Irregular Wars Wargaming

Way back in 2011-2012 I put together a force of late 17th century ratmen - the army of the Grand Duchy of Cheddar. They won me a couple of prizes in the Pendraken painting competition, and I led them to one glorious game of Hordes of the Thing s . Then I moved country, and found a deficit in 15mm HotT players. Unable to part with the wee furry beggars, they have lived in their box ever since. That is, until this weekend, when they returned to service in my first ever game of Kings of War . It seems that while I have been distracted with my 6mm Minoans, some of the lads have been exploring 10mm fantasy ranges and experimenting with Kings of War . I happily took the opportunity to be shown the ropes, and the chance to get my ratties back on the table. Turns out I already have around 1600 points worth of forces (we used the Dwarf list). My foes, once more, turned out to be skeletons. Fousands of 'em. I was more concerned with learning the rules and readjusting, so I didn'...

Just a couple of quick snaps to give an idea of the comparative heft of Pendraken small and large rats. Here they are based together and I can't really tell the difference.  In the background you can see the half painted Ayatollah of Gorgonzola - a softly converted Pendraken rat necromancer.

The wealthy burghers of Roquefort are among the most important supporters of the Ayatollah of Gorgonzola. Devoted to the mysterious prophet and his eastern philosophy, the rats of Roquefort provide the elite Revolutionary Guard and act as a rallying point for the more irregular elements of the Gorgonzola insurgency. This is the first HotT element I have worked on in more than 18 months and the first unit in the army of the Ayatollah of Gorgonzola - the leader of the religious and social rebellion against the Grand Duchy of Cheddar. The figures are 10mm Ratguard from Kallistra miniatures. Clearly derived from the Pendraken League of Ratsburgh range, I believe these exclusive conversions are produced under license by Kallistra. They come cast on strips which I was wary of at first, but I think I might like these slightly more than their Pendraken archetypes - there is just more variation in the individual rats and their colonel is heart-breakingly cute. As the unit was raised from ...

Watching my son shove the third piece of pasta in blue cheese sauce up his nose, I start to get the tingling feeling down the back of my neck - perhaps he is the Ayatollah of Gorgonzola...

I am not prone to writing virtual diary entries (blogs I believe they are called... crazy...), but I thought it was time for a combined arms account of my wargaming projects as they stand. 1) Irregular Wars: Conflict at the Worlds End - new edition on its way The revised edition of Irregular Wars is currently being formatted and proofed over at Vexillia Ltd. Keep an eye out in the next couple of weeks for a full release announcement and details of the changes. In short, these include a better system for scenario generation including Cattle raids and ambushes, and  24.3% more battle lists! 2) The 2012 Pendraken Painting Competition The judges have come out of their symposium, the votes have been tallied. The decisions are final, and I have been asked to leave the tribal... hold on a second. I've just hopped on a tangent. The results of the Pendraken painting competition have been announced with some very favourable results for yours truly ( HERE and...

The resolute little chaps from the Grand Duchy of Cheddar had their first tabletop outing in HotT form on Friday night. Led by Tamasin, the current Duchess of Cheddar, they faced off against an evil necromancer and his undead hordes... litterally. My opponent used 12 elements of horde along with some vulture flyers, a couple of riders and a magician general. I was being quite cautious - not really knowing how my rats would fare, and as a result he kept bringing back his hordes as they were mowed down by Bodmin's artillery and the shot sleeves of the two regiments of foote. In the end, we stopped keeping a tally after the 17th element of hoard had been destroyed - I think the total was around 26. I got the point eventually and went in for the kill. Both the derigible squadron and Sedgemoor's Mechanised Cuirassiers were lost, but van Squeek's lads were able to close on the necromancer and take him down. No historians were present on the field to take an official record, but h...

Grand Duchy of Cheddar The Grand Duchy of Cheddar was carved out by Mad Prince Lodwijk the Indestructible, an enterprising but illegitimate son of Cornelius V the Fruitful, Rat-King of Jarlsberg. A nation proud of its traditions, all of the Cheddar grand dukes have chosen not to marry, but maintain harems in honour of their illegitimate origins. The son considered to be most able is designated to succeed his father although the act of succession must be ratified by the assembled rats of the Cheddar army. The mother of the heir-apparent is bestowed the honorific title of duchess and becomes titular colonel of one of the foremost regiments of foote. The duke, his harem and the army rule the duchy from Cheddar Hall, an immense labyrinthine warren, luxuriously appointed in gold and crimson cloth as befits the ducal residence. Although it is mainly situated below the West March, Cheddar Hall has tunnels which emerge in all of the Four Marches. These form vital thoroughfares through which th...

A couple more work-in-progress shots of my first HotT army, the Grand Duchy of Cheddar. First up we have further shots of the Ducal dirigable - now with most of the paintwork done. Michael Awdry enquired after its steerage - I can assure him that it is steered by the balloon fins and moves according to the wind (which may or may not be magic). I was considering attaching a propeller and/or rudder systen at the back of the boat, but it made it too large for the balloon. The regiments of foote, van Squeek's (the whites) and the Duchess of Cheddar's (the buffs). Lastly, the first shot of Cheddar Hall, one of the entrance halls to the Ducal palace-warren which emerges from a hill side. Scratch built from thin mdf on a cork-tile hill side.

After numerous and continuous defeats, the Duchess of Cheddar's Own Regiment of Foote (a warband for Ganesha Games' Song of Blades and Heroes rules system) was disbanded a few months ago. I couldn't quite decide what to do with my painted raties but have now settled down to rebase them for WRG's Hordes of the Things , a DBA derived fantasy game. Version 2.0 of the rules have been long out of print and may be downloaded free from the WRG website SEE HERE . I have put painted up a few more rats to put two full regiments of foote (1x spear, 2x shooter) in the field and put in an order at Pendraken for some League of Ratsburg dragoons (1x riders),  artillery (1x artillery) and a Dwarven steam-powered armoured car which I will convert into the Ducal battle wagon (1x behemoth).  The last element that I wanted for my new Grand Duchy of Cheddar HotT army was an airboat. I set about constructing more or less one from scratch as there was nothing which really suited the feel t...