Irregular Wars Wargaming

With the release of Dan Mersey and Michael Leck's Rebels and Patriots , I've dug out my 15mm 18th and 19th century miniatures to build two trial companies. I'll not go into a full review (there are plenty out there, here is Karawansary's , and ilivewithcats' ); these read like another elegant set of rules, building on Dan's 'Rampant' series, and firmly rooted in the black powder period. First up are the 27th Inniskilling Fusiliers - my local regiment - for the French and Indian War (1754-1763). The 'Skins' had previously fought in the West Indies (1739-1740), against the Jacobites in Scotland (1745-1746), and then were sent to Canada where they fought from 1758-1761, before redeploying back to the West Indies until 1762 when they returned to New York. Although  Rebels and Patriots  is framed for games in the American conflicts of the 18th and 19th centuries, all the elements are there for more diverse conflicts in the period. Troop ...

Having put my standard Minoan army (Mycenaean, army no.30) through it's paces a number of times now, I figured that I should give myself a couple of spare units to allow some variation. To date I have run two Minoan commands and an unreliable 'Islander' command using the Achaean Myrmidon option from the army list. However, if I downgrade my Myrmidons (medium swordsmen impact armoured elite) to Trojan allied Lukka/Lykians (medium swordsmen impact), and drop the elite status of one heavy chariot, then I can field a couple of units of javelineers.  Although the army list called the javelineers Thracians - more Trojan allies - I am running my army as Minoans, so I am calling them Luwian javelineers from the Taurus mountains of southern Anatolia (which include Lykia, the home of the Bronze Age Lukka). The figures are Rapier, a mix of Sea Peoples and Sumerians (with a few added shields). Here is the expanded unreliable command using this option: Heavy chariot elite (embe...

Across the dusty plains, the rival armies faced off. The Sumerians, clad in their goat skins and led by their nobles in onager-drawn battle cars stared across at the army of Pharaoh who, fresh from the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt, was now the Lord of Two lands. The Sumerians were the aggressors, but Pharaoh had it in mind to capture a few of those ass-drawn chariots and see whether the concept would catch on in Egypt. Of course we can't suggest that Sumer and Old Kingdom Egypt ever fought, but this was the first viably historic clash for Lee's Sumerians. As both armies had buckets of low cost troops - including compulsory mediocre units - this was also the largest game we've played; 27 units each. The Egyptians deployed in one long line. Their right (upper left of the photo) was made up of levy medium swordsmen supported by javeliners and bowmen. In the centre were a block of heavy swordsmen with some more javelineers and bowmen, while on the left (upper ri...

Following on with my quest for 10mm Illyrians , here is the result. A warband of Illyrians to support - or assault - my Classical Macedonians.   Taking advantage of my birthday present - now I can hobby and be part of the family at the same time (thank you lovely family) - I decided that I would milliput over the belts on the Celtiberian bodies. I do find it a strange look - a chiton or tunic without a belt. But apparently it really was the style of the time. I decided to stick with bright and bold colours. This is partly rationalised by the thought that, as mercenaries, these likely lads might have liked to show off their wealth with a bit of brightly coloured cloth. Also, it'll help to further distinguish them from the Macedonian peltasts who are principally in brow and grey.

Thucydides account of the Spartan Brasidas' Macedonian campaign of 424-423 BC provides one of the only narrative descriptions of a Classical Macedonian army in the field. Indeed, it might be the only relatively full account; most references to the Macedonians at war refer to allied contingents - perhaps exclusively cavalry - serving in predominantly Greek campaigns. I've referenced the Thucydides passages previously when preparing my Macedonians ( hoplites , other infantry ). The account of the same campaign also provides us with the knowledge that Perdikkas II, the king of lowland Macedonia had arranged to hire a body of Illyrians, a group of non-Greek tribes situated to the north and west of Macedonia, renowned for their aggressive and warlike nature. "The victors [Brasidas and Perdikkas] now set up a trophy and waited two or three days for the Illyrian mercenaries who were to join Perdiccas. Perdiccas then wished to go on and attack the villages of Arrhabaeus [king of...

I woke up this morning to read a review  of Four Against the Titans  by William C. Pfaff over at the Four Against Darkness Adventurers Guild group on Friendface. Be warned, it contains some hints which might be considered spoilers - but he doesn't really give too much away. Note that where ever he uses the names of gods, he is referring to children of those gods - not the gods themselves. **** I promised a while back a full review/report on my experiences with Four Against the Titans. First off, let me not bury the lede. This book is AWESOME! It’s not without some minor quibbles (you can get “stuck” outside of a town for a LONG time if you can’t manipulate dice) BUT it’s an “A” effort and should be on everyone’s “to buy” list. Nic Wright did himself proud with this one: he captured the actual “feel” of epic adventuring in ancient Greece- the mechanics support the source material and vice versa. [Minor spoilers – depending on how much you want to figure out on your o...

Starting off the new year the way I hope to continue, here are the latest reinforcements to my Early Macedonian army. I may be starting to over do things, but who doesn't like options right? The hoplites on the right in the photo above are the new lads.  While the first hoplite phalanx were vaguely themed blue with lots of Macedonian suns, these guys are vaguely red, with thunderbolts to work perhaps as hoplites in the service of one of the Upper Macedonian kingdoms (such as the hoplites in Lynkestian service in the 420s BC), or as Epeirotes. The aulos (double flute) player out front is the 'leader' marker, indicating the centre of the unit for line of sight purposes where necessary. In support we have two units of psiloi slingers. There aren't any direct references to Macedonian slingers from the 5th century that I'm aware of, but the sling was fairly universal around the Mediterranean, and there is loads of archaeological evidence for units of slin...