Army of Pyrrhus - Returning to Greece and Macedonia After An Italian Misadventure

Mustering the troops for another Hail Caesar game next week - this time it will be a Successor vs. Successor game against my buddy's troops. Mine are mostly Victrix that were painted up during the lockdown and have yet to see battle. 

The Aventine elephants, Foundry and 1st Corps hypaspists (unit directly behind the wedge), Relic Seleucid (mounted fig on the wedge's right) and Relic Pyrrhus (mounted fig on the wedge's left) are remnants of a Seleucid army which was sold off many years ago, in a momentary lapse of judgement. The two small warbands of Samnites on each side of the hypaspists and archers were painted a few years ago, but also have never seen any action yet.

I'm not sure what kind of elephants Pyrrhus had with him in Italy and upon his return to Greece, but these Aventine ones are the larger Indian types, I think. They probably wouldn't have been as well armored as latter Seleucid ones like these. He did have elephants with towers though, as evidenced from period artwork. Gallic mercenaries could also be added to this army, as Pyrrhus had these too, but for next week's game they'll be left out - or maybe swapped the Samnites out for them.

There are 15 units in total: 3 units of heavy infantry pike phalanxes; 2 units of mercenary hoplites heavy infantry long spear phalanxes; 2 units of Samnite medium infantry; 1 unit of hypaspists Drilled, Stubborn and Elite 4+ medium infantry; 2 small units of light infantry archers; 2 units of light cavalry w/javelins; 1 unit of Companion Elite 4+ medium cavalry w/kontos; and 2 elephants - one crewed with bow. Besides mustering the troops for the game and taking some pics of them, I wanted to post another blog update to make sure the image upload was still working properly. It is working fine again - as these images uploaded without issues.

The next post should be the AAR of the Hail Caesar Successor game on Friday. The day after this game will be a Dragon Rampant Christmas collective game - probably around 10 or so players. I plan on bringing my recently painted Sisters of Battle Junith Eruita flying pulpit. It'll be a single-model unit Elite Rider with all the bells and whistles upping her to 12 points - the max per warband for the game. Until then, thanks for stopping by and checking things out. Wishing you all a happy and healthy holiday season - and beyond!

Hail Caesar Gaming - EIR vs. Celt (Britons) - My Blogger Is Working Again!

Phew! What a relief, it seems my issue with uploading images has resolved itself. Anyway, without further drama, here's a report of the Hail Caesar game yesterday.

Thanks to a couple of my buddies, got in a long-awaited EIR vs. Celts Hail Caesar game. In fact, this is first Hail Caesar game I've played (actually umpired) in many years. It was a great game going for 9 full turns, and played with figures never gamed before - painted during the lockdown period. Here's a staged shot of the layout prior to the start of the actual game. Note the roundhouses and Druid objective marker, both recently added, on the far right of the picture.

As those of you who play both Hail Caesar and Black Powder, you know they are very similar in overall mechanics, but there are some interesting differences. For one, support units in hand to hand have their own attack dice in Hail Caesar. In Black Powder, support units values are added during the combat resolution portion. Shooting is also not as important as in Black Powder, and the emphasis is on combat. Anyway, on to the images of the actual game - as usual, I failed to capture all of the action during the heat of battle.

Initial moves by the three Roman divisions. The two divisions on either flank consist of two units of legionaries, one unit of auxiliaries, two small units of archers and a unit of medium cavalry. The center division, led by the army general, consists of one unit of Praetorian legionaries and two units of Praetorian medium cavalry.

Initial moves of the Celts. The army consists of two divisions of infantry and two divisions of horse. The infantry divisions each have three warbands (one of which is made up of nobles clad in mail cuirasses - better saves) and two units of slingers. The horse divisions each have two units of British chariots and a unit of medium cavalry.

Celt slingers charging Roman Auxiliary archers - the archers causing casualties from closing fire - the unarmored slingers having no saves. The slingers had already caused a casualty to the archers in an earlier round of shooting

Roman left at the bottom of the picture; Celtic horses in the background roaming the battlefield for opportunities.

Legionaries and Auxiliaries charging into a warband of nobles - a unit of Auxiliary archers having broken after losing combat with the Celt slingers.

Celt warbands advancing on the Roman battle line, while Celt cavalry and chariots maneuver on the flanks.

The Roman center with the army general joining a unit of Praetorian foot - supported by a unit of Praetorian cavalry to their rear, about to charge into small unit of unarmored slingers. This should have been a cake walk for the Romans. However, due to accurate and deadly closing fire from the slingers - one of the hits being a 6, the Romans had to take a Break Test. This was failed with a score of 2, and the with the casualty, they had to break!

The Roman battle line showing the loss of the Praetorian foot in the center.

A Celt warband being attacked by Roman cavalry to their front, and a unit of legionaries to their right flank. The division commanders of both sides joining in the fight. In the distance, Praetorian cavalry charge into another Celt warband - avenging the loss of their infantry brethren.

The Roman left victorious after destroying the Celt warband.

Praetorian cavalry counter charging Celt horse - the latter supported by two units of chariots, and their division commander (with war hound) joining the fight.

