Lord of the Rings. - The Shrine at Hegakson

Another outing in the gaming bubble.

With the Orc's rampaging through the lands, priests are sent to gather the relics of the old gods before the Orc's destroy all that is sacred.

Reaching the burial site at night fall the forces of man set camp for the evening as the priests prepare to gather the relics when they are set upon by a Uruk-hai raiding party.

Another outing for Infamy Infamy adapted for the Lord of the Rings, the camp must be defended until 12 points can be amassed and then the priests must be escorted from the table.

A detachment from Gondor drilled and heavily armoured with cavalry from Rohan defends the camp and priests.

Gandalf sets off to scout the way forwards, but is set upon by a Troll and Orc skirmishers who bar his path.

The Riders of Rohan can only look on as Orcs appear from the evening mist covering the swamp. Arrows fall upon their ranks.

Gandalf is caught by a raging troll as he ambushes the sage from a patch of rough ground, he is beaten backwards and is forced to retreat into the camp. Not the best start for the defenders.

Watching as Gandalf is driven into the camp bloodied wounded Captain Stegmar spurs his men on, their javelin's weaken the creature stripping him of his fervour before their lances bring him crashing to the ground. 

A small victory but things at the southern end of the table are about to take a turn a terrible turn, Legolas who was scouting the woods on the hill stirs a company of Urak-kai who force him backwards, wounded and shocked.

Barely had he caught his breath when the Warg Riders catch him in the open and strike him down. The men in the camp look on in horror as their force morale drops by two points.

To the north the cavalry hold the line against increasing odds and a storm of arrows from the Orcish skirmishers.

Having dispatched the elf, the Orc company advance on the camp, releasing berserkers from their ranks, unfortunately the Gondor Infantry had grown wise to the Orc tactics and closed their ranks blunting the deadly assault with a series of defensive dice.

But as the men of Gondor held the line using their drill to defend against the attack, Warg riders were flanking the body of men and the orc warband got ever closer.

The men of Rohan were charged by block of Pike rather than taking their chances they turned their horses and rushed for the fight in the cornfield as the Orc Pike struggled to follow them up.

The Warg Riders smashed into the flank of the men of Gondor, arrows and javelin's caught a number of the men before they could form up. The initial assault pushes them back, Before their drill kicks in and slowly they pressured the snarling beasts who's attack starts to run out of steam.

The Warg Riders fell back as the cavalry moved forwards to protect the flank.

As the main Orc warband closed on the men of Gondor who braced their shields, both sides pushed and  shoved with limited success. As night started to fall and the orc raiders disappeared as quickly as they appeared.

Another great encounter very different in feel to the first outing as the men, held firm relying on drill to push back the Orc raiders rather than force of arms, the priests were unable to to secure enough task points to break camp, which led to the human forces to fight a defensive battle. 

The Orcs were unable to make use of the their ambush points which resulted in a a drawn out clash of arms.

Both Orc and Man had been honing their skills since the first encounter.

Next up.

The men of Gondor must escort the holymen back to Gondor territory before the Orc's come on again.

Infamy, Infamy Initial Impressions - A New Project - Kings of Bronze.

For a weeks I have been pouring over the latest offering of Infamy, Infamy from the Too Fat Lardies, a wonderful addition to the rule estate. Very similar in style and format of Sharp Practice, with some fantastic tweaks to give it that Ancient feel where close combat is key.

Fervour, Ambush Points and Defensive dice all make for a very different gaming experience. 

The Romans are well organised and have a number of special abilities through their advance drill, providing them with defence dice and the heavy armour, whilst the Barbarians can appear from a number of ambush points fuelled by fervour that makes them very punchy in combat, the fervour also gives a cushion to the onset of shock.

Infamy cards add an in game twist which can impact your decisions and crucial battlefield engagements.

I was sorely tempted to order Roman's and hairy Barbarians but storage is becoming a problem and in recent years have  been looking to make use of what I already in terms of terrain and supporting elements, 

So Egypt and the Levant it is.... and the campaigns of Ramessess II and events leading up to the Battle of Kadesh.

