Irregular Wars Wargaming

Recently I've been working on two more racers and terrain for Wargears - the forthcoming wacky racing game set in the grim darkness of a war-torn future. As with most Irregular Wars wargames, Wargears is very flexible around the way you build your wargears/vehicles. If it drives, walks or hovers, it’s eligible to race. First up we have a beetle-rider, sold as a carabax beetle, 3d scultped by Print Minis. This is a great mini with loads of detail. I tried to go for a glossy-blue-black beetle with a jumble of scavaged kit strapped to its back. It's a bit chaotic, but hopefully works as an ensemble! The other newcomer is a second goblin biker from Mezgike Miniatures; the first was a wee red racer painted in May . These guys are just so goofy and charismatic, and great fun to paint. There are more wargears on the way, and I've also been building up terrain for WarGears and other scifi/post-apoc wargames, so I think maybe September will become Scraptember, and I'll showca...

Jumping back to the days of yore, Andy T and I played our first game of Warhammer 40,000 , 2nd edition this week. Andy played Rogue Trader back in his youth, and then took a break and came back to 3rd edition, so he's never played 2nd ed before. I last played second edition in 1998 - almost 30 years ago - indeed that was the last time I played any Games Workshop game. So this was very much a learning/re-learning game. Running 500 point 'armies', I had two Space Marine scout squads led by a chaplain hero from the Éireannach Preservers , supported by a squad of ratling snipers. Andy had a single Spacemarine tactical squad of a Spacewolves-like chapter led by a captain. The opening shot of the game - Andy's rocket launcher - evaporated four ratlings, causing the fifth to scatter into the ruins. Closer at hand, my first scout squad left the cover of the purple shipping containers and occupied that combat squad for the remainder of the game, trying to whittle them down - bu...

Andrew and I brought our Ilium: A Game of Heroes campaign to a close last week with a gripping playthrough of the Trojan Horse scenario. Andrew, once more reprised his role as the wiley Achaeans, while I led the heroic defenders of Troy. Diomedes was the first Achaean hero to descend from the belly of the horse, catching the Trojan defenders scattered and in disarray. All three Trojan heroes (Aeneas and two generic heroes leading the remnant Paionians and Amazons) were concentrated in one area (top right of the photo), but their contingents were widely spread out. As Agamemnon and the men of Mycenae dropped from the horse, Diomedes and his Argives made a dash for the gates, cutting down an Amazon promachia, but failing to wound the remaining defenders. As the Trojan promachoi warriors tried to rally to their chiefs, the archers scattered around the square mostly turned their bows on the exposed backs of Diomedes' followers. Two archers decided to try and regain their contingents r...

Mark returns to 17th century Rutlandshire for a troll hunt with Devilry Afoot ! The long-abandoned plague village of Dedmere has been taken over by a pair of Trolls, who plan to sniff out the mass burial pit and grind the bones from it to make their bread. But they were interrupted by the noted antiquarian (and professional hunter) John Aubrey and his colleague Will Bunbury, who were in the area searching for a Druid temple and allowed enthusiasm to overcome caution as dusk fell. Aubrey and Bunbury are both in my Character Progression Roster and are profiled accordingly (Photo #1). John Aubrey: Scholar (Erudite, Astrologer) Flagellant. Astrologer casts are: 7,8. Equipped with: sword, holy item, lantern. Adds this time: Holy water x3. Funds in pocket 18s. William Bunbury: Goodman (Penitent, Strong) Backslider. Equipped with: blunderbuss, sword. Adds this time: silver shot x3, dog (named Ratter). Funds in pocket 5s Here is the scene of action, with the Trolls (upper L) and Hunters (l...

Sing, goddess, of the anger of Achilles ... After ten years and a lot of spilt blood, Troy is about to fall.  Ilium: A Game of Heroes  officially releases on Saturday 1st of August, available at both irregularwars.com andWargame Vault as a digital download, or as a hardcopy from Amazon. Ilium: A Game of Heroes  is a table-top miniatures game inspired by Homer's greatest epic. Players take on the role of mighty Trojan and Achaean 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. Played on a 2'x2' (60cmx60cm) table, 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. It's the Trojan War played the way Homer wrote it. However, if you're keen to sneak in under the cover of darkness and seize a copy of Ilium for yourself before the 'official'...

Here are summaries of two recent playthroughs of the Trojan Horse scenario for Ilium: A Game of Heroes . The scenario is modelled on book 8 of the Odyssey , the  Aeneid  book 2, and books 12-13 of the Posthomerica . Note that both games were 'ahistorical' because we were using heroes and contingents we had on hand, some of whom are generally regarded as having died before Odysseus has his great idea to shove a bunch of lads into a wooden horse. ***** In the first of these games, I was playing the heroic/party-befuddled Trojans, with three contingents spread out across the table, while Laura ran the whiley Achaeans, silently waiting inside the belly of the horse and beyond the gates.  Idomeneus and his Cretan promarchoi were the first to descend from the Trojan Horse. While the Trojans slowly became aware there was an issue, the Cretans rushed towards the guards at the gate. After a brief scuffle, the guards were dispatched, and the Cretans wrenched open the gates. Ba...