GoB: Re-basing Some Temple Guards.

Ever since I purchased the two big lots of painted Lizardmen, I have been wanting to rebase all the metal minis, as otherwise I have to keep rolling them in soft paper tissue when stowing them away, as metal minis on plastic slotta-bases topple over far too easily, and even though the paintjobs are not great, and the minis do have some wear and tear, I do not plan to strip and re-paint tham within any overseeable future.

Thus, I have started the re-basing process with the first unit of Temple Guards/Brute Watchers.

I am going to play a 36 points battle with my Lords of Undeath against Kevin's Orcs this upcoming Saturday, and I have another appointment with him on December 19th where I expect to play with my Blood Gorged/Lizardmen, so I have to get these ready!

GoB: More Ancient Dead

I picked these up from the local GLS parcel shop today. Destined to become part of several regiments, as they are too yellowish to match up with my normal paint scheme, I am probably going to spray them white after re-basing them and re-fitting those that need alterations (I am definitely going to get rid of the double torsos, and all the shields will be clipped off, some of them probably flattened on the backside and re-used for leaders and the likes).

I am not going to commence work on them until after Christmas, though, as I have some seasonal minis incoming from North Star/Copplestone (and some minis from Caliver, too), of which I shall endeavour to finish the Chistmas-themed ones before the holidays (plus, I have some WIP minis for the BoBPC at LAF and some WIP Zulu for my IHMN/USUTHU! project that I need to progress on).

Osprey Wargames: IHMN - Sleeping Dragon, Rising Sun

I also got the second supplement for In Her Majesty's Name, mostly for the sake of completeness, as I have no plans for expanding my still not very advanced Africa IHMN project into India and the Far East.

I shall be reading it when I have finished reading Broken Legions - but it does not have priority over other diversions, so it may be a while, before I have anything to say about it...

Osprey Wargames: Poseidon's Warriors

Another ruleset I got from Osprey; I am not sure that I am going to play it, but I might if I like the way it sounds.

I have always felt that ancient naval battles could be a quite entertaining passtime, and as I wanted free shipping, I had to find a third book to purchase along with Broken Legions and Sleeping Dragon, Rising Sun.

Osprey Wargames: Broken Legions

I got this recently, very delayed, as the first parcel from Osprey seems to have disappeared.

Never the less, here it is, and I look forward to read it.

Horisont VIII, 2016: Blood Eagle in Middle-Earth, Part 2

The Dwarf leader finally reached the village, and persuaded the women and children to leave the compromised area and try to reach safety in Edoras.

The Dunlendings kept hacking and slashing their way through the defenders.

And, finally, the Uruk-Hai started pouring onto the bloody field from several directions.

The Rohirrim were no match for the Dunlendings.

The Uruks came close to the fleeing civilians.

But but the Dwarves and the defenders moved quickly to intercept.

As the defense began to crumble, the Dunlendings started taking prisoners (white markers).

The civilians slipped through, before the Uruks could block the way.

The last Uruk was effectively blocked by the Dwarves.

At this point, one player had to leave, and as the most of the civilians would leavd on their next turn, we ruled that the defenders had carried the day, and ended the game.

Horisont VIII, 2016: Blood Eagle in Middle-Earth, Part 1

As mentioned, I brought my Blood Eagle Middle-Earth scenario for the Horisont convention last weekend.

Here is the first part of an AAR from a game played.

I had added about 140 points to the Rohirrim force defending the village, changed the chance for the raiders to enter the table, and I put a lot more terrain around the village to slow down the attackers' advance. As it turned out, the Uruk-Hai player was very unlucky with his rolls to get his Orcs onto the table, and I think I have to change the probability for an attacker entering a bit back.

Enough of that! Here is the table after the defenders and the relief force deployed, and the first Turn was well underway.

A single Uruk entered early on, but faced uneven odds.

At the far end, the Dunlendings had started arriving, axe and bow ready to carve a bloody trail through the defenders.

A staunch warrior of Rohan faced the lone Orc, all the while the Dunlendings advanced towards the village and were met by swords and arrows.

The sdefenders opted to meet the invaders early on.

