Double wammy!

Well, that's a nice surprise!

Not one, but two liebster awards!

 

X2, one from here: http://thorsteinnaheidini.blogspot.fr/2012/12/liebster-blog-award.html

And another from here: http://arlequinsworld.blogspot.fr/2012/12/first-id-like-to-thank.html

(I was going to put 2 images on, but thought people might think i'm being greedy :p)

 

I've seen this award bouncing around, going from one blog to another, but didn't really think i'd get one, never mind two.

When i started this blog, i thought i'd stop it soon, but i discovered it was a good way to share ideas, share them with others, and get inspired in turn by others. It seems as i have inspired some, mainly with my ideas for the Dux Britannarum. I also have found i have been trying harder and harder with my painting in an attempt to get to the standards of some painters i have seen out there. Friendly competitivity i guess.

 

Here's what Þorsteinn á Heiðini had to say:

'Max is a young Frenchman with an interest in the Middle Ages. He, like Jim, is working on converting the Dux Britanniarum rules to place them into the 15th century. He also puts up reports of his test games with his great Perry conversions and builds. From his posts about his fictional nation Runissia it is clear he has a great imagination that will serve him well in his wargaming.'

 

Here's what Jim said:

'Max is a keen and enthusiastic gamer and relatively new to the hobby. He's consistently encouraged my stuff with Dux Britanniarum on here, despite doing his own thing with them too (and first).'

 

Nice words all round, it's nice to think someone in Canada, and another in England (I guess your English Jim).

Apparently i need to choose 5 other blogs to nominate, which is not easy since there are already loads of these awards around, but i've managed to choose 5 from my list of great blogs.

Ah, best post the rules first:

Liebster awards are designed to promote those blogs out there, who people feel should get more exposure than they do. The rules are simple;

• Post the pic of the award (I chose a different one) and talk about it.
• Post a link back to the person who gave you the award.
• Select five blogs of 200 followers or less to nominate for the award and inform them of your decision by commenting on a post.

So, here goes:

http://hvm-workbench.blogspot.fr/

A great painter that i first saw on the Lead Adventure Forum with his Song of Ice and Fire figures. Really inspiring stuff, it was the blog behind my own SOIAF ideas.

 

http://chrisgomhobbyblog.blogspot.fr/

A Lord of ther Rings blog, with plenty of goblins currently on his painting table. Also made some charming Moria terrain.

 

http://warinabox.blogspot.fr/

Wargaming on a budget, this blog shows all your can do with some 10mm (and now 15mm) figures and some imagination. Great use of bits and bobs others would throw away.

 

http://jaows.blogspot.fr/

Llama's war of the ring, a Swede who, despite the snow, manages to paint and convert loads of LOTR figures. I first found him while looking at Perry minitatures images on google, and think he deserves more followers.

 

http://getitpainted.blogspot.fr/

Another Duxer (new name?) who uses LOTR figures for his Dux Britanniarum games. I went back and read his battle post twice.

 

Just noticed seems to be a few LOTR blogs, strange coincidence.

 

And finally, another great thing about blogs; i now know how to spell Britanniarum without looking it up!

Right, painting and/or gaming this after and a battle to blog up, post tonight and tomorrow.

To arms! To arms!

Quick post while the internet's free of use.

I have been planning to expand my forces to use with Jim's Dux Burgundium lists, as i wanted to give more troops a go. All i need it to assemble and paint them.

First up, some French crossbowmen WIP. Still lots to do, but so far so good. I've changed my skin painting method, using drybrushed layers, much easier than washing with brown.

 

These were to be a band of franc archers, but seeing as the French need more missile troops, these are now Lowland militia. These will come from a small, imagined town that shall be the centre of a future campaign.

To make them look different, i've decided to go for white jackets instead of the usual blue and white with red cross. I did this as my Germans are already in blue and white, and i wanted them to look similar but not the same. These men are going to be from the weaver's guild of the town, and i guess the commander fancied having white jackets (maybe he had lots in stock?) and with the weaver's badge, a red diamond.

Readers might recognise these chaps from earlier. They will now join the ranks of the Lowlands. The swordsman might get a buckler, or an Italian style shield.

The commander of the weavers. I wanted a poorer look to my militia, so little armour, even for leaders. The leader (on the right) was going to recieve a kettle hat but i thought he deserved a better sallet. The banner bearer has more armour, being a veteran perhaps.