Now the only problem is Infamy Infamy is set in the period 60BC to 100AD and my idea is to move it back to 1300 BC so a few tweaks are likely to be needed. Fortunately the Too Fat Lardies Rules are really flexible as I found with Sharp Practice and Haiti, the Russo-Japanese War and the Zulu Wars.

So taking inspiration from the Warhammer Chariot War Supplement I need to consider a couple of amendments to the forces available.

This is a great book detailing a range of army lists from the Ancient Middle East, it provides a good overview of the combatants, formations and weaponry.

My initial thoughts.

• New Kingdom Egyptians and Hittites Spear armed Infantry would be formed Warriors are likely to be similar in style to the Roman drilled formations.
• Massed archer units need to formed rather than just skirmish units, but these should be weaker should they be caught in close combat but expected to stand and fight.
• Rather than chariots being used as transport or missile platforms they will be split into Light - Heavy Chariots, one very much a harassing unit the other, used for impact, in Kings of the Bronze Age, these warriors won't debus but will fight from these mobile platforms.
• Chariots should be accompanied by runners, perhaps with flexible drill allowing them to skirmish or form up. 
• The Warhammer book contains a number of details on Allies and Mercenaries - the likes of  the Sea Peoples, Lukka's and Sherden Bodyguards are very clearly Barbarian.
• The Terrain Chart needs tweaking - perhaps something like the attached? I am thinking encounters will take be set amongst the 'green belt' rather than the barren deserts.

Middle East
Terrain	1-3	4-6
Dunes	3	4
Oasis	1	2
Rocky Ground	3	4
Habitation	2	3
Wadi	-	-

Lot's to be done in the weeks ahead, I have made a start with some testers for the Hittite and Egyptian forces, the Egyptian's should be rather straight forward but the Hittites have a rich mix of colours, it's been a long time since I painted pinks and purples, so an order to Foundry is in order.

I have gone for a softer flesh wash from army painter rather than soft tone my regular wash, it picks out the paler colours.

There is a good mix on the market with figures from Foundry, Northstar, Warlord and Newline (who have a 25% off sale at the time of posting). Those above are Northstar and Warlord.

It's going to be a busy couple of months.

Brigade Games - Janissary Napoleonic Infantry.

Whilst itching to kick off the Infamy Project, these needed to be completed first. Purchased a couple of years go, they have languished in the box of shame awaiting that certain spark.

Inspired by Mark's excellent collection over on his blog 1866 and all that. it was high time they made it to the paint table and more Ottoman forces opposing the French in Egypt.

The Janissary's are from Brigade Games excellent range of Ottoman forces. Let's hope they can stand against the French columns.

 

Uniform information for the Ottoman's is rather sparse, but the white on blue has the right feel, I pulled the flag design from the web in the absence of any commercial flags available.

It was nice to get these battlefield ready...

I could easily be tempted by Brigade's camel mounted French but that's for another day.

How we just need a club night to get them on the table

Infamy Infamy - Sauron's got it in for me.

What to do..…. 

Locked in for another week, a new set of rules to try and no figures to play with... The answer adapt the rules to figures you do have.... I blame the first get together over a beer and curry in 3 months, as respective wives caught up, we might have got a little carried away with how the rules could cover a multitude of periods.

Yes with the latest rules from the Too Fat Lardies - Infamy Infamy in my hands for barely a week, plans are already afoot to apply them to Lord of Rings, nothing says Barbarian like Urak Hai and the men of Minas Tirith taking the role of Romans.

Over the next week we work through the finer details, Characters from the movie could be Big Men but many should be units in their own right classed as Elite Warriors with 8 life points and they themselves a Supra Numerum Leader.

Gandalf and Sauron would be skirmishers armoured with spells (slings) and Cave Trolls as Fanatics with life points to give them some depth on the table.

Time to give it a run out.

