Still Here... Still Game!

"Isn't it about time you updated the blog, Phil?!"
OK, OK...

My summer painting project has been very enjoyable... a foray into Billhooks Italia.
I've been developing a sort of fictional pairing starting with the Grand Duchy of Capriccio...

As you can see, they have a sort of Florentine flavour.

Above and Below: Lorenzo di Sangiovese, Granduco di Capriccio

Above: Conte di Montepulciano
... and Below: Leading his Gendarmes.

Above: The Capriccio light cavalry... A band of Crossbows, supported by a unit of Caspriccio light lancers.

Below: commander of light horse, Paulo di Chianti.

Above and Below: Swiss from Berne and Fribourg

These Swiss figures are from Warlord Games; plastic landsknechts, painted to look a bit Swiss-ish. I figured that Swiss circa 1515 looked very similar to landsknechts (and certainly very different to the oft seen Swiss figures from the Burgundian Wars). Having painted these, then Warlord brought out some Swiss... but I still prefer these.

Above: May years ago (c 2003-05) I previously "did" the Italian Wars, and had a couple of figures left over. This is a Foundry character figure... a dwarf in Renaissance clothing. I have named him The Gnome of Zurich (I thank you), and he acts as the Swiss quartermaster!

Below, another vignette from my previous Italian wars collection.

Below: skirmishers for the next Swiss unit. Pikemen still to be done.

Below: some atmospheric shots...

Over the summer there have been a few games of Billhooks with the old Berks (Andy, John, and Steve), using our WOTR armies. The rules system always throws up a good game with plenty of luck and surprises!
Sadly, I didn't attend the Derby "Bash", but I gather it was rather good... maybe next year.

Meanwhile, I have an Autumn/Winter hit list that I am working through with lots of bits to do for a number of my projects - some units to paint (including a second unit of Swiss pikes for the Capriccio army), and some scratch-building, terrain bits, and vignettes. I'm working through it all on an "as the fancy takes me" basis, hopping between the many armies I have that need some attention.

Next weekend I plan to attend Partizan, so hope to see many readers there. I have a shopping list...

'Ciao for now,' as they say in Capriccio!

Billhooks at Bristol

The other week, along with Andy Moran and John Kersey of The Old Berks, I attended the BIG Billhooks weekend event in Bristol.

Many years ago, I wanted to experience one of the many WAB weekends, but living so far away from the main venues for such events, I never managed it. When I saw that similar weekend events were being held for “Never Mind The Billhooks” players, in discussion with my compatriots in The Old Berks, we decided to attend. Andy and John had been to one before, but this was to be my first …

It was good to meet so many other players, and to have a bit of social time, and basically talk Billhooks most of the weekend.

Having arrived on Friday evening, we met a few of the players at our hotel, I went into the Saturday (game day) with some trepidation! How would my Warwick army fare against so many different armies (especially those from other theatres, such as Italian wars, with their heavy Gendarmes and pike blocks)? 
I needn’t have worried…

In fact, I so enjoyed the gaming that I neglected to take any photos whatsoever. The pictures shown here are all 'pillaged' from the Billhooks FB group, most of them taken by Mike Peters (organiser extraordinaire).

Above: Simon Wilde, my first opponent, on the left expertly advances his imposing Venetian Army. On the adjacent table in the background, Andy Moran (right) plays Luke Parry (left) who would be my opponent in the second game.

First game... versus Simon Wilde’s Venetians.

Simon is a past master at handling his army, but I managed a very creditable tight-fought game, and was narrowly beaten. Sir Gregory Carrodus and the light horse were ridden down by their opponents on my left flank, and I spent a lot of arrows against the Venetian gendarmes, who I did manage to bounce off one of my Bill-Bow blocks. On my right, the Venetian Swiss Mercenary 3-company pike block juggernaut was the biggest concern as they had been screened by 2 units of crossbow armed levy (with pavises) and following their slow but inexorable advance were closing in. I managed to hold out till time was called, enduring a close defeat. It was an enjoyable, cliffhanger of a game, but I ran out of steam (and arrows). I learned a lot though…

Second game... versus v Luke Parry’s Yorkists.

