Irregular Wars Wargaming

I'm really pleased to be able to present two new fantastic Galleys & Galleons reports from Mark in Thailand: **** Hi all At last I’ve hauled my Ming fantasy fleet into the water, ready for some G&G action. The attentive among you will recall (obviously) the sensational exposé in these pages of the secret report by Don Marco da Pattaya (at that time Acting Viceroy of Malacca) to the Portuguese high command at Sagres, reporting on Chinese moves to rebuild their fleet on novel, fantastic lines. It seems the Fleet is now ready for action ... An-Te Hai, the Court Eunuch punished by being appointed Inspector-General of the Tribute Bearing Fleet (Captain-General of the Minor Southern Lands) has been ordered to sea to escort a most important convoy past that notorious nest of pirates, the Knights of St Michael of Singapore. This game will have only about 160 points per side while I re-familiarise myself with the G&G rules and work out how to handle the nov...

Andrew and I met up again this week for a third game of  l'Art de la Guerre  between his Triumvirate Romans and my assorted late Hellenistic principalities. After previously being steam-rolled by Tigranes II's Armenians , and then being only just defeated by the Ituraeans of Chalkis , this time the legions of Rome were faced by Mithridates VI of Pontos. If you're not already a fan of his, you should read up on him - a true hero of the Hellenistic world in the face of vile Roman oppression... 😇 This time around, the Triumvirate Romans were on the defensive, choosing to fight on a coastal plain broken only by three fields and treeless plantation (far right). The Romans had a small army consisting of 12 veteran legionary units (heavy swordsmen, armoured, impact, elite) supported by two heavy cavalry (one on each flank), two elite Cretan archer skirmishing units and a regular unit of skirmishing bowmen. The Pontic left was made up of an infantry division: two javelinee...

It has taken some time, but I have finally completed some wee friends for my 10mm Illyrians (see previous posts HERE and HERE ). Like their comrades, these are converted Pendraken Celtiberians. There are a few head swaps - this time using Magister Militum peltasts - and modelling putty was used to cover over belts to give the Illyrian-no-belt look. 

Kenneth Van Pelt has been using Palaeo Diet: Eat of Be Eaten with his 5th graders at the Barstow School, Missouri. It looks like it was a great experience for all involved - go check out the school's blog .  As a rule designer, I always hope that my games will be fun. It's also nice if they are accurate to what they are trying to represent, whether that be history, or historical trope. However, to see a set of my rules used to educate - to help people learn through participatory entertainment - is a real joy and an honour. 

Andrew, Jim and I got together last week for a 1st century BC game of l'Art de la Guerre (in glorious 6mm naturally). When last Andrew and I met, his un-tested Triumvirate Romans were tried, tested and found wanting by Tigranes of Armenia in a most embarrassing way . This time I thought I'd see if I could repeat the cull with an untried army of my own - no.74, Aramaeans. The Aramaeans were the defenders and we chose to hold the line where the mountains meet the sea. My Aramaean army was inspired by the  Ituraean tetrarchy of Chalkis  in the Massyas Valley - the modern Beqa'a. I commanded the tetrarch himself (on the left), leading three units of elite heavy cavalry and four units of horse archers, as well as a strategos commanding four units of heavy swordsmen and four units of bowmen (holding the centre). Jim assumed the role of the sheikh of my nomadic division leading a motley crew of two units of medium camelry archers, four javelineers, two bowmen and two units ...