Irregular Wars Wargaming

Following on from their previous adventures ( 1 , 2 , 3 ), Mark's Grey Wolf Clan are back! **** Hi all, In this installment of PreHistory month I played five games representing episodes from the hunting season of the Grey Wolf Clan, my Palaeolithic hunter-gatherer band (as interpreted by Mark Copplestone via Hollywood). There will be guest appearances by the new snow terrain discussed last time, the last Gomphotherium, and also the Trout Clan, my “other” band of Palaeolithic people. I’m doing only a brief report for each hunt and limiting it to one or two photos each. (1) The first Spring hunt With snow still on the ground, a party of the four fittest surviving hunters have been sent out from the winter camp to find fresh food. They must kill 4 Bulk, not only as badly-needed food for the Clan but also to fulfill a pledge to the Spirits. Failure may mean the ancestors look on their descendants with disdain - or worse. The photo shows two of the hunters, C...

“[Europa] bare sons to the almighty Son of Kronos [Zeus], glorious leaders of wealthy men - Minos the ruler, and just Rhadamanthys and noble Sarpedon the blameless and strong." Hesiod, Catalogues of Women Fragment 19A (Oxyrhynchus Papyri) I'm delighted to be able to show off my completed Minoan army for L'Art de la Guerre (198 points), started back in September last year. For me, that is a pretty quick turn around, and I have to say, I'm rather pleased with the completed force. Whether they are any good in battle is a whole other issue. 😕 All figures are from Rapier Miniatures except for Minos himself (Perfect Six Miniatures), and the civilians in the camp (Baccus Miniatures).  The Myrmidon allied contingent. The Minoan heavy chariotry lead by Minos. Supporting medium spearmen and javelin-armed skirmishers. The heavy division made up of heavy spearmen with pavises and missile support, along with a veritable swarm of skirmishing ...

So, all these 10mm rats and halflings – not to mention the Legion of Super Evil (not yet previewed) – have caused me to start looking for a good fantasy mass battle game for the first time in many years. All of the below is my personal thoughts and I realise that many people may disagree with parts or all that I write. In the foolishness of youth I played Warhammer Fantasy Battle 3 rd Edition, but I fell out of love with Games Workshop a good twenty years ago. I have no intention of re-engaging in that department, but even if I did, they don’t even seem to do a mass battle game anymore for their fantasy setting. I might be out of the loop on this one… 😊 I then dabbled with Hordes of the Things , the WRG rules based on the DBX system. I rather enjoy the elegant abstraction of DBX and its successors in historical settings where the relatively restricted number of troop types battle it out against their contemporaries. However, I’m not convinced that there is enough nuance...

Just in time to return to work (strictly speaking I'm still a bit flu-y. but I have stuff that I need to do...), I managed to finish up my halflings. I just have some treefolk to do as some chunky melee supports and I'll have 1000 points for KoW , or 200 crowns of troops for Mayhem .  The halfing militia are mostly Eureka halflings, with Magister Militum command pack chaps added for variety - and for the cooking pot. I'm counting the standard bearers as halfling militiamen with pikes. The halfling yeomanry (and Hugo the Bold) are all Magister Militum, from the pony cavalry pack and the command pack. This is probably my last post for a while as I am now way behind at work and in life. However, don't quote me on this. There is always room for procrastination... 🙈

I've had a halfling 'thing' since childhood. From Tolkien's Middle Earth to the Warhammer Old World, there was always something that appealed to me about the unassuming everyman who would stand up against tyranny when the moment came. Last Christmas, my good mate and gaming buddy JB decided to get me a pack of Eureka 10mm halflings to get me started. On my birthday, he them presented me with a couple of Magister Militum packs of halflings to push me further down that particular rabbit hole. Having been off sick and restricted to the house, I managed to paint up the first couple of units for a halfling army. I'm not sure what rules will be used yet - Kings of War or perhaps Mayhem ? I have army lists written up for both. I'm still not sold on KoW , and have yet to actually play Mayhem . Regardless, here is the start of the halfling militia of Hearthshire. The Squire of Hearthshire is the musician from the Eureka halfling pack. I really liked the sculpt, ...

In lucid moments between savage bouts of coughing, I've managed, just, to finish up a few more units of 6mm Minoans for my L'Art de la Guerre Mycenaean/Minoan army. I only have six units left to do before the army is finished, but with each one taking so much time and effort while I'm down with the super-mega-power-flu, I wanted to post a wee work in progress shot so I can feel like I've achieved something... All models are Rapier 6mm Trojans. My third commander, attached to a unit of heavy chariots.  Two units of heavy spearmen with missile support and pavises. Given the option of fully kitting out my heavy infantry, I was inspired by the so-called 'Lion Hunt' dagger from Myceneae, to integrate archers (and slingers) among the spearmen rather than in a single rank behind them. I know the dagger shows a hunting scene, but (from memory) Homer describes the same sort of scene - Teukros firing his bow from the shelter of Ajax's shield in the Illi...