, demonstrating the power of 3d printing and one of the impacts it's going to have on the hobby.

This game felt like a massive (and I used that word deliberately) combined effort from a gaming group and it's hard to convey the impact they had just in photos.

This was probably the only game that made us really stop to look, as it was truly different and a visual feast.

However, I was left wondering whether the original scale of the game was a better indication of the distances involved that this upscaled version.

But that wouldn't have looked as good.

I do get a bit jealous of some of the terrain on display and always ponder the idea of making a proper terrain board myself.

Then I remember that I'm a flighty wargaming butterfly who'd never maintain the level of focus required to bring something like that to fulfilment. Not to mention the fact that I have nowhere to store such a thing.

I could go for a smaller scale, which would tackle one problem and go sone way towards the other. 

However, despite the care that goes into smaller scales, I'm just not stirred by them in the same way.

Perhaps I should focus on increasing my collection of scatter terrain, as there were plenty of displays that did just that and still managed to be visually impressive.

I did do a little bit of shopping. I picked up a few brushes, paints and bases. I also grabbed half a dozen miniatures that are going to be used in my oft-forgotten Freedom Force project, which is due for a splurge of activity soon.

Obviously, I also got given the traditional 'how the hell am I going to use that?' free miniature on the door. This time it was a Norman noble, Sir Walter D'Isgny, who I'm not entirely sure is a historical figure.

I have done a little bit of painting this week, but I'm not happy with it.

I put together a couple of Wargames Factory (the sprues are now owned by Warlord Games and used in their Project Z game) Zombie Vixens to use as proxy Feral Ghouls in Fallout: Wasteland Warfare.

However, not only have I messed up the painting to a point I'm not happy with, having now played Fallout 3, I know that the Feral Ghouls shouldn't have hair, and it bugs me.

At least they don't have noses, and they'll do. I'm not overly keen on the official miniatures either, so I guess I'll live with them.

You'll be no doubt delighted to hear that I have 'finished' Fallout 3 and so can turn my attention back to painting, which given that it's half term is a good thing.

Acquired: -100
Painted: 263
Lead Mountain: 687

The Elephant In The Room

I finished last year with a post featuring elephants too. 

Then, it was due to event that had happened leading to me gaining some frankly massive armies for the Punic Wars.

This year it's because our big Christmas game actually used those those armies in a massive clash using the rather excellent (especially if you only play a certain period very infrequently) Kings of War Historical rules.

I split the forces available into two roughly 3300 point armies. Unfortunately, Wes was unable to join us this year, so I took control of the Carthaginians and their Numidian and Iberian Mercenaries, whilst Matt and Pete became the bickering Consuls leading the Republican Roman legions and their Italian and Gallic Auxiliaries.

I'm not going to go into the exact forces, but broadly the Roman force had bigger and better blocks of infantry, whilst the Carthaginians enjoyed a significant advantage in cavalry and had the aforementioned elephants.

The Roman deployment was fairly conventional, with the legions in the centre and their cavalry and auxiliaries out on the flanks.

The Carthaginians also concentrated their infantry in the middle, but massed their cavalry on their left flank, and left the right flank to the elephants supported by light infantry.

Opening moves saw both lines advance. The Carthaginians took up an oblique line as the elephants pushed forwards on one flank and only the Numidian Cavalry sallied forwards on the other.

The Romans issued a more general advance as the legions moved up at the double, keen to bring their weight to bear. 

Somewhat surprisingly, the Gallic Light Cavalry charged into the elephants, which went about as well as you might expect.

This appeared to happen because one of the two Consuls (obviously they both blamed each other) couldn't tell the difference between his allied units - which felt fairly historically accurate.

This began an ongoing process of the Romans throwing Gauls at the elephants in an attempt to slow their advance, safe in the knowledge that they wouldn't have to pay their auxiliaries the following day.

Over on the other flank, Numidians harried the Italian Auxiliaries, driving off cavalry and peppering the infantry with javelins.

More Gauls were hurled at the elephants and to their doom. However this strategy was keeping the elephants penned in and starting to whittle down their nerve.

All the while, the legions advanced.

The lines finally clashed as Roman Legionaries fought Iberian Scutarii at the base of the hill, whilst the last of the Italian Cavalry was destroyed by the Numidians.

After Light Cavalry, Noble Cavalry and Fanatics had all failed, it was the turn of the massed horde of Gaulish Warriors to take a crack at the elephants.

These two would end up trampled beneath the feet of fate, but by the time they were gone, the elephants would be in a much worse condition.

Another legion crashed into the Iberians in the centre of the Carthaginian line. The Romans had weight of numbers, but the Scutarii were bolstered by the reassuring presence of the Army Standard and the Sacred Band.

The Roman Commander could only watch in horror as his flank seemed to collapse under the feet of the elephants.

Triarii were hastily brought forward to hold the line.

With most of the Numidians finally driven off, the Carthaginian Cavalry crashed into the Italian Auxiliaries inflicting significant damage.

However, Gauls roared in to drive off the last of the Numidians, whilst Roman Cavalry launch a daring attempt to assassinate the enemy general by taking their horses through the trees to assault him.