We picked the forage mission with men from Rohan and Gondor entering Orc territory looking for supplies when the forces of Sauron spring their trap.

The Riders of Rohan had managed to remove one Ambush point and turn another to a deployment point, but they still had their work cut out, if they were to march across the table and gather supplies, members of the fellowship come forward to scout the table, in the shape of Aragon himself he is immediately set upon by Sauron and Ring Wraiths.

A string of evil chips pulled from the bag led to larger numbers of Urak Hai flooding  the table before a single unit of men arrived.

To counter the Orcish mass the Rohan cavalry deploy from their own deployment point in the woods throwing their spears at the massed ranks of Orc's hoping to draw them away from the pitiful few raiders who have so far deployed on the table.

Boromir and Archers arrive to block the path of the advancing Ring Wraiths.

From a further ambush point orc archers darken the skies catch the cavalry in the flank. 

With flags in hand the Orc's rise up out of the hinterland and ambush the riders, the Orc's full of fervour rush forwards and playing an infamy card to tip the balance to 4:1 odds, the riders are wiped out without a dice being rolled. That's not how the movie went.....

As the Ring Wraiths advance they are countered by more members of the fellowship with Aragon and Gandalf taking the fight to the evil forces.

Finally the main human forces arrive and with the right flank blocked advance to the left hoping to sweep around the wood.

Backed by more riders of Rohan to counter the massing Orc forces the odds are in favour of the army of men.

Te Orc's trigger a further ambush as a cave troll rises from the ranks and charges into the cavalry, the battle is short and sharp and the cavalry flee from the raging troll. Infamy Infamy is no Sharp Practice Ancients.

The Troll advanced his Fervour gone but as a fanatic he ignored wounds and shock and continues his 

deadly work crashing into the men of Gondor, the heavy infantry with no tokens to play are caught in open order.

Whilst the troll delays the advancing human columns the Orc's reorganise and line up for the impending clash. Another flaming troll wanders into shot.

On the other side of the wood as arrows and spells fly, Legolas charges into Lutz who has made an appearance to bolster Sauron and Ring Wraiths who had been driven back only to be replaced by Warg riders who rush forwards to harass the Rohan archers.

Spearmen of Rohan march in column looking to support the men of Minas Tirith are countered

by another ambush as Orcish cross bows slow their advance.

The Inferior Warriors are met by the heavy infantry of Sauron,  again without tokens to play the men of Rohan have to defend in open order as their leader is to busy slowing down the shock the Urah - Hai are forcing on the men.

Lurtz is beaten back but this side show is perhaps the only bright moment for the forces of good who are slowly losing the battle.

With perhaps a little too much on the table, we ran out of time but what a great game, the rules were fun and despite not quite what the Rich and the team had planned were perfect for getting some great looking toys on the table.

The heroes as elite warriors with life points instead of bodies worked well and were not over powering and the fanatics were great fun. Infamy Infamy whilst taking elements from Sharp Practice 2 and Chain of Command is a very different rule set.

The Infamy cards if played correctly can make a difference as my riders found out...

We no doubt made a few mistakes and most definitely burnt through our tokens far to quick and should have kept a number of them back for the crucial melee's.

Looking forward to the next out whilst I start the planning for my Egyptian Project - Kings of Bronze.

French Fusiliers 88e Demi Brigade in Egypt - Perry Miniatures.

A new month and this month the theme is Egypt (again.)

If all goes to plan then I should clear a number of the older figures languishing in the spares box and a couple of unfinished units before the kick of the Bronze Age Infamy Infamy project.

First up French Fusiliers of the 88e Demi Brigade in Kleber Ordnance.

With regular supply channels restricted by the English Navy the French were forced to adapt their uniforms to the new environment.

The original skirmish units were hijacked and recruited for the Haiti Project, so these chaps have been drafted in to support the line regiment.

Figures from Perry's Egyptian range.

V the Mini Series - Contact #3

Having painted up some extra troops for the Zikanga militia it gave me the urge to play through a solo scenario for the Visitors garrisoning the central African country of Zikanga. The rules were mix of Ambush Alley and Bolt Action Modern.

