Dust & Tears Campaign - Game 3

After the battle at Marmistra the remaining party made good progress and the Port of Alexandra came into sight, when the dice let them down and an encounter was triggered

Stripped of a number of their heavy cavalry this encounter might be more challenging within only one unit of Knights.

The pilgrims edged forwards one unit of Elite Knights, accompanied by 2 Spear units, 2 missile units, a warrior unit and 1 skirmisher screen.

8 Arab blinds were spread across the table, the Christian mission to cross the wadi with as much of the party as they could. To the front of the party Arab forces appeared, light cavalry blocked the advance of the Christian forces.

The Arabs rushed forwards showering the skirmishers, felling 3 of their number, they scuttled backwards.

Warriors charged the Christian line but were counted by the knights who pushed them backwards, the fanatics are great in attack but not so good in defence.

The Arab forces fell backwards, driven further backwards by a volley of crossbow bolts who took out a number of Arab archers who struggled to match them for accuracy.

The Christian blood lust was up and having dispatched the warriors followed up crashing into the Arab cavalry. The way to the wadi crossing was open.

More Arabs appeared on the far side of the wadi. A greater push is going to be needed.

A tough fight and a number of Christians fell before they could break the Arab defenders.

As the Arab defenders fled, the Christians took stock, adjusting for losses, the Pilgrims pressed on.

1 Knight Unit, 1 Warrior Unit, 2 Missile Units, 1 Skirmish Unit, 1 Spear Unit.

Outremer - Christian Missile Units

What comes first, the painting or the gaming?

Sometimes you need to keep the games going, to drive the painting on. Only a few more Crusader Units left before the decks are clear. 

12 Crossbow Men, with a number in white smocks to show their commitment to the cause.

Next up 12 Archers from Fire Forge Games, these go together really well and are quick to paint.

Dropped into Warbases Midgard movement trays to keep the units together.

Now for the next outing as the march to Jerusalem continues.

Saladin & the last of the Arab Cavalry.

A break in the rain, long enough to varnish these - Yes the last of the Arab cavalry for the Crusades. Please no mounted troops for a while.... :-)

Salah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub - Recapturer of Jerusalem in 1187

Cast in metal from Gripping Beast it took a little but of cleaning up, but he is quite imposing and perfect for a General figure with Lion Rampant.

The last Arab cavalry. In the paint queue for a year and now complete, I think 16 units might be too many but lets see when they take to the table in the coming weeks.

Now back to the Chinese.

Charge !!!! - Back to the Crusades...

The Chinese have taken a bit of a back seat lots of prep done and the foundations to make them ready for the finer detail in the next couple of weeks. Meanwhile as we turn into February and prompted by, one of my gaming group launching a monthly painting challenge with the theme for the month of Charge!!!!

Yet another unit of cavalry for the Outremer project....

Rather worryingly these fine fellows were first under coated in last January. So the perfect excuse to get them table ready....

Great castings from Footsore and some extra Arab Heavy Cavalry for Saladin's army.

As with pervious units shield decals from Little Big Man Studio's so much easier and look so much better than had painted.

One more cavalry unit to go... before all of the Arab forces are finally complete....

Dispatches from the front XXXVII - Last post of the year.

It's been a while since the last dispatch from the front....... 

Time for an end of year review and some annual awards to dish out..... :-)

Unit or Unit of the Year.

Looking back over this years painting efforts I thought it would be interesting on which units where the most enjoyable to get on the table. 

The paint count this year was not to bad at all.

Over 150 15mm Foot Figures, 24 Cavalry, 220 28mm Foot, 30 28mm Mounted Figures and around 20 buildings and Terrain pieces.

The winner has to be the men of Massachusetts. 

At the time these 10mm Pendraken miniatures were far too many in one go... but 10 months later and reflecting on the overall output it was great to get 5 units on the table in one go. 

Rule set of the year.

It has to be Lion Rampant - They are so flexible and have provided numerous well balanced games. The Outremer games have kept the paint table ticking over.

More next year that's for sure.

Game of the year.

This was a tough one, but based on the look, feel and challenge playing VC forces against a mobile well armed US force it has to be La Drang Valley - Dust, Tears & Dice: Ia Drang Valley 1965 - Force on Force. We played using Force on Force which gave a great feel for the period.

Book of the Year.

Saul David - Tunisgrad a great read that takes you from the trenches to the generals map table. Inspiration for future games that's for sure.

Near miss.