The attack failed but did create issues in the Carthaginian lines 

Huge bodies of men pushed and shoved along the line, but no breakthrough was achieved by either side...

...until the Carthaginian Cavalry finally broke the Italian Auxiliaries whilst the Iberian Cavalry that had been held in reserve were brought forward to stem the tide of Gauls and Roman Cavalry that were threatening to break through.

Only a lone regiment of Triarii remained to hold back the Carthaginian Cavalry. Fortunately, holding back cavalry is what the spear-armed elites do best.

Meanwhile, on the other flank, the final Roman Legion rushed forwards hoping to reach the action before the last of the Gauls were destroyed by the Numidian infantry.

They managed to make it into the Africans' flank before they could sweep the Gauls away, just as the long spears of the Triarii finally drove off the rampaging elephants, securing the Roman left flank.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the battlefield, the charge of the Iberian Cavalry had failed to have the desired impact and the Gauls now began to look like they might turn the Carthaginian flank.

However, in the centre, one of the Roman Legions finally broke, but the Scutarii were in no stat to pursue and were surprised to find themselves charged by the Roman Signifier, who somehow held them in place.

This gave the Triarii the freedom to concentrate on the cavalry and a full on collapse of the Carthaginian flank was underway.

A similar collapse was underway on the other flank. Although the last of the Gauls had fallen, so had the African infantry, and only a solitary Iberian regiment and some Balearic Slingers stood in the way of an entire legion.

The fight finally came down to the centre, where following the rout of one of the Scutarii units, the Sacred Band faced a very tired Roman Legion.

Both sides took heavy casualties, but both sides held thanks to the presence of their Army Standards strengthening their resolve.

At the final count, the Romans came away with a victory which would have been overturned had the battered legion in the centre not stood their ground. 

The battle had initially seemed to be going massively in the Carthaginians favour, but the stalwart nature of the Legions, combined with some nick-of-time action from the Triarii and some frankly ridiculous behaviours from the Roman Signifier blocking the Carthaginian advance won the day.

Overall it was a lot of fun to play and proved that Kings of War is a versatile system that's really easy to use and excellent for people who play certain eras extremely infrequently. I'm sure experts could find fault with the historical accuracy, but given that we're unlikely to play ancients again any time soon, it felt right.

In other news, I was 'kindly' given the Battletech Beginner Box by Pete as a Secret Santa present. He's been on at me to get into this for some time and now I've got no excuse.

It has two models and the quick start rules but he knows me well enough to know I'll by at least a couple more mechs to be able to play the smaller scale version of the game.

In return I gave him some Morannon Orcs so we can play the Gondor At War campaign for Lord of the Rings, which I've been on at him about (,you get a sense of how we use Secret Santa here), and the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man I received recently as he's a big Ghostbusters fan.

So that's it for gaming this year. I'll be back tomorrow with my review of last year's resolutions and you find out just how badly I've done.

Yes, I have counted up how many miniatures I've gained.

No. I'm not telling you until tomorrow.

Yes. It's bad...very very bad.

Acquired: 291
Painted: 323
Lead Mountain: 589

The Anarchy

This might seem an odd title for a post given the somewhat sedate poses of the models in the photo, but they are technically King Stephen and Empress Mathilda, the two claimants to the throne of England during the civil war known as 'the Anarchy' between 1138 and 1153.

These two miniatures were both picked up from the two Partizan shows in Newark last year. This show always seems to have a pair of matched complementary miniatures to encourage visitors to attend both events during the year.

I decided to paint these two as a palette cleanser after the orks as they're fairly simple miniatures and would allow me to get some quick progress.

King Stephen ruled from 1135 to 1154 and arguably usurped the throne from Mathilda despite having sworn to support her. He managed to get captured by her in 1141 and was only released as an exchange fore Mathilda's husband Robert, who also managed to get captured by Stephen's wife (also called Mathilda) in the same year after the 'rout of Winchester'.

For colours, I decided to base Stephen on this illustration from a set of cigarette cards that was collected by my grandfather. I feel that it's meant that he ended up brighter than had I just gone which what seemed right, but I quite like it. 

Mathilda was married to the Holy Roman Emperor, Henry V, until his death in 1125, and then was the named successor of Henry I of England (her father). Despite the royal court swearing an oath to support her rule, the throne was taken by Stephen of Blois who had the backing of the church.

Despite successes in war, she was never formally crowned Queen of England, but her son, Henry II, claimed the throne as Stephen's successor after Stephen's son Eustace died in 1131.

In terms of colours, most versions of Mathilda I've seen, draw inspiration from this illustration, leaning heavily on the red an black. I like that this leaves the two claimants to the throne with completely different colour palettes.

I can't imagine that I'm going to suddenly build and paint a pair of early medieval armies and so the only slight chances that these might hit the table some time soon is either in a 7TV Fantasy scenario, or possibly in MESBG using the King of Men profile that was used as a excuse to create miniatures for the single shot of the nine human ringbearers before they were turned into Ringwraiths.

It's always good to get a quick win, something that I've added to by passing a mule miniature I'm not going to use on to a friend. I'm edging ever so close to getting the Lead Mountain total below 500 at last.

Acquired: 38
Painted: 138
Lead Mountain: 501