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!)
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!!!
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!!
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!!!!!!!
Last night saw a100% turnout for a trial run through of the game we are putting on at Carronade on the 13th May 2017.I had put all the figures and terrain onto the board,and asked for advice and guidance(and criticism!) from the rest of the "boys"-all agreed that the "WOW" factor was there and that, as a spectacle,we couldn't do better!! so fingers crossed for the day.
I deliberately didn't take any photo's so we didn't lessen the impact we hope to achieve at Falkirk,but I asked Graham and Dave to bring along any "projects" or work in progress they had to put onto the blog..........................
Graham is busy painting Perry Napoleonics at the moment-these are Hanoverian Landwher,awaiting their flags and then the bases will be given the "Graham Treatment"
Command groups from Perry,one is the Prince of Orange(hiss boo!!) -again the bases just need finishing off,and then onto the table(??)
Dave has also been very busy..........................
Marlburian "Maison du Roi" by Front Rank-very nice!
Russian Hussars by Elite Miniatures-look at the movement!
Then there was this enormous figure(with an enormous price tag-£6.50!) which Dave has just under-coated,of a Camel Rocketeer-poor camel!!-I think he said it was from Elite as well.
Well done lads keep painting and showing my poor efforts up!!!!
We will be playing a regular game next Sunday-probably Marlburian,so Dave can get his "Maison du Roi" on the table!
How can a wargame wear you out?-well, after last night's game I was exhausted!!!
I had set the game up for 5 players,but Dave and Graham couldn't turn up,so Paul,Brian and I were left to play this absolutely "cracking" game involving Vikings,Saxons and Normans.
This is the scenario,Brian was the Viking commander(which suited his style of play to a tee!) Paul was the Norman commander(and a damned fine job he made of it too!) and I commanded the Saxons(not a damned fine job made of it!!!!)-all was set for a great game.
Move number one and Brian's left hand Viking horde are making towards the Norman lines,by-passing the town(for a while!) Meanwhile his right hand horde were making for the gap,and "Castle"-action all the way.
Meanwhile,Paul is putting his Norman Knights to good use(depending on which side you are on!!) by forcing the Saxons to form a "shield wall"-he charged the "wall" three times,and "bounced" three times-HOWEVER,on his fourth charge.............................
Oh Hell!!-a wavering in the ranks allowed the knights to smash into the wall,and a desperate fight followed!!!
This shows Brian's magnificent attack on the Norman line-this was touch and go for a while,but eventually a gap appeared in the Norman ranks,and the Vikings flooded into it-hurrah!!
Not content to win in the centre,Brian now switched his attack to the town,however brave defending by Paul's light troops denied him access!! by this move officers on both sides were dropping like flies,and morale was shaky everywhere!!
Paul has dealt most savagely with the Saxons,and now his knights are reforming,ready to deal with the Vikings!!-however,Paul had to put his commander into a melee,to bolster the points-and,as usual, when we do this silly thing,he got killed,and the whole of his infantry command took flight!!!leaving Brian in a good position to attack the Castle-another hurrah!!!
Heavy fighting in and around the town,and the Vikings,plus my one remaining Saxon unit,attacking the castle(which was one of the objectives,the other being to capture/burn the town)
Paul's knights are still denying the Vikings access to the town,but the Saxon/Vikings are in possession of the Castle,so a draw was declared-phew!
What an epic battle,well done to Brian and Paul-not so much to me though!!-I had to go and lie down in a darkened room,and drink rum!!
Roll on next Sunday,we will probably be doing a "trial" of our game for Carronade.
