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Battle on the Plain - Ilium: A Game of Heroes

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It is the tenth year of the Achaean war with Troy. The loss of Hektor has brought the Trojans low but, from the East, Penthesileia has arrived with a contingent of fierce Amazonian warriors and archers, rallying to the Trojan cause . On the plain between the city walls and the Achaean camp, the rival armies muster. Between the lines of the massed fighters, a number of heroes and their selected promachoi range about, seeking honour and the chance to inspire their forces with deeds of great glory. On one dusty part of the plain, the contingents of Helenos, prince of Troy, and Penthesileia, the Amazonian queen, advance as a compact body. Opposed to them, Menestheus, King of Athens, and Idomeneus, King of Crete advance more slowly. Early shooting by the Trojan promachoi archers proves accurate, as the warriors of Menestheus start to fall. Seeing his favourites in difficulty, Poseidon assumes human form and stalks across the plain to take up position next to Idomeneus, replacing one of the ...
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Dinky rat wheel

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Having recently painted my first 28mm tank/APC , this week I finished off this rather dinky rat-wheel from DakkaDakka. But what mysterious force is driving me to do this? The wheel is supposed to have a large laser cannon (or similar) on the left hand side, but the piece didn't fit too well, and sure, I didn't really need it anyway. Instead I popped a wee nuclear symbol in the spot. Perhaps the wheel is driven by something more punchy than diesel.  Now there are two of them...
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SSD: the Bake-Off - a squabble within the Fraternity of Bakers gets out of hand

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Mark returns to ancient Pattayavium for some Song of Shadows and Dust ... *** The Fraternity of Bakers in Pattayavium is not a large body. In fact it is restricted to only two families, headed by the brothers Autolycus and Lysias, who are responsible for baking bread for those Helleno-Roman expats who have not gone native culinary-wise. They and their families and workers live in a close knit community near the potteries, clustered around the grain stores and large ovens which obviously are central to the business (Photo #1, looking NE). Unfortunately things are not well between the brothers. Lysias, the younger, who has always been aggressive and impulsive, has taken to heavy drinking and gambling. He is deep in debt to shady characters who have encouraged him to believe Autolycus is planning to cut him out of the trade. Things come to a head one morning around dawn, when not many civilians are yet on the streets but obviously the bakers are hard at work. Lysias shows up with a gang o...
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Menestheus, king of Athens, his promachoi and a chariot

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The next contingent of Achaeans for Ilium: A Game of Heroes is ostensibly Menestheus, king of Athens, supported by promachoi in the form of four shield-bearers and two archers. In practice he could represent any number of Achaean heroes. As with my other Achaeans, these are all Wargames Foundry 28mm Mycenaeans. Menestheus, son of Peteus, king of Athens. Achaean shield-bearers. Achaean archers. Also completed recently is an Achaean charioteer. The driver is a converted Wargames Foundry Mycenaean warrior, riding in a Wargames Atlantic chariot.
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Devilry Afoot: Bealtaine (May Day) 1626 - the Redshanks Mummers

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Mark returns to Frommage for some more Devilry Afoot : ************* “ Reportes are abroade as far as Leicester and Northampton, that the Mummers are returned into Rutland shire. Folke are wondering greatly, as such have not been seene in that countrie since Elizabeth was yet living. Time out of mind their visitation has always heralded a mighty battle against some devilry afoote. May God protect us [etc etc] ” (Diary of John Paston, entry for 29 April 1626. Northamptonshire Record Office). ************* Here’s a coloured woodcut of the Redshanks, as these Mummers are popularly known. No-one knows who they really are or whence they come and go (Photo #1). The Mummers (Hunters) are as follows. Obviously the models are not WYSIWYG. You should assume they are equipped with arcane musical and guising powers that can baffle the minions of the Devil, best represented by the conventional weapons etc they are said to carry. Thomas Hobbes (green ribbon shirt) Goodman: Devout, Penitent. Slovenl...
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Orc joins the Bedtime's Children

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With possibly one of the strangest blog titles yet, Orc joins the Bedtimes Children! This is a 3d printed miniature technically called Orkbubu Labubork, available as a .stl file from DakkaDakkaStore on Thingiverse - although I bought a printed copy on Etsy. I call him Orc. Bedtime's Children are a tribe of survivors of the Great Fall, dressed in their nightwear, ever prepared for the inevitable long sleep that comes to everyone in the end. Orc fits right in, packing quite a bit of heat to boot!
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Current and upcoming Irregular Wars Wargaming projects

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It's been a little while since I've given any sort of update for Irregular Wars Wargaming projects, so here's the current state of play. *** I spent much of the day with Andy T filming a playthrough of Fantastic Scuffles , so that will be available in the coming weeks to give people a taste of the game play. It was a close fought scuffle, and I won't spoil it by saying who smote whom. *** For those of you based on this island, I have aspirations to run some demo/participation games at Gaelcon 38 in Dublin at the end of October. This would be my first 'proper' wargaming convention, so fingers crossed! *** I continue to dabble with the new two-player campaign variant for Fantastic Battle . It is not forgotten, just nudged aside by a couple of other projects for the time being. *** The new title, Ilium: A Game of Heroes , is nearing completion. A bit more playtesting and photography still to do, but August/September looks like a likely release date. Note however, t...
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