Saturnine Orogeny

I must credit Andreas Johansson with the title for this post.  Andreas sometimes pops in to leave a comment and his thread of the same name on the SoA forum inspired me to take on his terminology in my painting wrap up for the first half of 2025.  I know there is still part of the 30th remaining but I have essentially closed out the Painting Log for June.

What is Saturnine Orogeny?  Andreas defines it as a combination of "saturine" which alchemists associated lead to the planet Saturn, so an old meaning of "saturnine" is "of or relating to lead or lead poisoning."  "Orogeny" means "mountain-building."

Since my goal is to reduce the size of The Lead Pile, I really ought to focus on mountain erosion than building but I will stick with Andreas' terminology. 

In the first half of 2025, I managed to see 429 figures muster out from the painting desk while only purchasing 101 figures.  Without checking, I reckon almost all of the new figures brought in were to supply the 15mm FPW project with cavalry and commanders from 19th Century Miniatures.  Even given the figures purchased, the size of The Lead Pile fell by over 300 figures in the first half of 2025.  Good start to the year!

The leading pie chart illustrates that SYW dominated production, but Biblicals slotted into second place.  These two periods accounted for nearly 60% of all painting efforts. Still, at least eight different periods saw some additions so variety was quite balanced.

As for a breakdown by figure size (scale), painting efforts were evenly split between 15/18mm and 25/28mm figure sizes.  Size distribution in 2024 was lopsided with 15/18mm figures taking the largest percentage (63%) of effort.  With a more even split between the two figure sizes, a shift to the larger figures will help bump up the counts when adjusted for Painting Points are considered at year end.

How did your painting output fare during the first half of 2025?

Mortimer's Cross II

Last week, Peter (Grid based wargaming) joined me in a remote refight of the Battle of Mortimer's Cross.  Peter's account of the battle can be read at the link above.  Before the game, Peter, announced that he would take command of the Yorkist Army (red dice).

Edward's Central Battle

The reason given for choosing that army was that the briefing showed the table layout from behind the Yorkist lines.  I clarified that there were cameras behind both army lines, so he did not need to stick to commanding the Yorkists.  Peter remained steadfast and commanded the Yorkist Army in this refight.  The Lancastrian Army carries the blue Combat Effectiveness dice.  The objective is to break two of the three enemy Battles before the enemy can return the favor.

Army deployments

Army deployments

Let's see how the battle played out.

The battle opens with Tudor's advance on the Lancastrian Right.  Herbert counters that movement by putting his own ward into motion.  Herbert's archers hit Tudor's archers will missile fire.  Rather than retiring in the face of volleys, Tudor's archers absorb the damage and stay put.  Within striking range of Tudor's Battle, Herbert's melee line attacks.  Faced with unfavorable odds against Herbert's MAA, Tudor smartly withdraws his archers having delayed the enemy just long enough to prevent them from closing this turn.  Perhaps retiring the bowmen earlier would have been a better choice?

Herbert attacks!

In the center, Pembroke's archers send a volley of arrows into Edward's archers.  Perhaps a bit surprised by this long-range missile exchange, Edward's bowmen turn and break for the rear.  The archers' response was so chaotic that even Edward's leadership could not stop the race to the rear.  Not a good start for Edward although he does press forward toward Pembroke with his main melee line.  On the Lancastrian Left, Wiltshire's poor archers are driven off by Devereaux's bowmen.   

Edward's archers break...

and head to the rear.

Wiltshire's archers are driven off!

On the opposite wing, Tudor advances into Herbert as both melee lines collide.  In frenetic hacking and slashing, both Battles are worn down before Tudor's infantry are forced back.  Exhausted, Herbert cannot follow up to press his advantage.

Tudor crashes into Herbert!

Melee grinds on...

as casualties rise...

until Tudor is driven back.

Action in the center sees much the same.  A tremendous clash between Pembroke and Edward puts Pembroke's main melee line to flight.  Only Pembroke's household prevents Edward from pushing straight through the enemy to his front.  

Pembroke's melee line breaks!

With both Tudor and Pembroke teetering off balance, only the Lancastrian Left hangs on.  That stability quickly does an about face when Devereaux drives Wiltshire back.  All across the battlefield, the Lancastrians are hard pressed and being shoved backwards.  Could the battle be over almost before it begins? 

Wiltshire driven back!

Even though knocked about by Herbert, Tudor does not give up his position easily.  Still under orders to engage the enemy to his front, Tudor's melee line moves through his archers.  To counter Tudor's ambitions, Herbert's melee line passes through its archers to take the fight to Tudor.  Swapping positions as they bear down on the enemy, Herbert's billmen take the lead.  Hitting Tudor, Herbert forces Tudor's melee line backwards.  This retrograde uncovers Tudor's bowmen who choose to stand firm.  Letting loose a volley of arrows as Herbert closes, Tudor's archers stop Herbert's attack!  Hoorah!

Tudor's melee line advances...

only to be pushed back...

but Tudor's archers halt the enemy's attacks.

