Onward Christian Soldiers-Teutonic Knights.

Ordered on Thursday,delivered on Monday,and first unit finished on Wednesday!!

The first unit of 8 figures is well under way in this shot-with only three main colours,they are going to take me no time at all!!(black,white and gunmetal)

Each unit will have two flags-I made this one up,but looks okay.

All finished,just need basing and flocking...........................

Two "in situ" shots-it had to be in front of that castle!!!!
I could quite easily get sick of painting black crosses-we'll see!!
Roll on Sunday,we will be re-fighting the second battle of "El Teb", 1884, in the Sudan.

Battle of "Prima Punta" Spain 11th century.

We had a most entertaining game last night,using our "El Cid" Spanish and Moors armies.

The scenario and table before any movement-Graham was in charge of the Moorish infantry,and I was in charge of the Moorish cavalry,whilst Brian commanded the Spanish Infantry,and Paul commanded the Spanish Cavalry.

Graham's attack on the Fort,and Brian's defence of the Fort was nothing short of spectacular!!-this tussle went on for the whole of the game,and was only resolved on move number 10 when Graham's attackers were ejaculated!!!!

Meanwhile,Paul has sent his heavy cavalry forward against my lighter-types,who elected to throw their javelins before contact,causing a few,but important ,casualties!!-this battle also lasted until the very last move,neither side gaining a real advantage,in a "swings and roundabouts" melee-great stuff!

In the centre,Brian has sent his light infantry against Graham's heavies!-was this a wise move?
and is Brian looking to the heavens for inspiration?-or is he looking at the biggest wasp in the world(about the size of a sparrow!) which has entered the garage,and threatened to end the game there and then!!-however,Brian volunteered to get the damned thing out ,and using a brush,and a deft hand movement,managed to rid us of the "beastie"-Brian,you are our hero!!

Because it was St George's day,parallels were drawn between St George and the Dragon,and Brian and the Wasp!-however that didn't help Brian when Graham unleashed a storm of Heavy infantry against Brian's lights,killing most of his officers in the process,and winning every melee!!!

Brian now changed tack,and sent his heavy infantry around the flank,and was met by Graham's heavies-another "ding-dong" battle ensued,until both sides decided to run away!!!

On the other flank,Paul has broken all of my light cavalry,but my Heavy Andalusian cavalry are giving him a right old beating!-my guard are totally untouched,and are making their presence felt-this was the end of the Spanish cavalry's finest hour-hurrah!!-but what of the Fort situation??

With a triumphant shout,and a disgraceful display of "gloating",Brian has managed to force Graham's attackers out of the Fort!!-with both side having a success each,we decided that a draw was the sensible result,however,realistically ,the Fort was the objective,so the Moors had lost!!
Another great game,well done lads,and roll on next Sunday,probably a Sudanese game.

Conversations from a Mongol Camp.

Having just completed my Irregular Miniature's Mongol Camp set,I thought I might share some daftness!!!!

Man on horse to little boy "Can I ride your camel?"-Lady to man on horse,"No, you pervert,and get your finger out of that poor bird's arse!"

Seated man to man on horse,"where did you get that head?"-man on horse,"At Beijing-a sort of Chinese take-a-way!"-Man standing,"Who said humour was dead?"

Woman to man on horse,"Oh,are there two more guests for dinner?"-Man on horse,"No these two guests are our dinner!!"

An idle mind is the Devil's tool!!!!!

The Mongols have arrived!

My 13th century Mongol Army is now complete,and I must admit I'm more than happy with the result-I have always maintained that I am not a good painter,but I go for the "En Masse" effect,see what you think..............................

This shows the army in a formation known as the "Tulughma"-the first two ranks were heavy types and the next three ranks were lights,the gaps were to allow the lights to pass through the heavies,causing as much disruption as possible before the heavy cavalry got stuck in!

Two more shots showing the formation,which also allowed the archers to move out from the main body and attack the flanks of their enemies-a bit like the Zulu tactics!

A rear view shot,the Generals /Khan is on the hill beside their "Gers"(Yurts!!)

Talk of the Devils!-these are the only figures that are not from Warrior Miniatures(in fact from Irregular Miniatures)

I have painted this unit as the Imperial Guard or "Keshik"

A view from the right flank-still impressive though!

A close-up shot of one of the standard bearers(all standards were made from foil off wine bottles!!)
I now need to order some Russians/Poles/Lithuanians and Teutonics to fight them,so I am in the process of arranging a Direct Debit to Warrior Miniatures for...............................

I am a great fan of "ephemera" on the wargames table,and to this end I am painting a set called "The Mongol Camp" from Irregular Miniatures,which includes women,children,guards,prisoners etc etc,and should be completed tomorrow.

