Adventures on the Wargames Table

Another year and another splendid Salute. Again we trekked up the motorways from the South West to attend what must easily be the biggest wargames show in the United Kingdom. First off I'd like to say how well organised it seemed to be, especially given the number of games, traders and attendees. But before I go any further there is one complaint I would like to make with respect to a minority of the attendees... Now I'm hardly what you would call slim, so when manoeuvring through the crowds of people I attempted to be mindful of others, especially as I had a small rucksack on my back. Sometimes a polite excuse me was required, no problem. When I did bump in to someone then a simple "oh, sorry" was offered, again no problem. So what's with the small number of BFRBWR's (Big, Fat, Rude Blokes With Rucksacks)? Haven't they heard of basic manners? When my wife was barged out of the way by one such twit I briefly remonstrated with him only to rec...

Here are the Saxons ready to do battle against the pagan hordes that threaten to ravage England! As with the Vikings this is a four point warband for Saga, but I already have several more units on the go. All figures are from either Gripping Beast or Musketeer. Here's the Warlord and four of his Thegns. Another four Thegns, all from the GB plastic Saxons boxed set. Now for the Ceorls. These were purchased with the intent of building an Arthurian era Early Saxon force using Musketeer figures. However, I think they do just fine as Ceorls for Saga. Another 8 figure unit. All of these figures were painted using my 'dip then highlight' technique. Here's a few closer shots of the cloaks and the warriors. As I've mentioned before, highlighting after the dip (and after the matt varnish!) is really easy as the shading is already partly done for you. Shields are mostly by LBMS apart from some of the plain shields.

Here's a four point Viking Warband for Saga, almost all painted by my lovely wife. In a previous post I showed some figures that I painted as a present for her, so this four point warband is already well on it's way to six points and beyond. Here's a couple of closer shots Hirdmen (Hearthguard) in front with more behind in the pic above. The chap with the double handed axe is just counted as a normal hearthguard.   Here there's more Hirdmen in front with Bondi (Warriors) behind. I must say that Mrs Matt (her real name is Jennifer) has been rather quicker to grasp some of the smarter combinations of Saga abilities on the Viking board than I have with my Saxons. The result has been a couple of sound defeats for the Saxons - but I have won one game! I'll post some more pics when all 8 points are complete.

War and Conquest is a rather splendid set of rules so what better way to spend a pleasant Sunday than to enjoy a few games of the aforementioned rules? A dozen gamers descended on the sleepy village of Iron Acton to re-enact battles of the ancient world. Rome clashed with Rome, and with British Celts, and with hairy German types, whilst Greeks traded blows with Spartans and Persians, and vice versa. Yes, this was the first (of many I hope) War & Conquest gaming days! Naturally I took along my EIR to impose the Pax Romana on the unwashed, hairy hordes. One of the great things about these gaming days is the opportunity to play against someone new in a very relaxed atmosphere where simply rolling a few dice, pushing some toys around the table and having fun is everyone's main aim. My first opponent was Ken. He was leading a compact band of Roman legions against my rather mixed Legion/Auxilia force. Here's a pic early on in the game. The very evenly matched armies ...