Thirty Years War project

It’s a terrible thing being a contrarian and discovering your obscure and ignored topic gradually becoming mainstream. Since youth I have been interested in the Thirty Years War. For almost all of that time whenever I had mentioned it to anyone I had been compelled to explain to them when that was and what it was about.

Now, however, many more people have heard of it (I’m speaking about English speakers here. I’m sure on the continent they have a better appreciation of history). The recent books by Guthrie and Wilson seem to have brought it to the surface and now it is no longer just an also-ran to the main event of the English Civil War. The Osprey Field of Glory supplement for the Wars of Religion rightly places it at the centre of the period with things such as the ECW being a sideshow.

Be that as it may, and despite the temptation to abandon my interest because there is a chance that someone else might also like it, I have a painting and modelling project to complete. The good thing is that now there are many sources of figures available, something that has hampered my wargaming for many years.

So here is the plan:

• Pikemen: 8 Renegade, painted. 14 Warlord Games to be painted.
• Musketeers: 16 Renegade painted. 11 Old Glory painted. 24 Warlord Games to be painted.
• Heroes/leaders: 10 Brigade Games, painted. 6 Old Glory, painted. 2 Warlord Games to be painted.
• Feldwebel/NCOs: 4 Renegade, painted. 2 Old Glory, painted.
• Standard bearers: 2 Renegade, painted.
• Drummers: 2 Renegade, painted. 1 Old Glory Painted. 1 Warlord, to be painted.
• General purpose cavalry: 14 Eureka Miniatures, painted.
• Cuirassiers: 12 Warlord Games, to be purchased.
• Mounted Arquebusiers: Eureka Miniatures Irish Horse with Warlord morion helmets, to be purchased.
• Eastern light horse: 12Assault Group, to be purchased.
• Saker canon: Renegade, to be purchased.
• Peasants: 15 Old Glory, painted.
• Villagers: 20 Mega Minis, painted.

Song of Powder and Pike test

Song of Powder and Pike (SPP) is the working title of the new rules I am writing for Ganesha Games as a follow on Flashing Steel. The original Flashing Steel was designed for single figure skirmish, providing swashbuckling action. Very cinematic, with lots of character and detail to breathe life into the individual models. SPP is being designed to take the action up to the next level, that of the squad acting as part of a company or task force. Just like Warhammer, you could choose to imagine that a group of 12 models is a regiment of 600 if you want. Personally, however, I am invisioning individual men engaged in small raiding actions.

These photos show some of the tests that Greg and I ran the other night.

A group is the functional unit of an army. A group is composed of a Leader and anything up to 15 other models. The group is a loose arrangement: it is identified by proximity to the Leader, and they can be broken and reformed easily. A single figure by himself is also a ‘group’ for these purposes.

Basic features of Flashing Steel (and Song of Blades and Heroes) are retained such as turn sequencing (really the core catch of any system – change this and you have an entirely new beast), and the simple DBA-style single d6 task resolution system.

For fans of 17th century warfare, there are a few things that really need to be reflected in the rules to carry that correct flavour. They are, in no particular order: forming up to give protection with pikes, pike fencing in general, the lethality of muskets at close range but rapid drop off in effectiveness, the incredibly slow reloading times of matchlock muskets, the fact that infantry caught in the open by cavalry are mincemeat, and then the differences between cavalry performing the caracole, trotting and firing at close range but prior to contact and the bare-arsed all-or-nothing charge of the earlier Gendarmes, Polish Winged Hussars and Pancerni, later Swedes and the Royalist English.

The figures used here are Renegade Miniatures for the infantry and Eureka Miniatures for the cavalry. I added musket stands to the Renegade musketeers as I prefer the earlier 30YW look to the later ECW firelock look.

More posts to come as work progresses.

Kind of a return to StarGate

These magnificent sculpts were once part of the Eureka line until someone decided to rock the boat and claim, without credentials, that they were breaching copyright. Luckily Alan had a few that he claimed he would never paint and passed them on to me.

Here they are, showing the stages in a block paint, Army Painter (Wattyl Stain & Varnish) process. The final shot shows them with some highlighting on the white skirts and a metal dry brush. All that remains on the models is the base work, and this is a pretty standard job for me.

Enjoy

Bugle Call, Adelaide 2011

Back home in Melbourne after a long trip to and from Adelaide. This is the first time, I calculated, that I have been anywhere by myself (that is, without wife and or kids) in the last 17 years. Strange stuff. How time flies. So it was with quite a bit of excitement that I boarded the plane all on my lonesome to see my good friends and play silly games – just like I used to when I was in my 20′s.

