Snug in Runissia

   Hi all i'm currently south of Perpignan in the moutains, not very far from Spain. Where we're staying is on the side of a moutain and at the moment it's throwing it down with rain. Perfect for blogging.

   As i'm going to start a Runissia dux campaign soon, i thought i'd introduce some of the names/ideas and what not about this place. Sorry for those historical gamers out there, but it own't be all Runissia!

Being at the mountains is quite convinent, since Runissia is mostly mountains.

 

The north, with Runissia at the top, Kindarr and Skarn to the east, and the Kaliad lands to the south. In the south west you can see the end of Flint Island and the Fraal islands are far off to the west.

 

Introduction:

   Runissia in on the northern most part of my fantasy world, with it's eastern border on Kindarr. To the south in the Shallow Sea and the Kaliad lands, often called Kaliad Shore. It is a cold and mountainous land, being cut almost in two by the huge Korkn Mountains. To the east the lands are flatter and more like Kindarr with rolling hills and vast lakes, while the northern tip is wild and harsh.

   The seasons here are not like our own world; the calendar is split into 4 season years, birthing, flourishing, falling and sleeping year. In each of the season years there is a spring, summer, autumn and winter, just like our own, but they differdepending on the season year. So in the flourishing year, there might not be snow in winter, while in the sleeping year it has been known to snow even in summer. A cycle of four years is known as a Hudyar, basically '4 years'.

 

History:

   Runissia is an ancient nation, first formed when the legendary Rafans invaded in the year -36 according to Benden, the first Runissian historial. Before this the land was split into clans and tribal lands who fought and traded, and joined together to fight the Rafan invaders.

   The Rafan wars were bloody despite the lack of major battles, as the native populations used hit and run tactics and the invaders employed a scorched ground policy, and in the end forced the native population to give in. In the year 1 Tylk the noble, the Rafan leader, was crowned king in Hanbrik.

 

   The Rafan power was concentrated in the west, and in the north and east the lands were still very much 'barbarian'. The situation remained as such until 187, when Salyr 'the weak' abandoned Runissia and left over sea. Runissia returned to the pre-Rafan period until 203 with the rise of Malan and Karles a year after. Malan was a western warlord who based his new land, Fladia, upon old Rafan traditions and systems, while Karles was more of a traditionalist in the east, having never seen Rafan power. This eastern land was called Bulkdrom. The two powers came to blows in the Wars of the Birds, called so because the two powers used birds as their badges.

   In 204, exactly 100 years after the forming of Bulkdrom, Karles' successors conquerored the west and formed Bulkdia. This nation included all of modern Runissia except Kwenth in the north, that managed to remain independant until 392 when it was conquerored and included into Bulkdia.

   The line of kings was strong but the Fraal incursions (408-419) destabilised the realm and weakened royal power. It was then Ceres, a Longon furjuk and victor of many battles against the invading Fraals, made a bid for power. Unable to resist, the last Bulkdian king Etethel went into exile. Ceres crowned himself king in 420 as Ceres I.

 

   From then until now, in 654 the Runissian line has ruled. The land was heavily damaged during the 'Crow Wars', a long civil war between rivaling houses that brought Runissia to it's knees and opened it to foreign enemies. Now Romin, the current king, has gone to great efforts to restore Runissia to it's former power.

 

Titles and land:

   Runissia is ruled by the Taludarn (king) who rules over all of Runissia and makes it's laws and leads the armies against foreign foes. He resides in the royal palace at Hanbrik. (Taludarn is derived from Talud, the Runissian word for mountain)

   To help him rule this land, there are several furjuks (dukes) who rule one of the furjukhors; Kwenth, Dramdon, Fladon, Merkena, Bakuna and Longon.

 

   Land is divided into between the Jeruds (nobles), powerful Jeruds being called Derlens (earls). These men ensure the peace is kept on their lands and collect taxes from the brasirs and filfyrs.

   Farm land is divided into haeths, the land that can feel a family. Filfyrs are men who own at least 6 haeths but are not nobles, brasirs are those men under the filfyrs, but are still freemen. Under brasirs are the slaves, who have few rights and are not allowed to bear arms.

 

Next time, Runissia at war, Kaliad and ideas for Dux Britanniarum.

