Assyrians and a Pair of Games

In between pushing out additions to the 18mm SYW/WAS collection, I try to plug in a 25mm Biblical unit or two to break up the process and stick in some variety.  Today's offering is one such distraction.

Out from the painting desk today is a twelve-figure unit of Assyrian Auxiliary foot.  Figures are Wargames Foundry.  These dirty and seasoned hard campaigners are ready for service once gaming returns to Biblicals.  Hittite reinforcements are not far behind.

Besides the five-game series on Monday refighting Cunaxa, two more gaming sessions were logged into the Games Played book this week.  Tuesday saw Matt and I battle over the Brandywine battlefield (see Battle of Brandywine Part 2).  On Thursday, I joined Tony (Prometheus in Aspic) in a five player, WSS battle he hosted remotely.  This may have been the first multi-player remote game that Tony has hosted.  He took on the task with confidence and the game progressed with ease.  Great job, Tony!  Oh, by the way, Mark and I came out on top in this clash with a score of 11-3.  Decisive victory!

Tony's BatRep can be found at, WSS Action at Damebrunnen.  Great fun to actually get to play with these fellas rather than hosting.

Battles and Brats

Monday was a holiday.  Given an opening in schedules, Scott invited Kevin and I to Coeur d'Alene for a gaming session and BBQ lunch.  Kevin and I cheerfully accepted!

In the Cunaxa scenario, the first army to score six banners wins.  The table was laid out according to the GB14 scenario.  Cunaxa is the SoA's Battle Day for 2026.  We are getting an early start.

When we descended into Scott's game room, we were greeted by the sight of the Battle of Cunaxa in 28mm.  While I have seen some of Scott's Persians before, this was the first time to study his chariot-work firsthand.  Beautiful models as the lead photo illustrates.

Including a lunch break of grilled bratwursts and all of the trimmings, the three of us managed to complete five games in about four hours.

The results of the five-game series were:

Game #1: Cyrus (Jon) defeats Artaxerxes (Kevin) 6-4.

Game #2: Artaxerxes (Scott) defeats Cyrus (Kevin) 6-1.

Game #3: Artaxerxes (Jon) defeats Cyrus (Kevin) 6-4.

Game #4: Cyrus (Scott) defeats Artaxerxes (Jon) 6-4.

Game #5: Cyrus (Scott) defeats Artaxerxes (Kevin) 6-0.

Cyrus won three of the five battles.  Scott came away the big winner on the day (as usual!) going 3-0 while I managed a respectable 2-1.  Kevin, however, could not see his way to victory and fell 0-4! 

Persian chariots attacking the Greek line

Great day out!  Hopefully, we can return to the table and Cunaxa again soon.

Spanish Brabante Cavalry

Another body of Spanish cavalry trots out from the painting desk.  This time, the Brabante Cavalry Regiment makes its way off the workbench and into the holding box.  These twelve figures are from Eureka Miniatures.

More units for the 18mm SYW/WAS project are stacking up in line awaiting a turn at the photo box before we see a return to a few Biblical units including Hittites and Assyrians.  There are a handful or two of Swiss handgunners for the Great Italian Wars working their way through the production line as well.  A batch of Piedmontese infantry began work at the painting desk yesterday.  

As expected, May painting production will see a dismal total of only 30 figures completed.  Perhaps I can pick up the pace as summer approaches?  No guarantees as Real Life is throwing up an almost constant barrage of distractions and mileage on the bike climbs.  After not much gaming, next week should see a pick-up in activity on that front.  Hoping to return to another playtest round of the WotR rules' work soon featuring a new scenario.  

That is all for today!

Solden Hill without Grids

Coming up on nearly three weeks passed, I jog the memory on a battle Mark (Mud Blood and Steel) and I contested on the fields of Solden Hill.  Tony (Prometheus in Aspic) joined in as an observer and first-rate kibitzer.  In a change from the prior two battles of Solden Hill, the hexes were dispatched.  We played the battle out on an open table.  I have not seen a non-gridded game on my table in a very long time.  This might be fun change of pace or a challenge.

Mark chose to command the attacking Yorkists while I was tasked with leading the Lancastrians to victory.  My attempts to pull Tony into commanding the Lancastrians were unsuccessful.

Having seen my Lancastrians fall in the two previous games, will they see more success in this outing?  For a brief recap, please read on.

As in the other games, one Lancastrian Battle
 begins atop Solden Hill, alone.