Another division of Celt horse looking to join in the action - somewhere.

Two units of Celt chariots - one attacking a unit of legionaries and the other a unit of auxiliaries. Celt horse supporting the unit fighting the auxiliaries.

Celt chariots supported by cavalry vs. Roman infantry.

At the end of turn 9, the Celt forces had lost enough of their army to declare it a Roman victory - a very close victory at that. Also, one of the minor victory conditions wasn't achieved by the Romans. This was for them to recapture their lost eagle and standards held by the Druid priest within their village on the far end of the table. The Romans actually never made it past the mid-way point of the table, but they had won the game by attrition. 

All in all a very satisfying game. It was great to re-familiarize myself with the rules after so many years. One of my buddies (who played the Romans) and I enjoyed it so much that we're playing a Macedonian/Successor game next week. Looking forward to this game and posting another report as well. Until next time, thank you all so much for visiting the blog and leaving such nice comments. I realized how much this blog is a part of my life after not being able to update it properly (with images) for less than 24 hours! Happy Holidays!

Can't Upload Images (JPG)?

I wanted to post an update about a Hail Caesar game played today, but can't seem to upload the jpeg images. I even tried using my Galaxy 10 phone, but got some kind of error - no image showing up for the upload. Wonder if this is a temporary issues and hopefully will resolved soon. 

I'm posting this just to see if it's just me or if others may also be experiencing this. Below is the "error" image when trying to upload a jpeg.

UPDATE: Upload working again! - 

Hail Caesar Objective Marker - Druid With Roman Spoils

 Used some left-over/spare stuff to make an objective marker for an upcoming Hail Caesar game.

The figure and imago are from Warlord Games and the shields (with LBMS transfers), eagle and standard are Victrix parts.

The "SPQR" on the standard is a decal from Battle Flag.

I kept the Druid's attire in simple colors - off white for the robe and an earthy green for his cape. Figured this reflects his association with nature better than more colorful garb.

The actual game is scheduled for this coming Friday; first game in a while and likely the last I will host for the year. Although, I am planning to joining in a large multi-player Christmas Dragon Rampant game in a couple of weeks. Until next time, wishing you all the best and Happy Holidays!

Scratch-built Celtic Roundhouses

In preparation of an Hail Caesar EIR vs. Celts game next week, I wanted to add some roundhouses to represent a small village. I used existing stuff laying around the house, as well as a $5 natural bristle broom from one of our local Korean markets.  Not the prettiest, but good enough for the purposes of the game. I rushed through these, and really should spend more time and effort on terrain in the future.

The roundhouses were made using a paper towel dowel for the smaller ones, and a plastic vitamin bottle cut in two for the larger ones. The roof frames are made from cardstock.

The roofs tested onto the houses - everything was eye-balled, so they have a fairly rough appearance.

A glue gun was used to make sections of the roof thatching. The straight edge held the bristles down while the glue gun was run past. These were then glued onto the roofs. I ended up adding more bristles here and there to give the roofs a fuller appearance.

The houses were covered with acrylic caulking at first, but I later added a light coat of spackling for more texture. This was painted a light brown and then dry-brushed an off white. The roof thatching was brushed with watered down white glue. Probably could've made the thatching look better, but I kind of rushed through the process.

Again, good enough for the game next week, and only had to pick up the broom for the bristles to complete. Until the next blog update, wishing you all the best and a Happy Thanksgiving for those on this side of the pond.

Sisters of Battle Exorcist

It's a tank with missiles, but the codex adds, "More than artillery tanks, Exorcists are mobile shrines to the magnificence of the Emperor that project inspirational battle canticles." I have to look up what canticles means.

Although I'm not a 40K player, I do like to paint some of their more interesting models, like this one.

I followed the box art for the paint scheme pretty closely. It's in the colors of the Our Martyred Lady order.

For the wings at the back, and also the other sculpted icons, I used Vallejo Khaki as a base coat, followed with a wash of Vallejo Skin Wash and then dry-brushed with Vallejo Bonewhite; and little white added to the Bonewhite for the final highlights. Seems to give a nice overall "stone" look.

The tank commander/driver has a set of organ keys to operate it. I think it also controls the firing of the missiles at the back.

The tank on the box art has several decals on the front, but I chose not to add them as I like the more start look of the black contrasting with the gilded parts.

A group shot above with the the Exorcist along with the two Rhinos painted earlier.

Due to non-stop rain last week and today, our landscaping project got delayed. This means my intended game for this Friday will likely also be postponed. I do want to host an Hail Caesar game before the year's out, but I know folks have holiday get togethers, so it may not be able to be. In any case, thanks for stopping by and wishing you all the best as we near the end of 2021.

Sisters Repentia and Arco-Flagellants

 These are the last of the figures from the two Sisters of Battle Combat Patrol boxes.

Nice sculpts, but very weird and I had to refer a lot to the box art to figures out how to paint them.

There are 3 poses for the Repentia figures - with some allowing head variations.

The Repentia are still basically in human form, so were painted in normal flesh tones. Although, as with the much stranger Arco-Flagellants, they have some bio-mechanical parts implanted in various parts of their bodies.

