Irregular Wars - Hollander reinforcements

Here are the second batch of recently 'freshened up' companies for Conflict at the World's End. The rules prescribe two compulsory company types that you have to field if you want to run that battle. Then there are a number of optional companies listed of which you choose four. Until now, I only had enough Hollanders to field one set battle, choosing the same options each time. The addition of these brave adventurers gives me a little more choice. The Hollander list tends to result in small numbers of troops on the table, but they are usually of a higher quality and resolve than their enemies. All miniatures are 15mm Grumpy.

The colonial militia pike, composed of Hollanders permanently based at Batavia or some other far flung outpost of the Dutch mercantile empire.

Targeteers (sword and buckler armed men) to help out against all those pesky Portuguese pike blocks.

Crossbowmen - more militia or detached from the fleet.

A second battery of ship's guns. I have yet to run the battle with two artillery batteries - it would really keep down numbers of companies as each battery takes up an option but it might be handy in a defensive position...

Irregular Wars - Royal English vanguard arrives

Here are my latest works - half a Royal English battle for Conflict at the World's End. Because of recent time constraints I haven't been in a position to do any fresh painting as such but these companies have all had the work done to them including a little minor converting for the lord's company. The scale is 15mm.

The demi-lancers are Essex English Civil War cuirassiers. I felt that their lances together with the 3/4 armour made them more than suitable for late Elizabethan heavies. The standard bearer has had his lance with pennant removed and replaced by a copper pike with paper flag. I wanted it to look like a real rallying point for the battle so went for 'big'. The Lord has also been converted very slightly by moving the raised right arm and adding a lance. These were originally used as conquistadors but the big St Georges cross certainly confirms their primary purpose from now on will be to serve good Queen Bess.

The border horse are Essex generic 16th century lancers. I had already used the Essex border horse range as my Irish horse so needed something different. These guys looked light compared to the ECW cuirassiers so I swapped their lances for smaller copper wire staves and added shields to make them look close enough for gaming purposes.

The longbowmen are a mix of Essex Elizabethan bowmen and ECW levies with bow. The Elizabethan guys look great but I wanted more than a single pose so the ECW chaps break up the uniformity. These guys were originally bought to support my English adventurers but looked a bit out of place with the 17th century Grumpy buccaneers that made up the rest of the battle.


Coming soon - reinforcements for the mercantile Hollanders!

Irregular Wars updates

After two hectic months adjusting to life as a father, I am pleased to say that life is starting to come back in order. Starting. The published version of Irregular Wars: Conflict at the World's End has been finalised and released. It is of course available as a pdf package from Vexillia Limited. I'd like to thank Martin at Vexillia for all of his support and patience during the publication process.

I have finally managed to undercoat some Grumpy Tupi figures I picked up at MOAB last year and will be able to paint these up between work, feeding sessions, nappy changes and other tasks in the coming month or so. Fingers crossed. I'll also be working on some basic conversions of some of my established Irregular Wars companies to add a bit more flavour here and there. All this is forthcoming.

In the nearer future I hope to add a few more pictures of my 1:1200 scale ships for All at Sea and perhaps get another game organised to continue the playtesting. I'll also post images of my Paionian-cum-Pergamene army for DBA. I led one of them to victory at the SBG DBA historical comp last year and the other allowed me to be awarded best/most enjoyable DBA army at MOAB - probably because I lost every game.

For those with more of an SBH leaning, I'm toying with the idea of a Midsummer Night's Dream warband featuring Titania, Oberon and Puck - stay tuned.

At some stage I will also get on to the variant covers for Conflict at the World's End. Here is just a sample of the sort of thing you might be looking for...

Irregular Wars: Conflict at the World's End release date announced.

We are pleased to announce the first results of the partnership with Vexillia - Irregular Wars: "Conflict at the World's End"

Released on Friday 18th February, these fast play Renaissance rules allow you to recreate the smaller actions so common at the fringes of the European world.

The rules come with army lists for Britain, Ireland, the major European colonial powers, and the peoples of the New World, the East Indies and the Eurasian steppe.

The rules are designed for engagements between c. 1519 to 1641 with forces 500 – 2,000 strong although they can be easily expanded to cover larger battles. The emphasis is on the tactical concerns of command, company resolve, weather & disease.

"Conflict at the World's End" will be published as a pdf bundle in both A4 and US letter versions containing:

1. Core rule book
   
2. 28+ army list book
   
3. Play sheet
   
4. Set of optional chance cards
   
5. Booklet of helpful diagrams

There are free sample pages and army lists available on the books page where you can also place advance orders. Finally, a set of full colour covers for the core rules will be released shortly after launch.