Somerset ready for action!

Yorkist march on Solden Hill
as Lancastrian reinforcements arrive.

Suffolk closes in on Somerset on Solden Hill
while Edward veers off to the left to prevent
 enemy from reinforcing Somerset.

Suffolk attacks up the hill and into the awaiting Somerset.
  After letting loose their arrows,
both archers fall back behind the melee lines.
In melee, Suffolk suffers more and falls back.

With Northumberland advancing quickly down the main road,
Edward attacks! 
Not expecting an attack from that quarter,
Northumberland steps back to regroup.

Ignoring the threat from Edward, now on his flank,
 Northumberland pitches into Stanley.

Fighting is desperate.
Stanley is driven back with Northumberland in pursuit.
Casualties mount.

In the heavy fighting, Northumberland wavers.
Stanley counterattacks!
Pembroke is seen alongside Somerset on the high ground.

Exhausted from his efforts against Northumberland, Stanley pauses.
Seizing the opportunity, Edward hits the wavering Northumberland.
Northumberland's Battle breaks with Edward's main melee line in pursuit.
A gap opens in Edward's ward.

This is the opening Pembroke wanted!
Coming down from the heights,
 Edward's archers fall back while a body of Yorkist MAA rout.

In foreground, Yorkist MAA in flight.

While Suffolk and Somerset continue trading blows...

Stanley goes in against Pembroke.

Both Pembroke and Somerset fall back...

but Stanley keeps up the pressure.

Both combatants are being ground down in melee.
Finally, Pembroke, in an uneven exchange, breaks.
The Lancastrian Army breaks and withdraws.

Well! Another game and another loss for my Lancastrians!

Congratulations, Mark, on a game well-played.  I thought the Lancastrians had the upper hand at times, but it was not to be.

Reverting to an open table took some time for my brain to readjust.  I quickly adapted after a turn.  My initial impressions of the differences between gridded and non-gridded I save for a follow-up discussion on the merits of each.  For now, I reckon we see a return to hexes next time.

Good fun!  Thank you, Mark!

Chasseurs de Fischer

Activities on the hobby front continue winding their way through the month of May in the seasonal downturn mentioned in an earlier post (see A Few Spanish and a Seasonal Funk).  Contributing to this stall and recent lack of posts was my week away in California.  Nine days between posts is likely the biggest gap in more than a dozen years.  Returning sees even more work to catch up with on the home front.  Hopefully, I will be back to normal operations soon.  The forced hiatus presents one interesting fallout.  Having not posted in more than one week, I find it challenging to actually restart the blogging routine.  I considered holding off for even a few more days needing a little recovery time to collect my thoughts.  Once jostled out of a routine and regular habit, I am a little surprised how easy it would be to either slow down or stop altogether.  

Anyway, back to today's offering.

Mustering out earlier in the month are the French Chasseurs de Fischer.  This body of 15 light infantrymen are added into the French Army for the 18mm SYW collection.  Figures are Old Glory.  Still a number of units awaiting their turn at the photo booth.  With luck, I will return to the painting desk soon and the next post with not be nine days away.

Until next time.

Babylonians on the March

 

With heads barely peeking over the tops of their large tower shields, a body of Babylonian infantry is on the march out from the painting desk.  These 28mm Newline Design figures are some of my favorite sculpts from the Biblical range and I have many.

The shields these fellas carry are so large that they obscure the figure almost entirely.  Great figures and a pleasure to paint.

With Mother's Day coming up this Sunday, it is time for the crabapple trees to be in bloom.  Right on schedule, they are!

Weather has been pleasant and cycling has kicked up over the last few weeks.  River is running high from snow melt and recent rainfall.  The Lower Falls sees a complete inundation by the torrent of water.

South channel of the Upper Falls is much the same!

I close out today with a big red barn from a recent ride.

A Few Spanish and a Seasonal Funk

Springtime is proving to pose a number of challenges to focused work at the painting desk.  April saw only 54 painted figures muster out from the painting desk.  Even though May has only just begun, my schedule suggests that this month may see a similar fate.  That is unless my efforts at the painting desk are kicked into a higher gear.

To console my drop in production, I brought up a seasonal painting tendency I last updated more than four years ago.  Fours years ago?  Time certainly is flying by.

