Distractions, Ugh

So I found a youtube channel that was posting their Dux Britannarium campaign. I love the game but have barely played it. I knew I spent a ton of time painting figures for it. I thought I had a base force for both Saxons and Britons. I also had some Picts around somewhere. So instead of painting today, I made an inventory.

Saxon Horde

It was refreshing to see how well my Saxons are doing. I have most of what I need. What I found out was I was an idiot when it came to skirmishers. I have 2 guys with javelins and two guys with bows. They should all be the same type. Oops. Anyway here is my base force.

Pardon the junk picture. I have to paint the movement trays. I stole the skirmisher trays from my AWI guys. I am using the same basing method so if I paint them up for this, it will work for them as well. Bonus!. I sorted through what else I had. I found I had a nice set of dead Saxons. Donnington Miniatures, I think. They have a nice selection of dead guys.

Looking through the tray, I found two Wicca Priests or wizards. The picture was horribly out of focus and that is annoying. They are much nicer than the picture shows. These guys wouldn't be seen util a first battle and after the Saxon leader has advanced himself a bit.

One of the reinforcements is Saxon Cavalry. I have 4 of these guys ready even though they don't show up until the last round of reinforcements. They are also armored. Which makes them not light cavalry. But they will do and I really like them.

Next we have some reinforcements. I am out of skirmish trays so they are individuals. I have two groups worth here. Then I realized something. One of those groups was painted as foederati as possible mercenary support for the Britions. So I really only have one group of reinforcements of Warriors and one Mercenary Warrior group. Still, they could be used either way. The foederati were painted more uniform in appearance. I neglected to get a picture of them.

All in all, not bad. I need at least one more group of warriors for reinforcements (preferably two), another group of skirmishers (I have 6 bowmen to sort this out that need painting). I think that will have me set. I am pretty happy with what I have so far.

Post-Roman British

Here is where the gaps are occurring. I have the base force needed but really nothing beyond it. I opted to get smaller group shots for the base force. I kept the troop types having the same basic shield design to keep them straight. This was very helpful when I went to them years later and tried to sort out what was going on. I placed a warbases order today for more sabot bases so I can accomodate 8 groups of British and 4 groups of skirmishers. That should sort out all of my forces.

The first group is my British Lord and champion with his loyal warriors.

Next up is the second noble and the levy.

And then comes the next noble and his group of Milites/Elites.

The last part of the base force is the skirmishers. Here I at least have four of the same type. All bowmen.

I searched for anything else I had ready. Very little emerged. In fact, there were no unpainted figures much to my horror. I will have to visit Splintered Light again and order some more troops. (Reminder, I am running a sale on my scenario books. Use coupon code "ZWOSESMPIF" at check out for a 50% discount - https://payhip.com/ChrisStoesen). What I did find was three lone figures. A British noble on horseback, and two country priests. They will come into play a little later in the campaign. I can use the noble on horseback when he reaches the fourth level of reinforcements. The priests come into play if I help one out in a scenario.

With that disappointment, I made a list of "needs". This includes another group of bowmen or slingers (4 needed). A bishop. Good news there, I had purchased some Peter Pig figures hauling loot. It includes a nice scandalized bishop as well as five guys hauling off loot. I intend to use these for Saxons when they succeed in finding loot during a raid. They are primed and awaiting paint. A group of six warriors. The SL packs come in 12 so that shouldn't be an issue. I'll have a spare. A group of 4 light cavalry. The SL cavalry packs are in packs of 4! Two groups of shock cavalry and a noble. Well I have the mounted noble at least.

I am thinking of picking up a pack of elites as well. The reasoning is late in the campaign, you can gain extra elites depending on your path. The same holds true for the Saxons. I may have some spare unpainted figures for that though.

Picts

This is my smallest force yet. When Dux first came out, Mark L decided to jump in and went for a Pictish force. He made his way to paint 2 of the 4 groups of raiders, four crossbowmen, four slingers, a noble and a champion. I may have painted the raider cavalry. I only say this because the bases are ones I used. Mark based on very small washers. I will have to rebase to match the other troops.