In the center, both Pembroke and Edward bring forward their Household to contest the ground.  After a lengthy and very costly melee, Edward's Household troops retire.  On the Lancastrian Left, Wiltshire, having already taken heavy casualties, once again dives into Devereaux.  This time, Wiltshire prevails and Devereaux falls back onto his archers.

Households smash each other in the center...

while Wiltshire fights Devereaux.

Situation from west as both armies are ground down.

Having seen his Household thrown back in the center, Edward orders his melee line of MAA and billmen forward into Pembroke's Household troops.  In hard fighting, Pembroke's Household holds on to see Edward call off the attack.  Edward retires.  This reprieve allows the Lancastrians a chance to rally.  

Edward counterattacks in the center...

but makes little progress
 as both combatants grind each other down.

Pembroke gets a reprieve in center.

Back on the Yorkist Left, Herbert continues to press Tudor vigorously.  Already weakened from earlier efforts, Tudor's melee line crumbles when Herbert's archers deliver a punishing volley.  Tudor's MAA scatter as his billmen fall back behind the cover of his own bowmen.    

Fighting on the left...

leads to the destruction of Tudor's MAA.

Lancastrians pushed back everywhere!

In an attempt to reverse recent fortunes, Pembroke gathers his Household supported by MAA and lunges forward into Edward.  While Edward's MAA are destroyed in the fighting, his billmen cling on and see Pembroke's heavy foot repulsed.  Poor Pembroke!

Pembroke attacks in the center...

and is repulsed!

By this time in the action, both armies are becoming brittle.  A good shove anywhere might send one Battle over the edge and then to the rear.  This is exactly what happens in the fight of Wiltshire against Devereaux.  In hand-to-hand, Wiltshire's melee line pushes into Devereaux's billmen and the billmen scatter.  Devereaux's Battle breaks!

The destruction of Devereaux.

Getting word that the Yorkist Right has collapsed, Herbert, on the left redoubles his efforts against Tudor.  In the fighting, Tudor's billmen are driven back but Herbert's Battle is wavering as well.  Even in a weakened state, Herbert presses on.  First his melee line forces Tudor's archers back uncovering the barely hanging on billmen.  Moving his archers forward, Herbert delivers the coup de grace to Tudor's billmen.  Tudor breaks!   

Herbert drives Tudor back!

Tudor breaks!

With each army now having a wing broken, the race is on to break one more formation.  Wiltshire, on the Lancastrian Left, and Herbert, on the Yorkist Left, turn inwards toward the center of the battlefield.  Wiltshire is on Defend orders so must change orders before attacking inward toward Edward.  Herbert, however, remains on Engage and pushes on!

The wings turn in.

With Pembroke already locked into combat against Edward, turning to face the new threat from Herbert is not possible.  Wheeling to his right, Herbert's bowmen send a volley of arrows into Pembroke's already weakened retinue.  His household routs!  The clash in the center is fierce but Edward gains the upper hand and sends Pembroke's billmen packing.  Casualties mount as Pembroke's MAA finds themselves in an uneven affair.  Finally, the Lancastrian MAA scatter and Pembroke breaks.  Wiltshire is confined to the role of spectator as he cannot change his orders to possibly save the day.

Herbert turns in toward Pembroke.

Scrum in the center between Edward and Pembroke.

Edward gains the upper hand...

as Wiltshire looks on.

The Lancastrians see defeat!

This battle is over!

Congratulations to Peter for a very well-fought and battering contest.  Both armies put on a good fight but Peter and his Yorkists prevailed in the end.  There must have been a leader casualty or two along the way, but any such casualties are lost to time.  Did Wiltshire's reluctance to join into the center fray spell defeat for the Lancastrians?  We will never know.  In the words of Nathaniel Bedford Forrest, Peter got there the firstest with the mostest!     

Only Pembroke's archers remain.

Great job, Peter, and thank you for a very enjoyable game.  The Butcher's Bill does not look too lopsided but Peter caused casualties where they mattered most.  with such a back and forth clash, an even allocation of casualties is not surprising.  Play time was about two-and-a-half hours.

Great fun!

More Hittites

With summer just kicking off and the month of June winding down, activities on the hobby front are seeing signs of renewed life.  From May's low figure count in the Painting Log, June will see a marked uptick in output.  Not quite a hundred figures will pass out from the painting desk but it may be close.  Still one week to go before closing the books on June.  

With two games last week and one game yesterday, gaming is starting to work its way back on track too.  All three games were refights of the WotR Battle of Mortimer's Cross.  The first was a F2F game chronicled here.  The second was a remote game with Peter and the third was a four-player remote game with the Rejects.  Games 2 and 3 are yet to be chronicled.

Mortimer's Cross with the Rejects

Anyway, back to the painting desk.  Mustering out today is another body of Hittite spearmen.  These fourteen figures are mostly Wargames Foundry with the odd Newline Design figure tossed in for good measure.  A return to the SYW/WAS may be out next from the photo booth. 