This was to prove one of the most exciting wargames I have ever played, and credit goes to Luke Parry who played so well and took it to the wire, and again all in the true spirit of the game.

Above photos are by Luke Parry.

The increasingly "dolt-ish" Sir Gregory Carrodus failed to survive the action, although once again he had done a good job against the enemy horse. On my right, Mortimer of Arden along with a unit of my skirmishers and my artillery managed to hold off a couple of bow-bill blocks and some levy (with geese!) who stood rather too proudly atop a low hill to the right centre.

In the centre, Warwick’s ward was poised to receive the attack of the strongest enemy ward…It looked to be going the way of my opponent. However a twist was to come in one big final turn. With the rules author Andy Callan watching proceedings from the side-lines, my Warwick himself saved the day when, along with my foot knights, he charged and broke the enemy foot knights and precipitated a general collapse of about 4 enemy units. Typical Billhooks stuff.

At the outset, I had feared I may come last (with all the regulars seeming to know what they were talking about!), so I was pleasantly surprised to learn that after two games I was sitting joint second. However, two wargames is, in my book, more than enough for one day, and so, feeling a little battle weary, I decided (given I was well-placed not to come last!) that I would forfeit my final game and take a rest, just chatting with a few of the players and generally cooling off after a particularly hard-fought second game. Some might say, I should have pressed on for a third game, but I really was "bushed", as they say.

In the end, I finished a respectable joint 7^th along with John K (out of 18). Andy M finished a very impressive 4^th. A good showing by the Old Berks.

Thanks to my opponents, Simon and Luke, for hard-fought, fun-filled games in the spirit of Billhooks, to Andy M and John K for their company over the weekend, and to Andy Callan, Ian Callan, and Stephen Wood for their company over dinner.

Thanks also to the guys at Bristol Independent Gaming store for hosting the event and to Mike Peters for organising and running the whole thing.

Above: the assembled throng, post match.
Mike Peters needed a lie down at the end of the day!!

Great fun, and I will definitely do more of these.

It’s Partizan this weekend… I need to stock up on more soldiers! Procurement list at the ready…

See you there.

A "Finished" Army, a Game, and a BIG Event

A few weeks ago, I "finished" my Wars of the Roses Warwick contingent... at least to the point where I can field a couple of variations within the framework of the Never Mind the Billhooks army list.

In all, it took me around 4 months to paint, with lots of diversions elsewhere too.

The final couple of units were: an artillery piece, and a unit of light horse with their leader (Squire Gregory Carrodus).

Then came the first game for the completed army (I had previously been fielding a couple of proxy units here or there).

This was a game against Andy Moran's highly experienced Burgundians (aka the army of The Duchy of Haut-Dijon). 

Once again, Billhooks served up a really flowing, roller-coaster of a game, packed with incident, and with a large dollop of "luck" for me... Andy's artillery did, of course, explode early on. I am pleased to report that the new units on my side fared rather well, with Squire Gregory Carrodus (a "dolt", of course), leading his horse to a decent victory in the melee with the enemy cavalry. Sadly, in the subsequent morale test, my cavalry decided that enough was enough, they'd done their bit, and it was time to head for home! Such are the vagaries of the system.

Shortly afterwards, however, I managed to draw the ambush card and poured a volley from some skirmishers into the ranks of a unit of Haut-Dijon cavalry who were threatening to maraud round to my rear. 

And finally, at the crucial moment, there was a hailstorm which so wetted the bowstrings of both armies that there was no archery for a turn, at a point where I was able to charge home a couple of units, including Warwick's foot knights, and the 'Bill and Bow' block under Mortimer of Arden who had been threatening the Haut-Dijon left flank all game. Now was their chance, and in they went. With them not taking casualties on the way in, they managed to roll well in the melees causing considerable damage to a couple of key Haut-Dijon blocks, and the game was up. A victory for Warwick!!

