What have I been painting?

What have I been painting?
Don't tell 'em... Pike.

As in Successor pikemen.
This is the third phalanx unit for the fictitious (imagine-Ancients) Macadamian army.

Here are the three pike units arrayed together...

My  solo Successor campaign, in the Acrymonia Peninsula (don't bother looking for it on a map; it doesn't exist) is starting to formulate in my mind's eye...

Here's the projected armies... Macadamians v Antithesids.



The Macadamians will also be appearing in Henry Hyde's Bathelas campaign.
The joys of the Successor period, of course, mean that for that particular campaign, elements of the Antithesid army might join them to add extra variety.

All the fun of the ancient world...
Later this week, though, Steve and I will be having a game in a different period (or two). I'll do an update on that at some point either later this week or at the weekend.

Meantime, I might just have an hour or so at the painting desk on the next unit in the queue.

Thracians

The latest unit in the Successor project, just finished.

Enjoyed painting these Thracian peltasts, although the cloaks make them look like they've been clothed in an old carpets and curtains warehouse!

They will add some colour to the Successor armies, and can fight for whichever side they fancy, making them a versatile addition to the project.

Last weekend was spent in York. Stevie G and I did the tourist thing on Saturday afternoon, with trips to The Jorvik Viking Centre and also Betty's (well, you've got to really). We've both visited York many times, but neither of us had been to Jorvik for some years, and it has, of course, been renovated relatively recently, so it was well worth the visit. A thoroughly enjoyable experience. Well recommended.

The Vapnartak show was a bit of a shopping expedition, as well as meeting up with many hobby pals. David (of 'wargame amateur' blog fame) brought a book with him to donate to the Warcabinet bookshelves... And it's a really good read, adding to the ancients inspiration.



The York show is always a good chance to catch up with old pals, and new. And that seemed to be the trend. Shopping and chatting. Didn't really look too closely at the games, although what I saw was nicely presented, and people seemed to be enjoying the participation games. 
York represents the sallying forth of wargamers from winter-quarters, and that, I think, is the secret to its success. Long may it continue.

Solo Game

Keeping up my promise to have more games in 2020, last weekend I decided to set the table and have a solo game using my Vaubarians and Astrovians.
And I decided to just play and enjoy, with no thought to doing a full write up. So I just took a few pics of the layout.

It was a very enjoyable 3 hours, and I may rerun the affair and write it up fully in the future.
But, for now, dear reader, perhaps you might consider what you might have done as either of the commanders...

This coming weekend, I'm heading to York for the Vapnartak Show, and have plans to catch up with a few old pals. 
I've got a very thin purchase list which, without exercising some constraint, might lead to trouble. Trouble of the impulse purchase kind!
Hope to see some of you there...

Workbench update

One of the dangers of having a permanent table set up in the wargames room is, of course, that it gets covered in clutter, work-in-progress, and other paraphernalia (wargames magazines, newly purchased books before they find  the right place on the right shelf, and so on).

In a bid to prevent this happening, I've resolved to always have a game set up. And at the moment, there's a WVS game all ready for me to play next weekend (I'm away all week).

Which is why these new peltasts have been photographed just as they come off the production line on the workbench rather than on the proper table.

I'm pleased with how they've come out and am spurred on to do more Successor stuff over the coming weeks. The eagle-eyed reader will be able to spot, in the background, Cretan archers, all prep'd and ready for painting. There's also a phalanx unit ready too, and I've got many more units in the little stockpile which will be prep'd up whilst the cricket is on in the background today (if the rain in Port Elizabeth doesn't persist!).

All the best for now...

The Temples of...

Learning of the sad passing of Rush drummer, Neil Peart, at the weekend, I decided to tackle a couple of pieces that have been in the 'ancients miscellany' pile for a while. 

So with several albums of the inimitable Canadian rockers playing in the background, I spent Saturday afternoon producing these...

The Temple of Syrinx (only the Rush fans will get the reference, so here's to you!)

… and the sacrificial altar.





This will be used as an Oracle for my WAB games.

I'm thinking that The Temple of Syrinx is at the ancient religious capital of Macadamia, Mintsos, where sacrificial offerings to the gods were a regular occurrence, and where one could get an apprenticeship in reading sheep entrails.

In the context of the Bathelas campaign (with Henry Hyde), the tradition in Macadamia is that the sacrifice is of a Byzarbian goat or sheep, that must be untouched by human hands and must be a virgin ... but apparently it's very rare to be able to find any goats or sheep in Byzarbia that fulfil these criteria these days!