The weekend went well, I think. Certainly busy for me as I was detailed to run the Strange Seas game. After two solid days of being on stage, as it were, I was exhausted. Much as I come across as outgoing, it takes it out of me being the Ringmaster.

The convention was billed partially as a purely Historical event. But that always going to be compromised as the population density of Australia simply does not allow that degree of specialisation with any hope of getting more than a half dozen visitors through the doors. As it was there were only three out of 20 games that were not historical, mine being one.

The photo at top here shows the set up for Strange Seas. It was a 28mm B Grade movie pirate theme, the design of which was to attract the kiddies and get some lightweight fun happening. From what I can tell this was successful as the game was in continuous operation, everyone seemed to get into the swing of it very quickly. And finally, I was awarded the Best Table award by popular vote. Trophy to come! The table itself was designed and built by Alan with his usual attention to detail using the 1′ tiles provided by Back 2 Base-ix. It was raffled at the end of the show and I was delighted when it went to my new friend Gustave: an appropriate reward as he had spent an awful lot of time with me helping run the game.

The Strange Seas rules were designed by Greg and showed his typical flair for fast mechanics designed to keep the action rolling and allowing opportunities to tell stories with toy soldiers. Squads of 8 miniatures plus captain were placed around the board. Players took command of a scurvy band each and had to traverse the board to various objectives. The objectives and bands of antagonists were placed in such a way as to ensure the players would be forced into conflict somewhere.

Combat resolution was by simple bucket-o-dice with equally simple saving roll. Movement was abstracted to our standardised 6″ stick, with the squads clustering around their leader in a nebulous fashion. Randomisation was provided by the Aye-Pad 2.0, a chart that showed which of the other non-player squads you could command this turn in order to thwart your opponents. It was a cut-throat, knockout competition, and the winners of each round received a snazzy pirate ring.

Would I ever play Strange Seas again? Not if you paid me. But it ran well, had no design glitches, and seemed to provide a lot of people with a dose of harmless fun and entertainment. Job done.

Check out the comprehensive photos here.

Beowulf – for Hellfrost

As we get ready to start a new fantasy story telling campaign using Hellfrost by Triple Ace, I am starting to think about the opportunities for skirmish wargaming using 28mm and either Songs of Blades and Heroes (if we play <5 a side) or Savage Worlds Showdown (if we play squad, up to 20 a side).

These fellows from Eureka Miniatures are absolutely beautiful and fit the bill nicely. Sourcing monsters will be the next trick, and I hope to write an entry for each monster in the beastiary and nominate a suitable figure.

As the weeks go by I will talk more about Hellfrost. Greg has been a Hârn player since the beginning and knows that Dark Age, low magic stye of play well. Despite both Simon and I begging that he run a campaign for us he would not. This is probably because he knew the entire map inside out after having run another gaming group in it for decades. The Hârn system itself is a work of wonder: for my money the best conventional fully featured role-playing game system ever devised. For a streamlined and minimalist conventional role-playing system, I can’t go past Risus  (check out the good work being done with this system here: Risus Monkey.) But systems alone do not make a fun game, we have decided. It’s more about player investment.

My fascination with ice-covered fantasy terrain started when I bought The (1st edition) Iron Wind by Iron Crown Enterprises (ICE). It was further reinforced when I watched Quintet. There is something simultaneously calming and yet disturbing about a snow-covered world. It is almost a benign form of sterility. Possibly it also goes back to my young days when I used to climb and bushwalk in the mountains – the utter solitude of it all…

Both of us have a taste for Call of Cthulhu. So the Hellfrost is sure to take on supernatural tones well beyond simple monsters.

As a result of these things, I am looking forward to a few stories in this setting using the specific region guides, and also a good dose of miniatures gaming as well.

Jurassic Reich models released – Anubis gate starts operating

Napoleon’s men found the Anubis Gate during the invasion of Egypt and sent home for study. It defied analysis, and so remained a curiosity for over 100 years.

In 1940, with the fall of Paris, Nazi scientists discovered the Anubis Gate and, cross referencing some of the markets with others they had found in such diverse places as Tibet, realised that the stone arch/circle was an ancient artefact of immense power.

They shipped it back to Berlin and commenced study resulting, in a very short time, in the activation of the gate. Stepping through, the Swastika-flag waving explorers discovered that they had been transported to Earth’s ancient past: the age of the dinosaurs.

