True to form,John Holt of Warrior Miniatures sent my order through in super-quick time,and 50 Mongol Heavy cavalry came crashing through my letter box on Wednesday!
The figures are cleanly cast,with lots of detail,and no flash at all!!
I had previously asked JH to supply me with armoured horses,rather than un-armoured types,which he duly did-this horse is from the Roman range,and fits in nicely with the illustrations I have of Heavy cavalry.
Off we go!!-the first 16 figures ready to be under-coated-my units are in 8's,so this is two units.If I can manage to get two units painted per week,it should only take me three weeks to complete them!!
The 16 well on their way to completion,probably by Saturday or Sunday-I even attempted dry-brushing on the armour!!!
A depleted "crew" of three played this exciting and fascinating game last night-I took command of the Britons,whilst Graham and Brian took joint command of the Romans.
Top photo is scenario,bottom one is the table layout before any movement.
Part of my Iceni infantry and cavalry,plus chariots,surge forward in an attempt to stop Graham's cohorts from crossing the stream-the other part of the Iceni,I kept back as a reserve.
In this shot,I have sent the whole of the Trinovantes against Brian's auxiliaries,hoping to "swamp" him with numbers!-Graham,very graciously,is in the process of sending him reinforcements,in the form of 5 cohorts!!
Contact is made,and Brian's troops are fighting for their lives-in the background you can see the 5 cohorts being sent to his aid-this diverted 3 of my warbands,but I was still confident that I could beat the auxiliaries-hurrah!!
Meanwhile, on the other flank,I have stemmed the Roman flow!! but have had to commit my reserves to attack the Roman cohorts sent to support Brian-this is great stuff!-the cavalry battle in the foreground swayed to and fro,neither of us gaining a real advantage.
I have out-flanked the 5 cohort support units,and am just about to start my attack on them-come on the Brits!!!
Oh dear! the Trinovantes are being beaten by Brian's tenacious auxiliaries,and driven backwards-this wasn't expected!
Graham is doing a similar job on my Iceni!!-woe is me!!
Now the cavalry are being beaten,and forced back,is this the end???
A resounding YES!!-both the Trinovantes(top photo) and the Iceni(bottom photo) are fleeing for their lives,and this great game is over,leaving the Romans to build roads,schools,sewer systems,temples etc.etc.
This was an enjoyable game,so roll on next Sunday-could be Vikings or "El Cid" or anything really!!
I have turned my attention to the Mongol Yurts(Gers!) I bought off Irregular Miniatures a few weeks ago,having all but finished the Warrior Miniatures Mongol army I have so far.
From the Osprey book "Mongol Warriors",this is how it should be done!!!
These are the tools and pieces I needed to make the Yurts.I measured the diameter of the Yurts as supplied,and cut the correct hardboard using the cutter shown-anyone would think I knew what I was doing!!!!
An ingenious way of making sure the doorway remained upright-a combination of No More Nails,super glue and a file!
I decided that I would do all three together,and it was a good decision,as I learned as I went along-construction was not going to be easy!!
It was at this stage in the construction that "THE WIFE" pointed out the page I was using(from The Star) maybe wasn't quite appropriate!-let's see what she meant.................
Hmmm,nice pair of "Yurts",however, on with the Construction!!!!
Getting the walls just right was a bit of a "bugger",but using my well tried and tested method of brute force and bloody ignorance I eventually managed,but those gaps will have to be filled.
(note that the nice young lady showing her "Yurts" has been covered up!!)
Walls done,and roof placed in position,just to see what they are going to look like-gaps still need filling.
Top photo shows "rough" filling applied(No More Nails!) this was smoothed off and the first coat of under-coat applied-in the bottom photo!
After two coats of under-coat,they were ready to paint-at this stage the roofs are still separate.
To add a bit of colour,I have painted the roof vents-probably not historically correct,but I felt they needed it!!
Now who would live in a house like this???.............................
Irregular Miniatures Naccara Drummers,Mongol Generals and Standard Bearers,that's who!!
I am awaiting a couple of samples of armoured horses from Warrior Miniatures,and I will then order the final(?) 50 heavy cavalry to complete the Mongol Army.
Last night it was my turn to stage a game using the "generic terrain"-I opted for an English Civil war game,using my newly based figures.............................
Top photo is scenario,bottom is the table before any movement-Brian and Paul were Royalists,Dave and I were parliamentarians(Graham was supposed to be helping Dave,but had to cancel due to work!!!)
Paul begins the attack,moving cavalry and infantry against Dave's troops-looking good so far(this was to change!!)
Meanwhile,Brian's "Royalist Ramblers" begin a most complicated and time consuming manoeuver,avoiding the village like the Plague!!!-his face is a study of concentration-is he trying to press a button to make his gun fire??
BOOM!! all of a sudden it's all happening on Paul and Dave's flank! Fortunately for Dave,Paul's dice throwing let him down and this attack failed and his leading brigade took to their heels and ran away-hurrah!!-but what is happening behind the woods?
A cavalry encounter is happening!!-because of the restricted space,Paul couldn't advance with all of his cavalry,but was putting up a good show nevertheless,but what of the "Ramblers" I hear you ask..............................
Well, not wanting to get hurt,they were tramping across the English countryside,admiring the flora and fauna,and avoiding the village like the plague(again!)-I have the most horrible feeling that when they do(eventually) attack,I'm not going to like it!!!!!
The Ramblers are almost in position to attack!!-on the other flank,Paul's second attack on the barricade has failed and his cavalry is also taking a bit of a beating,so it looks as if it's down to Brian to save the day for the Royalists.
Here it comes!!-a two-pronged attack on the village,whilst Brian's cavalry pins me down behind the village-this is looking serious!!
I should know better,but I put my commander into the "fray"(to bolster their fighting ability) and got him killed!!-this totally dis-heartened my defending infantry,who abandoned the village,and headed home!!!-woe is me!-Brian then un-leashed his cavalry against my hapless troops behind the village and wiped them out-double woe is me!!!
This shows Dave's hill,well under control,but with the Royalists in charge of the village,an "impasse" had been reached,and a draw was declared!
Well done lads,another good and exciting game under our belts-what next?
Roll on next week!
Dave has some photo's of his Wellington in Indian troops published on Wargames Illustrated,along with an article mentioning our small group-have a look!
Having just started the last 2 units I have left to paint,I thought it would be a good opportunity to "display" my army so far.
For inspiration I am using two Osprey books,and a BBC2 documentary from 2005,plus this image from the good old internet.........................................
Who wouldn't be inspired??
The two Osprey books,plus the DVD,from a Czech company,cleverly called "Czech Out",all of these sources have added greatly to my knowledge,but just scratch the surface of this fascinating period in history,and spurs me on to read and learn more.
Two shots of the cavalry so far,the two units I have on the painting table,are both Horse Archers,and once finished I will be ordering from Warrior Miniatures,50 heavy cavalry,which will be supplied,by arrangement,with armoured horses-can't wait!!
Throw in a few auxiliaries,Korean and Chinese,and the army is taking shape,although I may need a further influx of infantry-the pension is taking a right old "bashing"-but I suppose I will just have to buy cheaper Caviar and Champagne for a couple of weeks!!!
One final shot,showing the army so far,and thinking even further ahead,I will have to paint a Russian/Polish/Hungarian type army to put against them!!!!-will it ever end?