The Elephant in the Room

Continuing with my Successor army...
The inevitable elephant (not easy to say!).

Ready to cause mayhem, probably to its own side if I remember the old WAB rules correctly!

This is an Aventine model, and very nice too. 
Getting the right colour for elephants is tricky. Yes, we know they're grey, but... when you see them, like so many living creatures, their actual colour is less easy to define and represent. There's a brownishness to them, and the grey is darker than you might imagine.
Surfing through images on the net led to even more difficulty to really define the colour to paint... in the end, its a series of washes, and drybrushed highlights. I've also picked out some pink-ish/fleshy coloured blotches and patches in small areas just for variation and to bring the creature to life a bit, mainly around the snout of the trunk, and parts of the ears, but I was careful not to overdo this.
Anyway, I'm happy with the result. And, I suppose, that's all that really matters.

Endgame... Victory!

The battle of Muhldwein rages on...

On turn 7, the Astrovian Kuirassiers advanced towards the gap left by the retreating Vaubarian infantry and guns, and infantry regt Schrodinger wheeled slightly to volley at the Dragoons. The latter caused only one casualty on Schrodinger, whilst the Astrovian infantrymen (rolling 11 on their 2d6) inflicted two casualties on the Dragoons who deemed it high time they were also heading back to the safety of the town and turned tail...


Lacking a suitable target, the Astrovian gunners decided to fire a shot into the town, setting one of the buildings alight! Hooligans!!



Things were starting to look very positive for the Astrovians, and Von Schwarzenatter viewed the scene with some contentment. The grenadiers, having had no casualties this turn, returned to normal and would advance again next turn. And regt Frankl's retreat was rallied and they stood shaken on the spot. They too would be able to return to the fray shortly. Surely a full on assault would soon take the town.

But the Astrovian glee didn't last long. As the Kuirassiers von Klammer picked their way across the makeshift defences, a glance to their left revealed ... The long-awaited Vaubarian relief force marching with some haste and purpose onto the table. Church bells rang out, and the Vaubarian brigade commander, Schweinsteiger, who had orchetrated the defence, almost wept with joy. His ally, The Markgraf Karl von Orff had arrived, just in the nick of time!





Simultaneously, at the start of turn 8, the Astrovian hussars who were tracking round the wood on the Astrovian right flank, suddenly encountered the Vaubarian hussar regiment Podolski, entering the table.



All was now lost for the Astrovian attack. In the face of the arrival of these fresh Vaubarian forces, Reichsgrafen von Schwarzenatter decided to save his battered army and retire to fight another day.


In the town, the sight of the Astrovians making an orderly withdrawal, and the Vaubarian relief force advancing to see them off, was received with unconcealed celebration. Not only had the town been saved, but The Elector's Christmas Chest too. And all would receive the bounty of the Elector as a thank you in these troubled times. In particular the musketeers of the Breitner regiment and the Dragoons of the Muller Lights would receive ample reward from grateful locals in the taverns of the town.
For now, such trials as Astrovian incursions could be forgotten, and peace reigned throughout the land!



Postscript...
What an enjoyable game. I hope you have found it as interesting to follow these past few days as I have found it to play. The rules worked well, the new wargames room was ideal for this relatively small encounter, and my lighting set up for photos did not intrude on the game.

The casualty return is as follows:
Vaubarians:
Breitner infantry regt -5 figures (25%)
Artillery -2 figures (66%)
Muller Dragoons -3 (25%)

Astrovians:
Frankl infantry regt -9 (45%)
Schrodinger infantry regt -3 (15%)
Grenadiers -7 (35%)
Artillery -1 (33%)
Croats -4 (33%)
Klammer Kuirassiers -1 (8%)

As a wargamer, I might have continued on for a further few turns in reality, but it's back to work in earnest on Monday, and I wanted chance to clear up the table, so it seemed reasonable to call a halt, and prevent any further loss of life! in addition, were this a campaign game, it is unlikely that Scwarzanatter would continue on against a defended town, with a significant relief force arriving from one flank, and fresh enemy troops also attacking the other flank, so it seems reasonable to conclude the game as I did.

I have deliberately given a more detailed account of the action than I normally do, and in future my games reports will have a more narrative flavour, rather than documenting individual dice throws and firefights and morale throws. But I do hope you have enjoyed my first game of 2020.