Attacks on Visitor personnel have been increasing over the last few weeks by the local militias and the local Police and UN forces seem impotent to stop them. Consequently it has fallen to the Visitor shock troops to conduct a series of operations across the region to teach the enemy a lesson.  

The operations dedicated to Janice and 2nd Platoon are a series of ops designed to strike a blow against the militias and to also uncover the possibility 5th column involvement in supplying the militias.
Just as 2nd Platoon begin their first mission they come under militia mortar fire. 

Mission Objective 
The Visitor Shock Troopers must eliminate all insurgent Hot Spots before the mortar team get things on target! The Visitors have eight turns to complete their objective clearing three huts before the militia fire forces them to retreat.
Insurgent Mission Objective – Kill as many of the Lizards as possible! 

The Visitors start at the bottom end of the table, three huts marked with red markers are the militia hotspots. Victory Points are awarded as follows.

Visitors.

All Hot Spots eliminated – 10 points

No friendly casualties – 5 points  

Every Insurgent Leader eliminated – 2 points 

Insurgents/Militia
For each Visitor KIA or WIA – 1 point

For each Hot Spot still on the table at the end of the game – 2 points 

Each Hot Spot contains a group of militia containing a number of small arms plus either an LMG or RPG. Each turn the militia roll 1D6 with a further militia group appearing on a 4+ at one the hot spots.

The Shock Troops rush forwards, with only 8 turns they have a lot of ground to cover.

Rather than trying to defend the huts, the militia look to put a buffer between them and the aliens they rush forwards to seek defensive positions further down the table.

As the groups close Visitor Engineers can be seen flanking the oncoming Zikanga Militia.

Caught in the open the Militia lose a number of men to blaster firer and as they try to react, they fail their morale and are forced down unable to move or return fire.

Meanwhile the Militia defending the burnt out ruin are caught in the open by the Security Troops and Engineers as they infiltrate through the makeshift huts. The Militia are cleared out without a shot being fired.

On the right flank the last defenders pinned on the track are killed having failed to recover from the multiple shock markers, the route to Hut 3 is open.

Finally after a number of poor dice rolls reinforcements arrive for the Militia. Having rolled a 4+ reinforcements are diced for on the following table. 

2 – 1D6 with small arms
3 – 1D6 with small arms and Leader
4 – 1D6 with small arms, 1 with SAW and Leader
5 – 1 with RPG
6 – 1D6 + 2 with small arms
7 – 1D6 + 2 with small arms and Leader
8 – 1D6 + 2 with small arms, 1 with SAW and Leader
9 – 1D6 + 3 with small arms and leader
10 – 1D6 + 2 with small arms, 1 with RPG and Leader
11 – 1D6 + 3 with small arms, 1 with SAW and Leader
12 – 2D6 with small arms and Leader

The extra troops make an instant impact the LMG knocking a Visitor down, his blast vest no match for the heavier rounds striking him squarely in the chest. For a moment the Visitors are stunned.

Meanwhile "Hippo" Bunhoa's militia group who have rushed forward to block the capture of hut 1 are beaten in close combat and are driven from the table, the only consolation is "Hippo" takes down a Lizard for the loss of his squad.

Turn 7 and the remaining militia are heavily engaged with Shock Troopers and Security Troopers. The Visitor numbers are to great and the militia are beaten back. Hut 2 falls.

Turn 8 and the last hut falls without a shot being fired.

An outright victory for the Visitors with the loss of only two troopers, one of which only suffered a light wound and will be available for the next mission, all the militia was either killed or routed, perhaps a static defence would have been better? 

The reinforcements failed to materialise which kept the militia under pressure and combination of some good saves from the Visitor body armour and poor command rolls from the militia made it a tough ask for the human forces.

A fun game the Bolt Action Modern rules transferred well to the Visitor setting and flowed quickly.

Next up secure the Weapons Cache.