Painting, Hexing, and Gaming

Today's post is a bit of a mish-mash in a seemingly futile attempt to catch-up.

First, off the painting desk today is the first of the Hanoverian horse for the SYW/WAS project in 18mm.  Figures are from Eureka Miniatures and are part of the large tranche of figures purchased back in August.  Many more Hanoverian cavalry are in the pipeline.  These troopers trot out as the Breidenbach Dragoons.

Next up, a little work on terrain.  Having seen Ancients armies out on the table in a series of battles over flat ground, I figured it time to create a few hill hexes to break up the battlefield.  With that, 16 hill hexes and another 20 open hexes make it into the Terrain Pile.  Hexes are five inches on the flat; perfect for 120mm frontage units.

Finally, Peter and I fought the Battle of Lake Trasimene on Thursday, remotely, from his table (on Friday) in Melbourne.  Game utilized his adaptations to One Hour Wargames (OHW) and Peter's large collection of 1/72 figures.  In my mind, his amendments to OHW improve the game immensely.  I commanded the Carthaginians as Hannibal springs a trap on the Roman Army as it marches along the banks of Lake Trasimene.

Lake Trasimene
photo courtesy Gridbased wargaming

Which army was victorious?  I guess we wait until the battle report!

Renegade's Libyan Javelinmen

The 28mm Punic Wars project has not seen much attention in 2015.  In fact, the only other 28mm Ancients passing across the painting desk thus far have been eight of these exact same figures.  The earlier eight Libyans were the first figures off the painting desk in 2015.  As a bonus, I discovered my scribe failed to enter those JAN2015 javelinmen into the Painting Log.  Forty more points for the Painting Tally! 

These eight skirmishers are Renegade Miniatures picked up years ago when Renegade offered great value on their Regiment Packs.  The sculpting on the figures is always nicely done and the figures exhibit excellent facial expressions.  The eight Libyans will be fielded as two skirmisher stands for Impetvs.  Using a flash for the photo, the figures appear glossy.  That is not the situation in person.  

Punic Wars BatRep - Impetvs

The guys gathered a couple of weeks back for an Impetvs game set during the Punic Wars.  This meeting gave me a chance to get the 28mm Punic Wars collection out onto the gaming table and introduce several of the guys to Impetvs.  Tabletop deployments also provided and opportunity to assess the state of the project.  Once set out, enough figures were available to provide four battle groups of almost identical size.  While I moderated, Jake and Kevin commanded the Carthaginians while Scott and Dylan took command of the Romans.  Of the four players, only Jake had any experience with Impetvs beforehand.

For the Carthaginians, Jake commanded the left wing and Kevin commanded the right.  For the Romans, Scott commanded the Roman left while Dylan took command of the right.  All commanders had a combination of foot and horse at their disposal.  "Disposal" is a good term to describe the carnage about to happen! 

The two combatants were arrayed in two battle lines with the Carthaginians on the left and the Romans on the right.

Ready for battle

Roman battle line with Roman cavalry
 already in disorder

Aggressive Carthaginian right advances

Numidian cavalry strike!
Against the odds, no fear here!

Celts advance behind skirmish line while
Roman cavalry on the far right
 charge into the Spanish cavalry.

Roman cavalry defeat the Spanish horse
 with heavy casualties to both.

Passing through the skirmish screen, the Celts
 charge into the Italian allies and push them back

Carthaginian heavy infantry in center advance

while the Roman line awaits...

Clash of shields!
With Roman cavalry success on the right,
 the Roman heavy foot on the right wing close

and the Libyan heavy foot are driven back

Battle line view from the left flank

Celtic cavalry charge and repulse

Cavalry locked in combat

Libyans counterattack, driving the Romans back

while Carthaginian heavy foot advance in the center

Battle rages all along the line

Celtic cavalry outlast the Roman cavalry
on the Roman left while the Celtic
 infantry advance.

With flank threatened, the Roman
 infantry wheels back.

Carthaginian heavies prepare for battle

With the Italians on the far right refusing,
Roman infantry in the center go on the attack.
A scrum develops in the Roman right-center.

Hacking in the center continues until the Roman
 right wing has reached its break point.
The Roman right begins to disengage as the Spanish
 outflank the position.

Slash and hack in the center as the Romans close in an
 attempt to stabilize the situation.

The race is on.  Romans attempt to destroy
the Carthaginian right before Spanish help arrives.

And the winner is...Rome!

