Irregular Wars Wargaming

My 10mm early Macedonians took to the field again this week for a rematch with Lee's Greeks. The first two games using Dux Bellorum  had seen my Macedonians use their superior numbers to swarm around Lee's hardcore hoplites and collapse his line. Given my total cavalry superiority, I planned on doing the same this time, sweeping around the flanks to strike from behind. Dux Bellorum works so beautifully for these games: skirmishers tend to meet first, then the cavalry get involved, and only later do the bronze-clad beauties (AKA hoplites) get to grips with the situation. That is certainly what happened this time around too.  Unfortunately for the good guys, the Greek peltasts failed to evaporate fast enough when faced by the Macedonian companions and the infantry lines met before my cavalry were ready. That hole in the left hand side of the Macedonian line is what happens when epilektoi hoplites meet Macedonian tribal levies... Better luck next time boys. Despite

With my love of early Macedonia finding an outlet through Dux Bellorum: Hoplomachia , I wanted - nay, was compelled! - to get some more 10mm Macs. Here is the new tranche of three units. These will allow me to field a full 32 points of troops in Hoplomachia , 85 points worth of troops towards a 100 point L'Art de la Guerre Early Macedonian army, or 328 points in Hail Caesar . More hetairoi! These noble Macedonian horse-barons are Magister Militum Thracian cavalry - some with head swaps to introduce a couple of helmets, some with added broad-brimmed petasoi made of green stuff. My mate Lee very unkindly refers to them as banditos...   More tribal levy! These lovely wee figures are all from the Magister Militum Greek peltasts pack. The best I can say about their performance in battle so far is that it seems historically accurate.

It is probably safe to say that our gaming circle has been somewhat … underwhelmed, by the off the shelf options available for wargaming hoplite battles at the moment. Although the likes of L’Art de La Guerre and distantly related DBX games can be fantastic (and we are big fans of ADG here), its scope is – I feel – a little too broad to capture a sense of hoplite battle. Seeing two long lines of evenly matched, slow moving, robust infantry units plod towards each other is not exactly thrilling. Other rule systems we have played (such as Men of Bronze ) are, conversely, too dynamic. They allow extraordinarily swift movements – hoplite charges outdistance missile range and leave re-deployment so easy as to make the mini-game that is the initial of tactical deployment all but obsolete. Hail Caesar , Sword and Spear and Impetus are not every body’s cup of tea and many unit types just end up a bit vanilla after a round of combat. On the flip slide, more bespoke solution

I was ambushed by the young lad (age 8) this week asking for a game of 'Knights'. He wanted to get his new posse led by Sir John on the table and have a game. I opted to use standard Song of Blades and Heroes with simple warbands. Sir John and his retinue came in at just under 150 points, so I built an outlaw band the same strength. Sir John's Posse Sir John - Q3 C3; Hero, Heavy Armour, Steadfast Swordsman - Q4 C2; Steadfast Spearman - Q4 C2; Steadfast Crosbowman - Q4 C2; Shooter - Long, Sharpshooter, Steadfast Merry Foresters Robin - Q3 C3; Hero, Good Shot, Shooter - Long, Forester John - Q4 C2; Forester Will - Q4 C2; Forester Much - Q4 C2; Shooter - Medium, Forester To get the game moving quickly, we used a 2' square board and deployed 1x Short in from our chosen table edge. Robin and Much are top right, Will and John bottom right. Sir John is out of shot in the lower left, and his men are spread out to the left - the crossbowman in the middle.