Adventures on the Wargames Table

Oh what fickle creatures we wargamers can be! I've been struggling to make a start on my latest project, Caesar's Legions. This, I deemed, was due to having moved house only very recently; and that is certainly a big part of the equation. But I've been wondering if there was another reason? ... and there is. Yes dear readers, I must admit that I haven't quite got the Dark Ages gaming bug out of my system yet! This epiphany came yesterday evening whilst sorting out some boxes of figures in my new Man Cave (tm) . I discovered some carefully wrapped Saxon figures from Gripping Beast's Dark Age civilian and Casualties & Killers ranges all prepped and ready to paint. First thought "Ooh lovely, must paint those!" rather than "Ooh must put those some where safe until I've completed my Romans". Hmmm ... ? To be fair there are some more pragmatic considerations too. In early May we hope to be taking the Saxon-Viking game to Legionary (Exeter) ...

We have moved at last! What better way to celebrate than to start a brand new army?! After all one more box around here will hardly notice. As you have already seen, Warlord have launched another range of Romans! This time it's "Caesar's Legions". I've purchased three boxes plus some Numidian light cavalry. I thought some of my readers might like to see some pics and read my mini review? There are 24 figures to a box, equipped with either gladius or pilum (one weapon type per box). Pricing is very reasonable at £18 per box and Warlord are doing some good 3 & 6 box deals. First impressions were very good. The detail is finely sculpted and crisply moulded. As with most plastic figures there are some fine mould lines to remove. Assembly is easy; the body includes legs and a shield arm, so you need only add a weapon arm and a head. There are two similar sprues, command and rank & file. Each has four figures plus appropriate arms, shields, etc. There are ...

All rather hectic here recently but I have managed to squeeze in a little painting time before my paints had to be packed away. As mentioned before I have a few Dark Age figures to finish off before I return to all things Roman. Here they are. First some Bondi for my wife's army. I'll be getting some large LBMS transfers for those shields. As you can see they are block painted with some highlighting on items such as the hair and metals. The dip/wash is packed. Apologies about the rather poor quality photos, I was in a bit of rush! Next some Bondi Archers. And again. Now some Perry archers (from their Crusaders range). I thought these would be useful for a variety of Dark Age settings. To make it clear they are skirmishers I've based them on 25mm circular bases. Cheerio

Yes, after a lot of head scratching I've finally settled on my next big wargaming project; Caesar's Legions! I've been thoroughly immersed in the Dark Ages for around 18 months starting with warbands for Saga then expanding these in to large armies for War & Conquest, then taking part in some demo games at shows and generally having a lot of fun. So it's been good but now I feel I need a change, both in terms of painting and gaming. One of the books I've been avidly reading recently Although I already have a modest Early Imperial Roman army I've been interested in gaming Caesar's conquest for a long while. The deciding factor was Warlord's announcement of their new Caesarian boxed sets. I've ordered three boxes, that's 72 figures for £48, plus I added a box of Numidian cavalry. I've already got suitable command figures plus some generic skirmishers on the painting table, so that's most of an army. Good value at £73 I think....

A few weeks back I posted up some pics of my Saxon army. Now, here are some pics of my wife's rather splendid Vikings. By the way.... things may go a little quiet on the blog for the next few weeks as we're gearing up to move house! Please bear with me, as normal service will be resumed as soon as possible. Here's the full army. Some Hirdmen supported by Bondi and archers. Here's the King with his banner and his most trusted Hirdmen. More Hirdmen with Bondi and Thralls in support. Note the 'refreshment cart' and 'other entertainment' on the top right ;o) As with the Saxons there's still plenty to add to the army. Firstly, another unit of Hirdmen, secondly some beserkers perhaps, then some allied cavalry; perhaps Welsh or Scots, they've always been keen to have a bash at the Saxons!