Irregular Wars Wargaming

The Sultan of Songkhka is fed up with the piratical activities of the Knights of St Michael of Singapore in the waters around Sumatra and Kalimantan. He sends a strong squadron to suppress them, commanded by his current court Favourite, Lala Mustafa. Clued in by reports from irate merchant shipowners, they catch up with the Christians near the Belitung islands off the SE coast of Sumatra. The Knights are commanded by Don Oliver Starkey, who, it will be remembered, was commander (in the Portuguese service) of Kupang fortress when it fell and subsequently turned up in the service of the Knights of St Michael (go back and check out the  SIEGE OF KUPANG  here). Vessels marked * are flagships. Lala Mustafa is a Swaggering commander. Oliver Starkey is a Dashing commander. The Songkhka squadron (323 points) comprises - 2 x Galeasses (Hat Yai* & Banda Aceh) 72* & 59 Q4 C5: Drilled soldiers, Bow guns, High castles, Square rigged, Sluggish, Sweeps, Veteran NCOs 4 x Galleys (Ayut...

Over the last couple of weeks I've been slowly plugging away at my first 28mm pike phalanx. These are 3D printed sculpts from Blitzkrieg Miniatures with 80mm metal pikes (sized to fit in the allocated storage box). I don't really enjoy painting large block units like this which is why I originally built a 6mm Seleukid army and was hesitant to do a Hellenistic project in this scale. However, having finished them, I think they do look good. The sculpts are clean and well printed, although delivered with quite a few supports still in place. The detail on the linen cuirass is crisp, but overall the minis don't have the deep over-exaggerated cloth folds typical of ranges like Victrix (and that's a good thing - I don't like the deep cloth folds).  There are four different heads/helmets - not including the command pack which has a fifth - and a little variety in the shield straps/baldrics, but the rest of the sculpt is identical throughout. This is really not a drama with ...

My early Macedonians took on Roger's Early Imperial Romans in a hard-fought Fantastic Battles rematch recently down at Lisburn Gaming Club recently. The first time they met, the two armies were at 1250 points each . This time, we raised the points to 1,500, including a few mythic units on each side. The Romans had a breakpoint of 14, the Macedonians were up to 18. The Romans (top) deployed with German cavalry and infantry on their right, stiffened by some minotaurs, soldi shieldwall units of auxiliary spearmen, legionaries, and praetorians holding the centre, with archers, slingers and a hydra holding their left. There were two batteries of onagers behind the main line, and as many captains and other characters as the coffers of Rome would allow. The Macedonians deployed with Illyrian infantry, companion cavalry and Cretan archers on the left, two hoplite phalanxes in the centre led by Herakles (a character company), with skirmishers and the Macedonian tribal levy on the right, al...

This week, Andrew and I played a couple of games of  Devilry Afoot , beginning with an adaptation of one of the 13 scenarios that will be in the book, 'The Harrying'. The scenario is normally set in the wilds between settlements, but I really wanted to use Andrew's cracking ruined city terrain.  We started with four new characters: Fr. Hans, the devout religious whose drunkenness is mitigated by his penitence. Fr. Hans was equipped with a lantern and holy item, and also carried a dagger hidden beneath his vestments. Cpl Gruber, a sadistic veteran soldier who is now a skilled hunter, equipped with a dragon (horseman's pistol) and dagger. Dr Crilly, the lustful scholar whose studies focus on law, demonology, and banned (but tasteful) French illustrated manuscripts. Dr Crilly carried a sword and lantern. Goody Doyle, the pistol-armed gallant goodwife, renowned for being swift on her feet, but less well known for her sadistic tendencies. For this scenario, a group of six in...