Weather has been good on the Palouse and outdoor cycling has picked up accordingly.  While my lingering and annoying cold/flu bug has forced continued workouts on the indoor trainer, mileage outside increases.  Late spring and early summer are colorful times with the bright yellow blooms of rapeseed blanketing the landscape.  Seems many more fields of yellow this year than in recent years.  Nice contrast to the blue sky and the green, forested hills. 

Next time, hopefully a battle report!

Battle of Mortimer's Cross

After unplanned delays, the Mortimer's Cross battlefield, laid out on table for a couple weeks now, saw its first action.  Vol (A Miniatures Hobby Room) came round on Wednesday to catch up and have a game.  While Vol came by the house a few weeks ago to drop off some 3D printed vehicles (thank you!), we had not faced each other across the gaming table in a very long while.  I would have to dip into the archives to confirm but I bet it has been at least a year.  Anyway, good to see Vol at the gaming table to test out the latest iteration of rules.

As a reminder, the two armies are arrayed for battle as shown in the photos below:

Armies deployed for battle.

Army deployments

Vol chose to take command of Pembroke and the Lancastrian Army (blue dice) leaving me with Edward and the Yorkists (red dice).  Since today's game saw me playing with a live F2F opponent, opportunities for photos were reduced.  I find that F2F games offer much less down time for photo ops than do the remote games.  That explains the fewer photos presented in this battle report.  That is my story, and I am sticking to it!  Anyway, on to the game.

Both armies begin by advancing toward the enemy.  On the Lancastrian Right, Tudor's archers manage to drive Herbert's archers away as the Yorkist archers fall back through their own melee line.  Edward's archers in the center pull off a similar successful volley into Pembroke's bowmen.  Pembroke's archers must have been stunned by the incoming missiles.  They turn and break for the rear.  Luckily, they do not disorder any of Pembroke's melee troops as they rush through.  I think I heard a gasp of despair from Vol as his archers turned and ran so early in the contest.      

Armies move forward.

No time for despair, though.  Edward's melee line of MAA supported by a body of billmen passes through his bowmen and crashes straight into Pembroke's MAA.  Pembroke's MAA are similarly supported by billmen.  While the hacking and slashing continues in the center, both wings move forward to engage.

Edward v Pembroke fighting in the center...

while the wings close to engage.

Striking first on the Yorkist Left, Herbert smashes into Tudor.  In a hard-fought melee, Herbert gains the upper hand.  Tudor recoils.  Herbert presses on but Tudor slips away to lick his wounds.

Herbert smashes into Tudor!

Tudor slips away from Herbert as Herbert presses on.

On the other wing, Devereaux and Wiltshire collide.  In heavy fighting with casualties high to both, Wiltshire retires.  Exhausted, Devereaux does not pursue.

Wiltshire and Devereaux bash each other
on the Yorkist Right.

Back in the center, the melee between Edward and Pembroke continues.  Edward is getting the stuffing knocked out of his main melee line.  Before Pembroke can deliver the finishing blows, Edward's MAA fall back behind the archers and household knights.  Edward needs time to recover. 

Edward getting a pounding.

In a counterattack, Edward's bowmen let loose a volley into Pembroke before Edward's Houshold steps forward to join the fray.  In wicked hand-to-hand fighting, Edward's Household troops are destroyed as are Pembroke's MAA.  Pembroke, himself, goes down in the action with a severe wound.  In the chaos, Pembroke is captured and carried from the field by the enemy.  While Edward loses his Household in the fight, this prolonged clash allows enough time for Edward to rally his main melee line and bring them back to the action. 

Edward recovers and moves back toward Pembroke.

Edward faces Pembroke's archers.

As news of Pembroke's fate spreads, the Yorkists renew the pressure all across the battlefield.  The Lancastrians are driven back taking losses all along the path of retreat. 

The Lancastrians fall back with Yorkists in hot pursuit.

Lancastrians fall back.

As the Lancastrian Army is pushed back, first Wiltshire's Battle breaks and then Tudor breaks.  With two of three Battles broken and in flight, the Lancastrian Army dissolves.  This battle is over.

Lancastrian Army breaks!

Lancastrian Center still clings on but all is lost.

Edward and his Yorkist Army are victorious.  Not only has the Lancastrian Army been beaten but Pembroke, himself, is lost.  His fate is in Edward's hands.

Butcher's Bill

The Butcher's Bill is high for the Lancastrian Army but total losses do not illustrate how close this battle actually was.  There were times when I thought Edward's Center was done for.

While Vol and his Lancastrian Army saw defeat, Vol put up a good fight.  Very enjoyable contest too!  Vol is looking forward to another battle in which he attempts to turn the tables.  Game lasted around two hours and ended in an historical result.

Great fun!  Thank you, Vol!

With one Mortimer's Cross Battle Report finished, time to think about getting to work on the second Battle Report.  That report will chronicle my action with Peter on Thursday.