This was a fun one... Projects or Rabbit holes that almost resulted in another project - Inspiration can come from a range of things. A weekend trip to Barcelona and a sense you had seen this building before. 

Several years ago I completed a Nationalist Spanish force - I was almost tempted to build an CNT Militia force I put it down to too much sangria.

Find of the Year.

Blitzkrieg Workshop - Printed and Painted WW2 vehicles - Items for sale by blitzkriegworkshop | eBay

£22.50 for a ready painted Tiger I

Now that's good value for money.

Save from the brink.

I must be getting old but the past 12 months I have seen several trusted brands wind up or retire. It was great to see Pendraken acquire Ironclad Miniatures and keep them in the market they had a great range of figures and terrain it would have been a shame to see them disappear. 

It's been a productive 12 months it was good to finish off the American War of Independence project with more than enough completed for most encounters especially using the Rebels and Patriot rules they play really well and have resulted in some great games - This year finally Lexington and Concorde over a couple of days.

The Crusades project is almost complete definitely a project that got out of hand.... so many cavalry. I bloody hate cavalry. With two more Arab units to go... the aim is get these done before the return to work on the 5th.

So what for 2026

The Christmas haul is a hint.

The occasional Aztec project continues with some additional cavalry, more Japanese for the January project more on that below and some US Rangers for Operation Torch - Curse you Saul David.

I have taken my first dip into 3D prints, having purchased the occasional mini this is the first major army purchase. I can't see myself buying a printer especially as there are lots of people popping up with print on demand businesses. Good to get a friendly local supplier who I can chat to about purchases and get them picked up within a few days. 

A couple of shots of the work in progress.

With an eye for the lesser known periods I fancied some Chinese for WW2 I already have plenty of terrain for the Far East and Japanese troops already painted they seemed like the perfect choice. There are some great files available for the Chinese army in a mix of headgear and supporting armour from Panzer II's to French FT17's.

These are the first batch a mix of the 88th Division in German kit.

Plenty more in British Issue helmets.

With a mix of uniforms ranging from Blue to Khaki they will certainly look that little bit different on the table... Not overly bother by Rules at this stage - Perhaps Chain of Command, Bolt Action V2 or even Xenos Rampant (Tweaked for WW2)

Having gone all in and purchased enough for 6-8 squads plus supports it will be a refreshing change from the Crusades.

Have a great new year everyone.

Mr Babbage in the Crusades - Solo Rule Mechanism.

Lots of travelling of late, but it gave me the opportunity to worth through some ideas around the unit generation for the Outremer games on the assumption that all players took a role of the Christian forces. Based on Daniel Mersey's - The Men who would be kings Rules for Mr Babbage, with a blind placement from Joe Legan's Platoon Forward.

Mr Babbage in the Crusades

When determining what enemy forces are being faced use the number of regular units in the Christian force to generate the number of ‘blinds’ in the Arab force, the only variant to this is that for each Elite units in the Christian force this generates two ‘blinds’.

Blinds are placed on the table based on the scenario generated.

The blinds should be placed representing the opposing forces placed in the best possible position on the table to defeat the Christian forces. You won’t known what these forces are until rolled, this creates a challenge that tough terrain might be lightly defended or other areas you face overwhelming concentrations of enemy forces.

During the game each ‘Blind’ is diced for when spotted within 24” of the opposing unit. This should encourage the scouting of terrain with light cavalry or skirmishers. Only unbattered units are able to take this test.

Arab Deployment.

At any point 1 General may be added to one Arab deployment.

Dice Roll	Outcome	Positioning
1-2	No Arabs appear in front of your units appear this turn.	Too far away to be placed on the table for now.
3	1 Arab Unit Roll for type. 1-4 Spear 4-7 Bow/Skirmish 8 Warriors	Roll Another Dice. 1-6 Stay in Position. 7-8 12” towards closest Friendly unit if none stay in position. But not within 12” of an enemy unit.
4	1 Arab Unit Roll for type. 1-2 Spear 3-4 Bow/Skirmish 5 Warriors/Elite Foot 6-7 Light Cavalry 8 Heavy/Elite Cavalry	Roll Another Dice. 1-6 Stay in Position. 7-8 12” towards closest Friendly unit if none stay in position. But not within 12” of an enemy unit.
5	2 Arab Unit Roll for type. 1-2 Spear 3-4 Bow/Skirmish 5 Warriors/Elite Foot 6-7 Light Cavalry 8 Heavy/Elite Cavalry	Roll Another Dice. 1-4 Stay in Position. 5-6 12” towards closest Friendly unit if none stay in position. 7-8 12” towards closest enemy unit if skirmish or bow armed light cavalry others stay in place.
6	2 Arab Unit Roll for type. 1-3 Light Cavalry 4-5 Medium/Heavy Cavalry 6 Elite Cavalry	Roll Another Dice. 1-4 Stay in Position. 5-6 12” towards closest Friendly unit if none stay in position. 7-8 12” towards closest enemy unit if skirmish or bow armed light cavalry others stay in place.

