Irregular Wars Wargaming

Taking a brief break from painting up skirmish stuff, I was able to get a few bases of Trojans done up over the past couple of weeks. Admittedly not all the stuff in the above picture - just one base from each of the three units. These were part of a bulk lot that Andrew picked up, and I pilfered. They've been on the painting queue for the last six months or so, just judging me quietly... There is a mix there of Eureka (axemen and archers) and Redoubt (tower shields), all very easy to paint up really. The challenge when I've been doing lots of detail and layering was to paint them to the same standard (a simplified full army army approach of base colours, wash, highlight with base colours) and the same colour scheme as the units they were to reinforce. From the top pic you can see that I got it pretty close... And here is the full army, all in one 10L really useful box: 4x chariots, 9x long spears, 3x axes, 6x bows, 2x medium javelins, 2x skirmish javelins, 2x skirmish sling an...

Jim and I met for a nail-biting 28mm Fantastic Battles clash between my halflings of Beerenburg, and his ferocious orc horde - coming in at 1200 points per side. The halfling breakpoint was a bit short (get it...?) at just 11, while the orcs had a massive breakpoint of 17. As the defender, Jim lay out the battlefield and deployed deep, massing archers, boar riders and a couple of elite units on his right (top left of photo), with a large unit of ogres in the centre, supported by a horde of big orcs with heavy melee weapons to their left, and a rabble in horde formation behind. His left flank (top right of photo) consisted of archers and orcs with long spears in column. The halfling line was very short and thin by comparison. From left to right were the heavily armed and armoured dismounted burghers, a mercenary giant, the Alchemists' Guild artillery, massed archers of the Mercers' and Tailor's guilds, Brewers' Guild archers, mounted burghers, urchin slingers, Cutler...

With most of my  Devilry Afoot  collection painted, I'm a little happier showing snapshots of playtest games in play. Roger came round this week and we got three games played in one sitting. Our mini campaign began with a roster of three monster hunters: Nathaniel Nightfall, the backsliding lawyer with an interest in demonology. Nathaniel was equipped with a pistol and a lantern. Rev. Titus Hardwick, outwardly devout, but another secret backslider. The reverend carried a sword and a bible (holy item). Ebenezer Cromwell, the burly goodman whose animal magnetism hints at his secret lycanthropy. Godman Cromwell arrived toting a blunderbuss and enough cut up pennies to load it twice with silver shot.  The first hunt was A Discovery of Witches, where a coven is discovered having their sabbatt on the edge of a village. The hunters were tasked with killing all three witches before the looming storm breaks.  Early on, the witches scattered and hid, transfiguring into wo...

I've fallen a little behind in painting updates for my Devilry Afoot collection, so here is a little tiny avalanche of 28mm monsters... Fist up we have the most enjoyable miniature I have painted in an awful, awful long time - the troll. This resin miniature is from HarrowHyrst (available through Footsore Miniatures), shown next to a Bloody Miniatures ECW chappie for scale..    Great lumbering creatures, ox-tailed and with grotesque features, the trolls of northern Europe dwell in small communities in lonely mountain caves and among the rocky high places furthest from the interference of humans. While susceptible to sunlight and often dim-witted, trolls can be both malevolent and possessive of immense strength meaning that few would willingly cross their path or disturb their existence. In a war-torn land, many a desperate soul has given itself up to cannibalism to survive through a desperate winter or a city under siege. For some, that taste of human flesh leaves a lingering...

This week I completed my tenth and final (for playtesting purposes) monster hunter for Devilry Afoot . I also popped some paint on an unfortunate headless lady...  This chap is another moss trooper from the 28mm Bloody Miniatures line. Originally toating two hefty horse pistols/dragons, I swapped out one of his hands for a spare lantern I had in the drawer. I see him as a scholar, but equipped as he is with sword and pistol, he could also be a veteran soldier or a gentleman slightly down on his luck. I tried a much more toned-down version of object light source painting this time, really just highlighting what is a dark blue coat up with purple nearer the warm light of the lantern. Again, I am not wholly convinced, but it is not a displeasing result.  The headless spectre is a ghost from Midlam Miniatures with her hand twisted around to hold a wee resin candle. I actually painted her twice - the first time trying to heavily dry brush her from colour to white to be all ephemera...

The latest monster hunters completed for Devilry Afoot are these two 28mm moss troopers from Bloody Miniatures. They have been painted up to use as gentlemen, but could equally be soldiers. In  Devilry Afoot , a gentleman is man of quality, wealth and honour, whose family money has allowed for a life of leisure and the luxury to practice the more chivalrous arts of swordplay, poetry and courting. Given their standing in the community, a gentleman will start any game or campaign with additional resources and a member of his household to provide support during a hunt and other essential services during normal times. This last shot, from one of our test games, shows a gentleman and soldier attempting to drive off a wendigo that was threatening a small frontier settlement. The gentleman's dog had already been eaten and shortly after this photo was taken, both the gentleman and soldier were also dined upon... suffice to say the scenario did not end well for the hunters!