The fastest Dwarves arrived at the outskirts of the village, just to see the Uruk cut down.

At this time, a regular skirmish had broken out in and around the woods to the west of the village.

A skirmish that did not go well for the Rohirrim... well, not for long, at least...

Meanwhile, another Uruk had been summoned by the sound of battle.

Still, the action heated around the woods.

Reinforcements arrived from the village.

But the Dunlendings pushed through the woods and threatened to enter the village itself.

And the defenders seemed hard-pressed.

The dice refused to roll 4+ for the Uruk-Hai.

I shall continue this tomorrow - right now I have a film to watch, and then it is off to bed for today!

Horisont VIII, 2016: I Ain't Been Shot, Mum

I am not sure what scale the minis used for this set-up was, but definitely smaller than 28mm!

I Ain't Been Shot, Mum, by Too Fat Lardies, and here depicting a British assault on Italian lines somewhere in North Africa (I think).

I took some piccies while running my own Blood Eagle game nearby, so I have absolutely no idea what was going on.

Horisont VIII, 2016: Oldhammer

This interesting Oldhammer scenario was presented on this year's Horisont convention. I did not play it, but made some photos of a game in progress.

Horisont VIII, 2016: Congo - My First Game

I played a much anticipated game of Congo at Horisont this year. I took up the bloody spear of the natives to avenge the theft of a sacred mask by the nefarious British expedition.

The explorers had to leave the table by one of the two edges of a pre-determined board edge - I had to prevent them from doing so.

My Jungle Cannibals charged right into the nearest group of Askaris.

And were beaten off.

Another group of Askaris and some Scouts moved to attack the Warriors on my right flank.

Followed by the White Explorers.

The Warriors swiftly charged in and drove back the enemy!

The Askaris decided that it was better to engage the natives from a distance, opening up with their rifles (I guess?).

The British tried to sneak out through some dense jungle.

My other unit of Warriors, led by the mighty Chief, swiftly moved to intercept the white devils...

...and charged thim on the next Activation Card.

The female lone surviving explorer ran off from the carnage, while the soldiers formed up to protect the rear of the expedition Column.

The expedition, hard pressed from 3 sides quickly re-grouped into a makeshift, almost square formation to protect the young woman,

With the Askaris out of the way, the Cannibals decided to ransack the camp.

And both the Maiden Archers and the musket-wielding guys (I forgot what they are called) moved to be able to pepper the British formation with lead and arrows.

Seeing the Cannibals looting the wardrobe of the English Miss, the Maiden Archers also decided to try their luck plundering the camp.

My decimated warriors on the far right withdrew, and the British circled my flank, going for the nearest corner. Again, the Chief's unit moved to intercept.

I was taking some beating, but managed to prevent the expedition from leaving the table with the sacred mask, depriving them of 5 victory points, and on the next to last Activation Card, my musket guys ran to the camp and secured loot worth 2 victory points, carrying the day for the Jungle Tribes!

I can only day: Studio Tomahawk did it again!

As with SAGA, the system is VERY streamlined and elegant, and although I am not a fan of too many counters/markers in the playing area (and I really think the rosters could be used for placing those on, instead), the gameplay is so easy and involving, that this game is a must for anyone interested in Victorian or Pulp games set in the Dark Continent.

It would be too time-consuming to explain the system, but it uses identical decks of Activation Cards for both sides - players choose 3 cards at will for each game turn, then both players reveal the first card they wish to use. The cards have an Initiative Value which determines who goes first on this card. Players the resolve the actions listed on the card, shooting/combats are resolved as soon as they occur, usually with one side retreating half a move. All 3 card are played each turn.

The game also has 'Totem Cards', usually 1 drawn before chosing the Activation Cards. They provide extra actions, dice, or other effects, and can be played at will when appropriate.

Try it, if you like fast-flowing, simple mechanics that till offer lots of depth and tactical choice!

I already ordered some minis form North Star/Copplestone to use along with the Zulu I have WIP, so that I can make my own native 'Column'. and I shall then probably purchase the rules after Chistmas (no need to rush, as I need to paint up quite a bunch of minis before I can play the game as intended).