Landsknechts, Italian Wars, and Facebook page

First bit of news. I now have a Facebook page for Phil's War Cabinet, just to document hobby stuff. It's gone live today, so those who use that platform may "Follow" the page for future updates.

Perhaps more importantly, I've been painting, scratch-building, and generally pottering around with my Italian Wars project - Italiana Imaginata, as Andy calls it. He has been drawn in too with some Spanish and the fictional state of Peroni, alongside my own fictional states of Capriccio and Bruschetta.

Anyway, here's the new stuff I've been doing, plus a little background story to set the tone for the project campaigning...

First up, the Landsknechts.
These are organised and based for Never Mind The Billhooks, rather different than I would otherwise have done them in bigger pike blocks (as I once did, back in 2003).

Landsknechts pics

And so a little back story...

The states of Capriccio (red) and Bruschetta (blue) have been sworn enemies for centuries, and this rivalry reached a peak in the mid 15th century with their armies frequently locked in battle under the command of warring families and their mercenary Condottiere captains...

More recently, the ambitions of Capriccio have been well publicised and their recent employ of Swiss troops has been previously documented.

But, wait. What's this... Cardinal Leo, that wily old cleric, in talks with an Imperialist commander, negotiating the employment of some Landsknechts...

(Footnote: The Imperialist command group was painted c 2003 for my Italian wars project back then).

And so it was that Imperial landsknechts arrived to take up arms in the service of Capriccio...

When news reached "The Gnome of Zurich", ahem, (Swiss Quartermaster), Cardinal Leo hastened to persuade him that whilst the landsknechts had indeed arrived as allies, surely they could happily co-exist with Swiss troops in the same army. Surely...

Oh dear...

The Swiss depart, heading back towards their homeland.

The Capriccio army, however, does still look a fine array with the Landsknechts deployed in the centre...

The Swiss meanwhile, might have already found new paymasters. Well, no surprise there... it's the army of Bruschetta, with the Swiss in the centre...

And so the scene is set.

To add to that scene, I also recently scratch-built an Italian farm... 

For those who want to follow the Facebook page... here's the link...

Facebook

This does not mean I will be neglecting the blog (well, not any more neglect than it has been suffering of late). Far from it. I'll continue to post here too. Thanks to all who visit. And thanks in advance to those who also follow on Facebook.

Cheers.

More Battles!

The gaming theme of the moment continues and last weekend Steve Gill came over to play some horse and musket games.

The "main event" was with the 1704 Wars of The Vaubarian Succession fictional armies - Vaubarians v Astrovians.

We played out a version of the famous Battle of the River Elbow which was a scenario from an old Wargames Newsletter penned by David Barnes (and including his glorious illustrations). I made a few tweaks to it, but essentially it was an Astrovian force of 6 infantry battalions, a light infantry unit (Croats), a cuirassier regt, a hussar regt, and two guns.

In a more defensive role across the River Elbow, the Vaubarians mustered 4 infantry battalions, a light infantry unit (dismounted dragoons who had settled into a nice position defending a graveyard), a cuirassier regt, a hussar regt, and one gun.

A tough assignment for the Astrovians to cross the river, getting bogged down in the process, but Steve nearly pulled it off. Crucial was the Vaubarian Podolski Hussars arriving and winning their melee against the Astrovian Czardas Hussars. That opened up the Astrovian right flank which the Podolski hussars were able to exploit allowing them to threaten the Astrovian flank and rear.

Another clearly crucial moment was when the Astovian Grenadier regiment decided to fail a straightforward morale test, and never really recovered. This left a bit of a hole in the Astrovian front line attack, and inevitably they were at a disadvantage in the ensuing firefight.

The pictures tell a tale...

Steve had also brought with him a few units of figures he has been gathering for his own project. To say we had fun is an understatement. Steve has penned his own rules and we had a couple of great games playtesting and workshopping them. I lost both times, but the games were exciting and very bloody!

Just a couple of photos for now... the games were played out on my standard terrain boards. Something more appropriate is being devised for future outings!

Partizan -another sales table!

Next weekend at Partizan, along with Andy Moran, I will be selling off a few bits n bobs at the tabletop sale. Our table is booked for around 12.40, for an hour. I have some painted units for sale, and unpainted, plus some books. Just a little clear out to make space for more! Everything will be priced to sell... bring cash!

Other news...

Amongst all these games, I have managed some painting over the past few weeks, the fruits of which I hope to share in the very near future.

As a side note, I did particularly enjoy Henry Hyde's recent podcast interview with Charles S Grant. Well done to both... lots of very happy memories of times across the table. The mention of the Raid on St Michel (amongst other games and campaigns between Charles and I) was very wonderful! Happy days indeed.

Thanks to all who have been commenting on recent posts. It is very much appreciated.

Meantime, see you at Partizan perhaps. 

Whatever you're up to hobby-wise, may your dice keep rolling, your paint brush keep swirling, and your head be full of dreams of armies, battles, and campaigns won and lost.