Moving House and first post Lockdown game.

 Moving house is a hectic and time absorbing job. Over the last 4 weeks I have had very little time to paint anything but doors and walls but I did manage to complete a couple of 15mm resin houses from 'Hovels' for my 'Soldiers of God' Crusades project. These are super buildings and great value. I have a tower to do at some point too. 

Before we moved I had completed a unit of dismounted knights which I have just managed to get based. Painting the heraldry was fun, but I got a bit fed up with blue and white stripes. 

 I also realised that the way my Crusades figures are based I would be able to use them for games of both 'Lion Rampant' and 'Dragon Rampant' if I use counters to keep score of hits. This led to me painting up some desert themed 15mm fantasy for Crusader themed games with a fantasy twist. 

So the Draconians will be a 'reduced model unit' and the goblins will be 'light foot' and I have started to write a series of 3 linked scenarios to use these figures in. 

This week I finally got my first 'post lockdown' game in, travelling back up across the Dales to Steve's house where he had set up a gaming table in his garage. We were both keen to try the 'Soldiers of God' rules so with me leading the Crusaders and Steve the Saracens we set up two small 150 point armies.

 The first couple of moves were quite slow as we got a handle on the rules. The game then advanced quite quickly. By the end of turn 5 we were both down to about half our morale total. Turn 6 saw units and leaders tumbling on both sides leaving my Crusaders with just 1 point of Morale left but the Saracens were down to 0 points so routed. 

 So a very, very narrow victory for the Crusaders. We both really enjoyed the rules and loved how the special pack of cards added random but very period specific flavour to the game. We are both keen to try another, bigger game soon. We got a few things wrong probably, but another read through of the book should see us get it right next game. Now, what would I be best to paint next, the bathroom door or more Crusaders? 

Richard 1st and a few more new units.

Life had been a bit busy recently as we are moving house next week. Thus I have been packing figures in boxes rather than painting them. However, I am looking forward to the move as I will have a room to have a wargames table set up 99% of the time. So, looking forward to having more gaming space I have managed to complete more Third Crusade figures in 15mm. Most of these are 'Gladiator Games' Crusades figures from the excellent 'Fighting 15's' company. First up is a Richard 1st command stand having a chat with a Saracen commander. I also finished re-painting and basing a few more palm trees. 

I also got a few more units finished, including the first unit of Saracen spearmen. 

Add to that some Crusader archers and a unit of dismounted knights. The knights were completed just this morning and have not had their bases textured yet as my basing stuff is all packed away. 

This means I only need paint a unit of Crusader spearmen and I will have completed the basic army for the suggested scenario in the Soldiers of God rulebook. I need to send off for these which I will do so soon adding lots of Saracen troops to the order to complete their basic army for the starter scenario too. 

I recently bought a few 'Hovels' 15mm desert dwellings, excellent resin models and these will be painted up once we are settled in the new house. I also need to make an orchard and a few pieces of rough ground and even a marsh for the desert!

A painting crusade.

I have been really enjoying painting 15mm figures for the Crusades for use with the excellent 'Soldiers of God' rules. Having only started the project mid-may I have been making good progress with 6 units, a command base and a base of baggage now complete plus a few palm trees. Here is a photo of the collection as of today...

I have painted figures for the Crusaders army so far but do intend to collect armies for both sides. There is a small, sample battle in the book and my aim is to collect all the figures needed for that game first and then build from there. 

You can also see I have been busy re-painting some of the cheap plastic palm trees and basing them up. I also daubed a few sand and earth colours onto a fleece throw I got cheaply from Boyes a few years ago. Gaming buddy Stig found these, I think is was £3.99 for a cloth over 5x3 foot, just large enough for a decent game in 15mm.

Robert De Sable leading his Templar Knights

My most recently completed units are the Museum Miniatures Templar Knights and some pilgrims (Essex, Outpost Wargames and Gladiator Games figures) plus the base of baggage.  All other projects seem side-lined for the moment as I concentrate on these. The big question is, how long will my butterfly mind be able to stay on task before I am off painting other stuff? 