Now for a base force, I am short 12 raiders. However, I have all 12 on painting sticks! Good news. I think I would rather have javelins for skirmishers than slingers. The slingers are generic enough that maybe I could move them to the Romano-British and get some javelins. Still thinking on this. I have another pict Noble to paint up to round out the leadership. Also a standard bearer and a musician just because. That would round out the base force and give me something other than a mercenaries to be used by either Saxon or British.

But the expansions call for Pictish war hounds. I have two dog holders for my Saxons that I bought from somewhere. I can picture the website in my head. The figures are a little on the thin side so they are just there (painted though). I will look at splintered light and see what they have. Next is 4 more raider cavalry. They are in the box on painting sticks! Next one is six more raiders and another noble. Got those ready to paint too. But alas, I don't have six noble raiders with a noble. I potentially have the noble but I would want him to match his men so that is probably splintered light again. I also have 4 more crossbow guys but they are just extras.

I need a druid type of guy. I will see what I have. I probably need to buy something. All in all, I have no excuse not to play this now as a solo campaign or talk my son into it. I should be able to manage a few raid scenarios before needing more figures.

What I really need to do is finish my East Front stuff and stop being distracted. Lets see how that works. That's it for now.

April, 500 AD: Victory is Ours

The king read Lord Donyarth's letter for a second time. "My King, it is my good fortune to report that on this day we have smote the pagan invader from Habitancum's province. It was brought to my attention that a force of Saxons had landed on our shores. The small folk of the realm came to us as I was entertaining my cousin, Artbranan, from Pictland. He had with him a small force of men and he immediately agreed to join the in pursuit of the Saxon scoundrels."

The farm at the border.

"We could later learn that the Saxon invader was named Garmund who presumed to call himself 'the Bold'. His men had quite the head start in approaching the farmstead. He was far closer to the farm than we were. By the time we saw the invader, they had reached the farm."

The Saxon reaches the farm on

"Our forces quickly became one long slow line of men. Our archers led the way. I followed with my small group of Comanipulares. Next Artbranan's crossbowmen (4), his group of spearmen (8) and my cousin followed. Next, Senyllt and our two groups of Milites followed. Lastly was Gwalchafed and our three groups of Numeri."

"We approached the farm where we were told the invader was moving too from behind a large outcropping of rock. This narrowed number of men that could move through to the open fields near the farm. Indeed, this slowed our movements considerably so that we feared that we would not arrive in time. The Saxon had already gathered up the sheep and cows from the farm and had started to move them back to their ships.

Here you can see the entry point for the Romano-British. With such a narrow entry point, we did not thing we could reach the Saxons before they fled.

"The Saxons began to loot the houses of the farm. The first building was abandoned rapidly as was the third. The second seemed to entice them that something was there. Our canny peasants have so long hidden valuables from our own tax collectors that what chance did illiterate barbarians have?"

The houses to the right and left had 1's rolled for their loot test right off the bat. Nothing was ever found in the center hut even though it was searched almost every turn of the game. Right and center huts shown here. "One of our archers tripped on his quiver and spilled his load of arrows across the ground. The others moved to assist him. This is the only possible explanation as to why they moved so slowly compared to my cousin's men. His crossbow men raced across the battlefield. They found the enemy skirmishers and fired into them as they attempted to run with the farm's cows. Here they drew first blood killing one of their skirmishers."

Mark's Pict crossbowmen. These are Sergeant Major Miniatures.

The Picts draw first blood. We used Mark's casualty figures from Sergeant Major Miniatures.

"Interestingly enough, one of their groups of warriors that was accompanied by an enormously hairy man, was herding sheep. We never caught up with this group. The farmer lost six sheep to these men. Two were carried by the hairy man, one under each arm. We later learned that this was Wulhere, the Saxon champion.

Senyllt and our Milites quickly formed a shieldwall and faced off against the closest Saxons. They moved into a line with two groups of their elite hearth guard facing the Milites and a group of warriors slinking behind a wall.