Victory goes to Rome by the slightest of margins.  Casualties were heavy across the board.  Only Scott's Roman infantry on the left and a few of Jake's Spanish on the right maintain any offensive punch.  With the Carthaginian right in tatters, the carnage halts as the Carthaginians disengage.

The fight on the Roman right was much closer than it looked.  Jake's Spanish were nearing their break point as Dylan's Romans exceeded theirs.  I used the expedient of giving each Battle Group its own break point rather than an army break point.  The latter would have allowed the Roman right to continue fighting.  No matter; the game was hotly contested and we reached a conclusion within about three hours. I say, most participants were pleased with the outcome.

With no prior experience with Impetvs, Scott, Kevin, and Dylan picked up the mechanisms quickly and the game progressed at a rapid pace.
All agreed it was a fun contest and that Impetvs provides a very entertaining game.  All are looking forward to more such action.

For the 28mm Punic Wars project, I need to field more Roman legions and an elephant or two would be most useful.

Renegade Libyan Javelinmen

Cutting it close to Saturday's planned Punic Wars' game, two Impetvs stands of Libyan skirmishers made it off from the painting desk and were able to participate in the game.

These skirmishers are Renegade Miniatures that were lingering in The Lead Pile prior to Renegade closing up shop.  Now after more than one year, Renegade has announced that they are once again back in production.  Renegade reinforcements are now available once again.  Very good news for those needing to fill out their collections.  The not so good news is that prices have increased and Regimental packs are not yet available.  Needing more Romans for the project, Aventine Miniatures will likely get the nod over Renegade.

Sculpting is excellent on these Libyans with very little flash.  Facial characteristics are outstanding.  I like these figures and have enough to field two more skirmisher stands if needed.  

These two stands have the honor of being the first figures added into the Painting Log for 2015.

Celtic/Gallic Warband II

As the 2014 campaign comes to a close, one last reinforcement crosses over from The Lead Pile.  With a planned Impetvs game on Saturday, this warband will see action on the table almost immediately.

With a mix of figures, this motley mob presents a stand full of character.  Character is a strong suit in the BTD figures and like other BTD figures, are a pleasure to paint.  Following close on the heels of the first completed warband (see earlier warband), these warriors will see action in most Punic War games.  I could use several more of these in the project!

On the painting desk are two units nearing completion but will not be finished before I snap the painting log closed for 2014.  In work is an addition to the SAW project consisting of 15 U.S. Regular infantry along with eight Libyan javelin men for the Punic Wars project.  Most likely, the Libyans will be finished in time to see action in the Punic War game slated for JAN 03.

Before the game, I need to re-read the rules and decide whether to give the Basic or Full version a go.  Since this will be both Scott and Kevin's first run at Impetvs, perhaps the Basic version is appropriate?

Celtic/Gallic War Band

With the prospect of a Punic Wars game over the Christmas holiday, painting attention turned towards fielding one more unit.  "Painting attention."  That must be an oxymoron when painting on a single project rarely exhibits any semblance of focus.

Nevertheless, off the painting desk today is a twelve figure, Black Tree Design unit of Celtic or Gallic warriors based for Impetvs.  These warriors may appear in either the Carthaginian or Roman army lists and can see service as either FP or FL warriors.  Quite a flexible and useful addition, no?  Being Impetuous, it will be interesting to see how they fare on the gaming table.

This is my first unit of Celts and no uniformity exists within these ranks.  The assorted garb, arms, armor, and colors adds to the motley, mob look.  Looks like a war band to me.  

I should field another!

Reconquista - Moorish Archers

Following up on the three Reconquista units completed in November, one more Impetvs stand makes its way off from the painting desk.  This time, one stand of Muslim archers.  Figures are BTD.

Some of the El Cid Army Lists require the combining of one archer stand with one stand of spear to form  one large unit.  Currently, spear stands outnumber missile (or archer) stands.  To address that imbalance, and provided I field no more spear units (ha!), at least one more bow stand is needed.

After a couple of quick  games of Commands & Colors: Napoleonics with Scott and Kevin last night, dinner conversation turned towards holiday game planning.  With Kevin and Scott yet to try Impetvs, they suggested an Impetvs game before Christmas.  Period chosen?  Punic Wars.  OK!

The first and only Punic Wars Impetvs game occurred NOV2013.  Since that game, about a half-dozen units have been added to the project.  With a second game on the horizon in two weeks, perhaps, I can knock out one or two more units to add into the fray?