This is the core of the developing setting of Jurassic Reich being jointly developed by Eureka Miniatures and Anubis Studios. The first figures are now available from Eureka, and a full source book for the setting is in the works from Anubis Studios.

28mm Jurassic Reich (part of the Pulpitations Pulp Fiction range)

Sculpted by Kosta Heristanidis and Mike Broadbent

100PLP20            German officer, riding Dinonicus, armed with SMG (1)

100PLP21            German soldier, riding Dinonicus, armed with SMG #1 (1)

100PLP22            German soldier, riding Dinonicus, armed with SMG #2 (1)

100PLP23            German soldier, riding Dinonicus, armed with MG-15 (1)

100PLP24            Stukasaurus, with Luftwaffe pilot and bomb load (1)

100PLP25            Stukasaurus, with Luftwaffe pilot and 37mm Anti-Tank gun (1)

100PLP26            Stukasaurus, with Luftwaffe pilot and rear gunner (1)

100PLP27            Feldgendarme and raptors (1)

100PLP28            Dinonicus, without rider (1)

100PLP29            Kriegsclaw Gruppe: a set of all four Dinonicus and their riders

100PLP30            Pterowaffe: a set of all three Stukasaurus and their intrepid pilots / crew

As well as the above value for money sets (100PLP29 & 30) you can get take advantage our limited new release offer -

THE “More Dino for your Dollar” DEAL

A complete set of all the Dinonicus riders, Stukasaurus flyers, and the Feldgendarme with raptors – 8 figures for au$80.00 (normally au$102.00)*

* Excluding shipping (and ‘Goods and Services Tax’ payable by Australian customers only)

Tekumel Songs

Played a game last night using vanilla Song of Blades and Heroes. Greg wanted to show off his new piece of Ziterdes terrain, so naturally it was the centre piece. The figures were all Eureka, from the Tekumel range and also classic fantasy Greece – Amazons and Satyrs.

We played a two part mini-campaign. At a remote temple, a priestess had been conducting pagan ceremonies. The central government wanted this stopped and her returned to the capital for trial. In the first scenario, the snake molesting priestess was conducting her foul rites along with a few of her repulsive hand-maidens (actually, they looked pretty sweet). Guardsmen attacked from two sides: one group up the central boulevard, the second through the back streets of the city. Protecting her, Amazons, alerted to the abduction, sprang from the encroaching forest.

This battle had a classic feel of charging up steps while being picked off by vengeful sylvan archers. However, after a bloody climb, the guardsmen did manage to carve their way through the protectors and grab the priestess. First game to me.

In the second scenario, the guardsmen, now reinforced, were resting at an inn in some out of the way village. One squad was inside, the other out patrolling. The amazons quickly reached the walls and climbed, but a single well placed bow shot felled the leader and the rest fled. This set back upset the attack, even though they rallied the tried again. The second group of pagans tried the main door, but were similarly repulsed. The guardsmen suffered no losses.

Two nil to me, another success for Songs, fine terrain and beautifully sculpted and painted figures (thanks Nic and Kosta at Eureka).

On the workbench -good progress for Queen’s Birthday

Long ago – twenty years or more – I decided that I wanted to skirmish war-game because the entry was so much easier. You only need up to a dozen figures and you were playing, rather than paint a dozen and realise that you are only a tenth, if that, of the way through one side. But there was no usable set of skirmish rules as far as I was concerned. I wish I had a dollar for every time I have talked up the Song of Blades and Heroes engine from Ganesha games.

So now I can churn out a couple of complete ‘armies’ a weekend, and cover a much broader range of historical, fantasy and science fiction settings.

Take for example these beautiful Brigade Games swashbucklers, just perfect for the heroes of my 30YW/ECW games using Flashing Blades.

Or these modern Bundeswehr from Eureka Miniatures, painted in a generalised camouflage pattern and useful for my science fiction games. The rules for these, Flaming Plasma, are approaching a good play-test state.

So all is well. I see that Eureka have some modern French Foreign Legion that have not even made it on to the website yet. Man, am I salivating for them… FAMAS armed troops? You bet. Just the ticket for science fiction Colonial militia. I can’t wait.

But now: Mega Miniatures villagers. A topic that is a little dry, but one that is essential for Renaissance skirmishing. After all, someone has to be tending the pigs that the ‘heroes’ come to scrap over.