25 March 2024

Achilles Rampant! Farewell to the Lad

Reilly is leaving home very shortly and moving to the Australian State of Queensland (thats 2000kms away) so the club fellahs got together for a big bash game last weekend.  In keeping with his favourite genre it was Trojan War, and 10 mates fought it out before the gates of Troy.  

The 15 foot table was graced with some 30 chariots, 27 horse and 540 foot troops, all in 28mm - looked very impressive



My Trojan line, led by Hector, gets ready to defend their beloved Polis

Oh mighty Zeus give us your blessing this day!


The game was setup with a large swirling chariot and cavalry action on one flank, a broadly open plain for an infantry battle in the centre, and a broken area on the other flank on the banks of the Scamander River.  Here are a selection of pics from the phrenetic, loud and exceptional fun that followeed!



The Lad in the centre -playing Achilles naturally! (Yes, I had Hector!)








Crafty Odysseus and his men capture the golden fleece!

Achilles and the Myrmidon seek Hector at the Temple of Apollo


Patroclus advances, seeking his Glory



Paris is Slain by the Greeks, who 


Achilles flanks the main Trojan line

Hector find Patroclus in the centre of the battlefield and challenges him to a duel

...and takes him down!

...followed by an enraged Achilles challenging Hector

Here is the live action of the Duel (5&6s hit- highest wins)


Achilles defeats Hector - Historical Outcome!

What is it with all this defilement by Chariot today!

So with Hector fallen, the Greeks won the day in the end - thanks very much indeed to the guys for coming along to farewell Reilly. He had a blast and we went home to watch the movie Troy over a few beers of course!


Rules notes

We used Lion Rampant rules with a few significant modifications, to make the game flow better with so many platers and 60 odd units on the table;.

- Everyone had 6 units, and while they were slightly different to one another, the 5 pairs of players facinhg one another had identical forces

- Units activation was by "Chit pull" with the Umpire (aka Gav aka Zeus) randomly pulling from 6 Trojan and 6 Greek tokens from a bag Bolt Action style, with everyone on the side indicated attempting to activate a unit of their choice, keeping everyone involved in the action.

- Each Player had a major Hero from the Odyssey: Menolaus faced Paris, Ajax faced Sarpedon, Odysseus faced Aeneas... and Reilly played Achilles facing off against me with Hector, naturally. Each character led a 12 man Foot Companion units and added a number of dice to the attack score of their units (eg Odysseus 3 dice, Hector 5 etc)

    For extra authenticity, Achilles was a Level 4 hero, until Patroclus was slain - at which time he became a 6!

- VP wise each pair of players had a terrain objective to control at game end worth 3 VPs, and each major unit (not skirmishers) was worth 1 unit if destroyed. Heroes weere worth another 1-2 VPs.

- To reflect the fickle influence of the Gods, each player had rerolls equal to d6: 1=zero, 2-5= 1, 6 = 2... +1. Soe everyone had between 1 and 3 rerolls, to be used anytime during the game.


17 March 2024

AHPC 14: Roman Baggage elements

Yes I know I said I had submitted my last post but I got home from my travels early enough to get these baggage elements finished before I departed again.


First up is this Centurion's Tent by Debris of War. A lovely one piece resin model, it really sets the Camp scene well. The design is of leather panels stitched together with goat skin reinforcing over the seams


And if you are setting up the Centurion's tent, then it needs supplies- in this case a wine cart! This is by War Bases and comprises a mdf wagon, metal oxen and a resin insert for the wine amphorae. I added the grass to give the impression of straw packing around them


https://warbases.co.uk/product/roman-wine-cart/


How thematic that my last post was dated on the Ides of March!

10 March 2024

Legion: Life in the Roman army

Last weekend during a fleeting visit through London, I got to attend this excellent special exhibition at the British Museum. Even better, I got to do so with my friends Ashley (of Paint it Pink blog fame https://panther6actual.blogspot.com/) and Susan.

I really enjoyed the very impressive collection, probably enhanced by my recent Caesarian Army project!


This did give me a quick fright; the saddle horns are bronze, which is not what I painted my recent cavalry. I was bemoaning this (and the inevitable repainting I would need to do) to Ashley when we read that they were originally leather covered - phew!





And this is the only surviving example of a scutum - rather remarkable ghiven how many must have been made.
Details of the paintwork




This was interesting - now I need to find a 28mm version! 



Cataphract armour



Give me back my Legions Varus!


With a lovely lunch to replenish afterwards, and a spot of shopping at Orc's Nest to procure a few treasures, it was a really nice day. And yet, despite all the pics I took of of antiquities we didnt get a pic of us together!

Thanks ladies for a great day out!