New Plans

Now then,

Its been a while since I updated the old blog, so I thought I would update it with what ive been up to recently. Well, first of all, alot of painting. Namely 6mm sci/fi stuff, Space marines and Tau shenanigans mostly. I have a few to finish off so will save the pictures until later. For now the epic stuff is being put on hold, namely because I have other stuff to get done.....

Ill start with whats getting dropped first.

The Fantasy project.

I had hopes that this would get my 2 lads interested, but alas that's not going to happen. Personally im not inspired enough anymore to spend my spare time painting these, so they will be up for sale on the blog shortly, as soon as I can get them photographed etc. If not then eBay may be the way forward.

So whats new?

Well, first off, I should be back home in the UK by this time next year if not before, so my plans are revolving around minimizing projects and getting existing stuff painted.

So maybe the Ancient Greek cavalry will finally get done, or the Theban hoplites may see the light of day (ive had them for nearly 5 years!)

The 6mm Austrian army is nearly finished, I could probably get them done in a few weeks if I concentrated on them......

I also have a few bits and bobs for my 15mm Crusaders and Muslims that need doing, again a pretty quick job....sigh...

My main "thing" at the moment is WW2.

I have recently been re-inspired by initially rediscovering Flames of War, then, after getting hold of the V3 rulebook cheap via eBay, decided that its still crap.

Instead I have discovered Battlegroup Kursk. LINK

Im a massive fan of the Eastern front, and this ruleset seems to offer all the stuff that is lacking from FOW, BKC, and Bolt Action. The book was ordered last week, so I hope to have it in my possession in the next few days.

In the mean time, heres a few links to useful stuff:

Overview of the game

BGK forum on the Guild ( the hardest forum in the world to join!)

Video overview of the book

dux-homunculorum blog review

There are loads more reviews and stuff out there, google it!

Anyway, more epicness in the next update, then its firmly back to historicals!

Cheers for reading,
Steve

Later Achaemenid Persian Army Done!

Now then,

4 years in the making (among other things), the Persian army for Impetus is finally complete. The army comes in at 500 points so is big enough for a few options when playing the normal 300 or 400 point games.

First of all I have the last units to be done, the Persian levy archers.

And here is the complete army!

Happy days. Its always good when you finish a project, and now ill be turning my attention to my 1809 Austrian army in 6mm, as that army is also nearing completion.

For more about the various units etc in this army, have a look at the Persian army page at the top, or just click here - Later Achaemenid Persian Page

Cheers for looking,

Steve

Persian Colonist Cavalry

Now then,

These 12 cavalrymen have been sat on my painting desk along with a load of Persian archers for about a year! Well I finally painted them. That pretty much completes the Persian army for Impetus. The archers are painted and im just getting them based up too.  Ill have them done for tomorrow hopefully, so stand by for some army shots!

Here they are!

Miniatures - Xyston 15mm

The full Persian army can be seen here - Persian Army page or click on the tap at the top of the page.

WARBASES

When I put in my latest order to warbases, I also got myself some markers made up for Impetus. I got 20 each of the disordered and opportunity markers. Got to say I'm very happy with them too, great quality and for the cost of a few shillings you cant go wrong.

I also had these movement trays specially made for my 6mm Napoleonics, as moving 20 odd Battalions of 6mm infantry with 6 bases per Bn will be time consuming and a wee bit irritating to say the least. Hopefully these will speed up proceedings!

Persian Levy archers and the full Persian army in all its glory tomorrow!

Cheers for looking,
Steve

Basic Impetus Spartan vs Athenian

BASIC IMPETUS!

Now then,

After yesterdays game playing bolt action, the lad and myself are up for another game, this time rewinding history a few thousand years to ancient Greece.

Now I haven't had a game of BI for about a year so I have had to re-read the rules, and I also found that watching some "how to" videos on YouTube have helped clarify things for me.

