Would the real King Arthur please stand up....?

Graham Chapman - perhaps the most ernest Arthur of them all.

The rules engine which drives Song of Blades and Heroes by Ganesha Games has been successfully developed for use in all manner of contexts – from giant Japanese inspired pulp monsters and teddy bears to Napoleonic or modern period skirmishes. However, In my mind, one of the simplest and most elegant transitions was the creation of Song of Arthur and Merlin (SAM)written by the master of Arthurian wargaming, Daniel Mersey, originally as a SBH supplement, but now as a stand alone game.

The game provides all the rules and contexts for you to wargame struggles and skirmishes in Arthurian Britain. Which ever Arthurian Britain you choose. SAM includes campaigns and special rules for you whether you prefer the traditional shiny, chivalric Arthur of Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur and John Boorman’s Excalibur, the more traditional mythical Arthur of the Mabinogian and other Welsh sagas and poems, or the reformist modern tendency to show Arthur as a reluctant leader in a gritty post-Roman world.

Inspired by the historical (or at least pseudo-historical) Arthurs of Gildas, Sutcliff, Tranter, Cornwall and McCormack,[1] as well as a couple of recent movies which I adore and others seem to loathe),[2] I just haven't been able to pass up the prospect of building and running warbands for the historical setting – perhaps supplemented by a few concepts from the Welsh king setting and scenarios.

Earlier this year I won some credit with the 10mm miniature manufacturer Pendraken. As well as using it to set up my new painting desk after the ‘big move’, I figures I’d sneak a few packs from their late Roman range into my order. Thus germinated my new mini-project - SAM in 10mm.

I mean, I already had a Stonehenge of the right scale, so why not....?

It also means that I have had to seek out 10mm Saxons and 10mm Irish, both sourced from Magister Militum.

Here's the outline of the four 300 point warbands that I plan to do up (formatted for the SBH warband builder). They shouldn't take too long to paint, even at my painfully slow rate. Once they're all done, I'll probably look at expanding them to 500 points each.

;Equites Samaratum
Artorius Magister Equitum;100;3;4;true;Combat Master,Fearless,Heavy Armor,Mounted,Running Blow;;
Bedwyr;64;3;3;false;Heavy Armor,Mounted,Running Blow;;
Cei;64;3;3;false;Heavy Armor,Mounted,Running Blow;;
Drystan;70;3;3;false;Heavy Armor,Mounted,Sharpshooter,Shooter: Long;;

;British Milites
Flavius Constans;85;2;3;true;Group Fighter,Leader,Shieldwall;;
Pedyt;22;3;2;false;Shieldwall;;
Pedyt;22;3;2;false;Shieldwall;;
Pedyt;22;3;2;false;Shieldwall;;
Pedyt;22;3;2;false;Shieldwall;;
Pedyt;22;3;2;false;Shieldwall;;
Archer;34;3;2;false;Shooter: Long;;
Archer;34;3;2;false;Shooter: Long;;
Archer;34;3;2;false;Shooter: Long;;

;Children of Cú Chulainn
Iseult the Cat;70;2;2;true;Assassin,Forester;;
Dubhdarra the Aged;30;3;0;true;Forester,Short Move,Terror;;
Irish warrior;40;2;2;false;Forester,Savage;;
Irish warrior;40;2;2;false;Forester,Savage;;
Irish warrior;40;2;2;false;Forester,Savage;;
Irish warrior;40;2;2;false;Forester,Savage;;
Irish warrior;40;2;2;false;Forester,Savage;;

;Sea Folk
Thegn Æthelwulf;96;3;3;true;Leader,Steadfast,Tough;;
Saxon;29;4;3;false;Shieldwall,Steadfast;;
Saxon;29;4;3;false;Shieldwall,Steadfast;;
Saxon;29;4;3;false;Shieldwall,Steadfast;;
Saxon;29;4;3;false;Shieldwall,Steadfast;;
Saxon;29;4;3;false;Shieldwall,Steadfast;;
Saxon;29;4;3;false;Shieldwall,Steadfast;;
Saxon;29;4;3;false;Shieldwall,Steadfast;;

It's still a few weeks before we fly and it will be a fair bit longer before I can sit down and paint any of my new 10mm beauties, but for now I thought I'd just post a little inspiration for the project.

____________________

[1] The following come highly, highly recommended:

Sword at Sunset by Rosemary Sutcliff

Druid Sacrifice by Nigel Tranter

The Warlord Chronicles by Bernard Cornwall:

i) The Winter King

ii) Enemy of God

iii) Excalibur

The Albion Trilogy by  by Patrick McCormack: (I only just discovered that the first volume which I enjoyed greatly was part of a series which I shall have to chase up)

i) Albion: The Last Companion

ii) Albion: The White Phantom

iii) Albion: The Lame Dancer (this volume was never published but is available as a pdf HERE)

[2] The 2004 movie, King Arthur directed by Antoine Fuqua starring Clive Owen and Keira Knightly and the 2006 movie, Tristan and Isolde directed by Kevin Reynolds starring the lovely Sophia Myles and James Franco.

Boorman's Excalibur in all its shiny splendor!

The grittier, more Clive Owenish 2004 King Arthur in which every shot was like a postcard.

Tristan and Isolde - not strictly starring Arthur, but with the benefit of the lovely Ms Myles who even lets me forgive the fact that they locate Dunluce (best Renaissance castle ever) on the spot later to become Dublin!?