With a heavy load of gaming and writing of late, time spent at the painting desk has naturally decreased. Well, can anyone actually have a "heavy load of gaming?" Like having a heavy load of dessert or a heavy load of fun, perhaps it is not easy to over-indulge in the hobby.
Anyway, the current tranche of Biblicals comes to a brief halt with the mustering out of fourteen Wargames Foundry Assyrians. As always, great figures and fun to paint. Love the large shields. The black face with bronze metalwork is pleasing to my eye. With the table cleared of Rivoli, now would be a good opportunity to bring the Assyrians out for a little parade. I wonder how much larger the collection has grown since the last parade?
On the painting desk are a number of projects but no more Biblicals for now. Paintwork shows much less focus while a number of projects will see an addition or two. Expect to see some Napoleonic Spanish, ECW, Italian Wars, another battle for WotR, and even a few Star Wars figures cross the finish line in the weeks ahead.
Oh, and with weather improving, more Cycling the Palouse. I have been out on the road for a couple of days each of the last two weeks. While many of the roads are still a mess from lingering winter roadside debris, the body is not such a mess besides having gained a few pounds over the long winter. As mileage picks up, the weight will come down. Well, at least I hope so! Hmm. Is it possible that my attitude toward dessert contributes to the winter weight gain?
Some people marvel at my output Jonathan, but nothing compared to yours. Very nice as always.
ReplyDeleteThank you, George! Your output is marvelous as well.
DeleteLovely looking bunch of Assyrians! I like the shields and your terrain shot looks good, glad to hear your back out on your bike,I am liable to add the pounds on as Lent is over and I am allowing myself chocolate, cake and desert once more!
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
Glad you like them, Iain! Yes, weather is turning for the better here in the Pacific Northwest. Looks like you may be increasing exercise too. Good luck.
DeleteA lovely looking unit Jonathan and I too like the large shields, as well as the figures holding the severed head. Cycling increasing here as the weather improves, but my stamina is lacking somewhat. However a nice 15 odd mile ride this morning in glorious Spring weather was a nice bonus as lockdown allows longer and more varied routes, which is good:)
ReplyDeleteThanks so much, Steve! Seems like a severed head features in a number of ranges, doesn't it?
DeleteVery good to see that cycling is increasing for you too. Our lockdowns never restricted cycling outdoors so that was a bonus. I tend not to lose much cardio fitness during winter with the bike on the turbo so return to outdoors is not a drastic transition. Your stamina will increase quickly with miles in the legs. I put in a 50 miler followed by a 32 miler each of the last two weeks outside. As the weather continues to warm, more days outside vs inside. Still, I tend to ride every day whether in or out.
We were meant to stay within our village or about 3 miles from that, so hard to get a good ride in, given the poor state of our roads. The good cycle track gets so busy, it's not a pleasure to use at present. I might have to invest in a rolling road type attachment to my bike for use during inclement weather!
DeleteRiding within a three-mile radius would put a damper on good, open road cycling, for sure. with the trainer set up in the garage and the gym locked down for most of 2020, I realized that the trainer was a satisfactory replacement for the gym's stationary bikes. riding on my own bike offers several advantages including equipment that is CLEAN and WELL MAINTAINED. In fact, I think I will let my gym membership lapse although there were a few days in the garage where it was darn cold!
DeleteFantastic looking unit Jonathan!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Michal!
DeleteGreat looking figures!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Mark!
DeleteVery Handsome Assyrians, and Biblicals are very suitable for am Easter Sunday post!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Peter! A Biblical unit for Easter Sunday seems suitable, indeed.
DeleteLovely toys as always Jonathan...
ReplyDeleteAll the best. Aly
Glad you like them, Aly!
DeleteAwesome looking Assyrians, Jonathan. The dark body shields rimmed in bronze are particularly imposing.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Dean! I think the shields look imposing too. They should be imposing since they are HUGE!
DeleteGreat work Jonathan, and a lovely tough with the man on the extreme right, you can just imagine the motivational speech...”now look here lads, play your cards right and you can have one one of these top...”
ReplyDeleteThank you, Mark! Having an officer loft a detached head skyward would be a good motivational tool. I certainly would not be contemplating stepping out of line.
DeleteVery nice looking Assyrians Jonathan and an army I thought about doing, but I have enough on my plate already. Alas I cannot equal your production on figures nor on a bike!
ReplyDeleteChristopher
Much appreciated, Christopher! You still have plenty of time to dive into fielding an Assyrian army. Yours would be gorgeous. Well, I cannot equal your talent with a brush!
DeleteA terrific stand, the shields are both unusual (to me) and eye-catching, so-much-so, it takes a few seconds for your eye to delve in to the base beyond them and see the full story, the guy with the severed head is another unusual, but compelling pose.
ReplyDeleteGlad you like them, Norm! I also like the warrior in the back row, right file with arms crossed. He looks like he means business and with no horseplay tolerated in the ranks. The guy with shield mounted on his back is another good pose.