The Arco-Flagellants from the Patrol boxes come in only 2 variations, but with some head variation options. They have much more bio-mechanical parts, so their "flesh" was painted in a sort of "undead" tone. I lightened the flesh basecoat and then gave it a dirty, blackish wash.

I'm holding off on hosting more games until we have our backyard landscaping finish - hopefully in under two weeks. Tired of cutting the grass and keeping it from getting moss and weeds. I do have a Sisters of Battle Exorcist to work on though. Until next time, stay in good health and enjoy the hobby!

Sisters of Battle Penitent Engines

Here are the models from the Sisters of Battle Combat Patrol boxes. Per the codex: "The pilots of Penitent Engines are subjected to terrible agony, thanks to the torment amplifiers spliced into their synapses."

The pose of the figure on the right in the above picture was modified a bit by repositioning his right leg and arms. Otherwise, they're both the same model.

I tried to follow the box art - pretty much dry-brushed Vallejo Gunmetal over black - and washed with Vallejo Black Ink. Gold and other details were added - also some of the engine cowling/covering was painted black and given edge highlights.

The picture above makes me think of Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum.

I couldn't find the fluff/background in the codex of how these "pilots" came to be in the engines themselves. The way the box art shows their pants (the only clothing remaining on them) makes them look like they were prisoners. EDIT: Here's what I found for the fluff of these "pilots" - "Many of the souls that are punished in this way may have once been members of the Ecclesiarchy; Imperial Priests who have fallen from the Emperor's grace, or even Battle-Sisters who have failed in their faith or through their mistakes have caused the death of others."

Pictured above is a comparison with a Battle Sister.

Still have the Sisters Repentia and Arco-Flagellants to paint up from the Combat Patrol boxes. On the gaming front, I want to host a Hail Caesar game using the EIR and Celts/Britons painted up last year during the lockdown and still needing some table top time. Until next time, thanks for stopping by and wishing you all the best in health and hobby pursuits.

Battle of Gorodetschna - Black Powder Gaming

Hosted another Black Powder Napoleonic game today - this time using the Russians and Austrians I painted up earlier this year - and still needing to get them bloodied. This battle was during the Russian Campaign and one of few times Austrians and Russians traded blows in the Napoleonic era. The battle included Saxons, but since I don't have any at the time, used some French, Polish and Neuchatel as proxies.

Prior to the battle - Russians on the left and Austro-Saxons one the right. Austrian artillery yet to arrive as they were provided from my buddy's collection.

Russian left - a cavalry brigade of lancers, hussars (armed with lances) and skirmishing jaegers; an infantry brigade with 3 regiments to their left. I did use a unit of French hussars and Polish lancers as proxies here as well.

Russian center - the high ground with 3 gun batteries in earthworks; a brigade of 3 grenadier regiments and army general. The victory conditions were for the Russians to hold onto the hill with more unshaken Russian units than the enemy. The Austro-Saxons would win if they captured the hill with more unshaken Austro-Saxon units than the Russians. Alternative victory would be destroying over half of the enemy forces.

Russian left - a brigade of 4 infantry regiments.

Austrian left and center (prior to arrival of artillery batteries) - a cavalry brigade with Austrian dragoons and cuirassiers, and Saxon Garde du Corps and chevau-leger (the last two actually Spanish dragoons and French chasseurs respectively, as proxies). On their right two brigades of Austrian infantry with 3 regiments each.

Saxon infantry brigade with 4 regiments on the right flank - again using proxies. Maybe someday I'll use some Perry French and paint them up as Saxons...maybe.

As for the game itself; well, it didn't go down historically - the Austro-Saxon army failed to dislodge the Russians from their high ground. In fact, due to brash tactics the Austrian dragoons and two Saxon infantry brigades were destroyed by turn 3. The Austrian cavalry made the mistake of charging the Russian right without infantry or artillery support. They were stopped by not only the Russian lancers and hussars, but also from the Russian jaegers taking shots at them from the marsh around the river. Cavalry could not enter the marsh area.

The Saxons were decimated in hand to hand fighting on their own right. More from unlucky die rolls than tactical errors.

Artillery on both sides were not shooting very well and didn't play too much of an actual factor in the game, but the Austrians were ever-conscious of their presence atop the high ground.

We only played 4 turns, but felt the Austro-Saxon army would continue to get mauled as the Russians still have most of their army intact - including the 3 gun batteries supported by the brigade of grenadier regiments. As the taking of the high ground was the victory condition - or destroying over half of the enemy army, this seemed like an uphill battle (pun intended).

I should add that we used 2/3rds movement and musket range reduced to 16 inches and artillery to 24 and 36 inches for light and heavy respectively. We only allowed firing after one basic movement - which we did like. It was suggested afterwards that we might've kept movement and ranges as per the basic rules - but still limit firing to one move.  Increasing the movement distances might've worked out better - at least for the Austro-Saxons. That said, the Austro-Saxons consistently had worse die rolls than the Russians. Anyway, I was glad to finally get the figures into a game and getting more familiar with Black Powder. Thanks for stopping by and best wishes to you all!