Irregular Wars Wargaming

Another quality update from Mark in Thailand: Hi all It’s been two years (Dec 2015) since I last reported on the adventures of Don Marco da Pattaya the “popinjay of the Indies”. Having a day to spare, I thought I’d bring things up to date. We last saw Don Marco in command of the successful expedition to capture the KhiNok Island from the Chinese pirates. He was appointed Governor of the islands, tasked with ensuring the lucrative trade in birds nests continued and the profits flowed back to Malacca.  But it hasn’t worked out that way. After two years of mysteriously small profits, and rumors that Don Marco has installed solid gold bathroom taps in the Governors mansion, the Malacca authorities have sent a squadron to arrest him. That hasn’t worked out either. Using a combination of charm, gold, and a little arsenic, Don Marco has seized command of the squadron. His best chance of beating the rap will be to sail into Malacca with holds full of loot. As it happens h...

The last - or more probably, the 'latest' - racer to join my son's collection for Faustus Furius is Destroyer, the orcish steam-tank. I picked this up as an impulse buy whilst browsing the Perfect Six Miniatures site. I've said it before, and I'm sure to say it again, Richard has some really superb quality products on there. It is, rather obviously, a 6mm orcish steam-tank. In the game, it will run as a heavy chariot class meaning that it's acceleration isn't good, but it is sturdy and should handle anything other racers throw at it.

All hail Minos, Beloved of the Great-Mother; Priest-king of Knossos, High-king of Crete and Lord of the Islands; the Bull from the Sea, below whose hooves the very earth shakes. Minos, all hail! Mighty words for  6mm king, but deserved words none-the-less. I have finally finished the second division of my Minoan (Mycenaean) army for L'Art de la Guerre . The Myrmidon division was finished back in October ( HERE and HERE ), and while these were started way back then, the last of the chariots were only finished yesterday. All figures with the exception of Minos are from Rapier Miniatures. This is the personal division of Minos himself and represents his household guard. Composed of elite heavy chariots, medium spearmen and light infantry javelineers, on the battlefield, this will function as one of the two swift(er) divisions with everything moving a mighty 3 base widths a turn. I never said it would be a fast army. King Minos leading the chariots - all chariots are from ...

A last minute post to wish everyone a happy festive season. As the year comes to a close I'd like to thank everyone who has shown their support throughout the year, whether by playtesting, buying, playing and posting, or commenting on, sharing and liking posts. For those who are interested in such things, a little over £400 have been donated to UNHCR in the course of 2018 as a result of sales. For me, I am already working on an official mini-campaign for Palaeo Diet  called  Tales of Herc the Hero . ToHtH , will provide five new linked scenarios ( very loosely inspired by the labours of Herakles) which take the form of prehistoric, fire-side stories, told by a lonely Herc as he tries to impress a new tribe. The campaign will also introduce a number of new beast profiles and reaction tables. Keep an eye out for it when the grass starts to grow and the herds drop their young. Following on from that, if there is enough of a call for it, I will start to work on a standalone...

Following my less than impressive performance in our last Faustus Furius race, my wee lad was gracious/cocky enough to humour me with a rematch. As last time, we only played a single lap race. This time there were six racers - Antiochos and Darius, both driving scythed chariots, and Ranzo, the orc archer class chariot were teamed up, all racing on behalf of the lad. Driving to restore my honour were Hattusilis driving a standard chariot, Medb in her agile chariot, and Romulus in a heavy archer class chariot.   Despite having to set up behind the rest of the racers at the starting line, Romulus ended up having to activate first. He fired off a ballista bolt at Antiochos to try and clear a path, but completely missed his target. His compulsory move then saw him ever so slowly plod forward, collide with both Antiochos and Darius and flip over. Antiochos was shunted out of the way, heading off to the right (not the way he wanted to be going!), and Darius bounced away into a ...

“… but when Loki, Mischief-Maker, the cause of all the troubles of the gods, admitted that it was he who cut Sif’s golden hair, Sif’s husband, Thor the Thunderer, threatened great revenge unless Loki replace every thread. “Of course, you all know the story of Loki’s descent into Nidavellir, how the sons of Ivaldi crafted new hair for Sif, and how the Mischief-Maker then tricked the dwarves into crafting other gifts for the gods. “But I have heard tell that Loki first past the way of the Western Lands, and while thinking up new ways to trick the gods, he carelessly allowed one of Sif’s hairs to become snagged in a branch. “That hair was found many years later by a skilled smith, who worked the golden strand into a magical ring. It is said that whoever wears the ring will be never be without food or ale or mead, that their every meal will be like feasting in Valhalla, and that their stores will overflow with grain and their livestock will be ever fruitful…” Before the sk...