Regardless of the result, I can say that every game of Billhooks is enjoyable, played in the right spirit, and does look rather striking and colourful on the tabletop. Andy has been doing a lot of work on the tabletop paraphernalia, as have I, creating things such as tokens and the like, to make it more aesthetically pleasing. In the end, it's all just a bit of fun!

This coming weekend, the army is heading (with me) to Bristol for the BIG Billhooks weekend event. I'm looking forward to it, although I suspect I may have used up all my luck for a while!

. 

Never Mind the Naginatas

Over the past few months I have been monitoring from afar, the development of a Samurai offshoot of the Never Mind the Billhooks rules...
"Never Mind the Naginatas" has been in the playtest phase by Stephen Wood, and he has been building up some nice looking armies for the Sengoku period (late 16th Century).

Having played a few games with the NMTB Wars of the Roses version, it always struck me that they could be adapted for the Samurai period and would work rather well.

I decided I might have a dabble with the Fireforge plastic figures, but first wanted to have a little go at the rules. And so, as part of the recent Billhooks at Berkswell day reported on in the previous post, Stephen was kind enough to bring his two armies down and give me an insight by having a game.

Well, it turned out to be a real treat, I have to say.

Stephen was gracious enough to make sure I won... or rather his dice were gracious enough, starting with his artillery exploding on turn one. As he said, "Artillery works just the same as in Billhooks", then threw three 1s amongst the six dice. We've all been there, I'm sure.

It was a real hard-fought game, and quite a spectacle with the cherry blossom trees, the shrine, the small tea house, the Tori gateway, and the bamboo groves. The fortunes swung this way and that, and we managed about 7 turns in the 2 hour game. In the end, it came down to tokens gained... I needed to gain one more before I was surely to be chewed up in a melee. Thoughtfully, Stephen threw 'snake eyes' with a morale test which meant one of his already daunted units finally broke, and that was enough to give me the closest of victories.

The rules? Perfect... they have all the chaos of Billhooks, and some really neat nuances around the Leaders (each unit has a leader attached), and a very simple system for deciding personal combats too.

Hooked? See final pictures below...

But first, here are a few snaps of the game in progress. Stephen was Red army, I was white army (notionally, Takeda and Uesugi, respectively).

Above: my Left advances towards the cherry trees and Tea House. On my extreme left, a small unit of Ronin, then my Teppo (firearms unit), and then a combined Naginata and Bow unit.

Below: my Centre-Right included another combined block (Naginata and Bow), plus a block of long spear/pikemen (Yari).

Above: Stephen's artillery! Boom!! Ooops!!!

Above: my centre advances.

Below: overview picture taken from my right flank.

|
Above: I managed to get some Ninja into a great position in the woods where they could spring out and attack Stephen's developing attacks. In the rules, apparently Ninja can be really good, or very brittle. I was fortunate that I got them on a good day. They did manage some useful forays against the flanks of the enemy units, and even took a few pot shots at Stephen's mounted Samurai archers, to good effect.

Endgame: Despite being in dire straits on the left-centre, with two units about to defeat my combined Naginata/Bow block, Stephen's unit on the baseline (amongst the casualties also gathering there!) rolled a double 1, thereby breaking. The game was up for the Red Army.

A public 'thank you' to Stephen for his generosity in bringing the armies down for the game, and for mentoring me through the unfamiliar period and rules. 

With Warlord games bringing out a Samurai supplement recently, it is a period that will gain a lot of traction, I am sure, especially with such nice figures too. It's certainly colourful, and very different.
I will be sticking with the NMT Naginatas version as I am familiar with the overall "Billhooks engine" and they do give the sort of game I like.

So, yes, I have painted a few up...

Here is my first combined block of Ashigaru... with bows and with naginatas.

I have gone for the Uesugi clan, and in particular the contingent provided by Takemata Hirotsuna, partly because they have the easiest 'heraldry'... the Mon being a simple ring of black on white sashimonos (back banners).

That's all for now folks!