In addition to other assorted projects on the painting desk, one stand of Celtic warriors is undergoing the brush.  This unit of Celts is the first Celtic representation for the project. The figures are not surprisingly from BTD and should be finished in a couple painting sessions.  

As for the C&C: Napoleonics games, Plancenoit was played twice to conclusion.  Both games resulted in a Prussian victory with the second game a much closer contest than the first.      

A&A Numidian Light Horse

After a return to painting a few Punic Wars figures in 6mm, the 28mm Punic Wars project received a little attention.  While the 6mm project was light on light infantry, the 28mm project is light on light cavalry!  To take a step in resolving this imbalance, two Impetvs light cavalry stands muster from the painting desk. 

Recently, I placed my first order with Armorum & Aquila Miniatures (A&A) for a couple dozen cavalry.  Included with the Numidians, shown in this post, were Spanish and Gallic cavalry.  With Renegade Miniatures out on hiatus (I do hope they return), I needed to source compatible cavalry.  Since most of my cavalry are Renegade, I really was hoping to find figures that would not look too out of place alongside the behemoth Renegade cavalry.

While the A&A cavalry are marketed as 28mm, they look quite diminutive next to the Renegade horse.  Perhaps, that is no problem since I imagine the Numidian light cavalry would be small and fast.  The A&A are a very good match to the 1st Corps Germans and Gallic cavalry I have.  They also compare favorably to the Aventine mounted officers in the collection.  The figures are really well sculpted and are a welcome addition to the project.  

State of the Painting Desk

The Painting Desk has not received the spotlight for awhile so focus today is on the little square of real estate I occasionally call home.

Yes, it is quite untidy but that is how a workspace is supposed to look, right?  Serious work is being done here!  On the table are figures for two units: 15 Spanish-American War Volunteer Infantry from Old Glory in the back and 13 Punic Wars Libyan spear men from Renegade in the fore.  I wonder when Renegade will resurface and begin producing again?  I hope soon.

In the left foreground are a handful of Baccus 6mm light infantry awaiting primering.  From my recent photo shoot of the 6mm Punic Wars collection and the Cannae battles, I realized that the force could use some additional light infantry components of the spear-chucking variety.  The collection has too many slingers and is understrength on light javelin foot.  Given the adage that if you've got them, paint them, I painted enough slingers to field 9 stands of 8.  Too many!  

On the figure front, several packages arrived within the last week.  Taking advantage of BTD USA's recent 50% discount offering, I picked up additional bowman and Spanish or mercenary spear men.  For the Punic Wars project, included in the order were several packs of Celts with a plan to field several warbands. 

With me beginning to plow through Americans for the SAW project, I piggybacked onto Scott's Old Glory order and added more packs for the project.  Most were Americans but one pack of Spanish infantry tagged along.  

WRG Armies of Macedonian and Punic Wars

Look what arrived into my mailbox!  One pristine copy of WRG's Armies of the Macedonian and Punic Wars 359 BC to 146 BC (AMPW) by Duncan Head and Ian Heath.  As a bonus, this is the hardback edition.  Hardback!  Yes, the bottom spline is a bit bunged but otherwise, the book is perfect.  I have never seen the hardback before.  The copies I have are all of the softcover variety.  This hard cover edition with be able to hold up much better than the softcover editions I have seen and own.

Although published more than 30 years ago in 1982, AMPW is likely still considered the Bible as an ancients wargaming reference.  I only discovered this work relatively recently but have enjoyed it greatly. AMPW is loaded with information on organization, tactics, weaponry, and clothing for most of the armies involved in the conflicts during this time period.  I especially enjoy the numerous drawings by Ian Heath.  "Especially enjoy" is an understatement.  The drawings are fantastic and well worth the price of the book alone.  This is a work that belongs in every ancients wargamer's library.     

Warbands (x3) for Impetvs

With the initial Punic Wars scrap using Imptevs two-weeks past,I wanted to augment the Carthaginian faction before the next encounter.  One recommendation was to add warbands into the mix.  That suggestion was solid as a quick look at the Army List confirmed.  Warbands offer an Impetvs Bonus of 4.  Combined with a VBU = 4 that totals to eight dice in combat.  Very powerful!

Digging through the boxes, I found several, forgotten handfuls of 1st Corps Germans that could be pressed into service under the coin of Hannibal.  The 1st Corps sculpts are not as nice as either Black Tree Design, Renegade or Aventine but they will fit into the collection with ease.  Next time, Rome will be facing some barbarians.