 

Soldiers of God.

So every now and then something will come along and throw a real spanner in your painting plans. There I was happily completing my 15mm Persian army upto 130+ points for 'To the Strongest', painting more Oathmark 28mm fantasy figures and looking forward to starting on my 15mm Macedonian army. There is also the 10mm Lord of the Rings project I am doing with pal Chris and... and...

I had intended to paint up two bases of these rather nice 'Z' range hoplites from Museum Miniatures to fight as mercenaries for my Persians but then distraction happened...

A chance, cheap purchase from ebay of an 'illustrated history of the Crusades' sparked an interest. This really took off when gaming mate Stig mentioned he had been looking at the 'Soldiers of God' rules which I too had been reading about, so we both decided to go for it. Stig already has quite large 15mm painted armies for both sides but they need rebasing for the new rules. However, suitably enthused we both sent off for quite large orders of 15mm figures. Stig uses the excellent Legio Heroica figures whilst I managed to get some second hand Crusaders from 'Colonel Bill (a mix of Outpost Wargames and Museum  Miniatures ) and a couple of orders from Fighting 15's, the old Gladiator Games figures. These are super little figures with quite deeply etched detail which seems to suit my painting style. 

 So I had to get a few more books to help with research. Plus I liked the look of the rules so much I also bought 'Soldiers of Rome' too. I can't wait to get some games in with both sets of rules, they are full of period specific flavour.

Happily I already have armies in 10mm painted up to use with these. 

Here is what I have painted for the Crusades so far...

Just in time for the end of May, my second order of 'Fighting 15's' arrived today so plenty to do but I do also want to finish the Oathmark units of Dwarf Spearmen and Goblin Wolf-riders. Let's see how I get on in June.  

Xerxes, King of Kings: 15mm Persians

Just completed Xerxes, King of Kings in his chariot with his Guard Cavalry so I thought it was time for some whole army shots. This is a 15mm army, Early Achaemenid Persians, representing the army that Xerxes led into Greece in 480BC and painted up mainly to take on my 15mm Spartans. Here is the great man himself in his chariot, ready to run away if need be! 

Most of this army are Forged in battle 15mm Miniatures with a few Xyston, which tend to be a little larger. They are both excellent figure ranges and here is a view of the Persian army so far, all 19 units (with some Indian Longbowmen on the painting table almost finished). 

This army is now over 130 points for use with 'To the Strongest' rules (including 3x command bases and 4x heroes) although they could also be used with 'Sword and Spear' and 'Hail Caesar' just as easily. 

Here are a few closer photo's of some of the units in the army.

I also have some of the new Museum Miniatures computer designed Hoplites undercoated ready on the painting table (these will be some Mercenary Greek Hoplites for the Persians). These figures look superb in the computer images yet in your hand, the detail is softer and not as deeply etched so I am wondering how they will suit my painting style of black lining and washes? Time to find out really as Museum Miniatures are now designing their new Macedonian range, which is my next 15mm ancients army. 

Oathmark, second solo game and more new stuff.

In my last blog we left the game as the two armies of dwarves and goblins were approaching each other, having clashed in their search for a rogue blue giant. Turn two saw the Giant enter the game and win initiative. Dice decided he randomly entered the board just behind the goblins right flank which rather upset their plans. 
Elsewhere the dwarf spearmen managed to charge some trolls and thanks to some dire dice throwing, soon wished they hadn't; they lost their entire 2nd rank. The goblin wolf pack charged into the mercenary ogres and soon ran off leaving three of their five behind them so the goblin wolf riders charged in next. The goblin spellcaster fireballed the main dwarf warriors and the dwarf spellcaster retaliated by casting his lightning bolt on some goblin soldiers, crisping one of them. 

Red marker indicates disorder, white one shows a hit/point of damage.