It is actually very informative and the guy who has done the vids has done a good job of explaining some of the finer points of the game.

The videos can be seen here - BI how to videos

OK so we will take it that the opposing forces have met on a plain somewhere in central Greece, negotiations have failed and the only way to resolve the territorial dispute will involve bloodshed. The Hoplites march out from their camps and face each other across the field of battle!

The Armies

SPARTA!

ATHENS

The Lists

The field of battle

Deployment

In basic (and full) Impetus, deployment is key. If you set up without a plan or without really having a quick think about how the different troop types work together, you are pretty much inviting disaster (unless of course the dice gods smile on you).

To that end, the Hoplite armies of both sides have set up opposite each other, with the skirmisher troops placed out front. The Athenian army has a medium cavalry unit, which I have decided to place on the left flank, the plan being to get round the flank or even better the rear of the Spartan phalanx.

The Spartan forces have divided into 2 separate groups, with the second group hopefully in a position to support the first....?

Turn 1

Turn 1 saw both commanders ordering their forces forward, with the Athenian Cavalry getting disordered.

Turn 2

Turn 2 sees both armies again moving forwards, with the Athenian right moving from column which results in quite a bit of disorder! The Spartans move forward their discipline and training keeping their formations tight!

The battle lines draw nearer!

The Athenian right wing take up a position on the small hill, but end up disordered

Turn 3

Turn 3 sees the battle lines close, the Athenian skirmishers are too slow and get caught up in the Spartan charge, one of the Athenian hoplite units is also driven back, but the rest of the battleline stands firm following their generals example as he fights in the first rank!

Elsewhere the cavalry move to outflank the Spartans but end the turn disordered again...As do the Spartan reserves as they move into position.

Turn 4

Turn 4. The Athenians launch their attack on the right, which fails to make any headway, with a Hoplite unit being pushed back!


In the centre the disordered hoplite unit charges straight back in, but the General and another unit are routed by the superhuman Spartans!

Turn 5

The end is inevitable, and despite some limited success on the right wing, the Athenians lay down their arms, as to fight on would be pointless.

Aftermath

Yes, the little bugger beat me again! Basic Impetus is the perfect game to play with newcomers to wargaming, he has picked up the rules and wants another game!!

Enjoying this little spell of gaming, Crusades action next!!

The armies used in this game all come from my Greek Hoplite army for Full Impetus, here Greek Hoplite

Thanks for reading,
Steve

2013 in review

Belated seasons greetings,

I hope you all had a great Christmas and new year, and of course managed to get hold of all the goodies you asked for from Santa.

Having just returned from the depths of winter in Scotland, I now have time to have a look at what i've managed to do hobby-wise over the last year, and of course list my plan of action for the coming 12 months.

2013 has seen me start this blog, with 18000 odd hits its doing ok, and many thanks to the 51 people out there who follow the blog.

I've generally be distracted by the new and shiny, as I cant seem to keep focused on any 1 project, perhaps its because I don't actually get any gaming, and don't have that need to get a particular unit or model done. That's my excuse anyway.

So, this year I have completed my Crusader army for Impetus, and with the addition of some command stands, now have the option of playing Hail Caesar too.

Click here for a look at the Crusader army -

CRUSADERS









To oppose the Crusaders I also finished off the Muslim forces of Saladin. I have yet to add any command stands for HC, but I plan to sort that out this year.

Click here for a look at the Muslims -

Muslim Forces





Next I started the long process of re-basing all my Greek and Persian armies, originally based for DBA. Whilst re-basing them, I also took the opportunity to add to the collection, so now I have two sizable armies for Impetus.

First off I have the Greek army, based around a core of Spartans. With the addition of a sizable allied contingent, this is probably my favorite army.

click here to see more of the Greek Hoplite army



To take them on, I have also started a Persian army, although I have been distracted along the way and have a few units to complete.I have a feeling that this army will be pretty big when finally finished, another job for 2014!

