Crossbows and new Recruits for the SYW

Quick update.......in a butterfly moment I decided the crossbows has been so good in the last battle I should paint some more. Luckily I had a blister of Crusader miniatures Normans who I picked up ages ago second hand. The beauty of painting these is they are mainly chainmail so only took a couple of evenings. This is a good job as I have plenty more on the go and in preparation.

....and as I have finished all my SYW stuff I put in a new order and look what the postman brought me today

This is more than enough to get the SYW to a respectable stage.....

No views today as the weather has changed to showery.......I could share a photo of the fence/gate I replaced on my day off/lockdown holiday but that would pretty boring. Back on the bike tomorrow hopefully....thanks for looking.

Ambush on the border of Leon : Al Andalus

Our next venture into the colourful world of Al Andalus sees the ex-Slave Ruler of Badajoz Sabur al Saqlabi ambush Prince Alfonso (think they were nearly all called Alfonso !) from the Kingdom of Leon. The prince has been raiding with his force across the border and has collected much booty. He must get this back to the safety of the walled city of Toro. Unfortunately his force is mainly on foot and the Muslim forces are fast and mobile.

Alfonso leading his men home across the battlefield a mixture of olive and orange groves. To make the scenario just that little bit more challenging whilst each unit carries some loot (the green counters) neither side know how much each one is worth

The ambush is sprung light infantry charge out from the nearby village

They immediately come under fire from crossbowmen who easily find their mark at close range

Alfonso leading from the front, the unit in the foreground are fierce elite infantry who appear to be hiding in the long grass

The force from Leon heads across the table

Running through the olive groves

Unable to move and fire the crossbowmen choose to fire from the back

Muslim heavy cavalry have circled around the cliffs and charge the mercenary light infantry who soon break and run, you can never pay mercenaries enough

Muslim light cavalry lure the Leon Elite knights on a fruitless chase across the hills

Having driven off the mercenaries the heavy cavalry move into the open ground

The black guard are moving to the back to block the path to the city

Alfonso gallantly leads is remaining men forward

E Leon knights are continuing to chase the light cavalry to no effect

The Prince again leading from the front charges the light cavalry looking to clear a path

But he then becomes isolated and eventually killed in single combat with Sabur

Sabur has however been wounded

and the Prince’s Foot knights are able to wreak their revenge cutting off his horse

There are few troops left on the table but those that are have already passed a morale check to stay to the bitter end, the final unit of Muslim light cavalry blocks the way and use their skirmishing ability very effectively.

The final melee takes place in the centre of the field, surrounded by the dead the remaining Knights of Leon are gradually cut down by the light cavalry.

For a virtual game it played really well as a scenario was in the balance for much of the time but in the end a decisive win for Sabur al Saqlati (oh except of course he was dead !) You will see I managed to get the recently painted black guard on the table and Sabur himself did remarkably well considering his fresh paint. The most notable thing was Sabur only failed a single skirmish roll during the whole game and the light cavalry were tremendously effective the whole battle.

And now those random other photos...

With slightly more time on my hands and whilst putting away the 14th Foot the British marched on parade again two more full british Regiments waiting but I need a rest from the lace so some Americans next I think.

And mainly for those cyclists amongst you

Hope you are all well 🚴🏻‍♂️

14th Foot Bedfordshire Buffs : AWI

Lockdown continues......but the good news is I have some time off work. Not the holiday I had planned cycling around scotland but a welcome break in the circumstances. Hopefully some time to unwind, cycle locally and potter in the garden.....oh and do that list of jobs my wife seems intent on waving under my nose ! Enough of the domestic bliss I have managed to finish the next AWI unit, the last full unit of perry plastics I had (I have a half unit which can languish for a while yet) painted up here as the 14th Foot one of the Buff Regiments. Strangely I have struggled to find pictures only descriptions of their buff belts. Anyway I kept the contrast of white trousers, I only had a single flag bearer which was slightly annoying but at some point I might add a separate base ? With some spare figures when I get some spare. Hiding at the back are a couple of nice Foundry musicians who were kindly dominated by the good Mr Bickley (thank you David they may yet see action before Christmas which is my target)

The 14th Foot marching into action. I gave them the ‘slouch type’ hats to add some variety. I now have two small brigades but feel i need a change before more lace so will probably start on the Americans. Perhaps some Militia ?

Out of interest the 14th were the first unit washed with the newly aquired Dark Tone (see previous post) so i did a test as above on two rebels. The figure on the right above and left below is Agrax Earthshade, the Dark Tone used here straight from the bottle is thicker and tones the white down more. The unit came out fine ....what is does mean is I can eek out my Agrax by using the Dark Tone on those larger items.