"To complicate matters, the Saxon presented cavalry on our flanks. Undoubtedly these were men who stole horses from some luckless Briton. These were no natural horsemen. They moved in lurching motions but still caused our men some concern."
These are a mix of Splintered Light and Outpost miniatures Saxon Cavalry. The standard bearer and spear wielding ones are from Outpost.

"The cavalry threatened and caused the Pict crossbowmen to flee to the safety of a nearby wood. My cousin moved his spearmen forward to challenge the cavalry and prevent them from attacking the rear of our infantry. This halted their advance. The crossbowmen moved to the edge of the wood and gave the cavalry a volley and ran them off."

"I must compliment the courage of my cousin at this point. His men charged the retreating cavalry. In a bounding rush they ran after the Saxons and chased them back to the farm."

"The Saxons began to fall back in order to consolidate their winnings thus far. They had taken another casualty from the Pict Crossbowmen at some point. They fell back to the well in the center of the farm. I saw an opportunity and charged my Comanipulares directly into the Saxon Hearth Guard. Our men slammed into the rough Saxon line and fought with great fury. We lost two men but threw the invader into great confusion. Many more Saxon lay dead at our feet but the charge and heavy fight left my men exhausted and unable to pursue. They withdrew to recover"

The British get very lucky and manage to beat a group of Saxon Elites but loose their amphora as well.

"Following our example, the Warriors quickly follow us into the faltering line of Saxons. Our Warriors further drove the Saxon back and shattered their line of battle.

The warriors proved even luckier and managed to beat another group of elites and did great damage to the supporting Saxon warriors. They would take 6 casualties in these sharp fights.

"The Saxon now only had a thought for escaping with their ill gotten gains. They began to fall back further and further. Our men had fought bravely and done very well. Gwalchafed and our three groups of Numeri finally had arrived. The levy proved decisive. As they were still fresh troops, they charged forward and drove off the remaining Saxon hearth guard. The remnants of their hearth guard fled from the field in terror of our martial excellence."

The levy had the worst movement rolls. On 3d6, I managed to roll a 3. In poor judgement, I attempted to wrap around the others by passing through a small field that further slowed them. Eventually, they got to where they needed to be.

The levy actually managed to cause some damage to the Saxon elites. The suffered 2 dead but inflicted more damage to the worn Saxons.

The uncultured Saxons must have been raised in a barn, as they ripped off the door to the hut rather than close it.

"Unexpectedly, the cavalry made another appearance within the farm. The Saxons threatened to charge our warriors that were regrouping after fighting off the infantry. I rushed to their side. Senyllt, Cadfan (my champion) and myself led our renewed warriors in a neck or nothing charge against the Saxon Cavalry and defeated them to a man."

Editor's note: The four cavalry were outmatched on the big men's dice alone in the fight. Only three cavalrymen were killed but we failed to check if it was horses or riders that died. Either way, the unit broke and ran causing the Saxon force morale to reach 0. This was enough to give the Briton's the game.

"The remaining Saxons fled the field. The two cows were recovered for the farmer. We looted the bodies of the dead. We won a great victory. We killed no less than 8 of the Saxon hearth guard. Another 7 of their warriors fell as well. We found three bodies of their cavalry and recovered several horses. Also we should not forget the first Saxon claimed by Pict Crossbows. Our losses were six of our warriors, two of my Comanipulares and another 2 of levy. I offer you this shirt of Saxon mail as evidence of our great victory."

"Your obedient servant,
Donyarth, Lord of Habitancum"

Editor's Note: The mail shirt offered was slashed open and nearly useless. The rest of the booty that was useful, he kept to himself and for his men.

The king shook his head. The arrogance of Donyarth worried him. Two attacks this month. Yes, both Aethelfrith and Donyarth had been successful. But this was only the beginning. His spies have told him that the numbers of Saxons hungry for plunder and land are limitless. Only time will tell if his kingdom will survive.

*****************************************************************

On Saturday March 9th, we had another game of Dux Britannarium. This was the Farm Raid scenario from the main rules. Doug had decided to go with a Saxon force and I tried my hands at some Britons.

