The League of Extraordinary Truants

Several weeks ago, a few local NHMGS members who are free on Fridays decided to form an ad hoc group to meet at The Game Matrix and play whatever game we come up with. The name decided on was the "League of Extraordinary Truants." I didn't provide input, as I wasn't sure how far we'd go with it - we've met three times already - I think we should've been named the "League of Urban Truants" or L.O.U.T's.

Kevin Smyth, who also happens to be the current Prez of the NHMGS, kicked it off with his Spanish Civil War game - something he holds near and dear to his heart. It was his home-brew rules and truly becomes bloody in the hand to hand phase. The shooting wasn't so deadly - or was it just my crappy dice rolls. Maybe both. Adrian took all of the following photos - more can be found on the Puyallup (War)gamers Yahoo Group . All of the figures and terrain are Kevin's.

This one has some Bando Republicanos advancing on my flank with newly arrived Carlists (super troopers) defending the town.

The next photo shows Republicanos swarming into a trench line held by low morale Nationalists- who actually held out for little while. As you can see, another Nationalist trench has already been cleared.

The next photos are from the game hosted by Mark Waddington last week. It was another fun game, this time a Colonial game set in Africa. Not only were the beautifully painted figures and terrain Mark's, but so were the well written fast-play rules. Along with Mark's son Joe, I played the Germans, whose mission was to get the porters across to the far side of the table. I ran the right flank of the movement, and ran off some Sikhs and a British medium machine gun team from a hill - in spite of my below average dice rolling - yet again.

This week's game was another one run by Kevin. It was a semi-historical (is there such a thing?) ACW scenario with land and sea action. I was part of the Confederate forces who held the garrison and town, as well as several shore batteries. My shore battery was out-ranged by the Union ships' guns and put out of action by turn six. This was perfect timing, as the one Confederate ironclad that I commanded came on at the start of that turn (predetermined by die roll).  Here's the baby that I commanded - it survived a close encounter with a monitor class Union ironclad run by Joe Waddington. Joe's ironclad left the table due to failing his morale test after suffering enough damage.

 Not to be outdone by the navy, the land forces are mixing it up too.

Speaking of Kilts

Can you guess who this is?

He actually left Scotland at a very young age. He is one of my all time heroes.

Of course, it is none other than Ronald Belford Scott, aka Bonnie Scott, aka Bon Scott.

As most fans know, he could actually play the bagpipes, and had been a member of the Scots Pipe Band of Fremantle, Australia.

Here's a bootleg video with Bon playing the pipes - sadly, the amateur filmmaker was focused on the audience for most of the short clip. Here's another clip of him goofing with bagpipes, although he is singing live. He made it to the top - unfortunately, he wasn't there long enough. "Shazbut Nanoo Nanoo"

Victrix Highlanders Command

Finally finished these Victrix guys - they were already partially completed, but when the Aventine elephants arrived, work was put on hold. Now that focus will be shifting toward the Battle of Actium and some Langton 1/1200th scale ships, figured if they didn't get done now, they'd be collecting even more dust.

Still need to finish the staffs for the standards, as well as getting some 42nd Regimental and King's colours. Oh, and there are a couple of mounted colonels that need to be painted too. I'll probably paint only one of the mounted guys as 42nd. The other officer could be a 92nd guy - I have some left-over figures that might be used as such. Not anytime soon, though.

I'm not sure of the color of the bagpipe bag - I read somewhere that they weren't tartan pattern. The Victrix box shows the bag in green, but I would've thought the color should be the facing color?

Battle of Actium Project

After our playtesting of the basic Roman Seas rules the other day, my buddy Adrian and I are in full-sail prepping for a Battle of Actium game. 

As I mentioned earlier, we decided that 1) We really like the rules; and 2) We should go to a smaller scale than the 1/300th (6mm) scale we played. I sold off the ships and mat with 5" hexes to a gamer in Texas yesterday. I had hoped a sell it to a local gamer, but alas, they only responded to me after the Texan bought it. I'm happy the items are going to a good home and I hope he enjoys it. I put a lot of effort into building the ships and didn't make anything off of the sale - actually lost a bit considering the postage. I used some scavenged USPS priority mail boxes - cut up and inside out, but the wily (& penny-pinching) clerk saw the "Priority Mail" logo printed on the inside of the box and said he had to charge me the priority mail price anyway. I said next time I'll spray paint over the logo - he looked like he'd go postal on me :)!