Agrax on the left

Out of interest during during lockdown we have been strolling about town for some daily exercise (only when it is quiet etc...) and when it is less busy you notice things you don’t normally. I came across this plaque in the Main Street which i had never seen before. I have followed it up and found Trooper Pearson was for a while a local celebrity and his medals our in our tiny town museum, which i will now revisit (long time since i have been) when the lockdown ends ?

We played another game on saturday so will share this soon.......good luck and keep painting and cycling if you enjoy that sort of thing !

Austrian Cuirassiers and Uruk hai

Ok just sharing a couple of things off the painting desk. I have completed the last of my Austrian Cuirassier units. These were the last of the Old Glory cavalry I picked up off eBay. Austrian Cuirassier Regiments at this scale all pretty much look the same.

I do need to add some sort of small banner/pennant 

Putting them into the box so though I would take a photo of all the Austrian cavalry completed, I am waiting a new ‘big’ order of SYW figures from Pendraken 👍

I also finished the bases on the two Uruk Hai figures from the game the other night 

and finally I bought this to try as my favourite Agrax earth shade is hard to get at the moment, I will do some comparison shots when I get a chance

Thanks for looking 😀

“They run as if the very whips of their Masters are behind them” : LOTR

For our next virtual game we played a follow up to the previous capture the Hobbit scenario.  Despite some technical problems with my internet the game worked ok I think a re-run would see Saruman getting involved. Anyway suffice to say as a Tolkien and Peter Jackson fan we modelled it around the film where the ‘three hunters chase the Uruk hai across the plains of Rohan.

Three groups of Uruk and Lurtz must make their way to safety and Saruman in the distance. The three hunters, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli aided by a small group of Rohirim must rescue the Hobbit. The challenge is only Saruman knows which group is carrying the Hobbit

The three Hunters arrive over the crest of the hill, for once Legolas is of target with his bow though !

Initially Gimli charges in but the combat takes its toll on him and eventually he falls (perhaps wounded) 

By dint of a failed morale check the Hobbit seen above being carried in the group is revealed (and yes I do have the two hobbit carrying Uruk figures)

The Rohirim shoot at long range but have little effect

I have skipped a  bit here as the hobbit was released and recaptured several times, eventually Lurtz grabbed him only to be attacked by Aragorn.......but most un-cinematic, Lurtz lops the head off the Returning King of Gondor

With almost everybody else dead the pointy eared elf jumps in to save the day, kill Lurtz and save the Halfling !

Bravo some harmless fun for wargamers who love LOTR

And another gratuitous shot of cycling at the weekend I think I can class this as isolation 

Black Guard : Al Andalus

After the game last weekend I felt motivated to get another Arab unit up and running. Some of you will remember I picked up a load second hand back in October I think. So I sifted through these and pulled out a mixture of figures. Some are GB others Artizan.

 I wanted mainly black but they needed some contrast and the Red was out having done the AWI british, this is sadly how I work pretty random really. These are based as per my other units in 6’s so they can play in a range of games. Although they have a range of different shields I thought the blue also gave some cohesion to the unit ?

This chap was based and undercoated so I got him painted up as well.

And for those interested I got out on my bike again today, despite the weirdness at the moment I just have to remember how lucky I am this shot is looking out over the Eden Valley towards the Pennines....and so few cars at the movement is great.

Keep painting, hopefully another virtual game tomorrow 🙂

A Border Skirmish : Al Andalus

For the next foray into virtual/remote lockdown gaming I set up a small border skirmish from my Al Andalus ‘campaign’, nothing fancy but an opportunity to get some colourful figures on the table, to roll some dice and catch up with a fellow gamer about projects etc.

Nominally the two Forces were from Córdoba and Seville Muslim controlled city states. The cores had some variation to give each side some different options and challenges. A few photos of the action....

Light archers and infantry from Córdoba run forward to capture the high ground

The Seville force has mobile mounted archers and some mercenary Christian heavy cavalry

The light coloured grass is playing as difficult terrain so a good place to trap the Heavy cavalry if I can

Both sides looking to get an advantage

In the early stages the light archers have the advantage

But as the battle develops they fail critical skirmish/evade tests and are very badly mauled by the heavier enemy horsemen

The mercenaries are eventually dragged into the difficult terrain and beaten back

In the final turns infantry stands off against each other

But then the commander of the Seville forces is hacked down and his force begins to evaporate, at the end a clear win for Córdoba with only these three seville bodyguards left completely surrounded and out numbered.

A fun game it wasn’t a walk over by any means as both sides lost significant casualties. This has encouraged me to get some more muslim/arab figures painted and i am off now to finish them. Hopefully another game this weekend.