Finished German mercs (for now) and some conversions

Painted and based, the last of the German mercenaries so far:

 

 

Here is all the band together, 4 handgunners and 14 pikemen including a banner. I may add to these in the future, but for the moment i need to get cracking on the French.

 

Although out of focus, you can see the banner quite clearly for this angle. It is based on a badge taken from the sheets you get with each perry box. Simple, but i like it. It's made from paper with the badge drawn.

The hangunners, who serve as skirmishers in my Dux Britanniarum games (must think of a name for this).

So the band is ready to fight either the French for Burgundy or the English for French. Unloyal mercs, fight for anyone should the price be right...

Also based the two 'light' horsemen from before, note different colour flock. The old flock i used has finally bit the dust, having served my basing needs for about several years when i first bought wargames figures! The colour is only slightly darker, and it's doesn't annoy me.

I have also made a start on another man at arms, he will most likely become a big man in my games. Just the armour painted, but then again he is completly covered in it so the biggest parts done!

Little converion interluge...

Three foot troops, made using crossbow and handgun arms. Yet, missile troop arms! These will probably join the French, or another band should i wish.

Finally, a couple of crossbowmen. Ok, i've ahd these for quite a while, but i haven't shown them yet. The right hand man is simple, the basic arms but with jack sleeves. The other is a bit more complicated, using arms i found in my box. He is reloading his crossbow with the turning tool, the name has slipped my mind.

So ends another post. I am now on holiday and i'm going away for 2 weeks to the south east, so unfortunatly no figures! However, there will be internet and i shall be taking my card counters to play DBA/Impetus, and i may try to play Dux Britanniarum with them. It might sound strange but i'll be damned if i don't played Dux for 2 weeks! I hope to run a Runissia campaign as a 'testing ground' for ideas and new cards, so the coming posts might be more writing than posts (sorry!), unless i can use my brother's phone with a bad camera.

Either way i'll try to stay active, a bientot!

Little update

Just a little post, here are the Routier career paths in image formate so you can save them easily. Why one is bigger than the other, i don't know :/

 

English:

 

French:

 

Almost finished painting 4 pike men and 2 handgunners that will finish my 'German' mercenary band, but i shall be adding to it in the future. Afterwards i shall begin on the French and Danish crossbowmen, and perhaps another game tomorrow?

15th century game with new rules

Had a Dux Britanniarum game earlier, English vs French in Gascony as a test for all these rules we've been developing. Its a raid on a merchant's house, with the French attacking. Forces are taken from Jim's recent post.

The game went well for the English, who first saw off a mounted charge with their men at arms in close ranks (in the end they took 12 points of shock but no kills) and the captain led the soldier archers to first fire into the French horses, then mount up and charge in. Admitedly one group gone hammered by a counter attack by 3 men at arms, who played a Crouch lances! card, giving them a +1 to hit. One archer remained who quickly left the table so the force morale ddin't take a hit.

The militia archers, Gascons in this game, performed well, shooting away the French handgunners and advancing to cut off the line of retreat. The French crossbowmen did manage to kill a good number of them, but they died when they mounted, charged some mounted archers and were quickly cut down.

One group did manage to escpae with some loot, but the other could not find any and in the end ran away empty handed. By then most of the French force was streaming away from the field to safety.

 

So, how did the rule changes change the game?

I like that men can mount and dismount during the game. I never thought of this as i have no mounted figures for my archers, but i got round this by using 40mm bases and placed them on them when mounted. They arn't really riding horses, but i mobilised my imagination. I also changed one card; i swapped the English Crouch lances! for Hellequins, allowing mounted archers to shoot (normally they can only fire on foot). The name and idea was given to me by Jim over at the Lead adventure forum.

Having armies mostly of horses and archers certainly makes the game different from Saxons and Vikings (or British), but i think it works. Sure, there are more archers, so perhaps less hack and slash, but heck i like it. Having lots of men on horses made the game quite mobile near the end, when men were mounting up to run or pursue, the militia archers suffered at this stage as they were ploding around on foot.

 

All in all, fun, No pictures i'm afraid as my sisters have gone to Paris and have taken the camera, so no pics until wednesday.

Career paths - routiers and militia

I remarked yesterday that, after talking a lot about campaign ideas, i haven't really done that much. So, using the 'Bernard Cornwell routiers' inspired game, i wrote 2 draft ideas for an English commander that sets up in France and plans to take over the area for England. The French have the job of throwing him out.