Looking at this graphic ought to provide a bit of solace to my current state.  Over the years, painting productivity typically takes a dip in spring with May signaling the bottoming out of production for the year before activity increases.  Perhaps May will once again pinpoint the low point for the year, and I will shift painting production to a higher level as the summer builds?  I can hope.

Since the productivity analysis has not been updated in years, time to give this study a re-examination.  Perhaps this pattern has evolved from the last iteration?  A future study to move up in the analysis queue.

Anyway, out from the table today is a twelve-figure regiment of Spanish cavalry for the 18mm SYW/WAS project.  The troopers march out as the Principe Cavalry Regiment.  Figures are from Eureka Miniatures.  

UK: Center of the Miniatures Wargaming Trade?

With trade, deficits, and tariffs pushed to the forefront, thoughts turn toward the effect on wargamers brought about by any such policy changes.  Already, the boardgame industry is feeling the impact of these supply chain changes.  How many miniatures wargamers are subject to the tug of international trade arrangements outside of currency fluctuations on international purchases?

To gain some insight into this question, I turn to the WSS 2024 Great Wargaming Survey (GWS) for possible answers.  Fortunately, there is a relevant question added into the 2024 GWS.  That question asks,

When you make a purchase online, do you regularly make purchases outside your home country?

The word "regularly" could be open to interpretation.  I answered this question in the affirmative.  When I make purchases, these purchases are regularly from international vendors.  While I frequently purchase figures from international vendors, delivered cost definitely enters into the calculation.  Now, many foreign manufacturers retain online vendors in a wargamer's home country from which orders can be placed.  Foreign goods are still purchased but these goods are imported and then sold through domestic channels.  To me, these purchases would not qualify as "online purchases outside of your home country." 

Of the 5,995 survey responses, Figure 1 illustrates a roughly 50/50 mix of "Yes" and "No" responses.  Slightly more survey respondents keep their regular online purchases to domestic vendors.

Figure 1

This view does not provide much in the way of interesting insight, though, does it?  We end up with a coin flip between having regular foreign purchases or not.  More exploration is warranted.  In this analysis, two familiar attributes are singled out for further examination.  These attributes are Primary Interest and Location.

Primary Interest

With the Fantasy/Sci-Fi genre having seemingly more domestic points of sale opportunities (at least in the USA), analysis turns to examining foreign purchases by a wargamer's primary interest.  As in past analyses, primary interest includes three groupings: Fantasy/Sci-Fi, Historical, and Mixed.  If the Fantasy/Sci-Fi genre has more domestic points of sale, then differences ought to appear between groups.

Looking at Figure 2, wargamers having either Historical or Mixed primary interests still show about a 50/50 mix of regular foreign purchases.  Focusing on Fantasy/Sci-Fi, here, a difference is seen.  Of those respondents having a primary interest in Fantasy/Sci-Fi gaming, only 40% regularly purchase from foreign sources.  Results seem to support (well, at least not dismiss) the notion that this genre has more domestic points of sale.

Figure 2

Location

When diving into the results with an eye toward a wargamer's home location or home country/region, Figure 3 highlights a remarkable result.   

Figure 3

While the USA/Canada still sees a split leaning toward regular online foreign purchases (53.6%) over domestic (46.4%) online purchases, foreign purchases comprise only 16.4% in the UK/Ireland respondents.  For the Rest of World (non-UK/North America), about 70% of online purchases are directed toward foreign vendors.  Of course, if total sales are included, a different picture may emerge.  

To me, this is an unexpected result.  With the disparity between UK and non-UK foreign trade, where are non-UK wargamers sending much of their foreign business?  Seeing that roughly five in six UK/Ireland wargamers do not make online foreign purchases regularly, is making a leap to infer that UK/Ireland vendors are the primary source for miniatures worldwide a step too far?  If true and these sample results hold for the larger population, the UK may be the center of the wargaming trade.  What are the implications of any increased trade restrictions or costs on the hobby, in general, and to UK vendors in particular?  While UK wargamers may not be significantly affected by international trade, UK vendors and miniatures wargamers outside of the UK could experience some turbulence.   

Will the 2025 GWS provide a clearer picture to answers to these questions when it rolls out in August?  Perhaps the 2025 survey could aid in addressing these topics by adding a question on the foreign country of purchase?  At least then we would know the direction of trade flow.  Likewise, a question asking about relative frequency of foreign purchases comparing 2024 to 2025 might be insightful.

More questions remain on evaluating spending tendencies from the 2024 results, but those answers remain for another time and another analysis.