In turn 3 the giant again won initiative and charged the nearest enemy, the goblin spellcaster who was soon splatted and he was unable to cause any damage to the giant before dying. Fights continued on either flank and now even the trolls and ogres were starting to suffer casualties.  

The goblin soldiers by the giant managed to turn and face off against him over two turns-the giant won! This caused Cascading Panic resulting the goblin archers and wolf pack legging it. The giant is having a major impact on the game, but is also adding a lot of fun. 

In the photo below, the dwarf warriors and the goblin soldiers led by their 'Advisor' laid into each other whilst the troll you can just see behind the dwarf flag is busy crushing the dwarf spellcaster. 

Turns 5 and 6 saw a Catastrophic event rolled during initiative: Cursed Ground! meaning that any damage done from now on would cause double damage and this proved to be deadly over the next few turns. The dwarves and goblins really laid into each other now. The Dwarf King and his unit of warriors was charged by the Goblin Advisor and his unit of goblin soldiers. Sadly for the goblins they did not manage to damage the dwarves (poor dice throw) but the dwarves inflicted 4 hits on the hapless goblins, doubled to 8 so no surprise that they were disordered at the end of melee. Aware that the blue giant was rampaging towards them the dwarves tried to push the goblins back 6" but as they were close to the table edge they only managed to shove them back a few inches. The dwarves then won initiative, charged into the goblins and wiped them out but then the giant charged into the rear of the dwarves and you can see what happened in the photo below (just make sure you are never charged in the rear by a giant, those guys are tough!). Elsewhere the remaining ogre and dwarf archers had managed to see off the goblin wolf riders but did not fancy taking on the giant on their own, so game over with the Blue Giant left roaming the plains and only one point of damage had been inflicted on him. 

 

Overall, I really enjoy Oathmark, my only worry before getting the rules was a return to single figure removal rather than using multi-based figures. However, Oathmark is so good that I no longer worry about that. The game mechanics are very clever yet simple and easy to recall. I like the use of D10 and the fact that you never have to throw more than 5 of them. 
 I was so inspired by this game that I also found time to paint up a dwarf light catapult and crew. I usually prefer to base my artillery crew on the actual war machines base but the rules in Oathmark need the crew to be able to be removed individually so I put them on their own bases. More dwarf spearmen and goblin wolf riders are now being assembled. Dwarf heavy infantry as 'linebreakers' will be painted after these, then onto my all time favourite fantasy beings: the elves!

Oathmark

Every now and then a set of rules appear that really enthuse me. The new Fantasy Battle rules called Oathmark from North Star Miniatures and Osprey Games is one such set.

 This is a beautifully presented and well illustrated book is an easy and enjoyable read; just the sort of book I like to own. The rules themselves are largely clear and well written; the few areas that I did not fully understand have soon been cleared up on the Oathmark Facebook page. Osprey also quickly released a well presented Fast Play Sheet that is downloadable from their Osprey Games site; an essential for any new set of rules so a massive positive for Osprey from me.  

Goblin Army so far-I have a few trolls and wolves also finished that they could use. 

The rules use ten sided dice (d10) in a sensible and easy to recall manner. You never need more than 5 of these so no buckets full of dice in this game. Simply put, to attack you will normally throw 5xd10, adding your units 'Fight' skill to each individual dice throw, aiming to score equal to or above the enemy units Defence value. Ranks of troops are important and can add bonuses to your dice score for melee, missile fire and Morale. Shooting is done in a similar manner. Spellcasting is also wonderfully simple. You throw one d10 per level of your spellcaster, aiming to score equal to or above your chosen spells Target Number, each spell having a different target number. Thus a level 2 spellcaster is going to succesfully cast more spells than a level 1 spell caster. Command and Control is also dealt with in a clear and easy manner. The difference between adding a Champion or a Commander to your units can be very critical when moving or fighting so choose your forces carefully.

The slowly growing Dwarf Army; a unit of Dwarf Spearmen is now on the painting desk.