You might remark that the paths are rather similar to the ones in the Dux book, and some period flavours are needed.

On yesterday's post, Jim kindly reminded me Calais was surrounded by Burgundian territory, so that idea's kaput, and i've decided to give up trying to find a campaign idea for the wars of the roses and concentrate on the 100 years war. Quite helpfully, i bought a book on the subject yesterday.

On the below careers; the English are the ones raiding, while the French defend. I assume that the Englsih have managed to take a lightly defended castle and hold it in enemy territory. In this campaign, castles replace cities as we are in rural Normandy/Val de Garonne so the biggest places are the towns (i could play one around Marmande, the town near me). It might seem weird that a militia can become lord, but we can always assume he is the lord's second son or a ward. Anyway, it's for fun and not strictly historically correct.

English career path:

Indentured captain	Reside in your castle and dominate the immediate area	-
	You may retain up to 2 elite Groups	-
	You must pay your men with a share of the plunder or they will abandon you	A beggar’s bowl
	If you reward you men and bribe the local political leaders you will be seen as the real power in the area	A knight’s purse
Knight	Reside in your castle, you now have some support. You must still pay your men	A beggar’s bowl
	You may retain up to 2 elite Groups	-
	You may conquer land from the French, taking their rents and paying you men with them.	-
	You may persuade the locals to name you their Lord (marrying a local lady, offering them safety…). You may only do so after victory in a Battle	A squire’s tribute
Lord	Reside in your castle, you are now the lord of the surrounding area	-
	You may retain up to 3 elite Groups	-
	A priest will join you if you give a donation to his church	A beggar’s bowl
	A herald will join you, giving you +1 to any speech	A beggar’s bowl
	You may increase farm production at you castle and towns	A knight’s purse each
	You may send a messenger with suitable gifts to your patron, who will reward you with promotion	A duke’s purse
Earl	Reside in your castle, you are now the lord of the surrounding estates	-
	You may retain up to 3 elite Groups	-
	You may strength you castle walls	An earl’s riches
	You may strength the walls of 1 town in each estate	A squire’s tribute each
	You may build fortified manors in each estate	A squire’s tribute each
	You may establish a spy in the enemy camp	An earl’s riches

French career path:

Militia officer	Reside in your house, you are an officer in the local militia	-
	You may retain up to 1 elite Group	-
	A priest may join you if you provide him assistance	-
	You may gain promotion if you donate money to your lord	A squire’s tribute
Militia captain	You are the local militia leader with some local power	-
	You may retain up to 1 elite Group	-
	You must build outposts on the borders of your lord’s estates	A beggar’s bowl each
	You may gain promotion with a donation to you lord	A squire’s tribute
Local political leader	You are the captain of the militia and have some power in the estates	-
	You may retain up to 2 elite Groups	-
	A herald will join you, giving you +1 to any speech	A beggar’s bowl
	You may increase food production at the castle and the towns	A knight’s purse each
	You may build one fortified manor for you forces	A squire’s tribute
	You may be promoted to you Lord’s Commander if you show you support	A prince’s chest
	You may buy the support of the middle classes to claim you lord’s position should he suffer an accident. If you win your next battle, you lord dies and you become lord, rolling for regicide. If you lose, you lose support and nothing happens	An earl’s riches
Lord	Reside in your castle, you are the lord of the area	-
	You may retain up to 3 elite Groups	-
	You may build an abbey, and a bishop/monk will join you in 12 months	An earl’s riches
	You may strengthen you castle walls	An earl’s riches
	You may strength the walls of 1 town in each province	A squire’s tribute each
	You may build fortified manors in each estate	A squire’s tribute each
	You may call upon local lord’s to launch an offensive against the English	A knight’s purse
	You may establish a spy in the enemy camp	An earl’s riches
Commander	Reside in your castle, you are the lord of the area	-
	You may retain up to 4 elite Groups	-
	You may strengthen you castle walls	An earl’s riches
	You may strength the walls of 1 town in each province	A squire’s tribute each
	You may build fortified manors in each estate	A squire’s tribute each
	You may call upon local lord’s to launch an offensive against the English	A duke’s purse
	You may establish a spy in the enemy camp	An earl’s riches
	You may acquire you lord’s support to replace him should he die naturally.	A squire’s tribute

Quick note on backgrounds:

Wrote this up quick to determine you noble's background. I assume most Lord's would be son's of the upper classes, but some mercenary captains could roll below, as they come from all over.