DeleteI just finished counting my Assyrians and cataloguing them. They took me over the 13,000 mark for figures and models. Mine are all Hat plastic 1/72, of course, but very nice figures, none the less, AND they know how to hold their shields straight!!
ReplyDeleteGraham, 13,000 is a lot! Do you recall that your original guess was a total collection size of about 2,500? "Grossly underbid" as my grandfather would say when playing bridge with him.
DeleteYour Assyrians may be more stoic than mine. Perhaps, mine prefer grounding their shields at a rakish angle?
Another really lovely unit Jon. My guess is those shields are pretty heavy and unwieldy, so sensible to conserve energy by resting them on the ground whenever possible! The countryside looks great too - all this chat about cycling has me thinking.....but probably not!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Keith! The shields look very heavy and unwieldy. C'mon, get out on your bike and have some fun!
DeleteGreat job, Jonathan! I've always liked Foundry.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Valentine! The Foundry figures seem almost ageless.
DeleteLovely work Jonathan and the colours you have use don the shield were the first thing to catch my eye. I can just imagine that bloke with the trophy getting a mouthful from the wife afterwards as she tries to get the bloodstains out - "Have you been carrying severed heads around again?".
ReplyDeleteThank you, Lawrence! Worries about bloodstains is a very good reason to outfit yourself in RED tunics!
DeleteGreat looking Assyrians, with the figure on the end suitably fearsome for an Assyrian too!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Mark! These warriors are fearsomely sculpted.
DeleteA lovely looking unit with lots of individual poses, including one that appears to have his arms crossed and is looking decidedly grumpy.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Peter! The guy with crossed arms is one of my favorites. He looks very irritated having to govern new recruits.
DeleteExcellent spearmen Jonathan!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Mike!
DeleteA rather dapper looking unit Jonathan. I do like the massive black sheilds they have. I wouldn't have liked carrying one of them into battle, but I guess you you'd get a lot of protection from it.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Ray! These shields must have been heavy to carry in battle. With its size, a small guy like me could completely hide behind one.
DeleteAnother really nice looking unit - I am finding these inspirational for rebasing some of my own ancients. I have an EIR army to rebase at some point.
ReplyDeleteI am also using single base units - on 125 x 50 bases. This came about becasue I bought movement trays with a 5mm lip and rebased all my Dark Ages on them - liked the look and decided to permanently rebase them that way.
In my case it will be for Neil Thomas AMW and OHW. I have played To the Strongest but we found that it was almost impossible for normal armies to beat "Deep" armies due to the extra point of damage needed that Deep units always semmed to rally before they could be killed. Getting 3 hits in a turn is a lot harder than 2.
I played Impetus a long time ago but again we found some oddities in the system - it didn't seem advantageous to charge which tended to lead to stalemates as people just faced each other. Also the combat results had too many wild swings for the people I was playing with...
I like AMW too. It plays quickly and actually scales up really well we have played games with considerably more that 8 units a side!). We also have a "zombie" unit rule. Any unit down to one element tests morale each turn, regardless. In some periods we double the cavalry v cavalry dice so that flanks resolve more quickly.
DeleteNever played Impetus, but we have had some joy with Basic Impetus, especially for medievals, once you outlaw the machine gin like missile troop tactic.
Trebian
DeleteYour AMW reports on your blog were one of the things that got me interested in AMW as a ruleset.
Thanks, Mike! Glad to provide a bit of inspiration for your rebasing project. I am a proponent for single element basing and the basing schemes for both TtS! and Impetvs look good to my eye. Your 125x50mm base will work perfectly for both sets of rules.
DeleteI have not tried a game with AMW and OHW a few times years ago. Unbeatable Deep armies is not something I have experienced in TtS! But it has been a long time since I last played that game. Greek battles with Alexander the Great did not seem unusual but I should try again and keep your experience in mind. I recall our tactic was to pin and flank these larger pike blocks. TtS! worked in our Italian Wars battles without concern too. Of course, my memory of these games may be fuzzy.
For Impetvs (or Basic Impetvs), troops charging in receive an Impetus bonus so a charge is preferred to receiving. I need to get this ruleset back onto the table too!
Thanks for your comments regarding your basing and rules used. You give me much to think about.
Graham, I see the influence of AMW to "To Ur is Human." It would be interesting to read Designer Notes on "To Ur" on your process of starting with AMW as a foundation and then adding to and jettisoning components to reach your finished product. Why did you make the decisions that you made? Well, I would find it interesting...
Delete"Trebian, your AMW reports on your blog were one of the things that got me interested in AMW as a ruleset."
DeleteGraham as Influencer. Great!
I thought I wrote a blog once about how I gradually replace bits of rules until I get what I want. Or it may have been an article in The Nugget. You are right that TUIH started as a series of amendments for the Biblical AMW rules. I concluded at some point that NT could not have play-tested the army lists for the Sumerians, as then we had a series of really intent post Monday Night Group Game discussions on what we thought the battle carts were for. The first big step was deciding that the rules would work better on squares. There's a whole series of blog posts back in 2014 that get you from AMW to the first draft of TUIH.
