Irregular Wars Wargaming

Having responsibly discharged both my immediate academic responsibility (an overdue chapter) and hosted an antipodean guest over the last week, I was finally able to get back to the desk and do a little painting this weekend. While my mini-Antioch continues its slow growth - I keep thinking that I've built enough houses but I'm not sure that such a thing exists - I decided to get to work on my selected 15mm gladiators. The first batch of six to get a lick o' paint is a fairly representative group, both in terms of manufacturer and fighting style. Here they are together to give an idea of how they scale up. They have not yet benefited from a spray of Dullcoat. From left to right: Strategia Nova retiarius, Strategia Nova hoplomachos, Outpost Wargames Thaex, Mick Yarrow Samnite, Rebel Miniatures dimachaerus, Highland Studios dimachaerus. This is one of my favorite sculpts of a retiarius. The trident head is a little chunky but I love the way the net is r...

I'm not normaly a huge sci-fi fan but ... I have just come across this: ... and it gave me powerful flashbacks to watching this as a teenager: ... and now I'm browsing these : ... and kinda anxiously awaiting this :

It is an established understanding among those interested in ancient and early medieval warfare that when mounted troops charge formed foot, they tend to come off second best. Because of the costs involved it is unlikely that the mounted troops will ever have the benefit of superior numbers and once bogged down they can be easily overcome. I would have thought that Artorius, Master of the Horse for the kings of the Romano-Britons would have read up on that. Now I know better... Song of Arthur and Merlin by Ganesha Games; 600 point warbands using 10mm figures. The forces are deployed - the Angles in the distance, Arthur and his knights in the foreground. The battle lines close. Arthur's companion archers try to disorder the Germanic horde. Initial running-blows by Arthur and his men remove the Anglian bard, the priestess and outlying spearmen. The Romano-British get cocky and reform, ready to finish their enemy off.  Æthelwulf turns the tables by leading his sh...