Having extra players we added some additional forces to the base troops each command would have. Mark had painted up 8 Pict Spearmen and 4 crossbowmen. He commanded these and the Briton Warriors. I had based my Saxon Cavalry. So these were added to the Saxon forces. Doug and Steve shared the Saxon Command. We should have given additional skirmishers to the Saxons. The Saxons nearly had the game won before the British could reach the farm. Just bad luck kept this game from going their way. They were close to their friendly edge. They did make off with some of the sheep.

The results of the battle gave the Britons a Thief's Horde in plunder. In addition, we gained two additional warriors and are able to replenish our dead immediately. Doug's Saxons will replenish their troops in 2 months.

Thus far, the campaign is going well. We have only played out April of 500AD in two games. Thus far it is going well. Hopefully we can get Brian's troops on the table shortly to get him involved. It looks like we now have 5 solid players in the campaign. Stay tuned for the next installment.

Mark's pictures can be found here.

Painting in progress

Low and behold, I managed to wield a paintbrush last night. I have several items on my painting desk that were begging for attention. The east front items unfortunately had to wait. Dux Britanarium seemed to be drawing me. So paint I did. I could not stay focused enough to finish any one thing. Instead, I painted 2 Picts, 3 Britons (the last 3 levy that I needed so the peasant levy can take a rest finally) and 8 Saxon Foederati.

Based on a recommendation by Ray, I decided to use Windsor & Newton Peat Moss Ink in place of Army Painter or furniture polish. I still need to use a matte varnish on these figures but thus far it is promising.

First are the Britons.

The Britons are the two on the left. The one on the right is a Pict leader. These are all Splintered Light Miniatures. I like the Pict leader but I am not too wild about my attempt to paint a striped robe. I will touch up the shields before varnishing.

Next up is my Pict archer. The poor lad appears to be a bit cold.

I kind of like this figure in spite of my poor attempt at painting a plaid.

Lastly are my group of Saxons.

Again, I feel I need to touch up the shields some. I was lost as to what shield design to use for these troops. I wanted to give them more of a uniform appearance since they were to operate as Foederati troops manning the wall.

Anyway, it felt good to be productive. I just acquired some additional terrain pieces from eBay. I found someone selling plank fencing. I picked up 16 sections of plank fencing for under $10.00. I managed to get them washed last night but nothing more. Stay tuned as I will probably try to paint up a test section tonight.

Dux Britanium Campaign - Background

I finished off basing my Romano-British army tonight. I am actually pleased with how well they turned out. I have been trying to think where I want to base my campaign out of. I decided on the Northern Kingdom with its capital of Caer Eburac. The campaign will begin in the year 550AD, following the Fall of Bernaccia to the north. Saxon raiders from the north begin to pour into the province surrounding Catraeth. The province has a Roman Fort and town at its heart.

Historically, The Kingdom of the North ceased to exist by 580AD with the foederati in Pedwar rebelling against the locals sometime after 550AD. The tidbits of information that the rules provide is just enough to spark your interest to find out a bit more. So I began to dig.

It seems that the northern area was a kingdom under an Old King Cole (Coel Hen) (Yes the nursery rhyme guy) who was quite possibly a Dux Britanarium or warlord of northern Britain. He lived from approximately 350 to 422AD. Following Celtic tradition, his lands were divided among his sons (Ceneu and Gorbanian) following his death.

The area I am interested in was ruled by Ceneu (circa 382 to 450ish). He allowed Saxon settlement in Deywr (later Deria) in recognition of the Saxon foederati under Octha and Ebissa in Ceneu's campaigns against the Picts and Scotti to the North. Again, the kingdom was divided among his two sons following his death. Gwrast took the western half of the kingdom and Mor took the eastern half with the capital of Ebauc/Eburac/York.

Here is where the tale begins to raise eyebrows. Mor is also called Uther Pendragon in some places. He has a son named Arthuis as well. Mor was born around 420AD and had two sons. Apparently he died close to 470AD. Unlike others, it appears that only one son inherited - Arthuis.

Arthuris was born around 455AD. He had two sons as well. Eliffer Gosgorddfawr (or many spears) and Pabo Post Prydein. Eliffer lived around 473AD to 560AD. He apparently ruled the kingdom on his own.