Have a look here -
Persian Army




If that wasn't enough, the 6mm Napoleonic project has chugged along, although very slowly. Having decided on a set of rules to use (Black Powder), there is some rebasing to do, and alot of painting before my Austrian army is ready for battle. The planned French army has failed to materialize, but will at the very least be started in 2014.

Have a look here for the masses of tiny Austrians - Austrian Army 1809


OK, onto the distractions! 

First off was my foray into 28mm Sci/Fi with the Pig Iron system troopers. I collected a platoons worth of them for use with Tomorrows war, although they have never been out of their box since being painted.


To have a look at the European Drop troopers, look here - Drop Troops









Next up is the Germans for Bolt action. Another distraction, having read some good reviews I decided to get myself the rulebook, and then decided to get a German platoon, but in 15mm. These still aren't finished either as i got bored painting German camouflage..... However, they are very close to being finished, so another job for 2014!!

To see ze Germans click here - BOLT ACTION Germans







Finally, since about September, ive been tinkering with Epic, and have painted and converted quite alot of 6mm marines and vehicles. I don't know what it is about epic, its the first real wargame I played many moons ago in the early nineties, but its still cool.  I just really enjoy painting the little buggers!!!

Here's a link to my epic page and here's a link to my "blog" over on the Tactical command site

-EPIC page
Yorkies 6mm painting log



2014?

So, whats the plan for the next 12 months? Well I cant rule out any random distractions, but my plan is to finish what i've got first and foremost. In no particular order, here's what I plan on getting done:

• Commanders for the Muslim army
• Commanders for the Persian army
• Lots of Persians!
• A Theban contingent for the Greek Hoplite army
• SS Troops for my Bolt Action German force
• Vehicles for Ze Germans
• Soviet forces to oppose said Germans for Bolt Action.
• An Anglo Danish warband for SAGA, to oppose the Vikings I finished a while back. SAGA 
• Finish off the Novamarines and start on their adversaries, The TAU for EPIC.
• Continue with the Napoleonic project, Finish the Austrian forces and make a start on the French.

So, lots to do this year, and barring any major meltdowns, I shouldn't start anything else............................who am I trying to kid!

Have a good new year!

Steve

Spartan army update

Now then,

I've finished my 500pt Impetus Spartan army! With the addition of 2 units of Perioikoi Hoplites.

I have also made 2 command stands, so that i can use the army for Hail Caesar too.


I will probably need some more commanders, as I plan on adding to this army with another full contingent of Theban Hoplites, and some light cavalry too....

Time to get some more Persians done I suppose, on the painting desk at the moment I have 2 units of Persian colonist cavalry, and 3 units of Persian levy archers... Oh and my Germans for bolt action too.

Anyway, the full greek army can be seen HERE

Thanks for looking,

Steve

Bactrian Light Horse, and some Hussars..

Now then,

Now that the sci/fi project is done (for now), i've made a start on some more sensible historical stuff, but as i'm totally incapable of sticking to one project at a time, i've painted some Bactrian light horse for my Persians, and a Hussar regiment for my 6mm Austrian 1809 project.


Here is the latest addition to the Impetus Persian army, another unit of bactrian light horsemen.

I've no idea how they are supposed to be painted, so i kind of made things up....

For the full army so far look HERE

 Next up i have the 3rd Hussars. Real little buggers to paint, hence i have been putting off painting them!

The amount of detail on these figures is amazing, considering they are only 6mm, quite a challenge to paint though!

While I was doing the Hussars, I thought i'd sort out the bases on my commanders, and that led to painting both GM (General Major) Stutterheim, and GM Grille... For the full army so far have a look HERE

OK, a bit of bad news, i'm off on my travels again very shortly, so this will more than likely be the last post for a few months at least, bloody real life..all very inconvenient!

Cheers for looking, and i'll update the blog again as soon as i'm able to.

Steve