Dispatches from the front XIV - Christmas Post

Well the escape from lockdown did not last long, as parts of the UK plunges into a new tier, tier four. The latest changes reminds me of the AVBCW campaigns with plans on crossing the Malverns to reach the scared land of Tier One Herefordshire a mere 10 miles away.

With Christmas cancelled, time to re-evaluate festive plans which is a pain but on a positive note creates an opening for some hobby time, which is good as the lead pile has increased somewhat in recent weeks.

Plenty of Wargames firms have been pushing out December discounts and whilst some the delivery times reminds me of the early 80's with packages taking up to 21 days. Some new stuff from Warlord, Warbases lands on the mat and the highlight a couple of nice pieces from Lucid Eye in the shape of a Pharaoh. Perfect to command the New Kingdom forces.

Meanwhile much like waiting for Santa to appear the Baccus order is on it's way perfect for the Pony Wars project in January.

Lacking any face to face gaming of late, I have been working on adapting Sharp Practice with elements from the Infamy rule set for the Zulu wars. We put some house rules together last year but have had a rethink with the release of the Rich Clarke's excellent ancient rules, you can find a copy of the unit stats and house rules here. http://dusttears.blogspot.com/p/sharp-practice-2-zulu-wars-house-rules.html

I have been trying to convince the kids to watch the must watch war films of the last 30 years. They did survive Last of the Mohicans with the iconic battle scene of the massacre of the British leaving Fort Willian Henry. You get a real sense of the pulpable fear in the column. I feel a solo scenario coming on.

Meanwhile one they won't want to watch, more oddities from Netflix.

An Indian Zombie story with British Red Coats circa 1857 (uniforms look more like 1776 to me.) released from a tunnel who set about an Indian special forces team, not a bad evenings entertainment, but how on earth they can fire and load a musket but not open a door is beyond me....

That's all for now... Stay safe all.

Infamy Egyptian Archers - Newline Designs

These seem to have been hanging around for quite a while but finally make it off the paint table, great additions to the New Kingdom forces from Newline Designs.

I was spoilt for choice when it come to a potential archer unit, when looking at the choices Foundry felt a little to irregular and more suited to skirmishing. Warlord were a little too thin leaving Newline who gave a good mix of head gear and a sense of mass.

The newline regiment packs represent good value, a touch heavy on the flash, I lost a couple of casualties when trying to straighten them, they do seem a little weak at the ankles, but overall a good fit with the existing forces.

In terms of the stats for Infamy, I see no reason why they would differ from the Hittite main body so the following stats will apply.

Hittite Spearmen				Type	Inferior Warriors
Points Value	14	Weapon	Bow	Strength	8
Armour	Step Out	Aggressive Attack	Characteristics
None	2	2	Drilled, Darken the skies

Next up the Egyptian Leaders make there way on to the paint table.

Infamy Infamy - The Elizabethan Zombie Chronicles #6 Return to the Bridge.

Having been beaten back from the bridge at Barnford, a week later the Spanish try again to stem the tide of the risen who were a constantly wandering into town in ever increasing numbers.

A new day, a new plan..... Last time the slow methodical approach had allowed the dead to mass against the Spanish forces, so this time Alvar Fanez opted for speed and punch (it also allowed me to try out the tweaked cavalry stats for Infamy Infamy.)

Skirting the main road the cavalry force flanked the dead massed to the front, approaching the barn from the open fields on the left, the cadavers slowly stumbled to face off against the advancing living.

The heavy cavalry picked up speed and cantered towards the empty shells blocking their path. They should be able to sweep the former living aside.

However the Witches and her evil coven called forth more undead to slow the cavalry advance. (The Witches used command points and their sigma cards to raise additional undead and bolster their numbers)

As the dead rose up from the burial pits the cavalry reached the first of the undead, the dead were nothing but resilient and whilst the cavalry broke the fervour and took the unit down to all but 2 undead, they managed to kill one of the heavy cavalry, who returned and turned on his former comrades. (Similar to a kill stats on shooting the casualty returns to the other side on a 6 on a 1D6)

Having fought two rounds of combat the cavalry withdrew and charged again riding through the remains of the first zombie unit and catching the second unit in flank, riding them down. (that felt better.)

Whilst the first wave of dead had been cleared the time to clear them had allowed a number of the forces of darkness to rush to plug the gap, a company of wolves charged forwards to attack the cavalry. (Led by a Status II leader who can only command the same species.)

However the cavalry were ready to counter this new treat, firing their muskets as they charged forwards to meet the wild beasts. (Two command cards to fire their pistols on the way in.) The wolves were beaten back.

With the path open, Alvar called forward his infantry who fired into the shambling dead. (they moved on a 1D6 on the Tempus Card towards the nearest living unit...)

Meanwhile the cavalry spotted one of the Witches caught in the open, stripped of her undead bodyguard, she was struck down by the heavy horse. driving the force morale below zero. With the head of the snake dead, the remaining undead were uncoordinated and were mopped up by the living. (The Witch characters can activate units in command range or trigger fresh undead from any burial pit if within range.)