DeleteAnd it is always good to hear you've affected someone's life in a positive way.
I ws playing Norman vs Saxon or Late Roman vs Goth and we found that the "Deep" army won in every case. Though it may have been we were doing something wrong. I found flank attacke not that effective - though I do remember getting something like 5 attacks on a flank with Norman knights and not causing a casualty! So it may just be my luck.
DeleteMy memory of Impetus is quite hazy so it may have been that charging was such an advantage that noone would close to within charge range and let the opponent charge first.
Perhaps I will take a look at Basic Impetus again - I see there is a new edition.
The new edition of Basic Impetvs is a good one! Give it another go.
DeleteThese are superb Jonathan.
ReplyDeleteYou should have superimposed them marching down the road!!
Regards, James
Thank you, James! I think I may pull them all out and have them arrayed for battle.
DeleteI agree on the shields, and am looking forward to the ECW stuff.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Markus! ECW regiment of Foote off the painting desk next.
DeleteA splendid unit, the black shields adding that extra touch of menace.
ReplyDeleteGlad you like the look of the unit! The black and bronze shield does offer a menacing vibe.
DeleteThere's no such thing as a "bad attitude toward desserts"! Enjoy those sweets with aplomb, I say!
ReplyDeleteBlack shields and a grizzly trophy to boot - a menacing bearded bunch and I like them.
Dai, thank you for your support and encouragement on both the figures AND dessert!
DeleteNice looking ferocious warriors. I’m not sure I would carry a severed head into battle as it seems unwieldy. Might make a nice bludgeon I suppose...😀
ReplyDeleteThere’s probably a few go one liners you say while swinging it. “Don’t get ahead of yourself “ and such.
I’m with Dai in that there’s no such thing as a bad dessert but I’m also fighting my own battle vs tubyness so what do I know.
Thanks, Stew!
DeleteA severed head is not much of a defense, I think. If offered a choice, I would pick shield.
I agree with you and Dai. Rarely meet a dessert I do not like. Luckily weather is improving and I can get out on the bike more to offset the extra weight.
The severed head is a typical piece of wargame figure design. There's a wall carving of someone doing it, so we'd better have one. I think severing heads is very much a post battle activity. If you had to bring pre-severed heads they'd need to pickled or mummified first, I'd have thought.
DeleteThere are some who say that the Assyrians invented the post battle atrocity, to put any enemies off from taking them on in the first place.
And I think desserts are just great too. Followed by a cheese course.
The Assyrians were either especially brutal, great propagandists, or both!
DeleteFor me, a meal ends with dessert. No going back. Dessert can only be followed by another dessert!
Nice work Jonathan, as others have said I am not sure what carrying a severed head would do for you in battle, I guess wind up the enemy ?
ReplyDeleteGood news on the cycle
I got, weather turned cold again here but some excellent walking conditions. As for over indulgence desserts can be tricky I don’t have much will power. Gaming wise I do have a limit and the sweet spot is around one battle a week, this possibly impacted by other hobbies and time constraints around work. Will be in touch for next AWI instalment 🙂
Thank you, Matt!
DeleteBefore COVID, I was lucky (really lucky!) to manage to get in one F2F game per month. Two per month was an exception with having to juggle work and schedules. With the introduction to remote gaming via Zoom by yourself and Graham (Trebian above), the number of gaming sessions for me has exploded. Once per week seems the standard now with sometimes two and even three games in a week possible.
The next AWI installment? I look forward to it!
The sweet spot for the number of wargames? Good question. Once per week is enough if I'm planning usually, but now I'm retired every other week or so an extra one fits in nicely. Add to that pre-planned multi-game day events, like a group of friends used to do each quarter. Then I try and do one or two weekend conferences (WD & SoA), and probably half a dozen show stands minimum where we run quick fire participation games. So, yes once a week+ is my aim.
DeleteGaming frequency is a good topic for follow-up analysis along with insight from readers. One question I asked to be added to the GWS2020 was a question on gaming frequency. I ought to analyze those responses and publish the results.
DeleteThe Assyrians are looking excellent. Great paint job.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Andrè!
DeleteGreat looking unit Jonathan and the black shields are an imposing obstacle for any foe to face.
ReplyDeleteCheers, Ross
Thanks!
DeleteAnother good unit. Despite the severed head, they don’t look as scary as some of your Hittites.
ReplyDeleteI’m with Graham on the cheese after dessert. Maybe followed up with a coffee and a chocolate or two.
Thanks (I think)! As for meal courses, you and Graham are more cultured than I.
DeleteIf you don't have a cheese course, when do you break out the port?
DeleteI'm more of a green tea man than coffee. Goes lovely with those Thornton's double cream fondant chocolate mints.