Irregular Wars Wargaming

Last weekend I had some time to paint up two further buildings for my Bronze Age table - this time from Terrain4Print, purchased from a seller on Etsy. They are very similar in style to the smaller one-story buildings prepared back in December ( Bronze Age buildings ), although with different shaped doors and window shutters. The prints are a little rough around some of the edges, although I don't think anyone would complain to see them on the tabletop.  I also built a couple of Wargames Atlantic plastic chariots and gave them some spare Foundry crew. More on these to come!

Ah yes, Asteropaios, son of Pelagon, grandson of the mighty Axios River, and lord of the Paionians. For many (most?), Asteropaios may not be a household name, but for me, he is a favourite minor character in the Iliad . Admittedly, that's more to do with a fascination with the later Classical and Hellenistic kingdom of Paionia on which I have published a few articles in the past, but it is great to go back and see where it all began.  As a possible southern extension of the central European Lausitz culture, I wanted my Bronze Age Paionians to be visually distinct from the other contingents on the table. I've also been looking for an excuse for years to pick up a couple of packs of Wargames Foundry Bronze Age northern Europeans - so that's what I did. Now, they may be a little too Danish for the Balkans, but I'll fight for the right to put them on the table! Asteropaios was the second named hero to lead the Paionians. His uncle, Pyraichmes, being named in Book 2 of the I...

Only a little update for the Ilium project this week - sharing an objective marker of 'Trojan' women from the great 28mm Bronze Age Greeks range by Eureka miniatures.  Two of the scenarios in the book will feature objectives to capture notables - in the last scenario this is specifically Helen. This little vignette shows a defiant looking Helen in the company of a distraught Andromache and another attendant.

More playtesting of Ilium: A Game of Heroes this week - and this time with fully painted forces for the first time. Playing as the heroic Trojans (bottom right), I started with Sarpedon and Aeneas on the board - both in the central deployment sector. Aeneas' two promachoi archers were very pleased to be able to start on the roof of a small house.  Commanding the Achaean sea wolves, Andrew began with Telamonian Ajax and Agamemnon (top left), both of whom were deployed in their own right sector. Aeneas led his promachoi warriors around the left of the building. His archers moved forward cautiously, shooting at the Achaeans from the roof top, but both missing their marks. Sarpedon moved forward into the olive trees in the centre of the board, using his special 'shield leader' ability to buff his Lykian warriors' defence. They moved on past their king, forming a loose screen between Sarpedon and Ajax. Ajax and Agamemnon both moved across the plain, followed by their promac...

Over the last few weeks I have been very slowly working towards the completion of my fourth 'Trojan' contingent for Ilium: A Game of Heroes . This time round it is Sarpedon and his Lykians. All models are from Wargames Foundry Sea People's range. Indeed, they are all from the same pack! Sarpedon got the royal treatment and I didn't hold back on the purple. Despite that, or perhaps aided by it, I can't shake the feeling that this model was based on an aging Australian surfie. I think its the goatie and the bare feet, but it smacks of my childhood... The Lykian contingent includes Glaukos as a named promachos. Named promachoi have a slightly improved profile over regular promachoi and normally have a special rule. In the case of Glaukos, he has the Royal kinsman rule, meaning he takes over as the contingent's leader if Sarpedon fall. To make him out from the other promachoi, Glaukos got the same style of studded shield as Sarpedon, and a purple baldric. The inclus...

The third contingent for my 28mm Trojan forces is Aeneas, son of the goddess Aphrodite and leader of the Dardanians. All minis are from Eureka Miniatures. Keeping the red-brown key colour, the Dardanian contingent has yellow as their binding colour. Aeneas was a second cousin (first cousin, once removed?) for the Trojan king and one of the most prominent heroes on the Trojan side. He helped lead the Trojans following the death of Hektor, and would lead the Trojan refugees to Italy in the aftermath of the war. The Dardanian promachoi warriors (Eureka Bronze Age Greeks). The Dardanian promachoi archers (Eureka Chaldean archers).