With the field open the Spanish grabbed the wagon and moved it into place before the dead could recover their composure. That should slow their incursions for a while.

A minor victory for the living.

A good solo encounter allowing me to test out some of the alternative rule mechanisms, reducing the undead fervour to 3 makes them a little weaker and restricting the command range for the their evil controllers makes for a tighter game... As with other encounters within Infamy2 hitting the flanks makes the world of difference to clearing units from the table.

Next up the forces of darkness strike back.... and some more of the odder units....

Infamy Shock Markers - Hittites.

I have hit a touch of painters block of late, staring at the same 16 Egyptian archers who have been staring back at me for over a fortnight. Time to switch to something else to get the juices flowing.

I do like a mini diorama to hold my shock markers for Too Fat Lardies games. 

Rather frustratingly the guys at Foundry do a split pack of Hittite causalities and civilians, but a complete pack of dead and dying for the Egyptians, I had hoped to trade the civilians for more dead and wounded but they were unable to break the pack up.... A shame as the civilians have limited use at the moment.

It did mean that I had to create a couple of extras from some of the spare shields and spears from the recent Newline purchase, Still the dis-guarded weapons do compliment the wounded rather well and give me enough bases for the first outing.

Might just have to watch Exodus: Gods and Kings to give me that extra push....

Outlaws of the Water Margin - Celestial Temple

Still no face to face games and in need of a break from the ancients, I thought I would clear a couple of the older projects and languishing in the cupboard of shame.

This shrine is from the guys at Adrian's Wall's comes ready painted in 4 separate pieces but was in need of a base and some extra flocking, something to blend it in with the existing terrain and some nice flowers suitable for a well tended temple. 

Now for the back story....

The shrine on Dragon and Tiger Mountain contained many imprisoned spirits of heroes past, but the envoy of the Song government was no respecter of tradition and tore open the paper seals and had his men roll back the stone slab demanding to see the content of the shrine.

" I see nothing but an empty well". As he spoke there came a rumbling from far below. Suddenly sparks whirled before his eyes and his nostrils filled with the pungent smell of sulphur. With a roar a black cloud shot upwards, piercing the roof, and into the sky like a pillar of blackness. From it fell a hundred or more lights in a dazzling cascade, dispersing in all directions. He had unleashed something more serious. The nine dozen heroes of the Water Margin had been released, fulfilling an ancient prophecy,

For those not familiar with the original Chinese folk tail or the BBC TV show from the 1970's It takes place during the Song Dynasty, a time of transition and upheaval. A succession of corrupt administrators had bled the farmers dry, extorting money for personal gain. In such days, even honest men were driven to rebellion. Thus the outlaws of Liangshan Po came together: heroes all, disgusted by the corruption and betrayal of the nation.

In the Water Margin there are 108 heroes said to be the spirits reborn of other, earlier heroes. 

I am a little short of the 108 heroes so these left overs from Curtney's will have to do to bolster the numbers. They have been tucked away in the draw for several years high time they hit the paint table. I also dug out some old old glory boxer casualties which will make some excellent shock markers.

That's it no more Chinese bare metal at least for now.....

All based and ready for undercoating, but not before a few more Egyptians clear the table....

Hittite Guard - Infamy Infamy

Well it looks like next week game is off.... 

So a little less pressure to complete the current ancient lead pile, however I am managing to get in a couple of hours of hobby time in a day, I suppose lockdown has some advantages...

After last weeks officer types, the first of the Newline Hittites hit the table, a bit of a hidden gem if you ask me, some really nice designs which mix in really well with the other manufacturers.

They do require a little more cleaning up, with excess flash under the arms, legs and underside of the base, plus a number of the models need the hand drilling out to take the spear, but they take paint really well and with a mix of shields give you plenty of modelling options for units.

The unit above represents a Hittite guard unit more formally dressed than the previous units. These elite Warriors will bolster the infantry arm of the Hittite army. I lifted the colours straight off the Newline Website, the oranges and yellows give a superior feel to the mixed colours of the regulars.

Next up something a little different from the unfinished box.... 

Hittite Leaders - Infamy Infamy.

Having posted the assembled Hittite warband last week, first up of phase two, the leaders for the Hittites.

The  officers are a mix from, Warlord and Newline Designs, I have not come across the guys at Newline before but they have a wide range of figures for a number of ancient armies and are a lower price than their Warlord and Foundry counterparts.

The Newline castings mix in well with both Warlord and Foundry, they need some cleaning up, with excess flash under the arms or the underside of the base and in some cases the hands need drilling out to insert the weapons, but once based and painted you can see no real difference and do add some variety to the Hittite forces.

The Hittite officers are in bronze mail shirts and come with a number of shield options. Front row L-R Newline, Warlord, Warlord, Back row all Newline.

I have based them on the new command bases which I have custom made from Warbases. All I now need is to get a game in.

Next up Hittite Guards.