Irregular Wars Wargaming

Well that is me super excited! Far and away my favourite retelling of the Arthurian saga is Patrick McCormack's Albion trilogy: The Last Companion (1997), The White Phantom (2000) and The Lame Dancer (2008). Set ten years after the death of Arthur at the battle of Camlann, the stories follow one last survivor who has since become a hermit, as well as a cadre of characters from the next generation as they struggle to negotiate the feuding tribes and kingdoms that have re-emerged after the fall of Arthur. Through a combination of dream/nightmare sequences, memories, and stories told throughout, the story of Arthur's rise and rule is artfully told so in essence you get two different but connected stories told throughout. For me this is all first class inspiration for Arthurian wargaming and well worth tracking down if you haven't already tried them. I first read The Last Companion when it was initially released although I didn't realise there were sequels until ma...

My recent relative laxity in posting is pretty informative. I started a new job at the beginning of April and it seems to be using up a lot of by wargamey stuff time. How very tedious. None-the-less, it is a pretty good position and I probably shouldn't pack it in just to be able to spend more time here. Probably. So, after that preamble/ramble, I've only time for a very brief update. I have managed recently to put togeter some reinforcements for my Hail Caesar Seleukids and have even started a small side project. For 'started' read 'rebased some stuff already painted'. I added another base of Arab light infantry to 'upgrade' the unit to a standard sizes light infantry warband. I also made up a new commander with an Arab aide or sheik.  Galatian cavalry.   More katoikoi colonist cavalry (medium line cavalry). And without further adieu, here are some re-based Romano-British. The figures are 10mm Pendraken late Romans. They were previousl...

Will o' the Wisp, redistributed from HERE Talk of 6mm ancients mayhem has been hotting up here in Northern Ireland. This, for me, is great news as 6mm is always a scale that has appealed to me but has been as illusive as a will o' the wisp. I bought a few pieces from Rapier miniatures a while back to decorate my 15mm scale temple , and then only recently got my act together and painted and based some of the spares and really liked the result. So it looks like next year's project will be to build a 6mm ancients army. We are focusing on the Hail Caesar rules set for now, although the flexible approach to basing and unit sizes mean that the figures will be able to be used in other games as well if needed. After a bit of chat back and forwards, the ever popular late third century BC Mediterranean was chosen as the theme, roughly pinpointed around 220 BC. That date historically gives a bunch of exciting options for armies, with lots of young rulers who have not yet pro...

I entered the world of tin soldiers at the impressionable age of 10. I was taken to a pokey shop, now closed down, in the centre of Sydney by a school friend and bought for myself three identical 25mm Napoleonic figures at about $1.50 each. To this day I am still unsure what they were - I suspect they were a Prussian artillery officer but couldn't say for sure. Through variegated levels of peer pressure I was, for a time, distracted - first by fantasy and then sci-fi wargames. The type of game produced by large companies whose legal juggernaut makes me shy away from naming them in a public forum. Lets just say that they don't like you to play with anyone else's products at their table. You know the one I mean. Finally, towards the end of high school, in a garage at another friend's house, I saw his dad's 15mm DBM late Roman army. With an epiphany I realised that there were other games out there and they allowed you the freedom to play with a low budget. The possib...

Chapter 4, The Last Battle Unrest reigns across the kingdom. Rival warbands march across the hills while the country folk have fled their homes and taken shelter in the marshlands and the woods. Ten years have passed since Sorviodunum and the affair of the Holy Toe of St Pius. Victorious against their weaker foes, the proven and legitimate rulers of the land had demonstrated their worth and ruled well for three long glorious Summers. That was before the Year of the Rains and the three Years of the Famine which followed close on its heels. In those dark days it was only rumours of the reappearance of an old enemy which filtered through to the prince’s court, brought by travelers  bards, priests and merchants. Then, as the prosperity of the land dimmed, the visitors grew fewer but the rumours continued. Women, children and livestock started to disappear and shadowy figures were seen crossing the fields in moonlight. The Prince of Venta’s prestige faltered as he failed t...

Chapter 3, Ambush Having dispatched their erstwhile allies, the holders of the toe of Saint Pius had enjoyed little of the expected prestige. Instead, they found themselves harried by their defeated foes from Sorviodunum, recovered now and seeking cold vengeance and slavering at the chance to get their thieving hands on a holy relic. So now, with the smoke of their home cooking fires drifting on the light westerly breeze, the holders of the toe just had to make it across one last stretch of wilderness to home, hearth, and a stout palisade. This is the third 'after action report' of the Relic of Saint Pius campaign, the full details of which can be found here . As the victors of the the battle of the stone circle, Aethelwulf and his Angles took the role of the defender in this scenario. The attacker was the Romano-British warband of Flavius Constans. The gallant and unbeatable Angles deploy along one edge of the table. Flavius Constans, having gathered enough recruits...

Chapter 2, Dividing the Spoils The heroes of Sorviodunum gazed anxiously at the ring of standing stones before them. They had surged forth following their victory to this, the repository of the little toe of the left foot of Saint Pius the Significant, brought and hidden here two hundred years ago by Nikolaos of Antioch. The heroes’ pitiful allies had shadowed their every move and now skulked in the mist beyond the stone circle. The recovery of the holy relic would bestow great prestige on its new owner, not just with their followers, but with the backwards inhabitants of the land – the search for the saint’s toe would not go unhindered. This is the second 'after action report' of the Relic of Saint Pius campaign, the full details of which can be found here . As the victors of the the battle of Sorviodunum, Aethelwulf and his Angles took the role of the defender in this scenario. The attacker was the Irish warband of Dubh Fiach. The Anglish and the Irish deploy on...