• 2: Son of a peasant/soldier. You know how to fight but you have little influence. -2 wealth
• 3,4: Exile: You left you home land for several reasons. -1 wealth
• 5,6: French/English/opposite faction. Born into the enemy's ranks, you left the side of you parents to join your true cause. -2 wealth, +1 loyalty
• 7,8: Merchant's son. Son of a middle class father, landed gentleman or even an esquire. +1 wealth
• 9,10: Son of a knight. You are the son of a knight bachelor, possibly trained in war since a young age. +1 loyalty.
• 11,12: Distant relative. You are loosely related to a duke or earl (possibly a bastard?). +2 wealth, -1 loyalty.

Next time i shall post my way of creating estates for you campaigns.

Campaign ideas for Dux

This Dux in the 15th century is slowly advancing, and now Jim has began using his mighty brain to adapt it to the Burgundian Succession wars, so my Low lands militia list will hide away somewhere and i will concentrate on the English, since i know more about them (BTW Jim, i'm not being sarcastic ;) ).

My notes. I always have a notebook in my bag (going to school, not a hand bag!) and i usually note ideas or read through them on the bus home.

Before talking a little about the army lists, some thoughts on campaigns. The main problem with campaigning in the wars of the roses, as highlighted by Jim on the lead adventure forum, was that the battles were decisive and most of the time there was a short period of fighting then it calmed down (well, not totally, but not full blown war). The Saxon/ Briton campaign was made for long periods of fighting, the complete opposite. Jim, has an easier job, as the Burgundian wars with France were longer, with many raids on both sides. (see his progress on his blog)

So, i must get the neurons working, which is no problem since i like these sorts of things!

First of all, i looked at the original Dux campaign, and noticed that, although we have some names of the kings of the old kingdoms, players had their own king, with a different name and the possibility to become king themselves. In brief, there is a level of 'narration' (I shied away from the word 'fantasy'), or 'artistic license' or whatever. There for, even though we know the names of many of the great magnates in the 15th century, we can create some new ones for the area of our campaign...

Hmm, now we're getting somewhere.

Next, we must look at possible scenarios. I will skip the long times of thought, getting and throwing away ideas and throw forward three ideas i had:

• Two rival nobles, fighting for power in their county. Both start as landed nobles with estates and a retinue, and, instead of fighting for land, they fight for offices, and ultimately both sides wish to put wither themselves or their 'good lord' in a position of power to influence the politics of the realm. More below...
• An exiled Lancastrian noble finds himself somewhere in Europe and starts as a mercenary. From there he takes some land and maybe dominates a town or city and becomes a lord to whatever nation he was fighting for. Or even returns to England...
• The above idea led to this one; an officer of the Calais Garrison wants his wages, and seeing as the crown is bankrupt, turns to raiding to pay his men. This pits a professional band against some Franc archers, and the English officer either looks to raise his standing in the Garrison, or even take a little part of France for himself.

All these ideas are in early stages of course, and any suggestions are welcome :D

The idea to replace land grabbing with office grabbing was an idea i had while coming home one day, and at first i discarded it as too problematic to be worth bothering, but the more i thought the better it seemed to this period. Reading up on this period, many disputes came from wanting power (and land because of inheritance disputes). Exactly how this will work i'm not sure, but something about one side claims an office, then has to defeat his rival to stop him contesting him. Players can also claim estates, and when they are powerful enough try and make a bid to become an adviser of the king/ MP or whatever.

Whether any of the Calais Garrison turned to banditry to pay for their wages i don't know, it just seemed a good idea to get the English to fight in France. An alternative is to go some years earlier when Normandy was in English hands and have either them or the French raiding (maybe the French as they reconquer their lands).

Of course, we could do the Condottieri bands in Italy too, but i'm a bit lost on that front. I'll leave that one to someone else!
Almost forgot, the idea inspired/given by Dalauppror, Swedes vs. Kalmar Union, with the Swedes battling against the Danes to keep their lands. A period I would like to learn more about.

Army lists shall be continued on another post.

Just to finish this post off, two new 'light' cavalry, one for Hanbury and one for Stafford. Not great pictures, but i'm sure i'll take them again massed in a huge charge!