Of Eliffer's sons, they co-ruled the kingdom. Peredur Arueu Dur/Peredur Paladr Hir and Gwrgi fought a number of battles. Notably, they fought in the Battle of Arfderydd/Arthuret against the King of Caer-Wenddoleu named Gwenddoleu ap Ceidio. They then formed an alliance with two other kingdoms (Strathclyde and North Pennines) and fought Gwenddoleu again and killed him in 573AD. This is probably the battle of Arthuret but some sources seemed to treat it as a separate battle. Gwenddoleu ap Ceidio's bard, Myrddin Wyllt (or Merlin) goes mad after witnessing the defeat.

Eliffer's sons begin to have a spot of bad luck. Seven years after their victory, they go to war with the Saxons of Bernicia/Bernaccia. Both are killed by King Adda at the battle of Caer-Greu. Within a year, the Derians under King Aelle (remember the foederati that King Ceneu gave land to?) rise up and sieze the kingdom and Ebrauc (York). The children of Gwrgi and Peredur Arueu Dur flee for their lives.

This actually gives a good spread of possibilities for a campaign. The kingdom repeatedly fights not only Saxons, but Picts and other Britons as well. This should provide for a dynamic campaign to run. The more I read up on the period, the more fun I think I will have.

Sources:

http://www.earlybritishkingdoms.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/573

What's on your painting table?

I had another few hours to paint last night and got busy on my Romano-British for the Dux Britainarium rules. I really love the miniatures from Splintered Light but for some reason, the Romano-Brits have not captured my imagination the way the Saxons did. I have been finding painting these to be rather tedious rather than fun. Anyway, it got me to thinking. How many projects is it normal to have on one's painting table at any one time?

First, I had what I was actively painting - My Romano-British Infantry. I have painted up 20 levy troops from Khurasan on a previous session. They still need to be based and varnished but are mostly done. Next are my group of 4 archers from Splintered Light. I like these guys ok and they were fun to paint. Last night, I spent my time on some command elements for this bunch. Two officer looking figures, a standard bearer, a musician and a priest. All Splintered Light. The priest actually comes from the Pict Command pack but David over at Splintered Light got me this figure without the Pict Command pack. These were very tedious to me. And I don't know why. The priest is a great figure with a big cross around his neck and a tonsured head. His hand is held up but you can't quite tell how many fingers he is holding up. That one was fun. The others are great minis. I like them now that they are painted but I hates painting them. I think it has to do with the shields. I attempted to do a Chi-Rho on them but ended up redoing it several times. Still not happy but I am not sure I can do better.

You should be able to make out what I am working on. The front row are the heavy infantry. These are barely started. The next three rows are the medium infantry - all spear and shield armed. Only primed so far. The next 4 rows are my levy infantry. Pitch forks, staves, cudgels, scythes and a couple throwing rocks are in this bunch. Next is the command set I worked on last night. Lastly are the four archers.

I want some more variety for my levy troops. The Khurasan pack was great. Five poses divided among 20 figures. But I want some more variety. Has anyone seen or own any of the Two Dragons 15mm peasants? see here I am thinking of some of these but they come in packs of 10. Are they the same pose for all 10? Some are rather specific such as the bald fat man with eyepatch. How many of those could I possibly want? Surely not 10 of them. Any other recommendations out there?

Next on the painting table are the rest of my Romano-British troops. I have a spare figure or two to round out the heavy infantry, a Druid/Merlin type figure and the leader in both mounted and dismounted poses. Splintered Light also has a Moorish looking fellow in their command pack. Was there a Moor in the Arthurian Legends? I must admit to not being up on it that well. Cornwall had a Moor following Arthur in his series. But I sure don't remember that from the stories when I was a boy. Not that I would remember anyway.

Anyway, I have not even gotten around to priming these guys yet.

Next up in the queue are more WWI Russians. These are Peter Pig miniatures their firing pack and their MMG packs. I just got these in last week and only managed to glue them to the painting stick last night.

