Irregular Wars Wargaming

  As the seasons change, and parts of Northern Ireland start to descend, once more, into Covid-19 lockdown, I seized a fleeting oportunity to head up beyond the Foyle and run a game of Fantastic Battles with Lee, using our 10mm Greco-Macedonian forces. We didn't overly think the terrain, and just used every unit that we had available on the table. In retrospect the table size was far too small for the size of forces available (well, not really retrospect, it was patently obvious during deployment). Lee commanded a force of Spartans: two companies of Spartiate hoplites and five companies of allied hoplites, supported by two companies of hippokontistai (skirmishing light horse javelineers), two companies of peltasts, and a company of slingers. My early Macedonians were spearheaded (or not as it turned out) by two companies of Macedonian hetairoi, followed by two companies of mercenary hoplites, six companies of tribal levy, and two companies each of Illyrian mercenaries, slingers an...

This army showcase is a little bit different in that it is only a 500 point army rather than 1,000. Fantastic Battles  scale perfectly well for smaller armies and this army of Wyld Elves is about as small as it gets. It has focused on a small number of elite, resolute units supported by the full cadre of character types. All miniatures are 3D printed figures from Excellent Miniatures. Always watching, the Wyld Elves of the far north are seldom seen unless they choose to be. Longing for nothing more than to dance in mountain meadows lit by the midnight sun, they are never-the-less ruthless and resolute warriors when summoned to war. The fleet-footedness of Wyld Elves is their racial trope, represented by the fast trait (+1 to their movement value). From left to right are the she-elves commanding this small army: Hjartardottir the army warlord on her white stag, a Huldra magic-user, a captain and a rogue. In most small games, players take just a warlord and a captain; taking so many ...

  The only painting I've been able to finish this week is a rogue for my 10mm Wyld elf force. The figure is another 3D printed blade dancer from Excellent Miniature's 'elves of the wood' range. The sculpt is so dynamic that I wanted to use her as a character, so I glued her to a spare tree to use as a rogue. I can't explain it, and I don't know where the thought has come from, but everytime I see her I hear a wee voice calling out "Ca-caw ca-caw! You thought I was a tree!" followed by maniacal laughter. It's been a tough week...

Having suffered rebuttle in the west at the hands of the Seleukids , the Parthian Empire turned its eyes eastwards to Alexander's legacy in Arachosia and northern India. The only thing standing in the way of eastern plunder were the Indo-Skythian Kushan. The stage was set for the next outing of Andrew's Parthians... The Parthians deployed the same army as last time with a large command of medium and light horse archers commanded by a strategist, a command of seven cataphracts, and a micro-command consisting of two units of light horse archers. Opposite them, my Kushan were feeling very symetrical. The centre consisted of two elephants flanking two mediocre pike units screened by light infantry archers; the commander was embedded in the right flank elephant unit. On either flank were four catepharacts and four light cavalry - Maues the Indo-Skythian king commanded the right where two of the catephract units were elite. While I was expecting the small command to be on a flank mar...

Progressing slowly with my small Wyld Elf army, I've now finished up a two-company unit of rangers and a captain - all 3D printed models from Excellent Miniatures' Elves of the Wood archer regiment.  

Returning to L’Art de la Guerre after a hiatus of a couple of months, it was a with great enthusiasm that I took the role of a youthful Antiochos III defending the Seleukid Empire from Andrew’s Parthian incursion (c.210 BC). The armies mustered on opposite sides of an open plain overlooked by a village on a tell (situated on the Seleukid left). The Seleukid army deployed between a number of fields and a plantation, with a wide gully to their front. The left flank command consisted of all three of the pike-armed units, two units of Asiatic archers, two units of Bedouin camelry and two skirmishing units of slingers hidden in the village. The central command consisted of two units of elephants flanked by two units of armoured thorakitai, and screened by two units of elite Cretan archers. Both the left and central commanders were rather ordinary. On the right, Antiochos – a strategist – commanded four units of lancers (two elite), two units of Skythian horse archers, and another unit of As...

As part of the playtesting process, five foolish players set out to play several years of a campaign, combining battles with diplomacy, recruitment and logistical challenges. The following post chronicles the opening year in the Trollbridge War. The sprawling city of Trollbridge controls the only crossing of the River Essence between where it rises in the Watershed Downs north of Duncreggae, and where it empties into the broad marshlands south of Barrowfield. A vital node in the trade route inland from the bay of Byzernium, Trollbridge maintains a precarious neutrality between it’s the human neighbours in Balquhidder and Byzernium. To the west, beyond the ancient Wyldwood, lies the small halfling principality of Hearthshire, while stories of fur-covered shadows in the night and the distant chink of thousands of bony feet on the march heralds an emerging terror in the east. Year 1 – Starting positions, diplomacy and army musters Balquhidder : The human Kingdom of Balquhidder starts in...