The Peasants are revolting.....

Somewhat later than planned - a theme for the month.

Play a game and paint something to compliment it :-)

After the Excalibur outing I dug out half a box of peasants that were left over from one of the Crusader units and thought they would be useful to compliment the Knights of the Round Table and defend their homesteads against the invaders.

First up 5 missilemen and a cluster of arrows just because they were left on the sprue. A mix of greens and browns with some pretty flowers to show they are the good guys...

A bunch of spearmen ready with their wall of spears ok maybe more like a hedge of spears.

Finally a cluster of villagers with hand held weapons, the one eyed leader suggests is bark may be worse than is bite.

Nice to get these off the paint queue and table ready.

Excalibur - The Battle of Caerwyn Bridge.

Not had these out for a while. - Lion Rampant, with a little bit of Dragon Rampant thrown in.

The Battle of Caerwyn Bridge — Arthur’s knights must hold a fragile rope bridge while Mordred’s armoured knights, footmen, and missile troops advance in overwhelming numbers.

The River Taranis flows through Arthur’s western borderlands. The only crossing for leagues is the Caerwyn Rope Bridge, a narrow, swaying span of hemp rope and timber planks. 

Mordred’s host approaches from the north, intent on seizing the crossing.

A small but elite force stands ready to defend the bridge against Modred's dark human host. The Alarm bell rings and Arthur rallies his knights who rush to defend the bridge.

Mordred’s forces are grim, disciplined, and numerous — not monsters, but men hardened by war and driven by ambition.

The bridge sways under the weight of the black‑armoured knights as the advance across the bridge, the warriors are thrown backwards.

Sir Kay pushes forwards taking the fight to Mordred's forces striking down numerous warriors as they reached the far side of the bridge before the weight of numbers told.

Sir Bedivere falls backwards as Mordred and his Banner moves on to the bridge — the usurper directing the assault personally.

As Mordred advances he is met by Sir Lancelot, many years in the wilderness back to aid in Camelot's defence.

Both knights were wounded but Mordred was forced to fall back and regroup for a further assault. The Knights of the Round Table having brought valuable time for the local civilians to escape and over half their number carrying wounds, decided to retreat from the bridge, they had won a valuable victory in the opening round. 

Great fun and who knows maybe a small campaign.

Borrowing from another rule set, I rolled for the casualties on the 'Good' side.

• Sir Gawain — Recovered no ill effects
• Sir Bedivere — Recovered no ill effects
• Sir Kay — Whilst the wound is not deep - He has the Jitters for future games and tests on a -1 Courage roll.

It spurred me on to prep a bunch of Wargames Atlantic/Baron's war peasant levy which have been hanging around for a couple of years. Games like this are always a tonic to keep the paint queue moving.

Aztec warriors - Wargames Atlantic.

Aztec month is nearly complete and pressure is on complete the latest batch of Mexica Infantry. The limited clothing and equipment allowed me to turn these around within a few days.

I am aiming to cluster these together into the various military ranks with Aztec culture. Individual fighters advancement was not simply on surviving battles, but on capturing enemies alive. Taking captives brought prestige, social advancement, and access to increasingly elaborate weapons, armour, and insignia.

The hierarchy described in surviving sources such as the Codex Mendoza should probably be viewed as a guideline rather than an absolute rulebook which is perfect for what I am after and the Wargames Atlantic sculpts come with enough variety to represent the various classes, but for now pic's of the mass.

Commoners or Yaoquizqueh - The lowest tier of Aztec warriors. These men had yet to capture an opponent and would have formed the bulk of an army's manpower - these will be presented by those in simply a loin cloth, armed with spears, slings and bows together with wooden clubs.

Low-Status Warriors or Telpochyahqui - Warriors who had captured their first enemy, these will be wearing the ichcahuipilli or quilted cotton armour, I have armed this in the main with the macuahuitl, or edged wooden club.

The additional Eagle Warriors might have to wait, they are primed and based but I am running out of days - August is back to the Sino-Japanese War although it would be good to sneak in a game with these extra warriors and the latest Spanish additions.

They it's a wait until Christmas to see if another box appears :-)

Cortez Cavalry - Lion Rampant

According to accounts Cortez took 16 cavalry when he left Cuba in 1519 - so 12 should be more than enough for my needs.

Two units of 6 from Wargames Atlantic designed for Lion/Queztacoata Rampant to strike fear into the hearts of the Aztec warriors....

I broke the units up into a lance and sword unit, following the theme from the foot troops and common colours for each type, I suspect the Jungle and general wear and tear would have meant they would have had less of a uniform in reality but they fit with the broader theme of the Aztec project.

Half way through the month - now for more Aztecs the clock is ticking.... 

Dogs of War - Conquistadors.

Welcome to July and a change of focus on the paint table - 

Back to the Aztecs the occasional project that tends to grow in size on Fathers day or Birthdays when they get picked from the amazon wish list :-)

These are a nice surprise, as it was a little too warm lately I thought I would get some prep done in the snipping and gluing department, I opened up the box of Conquistador cavalry only to find that there are 8 War Dogs in the box - Wonderful.

A great addition to the Spanish forces as they look to subdue the local population. The Handlers are from Antediluvian Miniatures and are a good fit for the rest of the forces.

Next up cavalry and more Aztec foot....