I don't know if men used pavises as shields at this date. i've seen Perry metals for Agincourt carrying them, so i thought why not. I like the pose anyway.

The milita men, armed with spear and bill to fight the French invaders. I'm going to make some more pike men some time, boosting the militia to 3 or 4 Groups (18-24 men). Since the militia are the largest part of the list, i need plenty!

Some missile armed militia, who shall serve as harassing troops. I need one mreo man of course, or i could make three more and use them as missile troops if the German handgunners take their place. The militia archers will have a mix of weapons, reflecting their ad hoc nature.

 

 

Here's the banner i drew up for them using paint. The triangle, although maybe not historical, will be a change from squares. hey, they're militia, not regulars so any thing goes, right?

 

 



It's my (blogger) birthday...

... and time for a game! I have been a blogger for one whole year now. In that time i have contacted some nice people who enjoy the hobby as much as i do, and don't get bored of talking about it with me! I've also discovered Dux Britanniarum, my rule set of the moment.

Which leads me to my next game. This time i introduced my sister to the game. She has played Lord of the Rings before, and she was up for giving this a go. We played a raid with her commanding the English and I the French. The aim was for me to plunder the merchant's house.

 

Some pictures from the game. They're not great as we played under an energy saving light bulb, but you should get the general idea.

Here the French (left) bear down on the English vanguard; some men at arms and harassing troops.

 

The English decide to fight mounted. Hmm, that's not normal!

 



We ended up finding out that one group of mounted men at arms could easily run over two groups of soldiers in closed ranks. My sister banged my poor mercs with some devilish dice rolls.

Not to be shown up, the French men at arms charge some archers, but the dice are fickle and i don't kill a man in return for a wounded lord and one rider who flees like a child.

 



More archers arrive. I told her to try a tactic out, which was to have a group of soldiers on the front rank, and militia behind (i told her as she didn't know that militia in combat generally die quickly), and it proved to do her well.

More mercenaries. Their commander even tried to slow them down with a cunning plan but not even that could stop the English. The mercs decided the trees would protect them, so ran off to hide.

(Note my experimental stakes. A bit low, but they serve their purpose. And also the shock markers, much easier than dice)



So, the lord and his men at arms chased down the handgunners, and charged the crossbowmen, who fled the field. I could have mounted everyone up and legged it, but i stayed and fought, and died.

 



And in the centre, the dismounted men at arms charge, bounce, and are pin cushioned from close range. They eventually run.

Beware of sisters.

 

The cards i used were from Jim's blog added to the regular Briton/Saxon deck.This resulted in having more cards than usual (about 55 ish). I changed the names of some of the original ones (carpe diem became For God!, for example) and i changed the shock cavalry one, removing the disengage option. Why? Well, which self respecting knight would pull back from a good scrap (brave sir Robin ran away, bravely ran away away...)?

I can't really say how the cards worked, as we didn't seem to use many. Next time maybe?

When it's chilly, and sun is lacking, one's mind might wander

Slight change of post...

I've always had a thing for space ships, and an interest in (wait for it) Warhammer 40,000. Yes it might sound strange, but i really like the dark, gothic look. BUT the thing that i don't like too about 40K it the background; i hate the idea of millions of men charging in like some mindless horde, and space marines, the elite of humanity, charging in packed ranks. It just seems stupid to me (don't get me started on cover in the 40k game).

Never the less, i do like Battlegroup Gothic, and although i don't have any ships (too pricey) i like the look, so i thought i'd try and make one while i ahd some free time. I have tried using miliputt in the past, but they're hard, so i made one using Solidworks, ie virtually.

Here are the fruits of my work, the front and back, no where near done but started. Below is the front gun decks and the prow:

 

Here's the back. There will be the bridge here, along with sensors and what not.

I wanted a bit of an older look, as i had the idea the other day that before the Imperials used plasma drives, they used atomic drives. Now they're only used in far away colonies, ones where men fight properly, use cover and basicly use more 'modern' tactics.

Rant over ;)

 

--->Back to reality--->

I have also started a group of 6 French crossbowmen. I've done the skin, metal and the blue jackets so far, but today hasn't been great so a bit dull in the painting/gaming room (i prefer natural light, and we have energy saving light bulbs that give off a yellow light. Being slighly colour blind means it would be a devil to see the blue). I have also hade a handgunner leaning his weapon on his shoulder wearing lots of armour. Photos probably at the weekend.

