Adventures on the Wargames Table

After quite a bit of "faffing" around with various gaming projects (mainly buying figures and thinking about painting *sigh*) I think I might have settled back in to a familiar era ... The Great War. Chums Dave and Steve have had a few games recently so I was delighted to join in a larger game with them. The basic scenario was that having broken through the more lightly held front lines (this is set in 1917) the British now arrive at the main German lines. Consider it perhaps similar to days 2 or 3 of the Cambrai offensive . Anyway, the Germans (Dave) are holding three key objectives; a fortified but ruined village, a pillbox and fortified hill with trench system. The British objectives were "simply" to take and hold as many of these objectives as possible. In order to make up the points for a 1917 game I opted to use the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) list from "Over The Top" as I could take HMGs but leave them off table to gain artillery suppor...

Keen to get things going, Dave and I played a second game of SAGA. This time I led my Bret... ahem... Normans against his Welsh. But things did not quite go according to plan. A letter from Guillame de Reblochon to his cousin Baron Alain de Chavignol in Winchester "Dearest Cousin, I have bribed one of my guards to bring you this letter. Please ensure that he is amply rewarded as he could prove to be a valuable spy; ever have the Welsh been ready to turn their coats for gold. As you know I set forth with the intention of teaching the Saxon pigs a lesson after they were almost caught poaching deer in my woodlands. But we then heard tales of Welsh raiders led by the vagabond Caradoc ap Theoden who had crossed the Saefern and ambushed Hrothgar Godwinson. (Remember him? One day I shall cut out his chitterlings!). We heard the Welsh were so laden with gold that they had been forced to leave some of it hidden in a nearby deserted village - another Saxon pig-sty by all accounts. ...

The campaign for the South West begins... Leofric of Glastonbury, Book of Days, Spring 1068. The Norman invader continues to strengthen his grip upon our blessed realm. Already his ugly towers spring up across our lands like some heaven sent plague of boils. They have even fooled our holy leaders in Rome in to supporting their cause. It is well known that Harold (may he rest in the company of angels) was tricked in to swearing fealty to William on the bones of the saints. But that is not all. The accursed Welsh, instead of standing with the men of this land and opposing our common foe, are raiding across the marches taking cattle, women and anything else they can carry off. Brother Eadberht, our most revered scholar reminds us daily that we must not despair and must continue to place our faith in or Lord and Saviour. By the power of prayer and devotion we shall yet triumph against our enemies! To this end, our Lord Hrothgar Godwinson, youngest scion of that noble house, has t...

The recent 1066 themed issue of Wargames Illustrated has finally given me the nudge that I needed to collate various ideas I've had for running a Dark Ages campaign with some of the chaps at the Bristol Big'Uns club. In some ways wargaming can be a little like gardening... bear with me here! What I mean is that you can spend so much of your time busily working on the latest project that you forget to take time out to enjoy the work you've already completed. To this end, rather than hurrying to add Normans or Welsh to my collection, I plan to spend some time enjoying a mini campaign using Anglo-Danes and Vikings. Plus some the chaps at the club have Normans, Welsh, etc. The campaign is (perhaps rather grandly) entitled "The Three Kingdoms", representing the Saxons, the Welsh and the Normans. So what's it all about then? The Three Kingdoms campaign is intended as a simple framework for playing two of my favourite wargames; War & Conquest and SAGA. It...

At last, some more painting! These are part of the batch of Dark Age figures that I want to complete before starting on a new project. They're from the Perry's Crusader range and I think they make ideal generic Dark Age bow armed warriors. Painted like all the other Saxon/Viking figures - block colours, dip and some quick highlighting. I can use them as levy for either my Norman or Anglo-Danish SAGA forces, or as a skirmisher unit to support my Saxons in War & Conquest. Still on the table awaiting paint are some villagers and a few casualty dioramas.

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 ...