Anyway, now that I have a little cash from the sale, some Langton 1/1200th scale ships will be purchased. Also, another Hotz mat, larger than the previous one, and with 3" hexes.

By all accounts of the Battle of Actium, Antony used mostly larger ships, such as quinqueremes:

These larger ships had fighting towers and also grappling hooks that could be fired from ballistae. While awaiting the arrival of Octavian's fleet, many of Antony's men had died or become incapacitated due to an outbreak of malaria. This depleted Antony's crews and he decided to burn most of his smaller ships, and consolidate his remaining effectives onto the larger ships. The larger ships should have had an advantage for ramming tactics, but supposedly due to the shortage of crewmen, they weren't able to reach the maximum speeds. Coupled with this, one of Antony's officers defected to Octavian on the eve of the battle, and provided him with Antony's battle plan - basically to corner and destroy the wing of Octavian's expert admiral, Agrippa. Octavian's entire fleet being aware of this, never allowed it to happen.

This is a period coin with Antony's name at the top and an image of a warship with what appears to be a raised corvus near the bow.

Anyway, our game will likely be a bunch of larger ships, Antony's, against an Octavian fleet of mostly triremes and smaller. Hopefully our game will look something like this:

Basic layout for the game:

Since it'll be in 1/1200th scale, we should be able to do up some of the shoreline too. That really seems to enhance a naval game - aesthetically anyway. Here's an aerial view of the location:

Heading home after a hard day at the office:

Roman Seas - First Game

My buddy Adrian and I just played our first Roman Seas game today. It was very, very productive. We ran through pretty much all of the basic rules, to include movement, ramming, grappling, oar raking, missile fire, and close combat. We used the pre-filled ship rosters so not having actual deck combat stands wasn't really an issue. I only regret that I couldn't find my alcohol markers for the roster sheets. We ended up keeping track with pen and paper. Here are a few photos I managed to snap while busy playing, re-reading and discussing the rules.  The numbers on the stands indicate movement rates - which is important for following on moves.

Having played the game with the rule's author, Eric Hotz, in the past really helped. Adrian remembered a few rules clarifications that had come up in his game.

Since the game mat I ordered is the smaller one, we probably max'd out the number of ships - six per side. Which was not a bad thing as we were within ballista range by the first turn. Also, a bigger playing area would've allowed more maneuvering, but for learning the basic rules, this wasn't necessary in my opinion. Much better to get in close right away and try out all the combat rules; as well as subsequent effects such as drifting from broken oars and successful ramming.

My blue hemoila in the foreground of the photo above successfully grappled the red heoila soon after this ramming.

One thing we kind of agreed upon was that for 1/300 scale models - as these are - a large surface area would be needed for larger scale battles. I'm considering going to something like 1/1200th scale with smaller hexes. We did agree that we really like the rules and will definitely be playing this again soon - and often.

Roman Navy fleets (Red & Blue):

Roman Seas - Playtest Prep

Tomorrow my buddy Adrian and I will play our first Roman Seas game - first time without the rule's author, Eric Hotz, running the game that is. Both Adrian and I were fortunate enough to have played in a game or two at past Enfilade! conventions. At the time, Eric hadn't even released the rules - he wanted to ensure the rules were well-written and defined before going to print. I think he's accomplished this. I actually went pretty hog-wild when I first got the PDF rules several months ago; building more of the PDF ships than my 4' x 6' mat can fit. Once I get the hang of the rules, I'll likely order another mat to have an 8' x 6' playing area.

Anyway, here's what I set up today - we may rearrange it tomorrow once Adrian gets here. I'm only planning to use two each hemoila and liburnian vessels, and one each trireme and quadrireme per side. Holding off on the bigger ships, the quinquereme and hexeres; as well as several more hemoilas and liburnians (beg pardon is these aren't the correct plurals). I printed out the pre-filled playsheets for these ships; and although we won't have actual deck troops, we'll simulate and keep track of them using the sheets.

Foundry Silver Shields "Argyraspides"

The 24 Foundry Silver Shields I scored off of ebay for a fraction of their original price arrived in the mail today. The seller was unloading a bunch of Foundry World of the Greeks for a dollar a figure - and shipping a cheap (for me) too, as he was in the US. A leader, standard bearer, and musician are also included.