In the Oathmark rulebook there is also a simple but very clever campaign system that is also linked in with army building. Unit choices and troop types are linked to the various terrain types you can choose from, so you need to plan your kingdom carefully to ensure you are able to access the troops that you want in your army. You can of course just play one-off games to an agreed points value selected from the list of choice. There are army lists for Human, Dwarf, Orc and Goblin and Elf armies. You can add a variety of monsters to your army and there is a  range of magic items you can choose from. Further forces are to be introduced in the upcoming supplements. 

During the isolation that we are all living through, I am getting a lot of painting done but no real gaming. The only game I have managed so far is a small solo game of Oathmark. My Dwarves proved far too tough for the Goblins. It was a fun game and I quickly picked up and understood the basics of rules so only needed to check in the rule book a few times. Oathmark is fast and fun. Another strength to me is that the rules do not contain what most gamers refer to as fluff, a pre set world background. I don't really enjoy such fluff as it is usually poorly written and quite derivative. In Oathmark the rules are set in the Marches, a largely blank area that you the gamer can fill as you wish. So I can happily plot and plan games set in my favourite Middle Earth setting or any fantasy settings of my own creation. The very Dark Age themed nature of Oathmark certainly appeals to me. 

A photo from my first solo game where the goblin's troll squished the Dwarf Spell Caster. 
Throws of 0 are high in these rules.  

My favourite gaming world that I have created is the Brae-marg, as detailed below.  
The Brae-Marg

The little that we know of the Brae-Marg has been gleaned from Ancient Elvish maps and Dwarven chronicles. It is a desolate and dangerous wasteland bordered by several races.

Ermain Tor: home to the Human Horse Lords of Baron Aldred.

Valheim and Nilheim: the dark, northern land of Orcs and Goblins; known in the Brae-Marg as ‘Pech’. 

Feldros: high in the Aven Peaks, this is a mountainous land of rampaging bands of savage Beastmen.

Dunuik and C’Nos: inhabited by numerous warring tribes of Barbarians who, for the right price, will fight for anyone. 

Galgoen and the Colbryn Forest: Ancient home of the Elves of the Line of Guthelin.

KynMarroc: Mountain Hold of the Dwarf Lords of the Line of Marroc ( Rock born). 

This map should allow me to plot many games of Oathmark, It is but a small section of the Fabled Land of Aelgard.

Overall I can see Oathmark becoming one of my favourite fantasy games to play and I think that North Star/Osprey Games have created a real winner. I can't wait to get a proper game in but will have to content myself with planning armies, games and painting figures for now. 

A few dwarf spearmen just finished, I need to paint 15 more now. 

I have now set up a larger second game of Oathmark with over 1,000points of goblins and trolls taking on a similar sized dwarf force with a unit of ogres needed to balance the point's. You can see the army set up below; (I need more movement trays from Warbases when they re-open, the plain brown ones are homemade from thin wood with a craft matchstick lip).

The loose theme of the game is that a rogue giant is wandering around the plains between the two kingdoms killing all in his way. Both sides have sent out a force to deal with the giant who then bump into each other...and the giant is not far away!

 As this is a 'learning the rules game' I have opted not to use the campaign rules but just have fun. To that end, on turn 2 the rather angry blue giant is going to enter the fray from a randomly decided point and he will attack whichever unit is nearest to him. You can see him hovering in the background above and here is a full portrait of him, the trolls and the ogres.  

Some of the bases are not the 'proper' size for Oathmark but I promise not to argue with myself over that!

In turn 1 both sides advanced, shooting was ineffective but the dwarf spellcaster shot a lightning bolt at the goblin archers completely toasting one of them and in retaliation the goblin spellcaster threw a fireball at the ogres and burnt one of them to a frazzle: turn 1 to the goblins. (Both spellcasters are level 2 to make it fair). The dwarf spellcaster realised he should perhaps have tried to blast a tougher target. 

I will report on the rest of the battle in my next blog.