Irregular Wars Wargaming

One of this year's projects is to build one of two retinues for Barons' War . When I ordered the rules from Footsore, I was sent a freebie miniature of an outlawed noble. Even though my first retinue is being built from Fireforge plastics (because I already had them and they are more-or-less chronologically appropriate), I decided to paint this chap up. You can't see so much in the picture, but this noble's nose was miscast and makes him look a bit Asterix in profile. Once more , I have gone a little nostalgic when it came to the heraldry, taking inspiration from the Lego Forestmen of 1987-1990. I haven't yet decided how he will be used, but I may build an outlaw/forestmen retinue for him a little later in the year. Size-wise, the Footsore range is slighter than some of, but taller than others! Helpful! You could fit two outlawed nobles in that Trent Miniatures friar, but the height is about right. The outlaw is noticibly taller (3-4mm?) than the Robin Hood miniatur...

Last week, Capt' Thomas Blood's buccaneers engaged in another scuffle with the militia of Port Onslow. After their previous successful raid on the port , this time it was personal, with the militia out for blood, and Blood looking to repeat his previous success. The Port Onslowians gathered together in two clumps (upper right), while the buccaneers split into three groups (to the left).  The buccaneer's left flank was held by Donna Maria and the two swabbies with muskets, supported by a lugger with a spear. Teir intention was to race for the bridge, hold it, and pepper the enemy flank with musketry. What they didn't account for was a) the militia didn't care they were there - they had other targets in mind, and b) the militia had far more muskets at hand, so any fire-fight was always going to be one sided. The opening shot of the game - from the militia's native chieftain - took out a swabby with a blunderbuss. The rest of the buccaneer's advanced more cauti...

Mark continues his saga in the East Indies with Galleys & Galleons ... **** Sir Oliver Starkey (a historical figure I have co-opted - you can Google him) has done well since being captured by the Knights of St Michael of Singapore ( at the siege of Kupang ). He has joined the Order, and now has command of his own squadron which is setting out on caravan. This squadron comprises 2 galleys of the Knights including Starkey’s lanterna (he is a ‘dashing’ commander) & an auxiliary junk crewed by local toughs who are said to have converted to Christianity. Stella Artois Q3 C4: Drilled soldiers, Flagship, Galley, Swashbucklers, Yare (88) Corona Q3 C3: Drilled soldiers, Galley, Swashbucklers, Yare (48) Bean Sprout Q2 C2: Derring-do, Intimidating, Lateen, Reinforced hull, Yare (50) ************ The Hainan Trader Starkey led his squadron North into the Gulf of Siam, looking for easy pickings. Off Kompong Som a large merchant junk appeared, no doubt en route to Ayutthaya and loaded with Ch...

  A quick introduction to the features of the updated army builder spreadsheet for Fantastic Battles (January 2022).

After a lengthy Hapsburg hiatus ( last mentioned in 2020 ), I have started the year with a few 6mm Napoleonic Austrian reinforcements and a renewed enthusiasm to actually push them about in simulated anger. I've a few new units I wish to add to the army - bringing it up to a 300 point force if we end up playing  Bataille Empire , or a respectable five divisions should we go down the  Black Powder 2  route. First up, serendipitously, are the 1st (Kaiser Franz) Hussars. With their dark blue uniforms and black shakos, they could easily do double duty as the 11th (Szekler) Hussars from Transylvania. The next regiment is the 4th (Vincent) Chevauleger. This unit is actually composed of left-over cuirassiers supplemented by some spare mounted generals with greenstuff helmets to make them blend in. Given the hotchpotch make up of the unit, I think they have come together very cleverly. I went with the 4th regiment to ensure I got the green coats - not all chevauleger wear gr...

For the first game of the year, Jim and I got together to play around with the draft siege rules for for Fantastic Battles . I took 480 points worth of beastlings, defending a small stockade. Jim led 1000 points of Byzernian besiegers. There were a number of things that worked well, and a few things that didn't. Serendipitously my army was composed entirely of shooting units, so once the assault started - pretty early, Jim wasn't for sitting and building siege engines - the balance of power was with the defenders.  However, once the Byzernian axe men were at the palisade and various fantastic elements started to impact on the game (magic and flying principally), the Byzernian numbers and superior martial skills turned the tide. The palisade was breached in two places, the Byzernian archangel flew over the walls, and their heavy cavalry were probably quite as surprised as I was to find themselves blinked within the walls. At this point, the accumulated resolve loss was too much ...