Hanbury's prickler. I really like this figure, and glad the arms worked well. One is a pike man's arm while the other is from a crossbow.

Ah, the brigantine armoured rider, the one who i had to cut away the saddle to make his sit properly, and now looks better with some paint on him.

15th century lists

I've got round to blogging up my ideas for the lists proposed the last time. I have four; Burgundian ordanannce (or french if you wish), Burgundian militia, French franc archers and Esquire's tenant band. Nothing serious in the three last ones, and they might be slightly unbalanced.

 

Ordannace Burgundian:

1x4 elite shock cavalry, 1x4 warrior shock cavalry, 1x6 warrior pikes, 1x6 warriors, 1x6 warrior archers, 1x4 skirmishing hangunners.

Cavalry may not charge pikes frontally, i will eventually invent some better rules.

 

Burgundian militia:

1x6 elite, 3x6 levies, 2x6 warriors, 1x4 skirmishing handgunners. Up to three units with pikes.

The elites are gen d'armes and the warriors/levy are men of the guilds. Some might be armed with crossbows, maybe a unit or two (help equal the French cavalry).

 

French franc archers:

2x6 warriors, 1x6 warrior archers, 3x6 levies (up to 2 with missile weapons), 1x4 skirmishing hangunnners.

Although called archers, by 1477 many had pole arms and pikes. Maybe a few less warriors...

 

Esquire tenant band:

1x6 elites, 1x6 warrior archers, 2x6 levy, 2x6 levy archers.  Swap elite for warrior archers.

Inspired by reading an extract of a letter where a man offered a magnate to raise men under his name, so this particulier leader gathered the poor peasants from his estates to fight for him. The elites are men at arms.

Of course, all forces have a lord, 2 big men and a champion.

 

In other news i have made 2 more Runissians, but it is too dark to take decent photos so they will have to wait. I have also started on card ideas for Runissians and Kaliads, as well as career paths and origins. For example, Runissians may be sons of impovorished or rich jeruds (nobles) or even exiles or Kaliads serving the Runissians. The Kaliads can be sons of Merves (middle class men), khorvs (nobles), a Runissian or peasant.

 

As for careers, the Runissians start off as mercenary captains who must win victories and be declared great leaders by their men, and then they may conqueror their own estate and be rid of taxes (they riside on another lord's land before). They then make a donation to the king to become a jerud, who may do certain things with his estate. He then had a choice; fight for Runissia and become a Derlen (earl) of the Southern Coast, or become independant (testing loyalty for nobles). The Kaliads are similar, minus conqueroring estates, and they may either become the main leader for their king or despose him and take the throne.

 

Also welcome to Þorsteinn á Heiðini who has a charming blog about all things medieval. He also like Perry medievals; 10/10!!!

More musing on Dux and 2 Runissians

Many people, including me, like army lists. I also like characterful armies, so i had the idea to make 'alternative forces' for Dux. Let me explain...

In Dux, at the beginning you start off as a lesser noble, captain or whatever trying to make his mark in the world. Normally we'd start as a noble with a band of trained men, but what if we were someone else? So instead of being a landed nobleman, what if the players were constables of Burgundian guilds, or captains in the Franc archers? You're men will be mediocre, but it will be interesting.

The idea i had was the constable commanded a band of militia men from one of the Lowland towns (or a small, imaginary one) and had to work his way up the social ladder, becoming the guild master, then a militia leader and finally the town's gouvernor, and then chooses whether he will fight ofr Burgundy or the town's freedom.

Another idea could be an English Squire who has offered to raise some men for a magnate in the wars of the roses. His force is centred around some men at arms and retinue bowmen, while the rest of the force is levy tenants, half with bows and the other half with bills.

Army lists shall come soon! ;)

 

I have also made a start on my Runissians. I decided to use Perry miniatures rather than Fireforge for several reasons. First, i know the miniatures and like them very muchly. Second, i have plenty of ideas for them and also theymix well with bits i already have, while the Fireforge are entierly new to me, and they are not even out yet and i want to make some now!!!

Anyway, here are me two creations; two elite troops, the norkori or retinue troops.

Both are perry bodies with one or two wargames factory parts, and plenty of miliput. I'm happy with them, but the boots need some work. Well, it's still early days!