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

25K Page Views and 60 Followers!

Well I have been attempting to get caught up in reading the blogs that I follow and I noticed that I hit a milestone for this site. 25,000+ visits. That was a pleasant surprise.

I have been attempting to fight off a bad cold for over a week now. Because of this, very little work has been done on my miniatures. I did dip the last few of my Dux Britanarium figures last night. I managed to ruin one with my home made magic wash. Somehow the Future floor polish leached out of the mix and I ended up coating the figure in what looks like a heavy layer of mud. He has to go back into the repaint bin. I hate repainting.

What is left for my Dux armies? Good question.

1) Replace my Romano-British peasant levy with levy troops as described by the rules. I have half of what I need and need to order one more pack of Splintered Light minis to round them out. Also need to paint my Romano-British hero. Seemed to have forgotten him.

2) Get a pack of Khurasan Germans as a mercenary force to add to my troops (either side).

3) Get some cavalry for my Romano-British. I really like the Splintered Light stuff and want to have both light and heavy cavalry. I have a group of heavy Saxon cavalry that is even half painted already too.

4) Paint up some Picts. I have 3 Old Glory bags just sitting there waiting for some attention. They would initially serve as mercenaries and possibly raiders.

5) And lastly, more terrain. I want a few more hovels. Splintered Light sells 2 buildings. An 'A' Frame house and a rectangular one. I have the rectangular one and love it. Unfortunately, he seems to be sold out of both at the moment. I need some wattle fencing for my sheep, goats and cattle. (We run a kosher dark age farm on my gaming table.) And ultimately a mile fort for Hadrian's Wall and possibly a watch tower.

Anyway, a big thanks to all of you that stop by and read this and a huge thanks to all of you that comment.

For Trade

I was going through my collection of Peter Pig Spanish Civil War miniatures. If I ever get around to painting and playing with these it will be limited to my Carlists platoon. The means I have some Nationalists and some Moroccans that I will never get to. If anyone is interested and would like to trade some other 15mm miniatures, let me know. I am not sure what I would be interested in so any interesting offer will be entertained. I have nearly a full platoon of Moroccans for TW&T. I have some assorted nationalists. If anyone is interested, I will take pictures and send them out.

Missing Figures - WWII Italian

I am looking for some specific figures to round out my Italian Army for IABSM. I am looking for the Italian figure that Battlefront/Flame of War did that looks like the picture from the Spanish Civil War of the man with his arms wide as he was shot.

Also there was a figure set of a couple of guys around a radio with a large circular antenna. Anyone have either of these? I really don't want to buy whole packs of figures to get these. Anyone?

Thoughts on Independent Publishing

I was trying to decide what to do with my Italian Scenarios that I am working on for IABSM. I was trying to decide to publish on my own or through Rich at TooFatLardies. Then I thought about how to deliver if I were to publish on my own.

PDF seems to be a universal format for everyone. But would it be worthwhile to create a Kindle (MOBI) format version? Is it worth the effort to attempt it? Given a choice, would you prefer a PDF or an MOBI file for a set of scenarios?