Conquistadors vs Aztec - First Encounters

A detachment of Spaniards having landed on the coast with Cortez have been guided by the Totonac tribes inland looking for signs of the Aztec empire. Having burnt their ships on the coast the Conquistadors are here to stay.

When the inlet can no longer be passed by row boat, time to press inland on foot.

The first outing for the Aztec's and an opportunity to give the Spanish some table time using an adapted version of Lion Rampant using David Sullivan's adaption I Live with Cats: Quetzalcoatl Rampant

The Spanish are split between the river and hinterland, somewhere on the table the Aztec are hidden looking to stop the invaders advance. Two units push towards the highway.

Natives appear from the undergrowth throwing slings at the Europeans they are met with a Boom! which sends them heading for cover. 

As a detachment of Conquistadors head for the high ground they are confronted by a units of young warriors. (I am a little lite on foot figures for the Aztecs but the great thing about the Rampant rules is their point values is either 6 or 12 points making the number of figures a mute point.) 

Elsewhere... At the river bank a unit of Sword and Buckler men push forward and are engaged by another group of young warriors, keen to grab a hostage. A Spaniard is captured but the Aztec's are soon beaten back and the captive freed.

In the centre Jaguar warriors rush forward keen to push their advantage.

Taking to the high ground the more Aztec warriors charge forward looking to secure hostages. Their wild charge made their assault a little disjointed.

The Conquistadors stand firm their steel blades hacking down multiple attacks, the Aztecs were unable to defeat the closely packed ranks of Spanish, the Aztec's were nearing breaking point. 

The fire sticks shook the Aztec's morale as they massed for a final attack. They were unable to close with the invaders. The Aztec's fell back into the jungle. The Spanish held the high ground but were nervous to pursue.

A great encounter the curse of freshly painted figures continues. The rules tweaks give the right feel for the period, with the black power weapons impacting the morale of the Aztec's, Their focus on seizing hostages make for an interesting challenge giving the Spaniards a chance to recover their losses.

Looking forward to getting a few more encounters in the coming weeks.

Aztec Jaguar Warriors - Wargames Atlantic.

Next up the last of the Wargames Atlantic box.

I am not sure I will get used to the colour Palette for these Jaguar warriors, lets hope they distract the Spaniards as much on the table top as when I was painting them.....

The Jaguar warriors were an elite military class made up of Aztec nobility and served as shock troops in battle. Their primary mission was not just to kill enemies but to capture them alive for ritual sacrifice.

To become a Jaguar warrior, one had to capture at least four enemies in battle. 

I opted for a mix of colours and will look to add a little more variety on the next batch, perhaps changing the tones to the blues and red's. This is one of the Christmas and Birthday projects when people ask what do you want and you are so difficult to buy for.

You get 10 Jaguar/Eagle Warriors in each box so plenty of choices to make up.

Now to give them a run out on the table using the adapted Lion Rampant rules - Queztacoata Rampant and see how the casualty capture rules work.

It's a good excuse to get the Spanish back on the table, stay tuned for the first run out.....

Aztec Warband - Wargames Atlantic

Purchased back in January the Aztec's finally made it to the paint table.

It's amazing what the thought of a new project does to give you a nudge to get things cleared more on that in the coming weeks.

The Wargames Atlantic Aztec's go together really well with plenty of choice on the sprues for the various warrior classes. At this stage I went for a mishmash of types, but will fill out the ranks as the units expand.

The aim will be to use an adapted version of Lion Rampant, their is an excellent series of articles on the - I Live with Cats: Queztalcoatl Blog with a home grown rule set Queztacoata Rampant it will be great to give them a runout in the coming weeks once the last of the box set is complete.

   

First up a group of skirmishers these are commoners, perhaps their first battle or levied troops who have not been involved in action before. Issued with missile weapons to harass the enemy. A skirmish unit in Lion Rampant.

Next up a more experienced class of warrior allowed to carry the macuahuitl as they have proven themselves in hand to hand combat.

Finally a group of Telpochyahqui warriors - young men who have been successful in taking a captive,  a warrior was allowed to wear the ichcahuipilli, a quilted jacket, some carry the Chimalli a shield without feathers.

Just so I remember when the next box appears from the family....

Painting Guide.

Spear Tips - Gun Metal Blue

Tong or padded Jacket - F Raw Linen Light 30C, Boneyard 9B, Rawhide Light 11C, GW Corax White, GW Rakarth Flesh.

Bag & Quiver - Moss Shade 29A

Sling & Spear Binding - GW XV88

Stone - GW Dawnstone Grey

Spear, Arrow - GW Mournfang Brown

Club, Bow Shaft F Bay Brown Shade 42A

Insight of Shield - Chestnut Light 53C

Flesh - South American Flesh Shade 119A, Hight 119C

Wash - Army Painted Soft Tone

Next up 10 more warriors - As a child of the 70's I can't get past Animal Kwackers :-)

Spain in the new world - A new project looms.

Welcome to August and a change from the bouncing between the Crusades and the AWI project.

The start of a new (but planned for as very long time) project and Cortez in Mexico. As I start the snipping and gluing of Wargames Atlantic's Aztec's it gave me the opportunity of dusting off these fine looking chaps from Copplestone.

Lacking for enough clothing for the the battle of Tenochtitlan. They will certainly do for some of the encounters as the Spanish push in land and meet jungle tribes.

 

Clothing was minimal although I did give them a sheath just for modesty purposes.

Now to dig out Aguirre: Wrath of God  to give me the nudge to get the others on the table top.