Couple of pics of the gang

Recieved some pics from Diedier from Stratejeux of the Lanciers de Garonne:

 

 

With this blog being almost one year old, i decided to lift the visor and reveal myself. I'm the lad with the blond hair and glasses to the right. yes, i'm the only one with bnlond hair!

 

The table is the game i played on, along with the two younger guys in the middle (one's wearing glasses) and the chap on the far right, second row. They were great guys and i look forward to playing with them again. Diedier is the man on the right, front row.

More mercs and shiny plate

Photos, photos, photos!

Yes, here are my latest bunch of merry warriors, the scandanavian crossbowmen (i say they're Danes, but whatever goes) and a brave leader urging on his men.

 

Here's the brave chap. I really wanted to paint him as i love the pose. The plume and buckler are red and white, not for any livery reason, just i didn't want to do blue.

 

The crossbowmen. I went a bit to town with these, so to say. Being a member on the Lead adventure forum, i often see Captain Blood's excellent work. I have his tutorial he wrote on my computer and he is why i stepped up my painting. So, the other day i was thinking about how to make my figues look better, and i had the idea to do not three, but five (yes, 5) layers of paint.

 

So, first i did a dark undercoat. The second coat was slightly lighter, leaving shadows in the darkest creases. The third was the main coat, with the next being main highlights and the last picking out thje most raised features.

 

Needless to say, it took longer than usual, but i think they look better, especially the man aiming his crossbow. I did the faces in my usual way (dark layer, brown ink, flesh) but i'm going to give them the three or five layer treatment next time. I also experimented with trouser colours, like the man belwo on the right, using GW bubonic brown (i've had that paint in my paint box for years now!).



Group shot. I experimented with painted armour, not sure if red is a great colour. Makes them look a bit like fire fighters. :/

You might notice they all wear brown jackets, but no badge. It is deliberate, as i wanted them to be coherient, but not be associated with and retinue. That way i can use them with English, French and Burgundians (i'm starting to group my mercs together to field a Burgundian force to fight the French).

It's not all paint! At Stratejeux, Diedier had some simple but effective markers for keeping track of casualties. Inspired, i made some cheap shock markers so i don't have to use dice (once i removed the shock and rolled the die accidently). They're circles of cardboard, and i might add some colour but for now they're servicable.



Stratejeux sans images

Stratejeux has come and gone. I had a real blast! At first, i was slightly concerned as all the events before had a strong board game presence (not really my thing, although war gaming is a board game in essence) but i was delighted when half the room was full of tables and terrain. Huzzah!

There was few different games going on; infinity, force on force, epic armageddon, dark age Normans, muskets & tomahawks, and Little Big Horn (more on that in a moment).

Unfortunatly, my camera decided not to work, but...

 

Before, i had been talking via email a man named Cedric, who was in the Centurions club. I messaged him months ago asking about the club, and said i would go over one saturday if i could. Alas, it never happened, as my brother has band practice in Agen, which in completly the opposite dirrection! But i managed to meet up with him at Stratejeux, and he indroduced me to Diedier from the Lanciers du Garonne, another Bordeaux club.

We chatted a bit, and i was invited to play in the club's Little Big Horn game, which i couldn't refuse! I was a 2 vs 2 game, 2 with the Indians (including me) and 2 for the Americans led by Custer.

We played with the rules Battlecry, a card based system (i'm starting to like cards now!) which i picked up quickly. The aim is to destroy 6 enemy units and take their 'banners'. Killing a chief or officer also counts as a banner. We the Indians had masses of men, but terrain and a horrid hand meant we were imobile for several turns. An attack to destroy 4 infantry units on our right failed and we lost a unit, so we concentrated on the left, where soon a horde of Indian cavalry were bearing down on 2 units of cavalry and some american foot.

There was much fighting, and we managed to kill 4 units losing 1 in the process. We pressed on, encircling and destroying some more cavalry and almost winnning us the game. But our oppenants were stout and brave, and launched several cavalry charges, killing several units. On our right, some cavalry almost destroyed a infantry unit that would have won us the game, but the dice foiled me and victroy went to the Americans.

We played for about 2 1/2 hours!

 

So, much fun had by all and i will now try and go down to one of their club days and get involved. I shall hopefully be able to get some photos from Diedier's blog of the game and show. Maybe i can introduce Dux Britanniarum to the club?!?

 

Tomorrow, my finished mercenary crossbowmen and knight, and my latest assembled figures who shall form a new war band, this time of franc archers who have been made disbanded and turned to mercenary work.

Until tomorrow!