Irregular Wars Wargaming

  Devilry Afoot  is due to be published towards the end of the summer so page-setting and final proofing is well underway. Some of the the photography still needs to be completed, but we are almost there. The preview pages here are still works in progress, but should give a taste of what's to come. Devilry Afoot is a game that takes as its premise the questionable notion that the fears which percolated through 16th and 17th century Europe were wholly justified; that ungodliness and moral corruption manifested as an evil that could be countered with religious fervour. The rules, character creation, and monster profiles are all heavily themed around the folk beliefs of early modern Western Europe. Players take on the role of a small party of self-righteous monster hunters in (mostly) co-operative or solo scenarios to try to defeat the creatures of the night. The monsters are automated using a simple but effective matrix based on their proximity to humans and a single die roll. ...

Finishing up the last of the pieces i need to cover every eventuality in Devilry Afoot, I've now completed an evil tree and more innocent civilians/werewolf food. Evil trees are static terrain pieces in Devilry Afoot that have the ability to lash out and cause harm to humans who stray too close. This pretty splendid evil tree is a 3D print sculpted by Dragon Trappers Lodge and sold as an Awakened Tree. He might be awake, but he's certainly not happy about it...  I've also completed four more innocents to give me a total of eight. These four are from Wargames Foundry. They are all pretty characterful, although the shepherd is perhaps a little flat of face. The Foundry miniatures mix pretty well with the Crucible Crush Productions figures , they are a bit heftier, but give good variety, for sure don't we all come in different shapes and sizes? 

Following on from the first three hunts , our intrepid band of monster hunters (Fr. Hans and Goodman Gruber, Colonel Clijsters, Dr Midnite and his faithful follower Betty) set out to once more take on the forces of Evil. Scenario 4) Wolves in sheep’s clothing Over recent months, livestock has been mysteriously slaughtered in the night and a young farm hand in the neighbouring parish has now gone missing. Hearing a wild commotion in the dark of night, several foolhardy villagers leave their homes to brave the night and come together in the village centre. As the dark shapes mill about in confusion, it soon becomes clear that all is not right. Suffice to say, this hunt did not exactly go as planned. Two werewolves revealed themselves before the crowd of innocents managed to disperse. One made its way towards the hunters on the riverbank, while the other started to massacre the NPCs. Ineffective pistol fire and worse sword-play saw seven innocents ...

I've recently been concentrating on page-setting the manuscript for Devilry Afoot , but the last of my miniatures for the game are also slowly getting finished up. Here are three redcaps, and a pack of three wolves. Redcaps are a particularly  vicious and resentful breed of fairy folk – wicked goblins that either serve  wicked masters or stalk lonely ruins looking for wayward travellers whose  blood they use to dye their caps. Despite their iron-shod feet, redcaps are  surprisingly fleet of foot and almost impossible to outrun. These redcaps are some of the most fun miniatures I've painted in ages. They are actually 3D printed goblins from Highlands Miniatures, but almost certainly inspired by the redcaps of Scottish folklore with their pointed caps, pole-arms and steel boots.  As the primordial hunter of man, wolves have long been feared for their  cunning and aggression. With haunting howls and sharp, predatory eyes, the  nocturnal predators stalk th...

Here is another command stand for ProjectSeleukid - this time a royal party consisting of a king and shield-bearer from Aventine Miniatures, and a queen carried on a litter by Checkpoint Miniatures (CP Models). I went with a purple a colour scheme as I dared to indicate just how very royal the royal couple are. This base will not be used for the planned Magnesia scenario, a) because I am running the left flank commanded by Seleukos (future Seleukos IV, but in 190 BC still just the heir apparent), and b) because radiate crowns are not a feature of Seleukid iconography until c.170/169 BC, midway through the reign of Antiochos IV Epiphanes (Seleukos IV's younger brother).  Technically speaking, only a small number of Seleukid king's used the divinising feature: Antiochos IV,  Alexander I, Antiochos VI, Alexander II, Antiochos VIII, and Demetrios III. Here's something I wrote a while ago on the matter LINK .  I intentionally set the king figure slightly back on the base to ma...

With the completion of Devilry Afoot fast approaching, we set out to run through all 13 scenarios included in the rules as a single campaign, following the same party of hunters as they struggle against the forces of darkness. The starting hunting party consisted of four characters: Fr. Hans, a devout but lustful religious; Goodman Gruber, a gallant goodman who's slovenly nature is tempered by his penitence; Dr Midnite, a lustful physician and astrologer; Colonel Clijsters, a retired soldier and skilled duellist, who's experiences on the Continent have left him doubting his faith. Scenario 1) A discovery of witches A coven of witches has been discovered, gathering just beyond the edge of a small hamlet for their witches’ sabbatt. As ominous storm clouds gather, a small party of witch hunters has been recruited to  root them out. Our hunters had a rough time of their first supernatural encounter. Fr Hans managed to wake some sleeping innocents and herd them to safety; Dr Midni...