Arab Actions

Roll on the following chart to decide outcome, an activation roll is still required but a failure does halt the Arab turn.

Dice Roll	Outcome	Positioning
1 or less	Slink away	Remove from play (Roll immediately on Babbage Table 3)
2	Act with Caution	Missile units advance to within missile range. Skirmish troops may skirmish forwards if within range. Others remain in place.
3-4	Advance	Missile units advance to within short missile range. All others move forwards with a move action but will not contact.
5	Charge!!!	Missile units advance to within short missile range, remaining stationary and shoot if already within range. All others move forwards with a charge action if within range if not move towards nearest enemy.
6+	Charge!!! Religious fervour.	Missile units advance to within short missile range, remaining stationary and shoot if already within range. All others move forwards with a charge action if within range if not move towards nearest enemy. If outside of 12” may add +D6” of movement to their move.
Dice Modifiers +1 If able to contact Christian Unit. +1 If Arab Elite Unit. -1 If Arab unit is outnumbered by their opposing unit or a lower status if the unit sizes are equal if within charge distance.

 Arab Recycling

Dice Roll	Outcome	Positioning
2 or less	Bye Bye!	The Unit won’t take any further part in the battle remove from the table.
3-4	Gone but not forgotten	The Unit my re-enter the game at a later time add a further blind on the table behind the most rear blind or Arab unit if no blinds are still in play.
5	Same Idea different place!	The unit re-enters the table on a random table edge using a direction arrow (must be a minimum of 12” from Christian forces). If unable to do so roll again next turn.
6+	Back for more.	The unit re-enters the table 12” immediately behind where it was forced to slink away. (If this takes it out of play counts as bye bye.)
Dice Modifiers +1 for each unit the first time it tests for removal/return. -1 For each unit the Arab player has already said ‘bye bye!’ to in this game. -1 For each Arab unit destroyed.

Richard I Personnel Bodyguard - Third Crusade

Just missing the November deadline as the weather was crap to varnish.

Bored of the white and having quite a cluster of foot knights, I opted for a small unit of foot knights to act as a personnel bodyguard for Richard I

Are they accurate, did they really fight at the battle of Acre or Arsuf in this level of plate and chain. I am sure others have a view, but they give me an option on the field of battle.

These 'Chamber Knights' will compliment the Knights Templar.

Battle models from Fire Forge games - They will fight as Elite Foot under the Lion Rampant rules.

December is upon us....The gaming table is under pressure from the rest of the house to turn it into a storage unit as Christmas descends on the house... Perhaps one or two games if I am lucky.

Crusader Spearmen - Fire Forge Games.

Another unit off the production line for Outremer and Lion Rampant.

I figured this time around I will make these more of a templar feel to break up the formations for the Christian forces or should I need to separate out regulars vs veterans.

All figures from Fire Forge games.

Still got a few more units to put together over the coming weeks but these fine fellows should hit the table very soon.

November output - Back to the Crusades - Fire Forge - Spearmen

November.... Pressure is on to get the last of the Crusaders done before the end of the year... Ideally Christmas - so 47 nights to finish the Crusader project.... And paint everything in the draw.

After the mixed bag last month this month it's all desert....

Another unit of 12 spearmen for Lion Rampant with a mix of Crusader Shields and traditional feudal shields.

I dropped them into a Midgard base to give them some uniformity on the table. 

The recent Men who Would be King games got be thinking about adapting the Mr Babbage rules for the Crusaders with the Arabs controlled by the dice. With a number of long commutes this week I might try and flesh these out.

Next up you guessed it more Christians.....

Fire Forge Games - Christian Archers.

The marathon painting task rumbles on....

Next up a unit of Fire Forge Archers to add to the march of the pilgrims.

I painted up a number of figure bases from Warbases from their Midgard range these will help with movement of the every growing mass.

With a few games of Chain of Command lined up in the next couple of weeks, I can feel a change coming....