Any comments would be welcome(good or bad!)

Battle of Asidera,Spain 1709.

Once again,last night, we had an exciting and challenging game using our 25mm Marlburian figures. Graham was unable to attend,so it fell to Paul,Brian,Dave and I to face each other across the plains of Spain!!

This is the scenario-Dave was in charge of the Irish,I was in charge(?) of the Spanish,whilst Paul commanded the left of the allies,and Brian commanded the main "English" facing the small town-what happened next was a classic game,combining brute force and "canny" manoeuvering,from both sides.

Paul decided to march his back line of English troops on a long out-flanking move to catch Dave on two fronts-"Canny!"

Brian stormed forward against the town-Brute force!!-my Spaniards managed to kill two Colonels in his first line,and stopped the attack in its tracks!!-hurrah!-however,Brian sent in his second line,and a furious fire-fight ensued for the next 5 or 6 moves before either of us could gain an advantage-lovely stuff!!

As Paul and Dave discuss the why's and wherefore's of war,Brian and I are fighting for our lives!!!-are they ever going to get "stuck-in?"

No!!! still manoeuvering,collecting flora and fauna,being careful not to trample on the finely manicured grass,Irish,Prussians and English troops march around as though nothing mattered in the world!!!!!!-then.............................

WHAM!!-Dave's newly painted "Maison du Roi" cavalry charged Paul's cavalry,and the battle for Asidera began-and what a battle!

Paul has unleashed his infantry on both flanks,and Dave is now fighting on two fronts,just as Paul had planned-however Dave is a cunning commander and replied with cannister and volley fire,backed up with cavalry-what a game!!

Meanwhile on the other flank,Brian has driven me out of the town,after very heavy casualties on both sides,his cavalry are beating mine just out of shot to the right too-I am beat!!!!

This photo is taken from Paul's side of the table,and shows just how ferocious the fighting was!
But with my flank in dis-array,and Brian's cavalry about to run rampant,all looked lost!!

One final shot of Dave's magnificent(but under-used!) second squadron of "Maison du Roi" cavalry,and the game was over,even though Paul and Dave had virtually fought each other to a stand-still.
Well done lads,and roll on next Sunday,probably an "El Cid" game,and there will be a very strong possibility of a Castle being involved!!!

An Englishman's home(part deux)

As my sanity has returned(???) I decided that the Castle would look better if I dry-brushed it-now dry-brushing is not something I am practiced in,so the results are not very professional but look ok(I think!) I also decided to "hide" two of the very obvious bad joins,by addinga bit of lichen.

Dry-brushing done,and this shot also shows the "damaged" sections of the towers,which are not mentioned anywhere in the instructions!!! I have also added some "scatter",and you can see the lichen,ready to go.I was quite pleased with the dry-brushing,I used a light brown followed by white,so now for the lichen........................

The bottom photo looks like the wall is on fire!!!-never mind it hides the join!

A close up of the "damaged" section-the walls have a back and front section,which are separate,the front is damaged,the back is not!!so I had to cut the back section with a piece of wire heated up-sometimes I even surprise myself!!

Some figures manning the walls,just to give the castle some atmosphere!
Hopefully,the next photo's of this castle will be when it is being used in an actual game!
I have now completely finished my Mongol army,and will post some photo's after Sunday's game-it looks spectacular!!

An Englishman's Home...

Thinking towards the future,and opponents for my Mongol Army,I ordered a plastic Medieval Castle on Tuesday at 7.30pm,and the bloody thing arrived at 11.00am on Wednesday!!!-how about that for service?

All the way from the Ukraine-156 parts!!-I was never any good at making kits when I was a youngster,so this was going to be a challenge!! however at £18.50. including p&p I can't grumble.

Armed with the instructions,a Stanley knife and a tube of hard plastic glue,I was off and running!!!

Things are starting to happen now,but some parts were ridiculously "fiddly",not helped by not fitting properly(requiring some knife-work!!),but I've put together some Ikea flat packs,so this wasn't going to beat me,or affect my sanity!!

After lots of "bad language" and lots of ingenuity(mainly getting things square) I have managed to get the main bits done and assembled to a reasonable standard,and my sanity is not at risk-yet!!

According to the instructions,this is how it should look...............................

This is how mine looks!!-I have deliberately left off things like stairways and gates and portcullis,drawbridge etc. because I will be using this for wargaming and not as a"look at" model!!(that sounds like an excuse for not being able to be bothered!!)
I cut card to put inside the top perimeter,so that I can eventually stand figures in the castle..

Card in place,but what of my sanity????-well,

You judge!!!!!!!