Irregular Wars Wargaming

You've got to be in it to win it.... as they say. Last year Pendraken had 214 excellent entries, once again pushing the standards of 10mm painting even higher! The competition always runs throughout the month of February, so your can make your entries anytime between 1st February and midnight on Fri 28th Feb. The rules are generally the same as last year, with the usual 7 categories, so there should be a suitable home for every entry! As with last year, each entry is allowed 2 images, except for the 'Open Army!' category, which is allowed up to 5 images.  One major change for 2015 is that we are no longer allowing montage entries, just to make sure that everyone is on a level playing field. Categories: Foot - Pre-20th C. - Min: 3 / Max: 16 figures on a single base, and pre-1900. Foot - 20th C. - Min: 3 / Max: 16 figures on a single base/movement tray. Mounted - Min: 3 / Max: 10 figures on a single base/movement tray. Vehicle - Single vehicle on or off base.

In June, 217 BC, the Fourth Syrian War was decided outside Raphia on the border of Koile-Syria and Egypt. Antiochos III the Great commanded a large field army that had thus far been successful in driving the forces of Ptolemy IV out of Koile-Syria. Polybius ( Histories 5.79-87) provides a detailed description of the troops present and their respective roles in the battle. It is actually one of the few Seleukid battles where we have a decent account of the build-up, forces involved and outcome. 

It has been a while since I worked on my Dux Bellorum forces, so I thought I'd try to get a unit of Irish riders sorted out. Dux Bellorum has been earmarked as one of my focoi for this year; I'd like to complement my existing two armies (Romano-British and Irish) with a few more units each, and perhaps work on a third army if I have the time. As I have previously lamented , the range of decent 10mm Irish is quite limited and I have had to do quite a bit of substitution with other ranges to get a nice mix of warriors on my bases. It took me a long time to decide what to do to create a base of Irish riders. Dan Mersey makes the pretty astute decision to describe Irish riders as being 'noble' but not classed as 'Noble', i.e. they are wealthy warriors on horseback, but due to the nature of their training, size of horses and equipment, they are not hard hitters like other noble riders. To represent these wild warriors with horses I ended up ordering a