In Ilium: A Game of Heroes , players take on the role of mighty Homeric heroes, each supported by a contingent of followers, as they compete for Kleos (κλέος) – deeds of renown that will have their names remembered through time. Each player will normally control between 12 and 28 models whose management at key moments will be crucial in securing Kleos. Glory, not survival, will dictate victory. Every group and every person approaches rules a different way, so it is always essential to explore different perspectives. Therefore, having worked steadfastly to bring the rules to a stable point, we are now looking for a small number outside playtesters to have a look. Ilium: A Game of Heroes  is written as a two player game with flexibility to allow additional players. Playtesters will need approximately 28 models each to represent the Achaean and Trojan heroes and their promachoi, a 24" (60cm) square playing area, and a couple of d10s. Playtesters should be able to commit to playin...

We took  Ilium: A Game of Heroes  out for another run this week. I'm not normally keen on showing games with unfinished minis, but the game is in a good place and, fired by enthusiasm, I thought I'd share a glimpse. We played the standard Battle on the Plains scenario, pitching three heroes and their accompanying promachoi against each other between the main army lines. I started with Helenos, prince of Troy, and the Amazon queen, Penthesileia. Andrew started with Agamemnon, king of Mycenae, and Ajax, prince of Salamis.  As the initial contingents clashed on the right of the plain, reinforcements arrived in the form of Aeneas and his Dardanians on the one side, and Achilles and his Myrmidons on the other.  The gods were very attentive, intervening early in the battle. Apollo sent a plague to weaken the Achaean promachoi, while Athena took the form of the lesser Ajax before being driven off by Penthesileia. Penthesileia and Helenos then focused their attacks on Agamem...

Continuing to flesh out my Trojan contingents, I finished up a couple of archers to join with Helenos and his warriors.  I wanted to have an aesthetic difference between my Trojans and any future Achaeans, so I didn't want to go for Minoan/Mycenaean archers and instead stuck with Eureka Miniatures. Rather than the clean-shaven nudie boys of the Late Bronze Age Greeks, I decided to bend the rules slightly and pick up some Chaldeans. They are not of the same sculpting quality as the LBA Greeks, but with the same painting, colour scheme and basing, they do the trick and fit right in. I've also been working on a bit more terrain - this time some rocky outcrop obstructions. Using rocks picked up on a walk, I did the most wargamery thing possible and painted the rocks, to look like rocks. I think they work rather well! Meanwhile, the first complete draft of the rules is ready and undergoing a first proof before playtesting begins in earnest.

Following on from l ast week's post , I have now finished my attempt at 28mm olive trees. These are the four trunks I made earlier, undercoated dark green, over-brushed dark brown, dry bushed with a mix of dark brown and light grey. The foliage is Woodland Scenics fine leaf foliage which is pretty great stuff. Having said that, it was a pain to glue on, and it remains to be seen how robust it will be with use. Bases were done with the same AK Interactive sand and tufts that I've used on other scenery and model bases to give a sense of uniformity. I also took a couple of branches of the WS fine leaf foliage to make some olive saplings starting to emerge from two of my ruined building bases. This is now the extent of the scatter terrain being made specifically for this project. I've two more buildings and some rocky outcrops ready to undercoat and then I'll start looking for a 2' long section of city walls. When required for the specific scenario, my lad has a wooden ...

I need olive trees for my Bronze Age Aegean board - and indeed for all Mediterranean gaming. Olives are ubiquitous in the area now, and were in the past. However, the commercial options for wargamers are very limited, very expensive, and don't look overly like olive trees. What I'm looking for is something that has been grown and tended for generations. A gnarly, twisted, thick trunk, kept low to make harvesting the olives easier, with low hanging branches. So over the weekend I set out to make a proof of concept. The above picture is an olive grove around the Mycenaean tholos tomb at Amphissa, but any would do for inspiration. Starting with semi-flexible wire left over from a long forgotten project of my lad's, I twisted some rough shapes to use as armatures. Over these, I (further) twisted green stuff, making sure to have nice thick trunks and much thinner branches. Using an old knife and a plastic rod about 5mm in diameter, I smooshed and prodded until I had something th...