Next up are some Saxon Cavalry. The middle row are figures from Outpost Games. The others are Splintered Light. Love these figures. The mounted Outpost command pack has a really nice banner that is suitably ominous looking with the skull at the top. Not sure how practical it would be for a cavalry banner as that had to get heavy fast. Not like they had vacuformed plastic back then to make it lighter. I have finished the two figures furthest away from the camera. The middle two are half way there. The front rank is undone other than priming.

Lastly are some figures that I received sometime last year. They are some Napoleonic Ottomans that I received from One Tree before they were sold. It was a sample pack that the owner threw in with the two books on the Ottomans that I bought from him. They have been sitting on a shelf since I got them. For some reason, these figures have just been calling to me and ended up on the painting table last night.

I have always wanted a Napoleonic (and WWI for that matter) Ottoman army. However, I will not be buying figures for it this year. I am still not sure which direction I will go for these. Old Glory has a good range in their 7 Years War line. Irregular has some. I think there is a French company doing some Ottomans as well. Anyway, that is a Sharp Practice project for 2013 when I get around to painting my Russian Cossacks and Jagers.

So tell me, how many projects do you tend to have on your painting table at any one time?

The Impending Weekend

Well once again Friday is here upon us. I sit and examine the pile of work that needs to be done and just sigh. The painting table has my 80% finished groups of Romano-British Levy from Khurasan. There is something that is blocking me from just knocking these out. I did get in another two packs of Russian WWI figures from Peter Pig that are tempting me to go off track and do those instead. But I am trying to stay on target and not succumb to my "Oh Shiny" impulses. In terms of writing, I made some headway on the WWI East Front material. I found the autobiography of the founder of the Women's Battalion of Death. Very interesting story. Maria Bochkareva who was known to her fellow troops as Yashka, had appealed to no one less than the Tzar himself for permission to serve in combat. She fought against the Germans as early as 1915 and her stories generated two scenarios so far. The first is a rather brutal encounter where the Russians were ordered to charge across open ground against entrenched Germans that had not been properly softened up by artillery. They had to run over a half a mile from their trenches to reach the German wire that was left undamaged by the artillery barrage. She was awarded a medal for bravery as she rescued some 50 men who were wounded in the engagement. Of the 240 men and woman that formed her company prior to the attack 83 were killed in the charge and only 48 were combat effective once they made it back to friendly lines. The second scenario is based on her description of Russian and German scouting parties in 1915. She mentions conducting such missions on a regular basis and that in the void of no-mans land, occasionally scouting parties from either side would have their own small battles at night. Should prove interesting. I have much more to read and hope that I have the material to have at least one good scenario involving the Women's Battalion of Death. If for no other reason than the name of the unit. For some reason my writing inspiration has left me the past week. I find myself playing FreeCol in my free time rather than something useful. Hopefully I will snap out of it soon. Also, the Blog has now exceeded 15500 page views and 48 followers. I am amazed. Thank you for reading. I think I will post a scenario that I write from Maria's story here because of that.

Dark Ages and other musings

So Rich and the TFL crew have come up with their play test of some Dark Age rules. Very nifty stuff. I just got the rules last night and took some time to read them through today. I must say, I am excited about these. Excited enough to change directions in what I am working on.

I will finish out painting my Italians that I have done as they are so close. But as soon as those are off the painting table, out will come the Romano-British. My Saxon host is done enough to get a game in. I really need to get going with the Britons now.

Of course, even though I have a pile of lead just waiting to be finished off, I started surfing for more minis. What I really want are some casualty figures. The only place that I found 15mm Dark Age casualty figures was on QRF's website in their Freikorps range. They have some Viking casualties that would work for heavy infantry casualties and possibly the Pict casualty for any medium infantry figures. I really want some dead peasant levy though. Any ideas out there?

I also started to surf around to look for some foederati mercenaries as supports. I spotted the Khurasan German range and thought that they just might work. Based on the rules, I should be able to get away with just 2 packs (Spear & Francisca and chief with standard). Take a look. These are pretty nifty. Khurasan Miniatures' Late Germans

Anyway, I was starting to get a case of the blahs about miniatures. But once again, the excitement level is back up.