I've been wanting a unit of these guys ever since losing another ebay bid to about 16 of these very same figures several years ago. Those were painted and it was an estate sale; I did win some Eastern Successor models - the ones with the trousers. Those were my first Foundry Macedonian/Greek figures - and I was hooked on Foundry Macedonian/Greeks. Anyway, I'm really happy to have these "Silver Shields" or Argyraspides. I plan to base them in three ranks of eight figures - per the new WAB 2nd Ed. rules for close order troops.

Crusader shields actually look nicer and more realistic than these "bottle cap" shields, but I'm not carving them off. They'll also match the other Foundry figures (with "bottle cap" shields), I already have.

Here are a few images of what they could look like as Argyraspides. The first is by Johnny Shumate.

The next two illustrations are also by Johnny Shumate - and in an issue of Ancient Warfare with an article on the Silver Shields.

Aventine Successor War Elephants - Completed

Here are some test shots of the two completed Aventine Successor war elephants. It's kind of overcast today, but I used the filter on the camera to let in more light. I might take some more photos if the clouds go away.

As you can tell, it's a tight fit in the 3-man tower. Also, I had to ensure the firing bowman's bow was inside of the tower - don't think you could fire the bow while it is outside (the string would get caught). Anyway, they're good to go. Now I can concentrate on reading up on Roman Seas for a playtest this Thursday.

Some more shots using slightly better lighting - the sun came out a bit.

Aventine Successor War Elephant Crews

The Aventine crews are ready to be mounted on their elephants. The photo below shows the crew for the two-man tower - it consists of  the mahout and one spearman from crew pack C001, and a spearman from C004. The spearman from C004 should have a pelta in his upraised left arm. I may add it later.

The figures are superbly sculpted, and the armor is particularly well-detailed. The muscled-cuirasses have every detail you would think of - from the actual muscled sculpture to the hinges at the shoulders and breast and back plates. The linothoraxes are equally well-detailed and beautifully made.

The next photos show the crew for the three-man towered elephant. Three of the figures (including the driver) are from C003, and the bowman reaching for another arrow is from C005. I actually only ordered two crew sets, C001 and C003, but Keith threw in the samples from the other packs.

Hope to have some pictures later of them in their respective mounts.

Aventine Seleucid Elephant Project - Completed

Okay, again - less the crew. And it needs to be mounted on its base - which is what I'll do after posting this.

The purple barding matches the shield - an LBMS transfer, of course. However, it still looks a bit empty - being so large.  I'm not adding anything now though - not with a paintbrush anyway.

The guy in the trunk looks pretty good too; I was debating to use this optional piece or the plain one.

Here's a picture of the previously completed elephant with "Silver Shields" attached to the tower. I was waiting to flock the base after the armored one was done - so they had the same treatment.

Aventine Seleucid Elephant Project +1

The base coat of the barding is done in a purple; not sure yet what kind of edging will go on. The poor dude in the trunk is also painted. He seems to be a Successor Imitation Legionary, as his sword is slung on his left hip. He also has greaves on both legs. Also, the top of his mail armor has a tube and yoke - with some kind of fancy design. He could pass for well-dressed Roman too, I suppose. If my memory serves me correctly, I think centurions carried their swords on their left hip.

The tower has been dry-brushed with red, to match the straps. Now to take a break with some St. Pauli Girl Special Dark, and watch Engineering an Empire on the History Channel - it's about Alexander the Great and his Successors. Quite appropriate.

Aventine Seleucid Elephant Project

The animal's hide and armor have been painted.There is very little hide actually showing - most of it is covered by the armor plates, and the blanket. It's probably not evident in the photos, but several shades of bronze was used for different parts of the armor. The trunk and leg armor was painted with Vallejo Bronze. The head armor and scaled body armor was painted with a mixture of Vallejo Bronze and Vallejo Copper. I like this combination for a reddish-bronze. These were given a wash and then dry-brushed with the basic colors and a little Vallejo Gold. The "rivets" were painted silver; mostly for contrast.

The blanket is very large and I'm wondering exactly how it should be painted. Edging will surely be applied, but the main area itself may require some type of design. I'm no good at free-hand painting (especially if the design needs to be duplicated on each side). Little Big Men Studios doesn't have any specific elephant blanket transfers - yet. Some folks have used the Sassanid banner transfers, but the big ones only come one to a sheet - and they wouldn't be mirror imaged for the opposite side. I think a gryphon or hydra may look cool, but I know I couldn't paint it by hand. This image was found on the internet, and may be able to be printed out and applied to the blanket - maybe.