Especially for James

As requested by James at Solo Slow Wargamer and The Chauvinistic Blog a couple of posts ago, here are a some close ups of my 2mm knights.  Although at 2mm there is precious little to see never mind admire.

Actually these are done as gendarmes for my French Wars of Religion armies.  They are now also doubling up as late medieval knights... who's to know!

Toledo Marzipan

When I go away on vacation, I aim to avoid deliberately seeking hobby opportunities and visits and try to absorb the (non-military) history and culture of the place.  So, being away in Madrid and especially Toledo has been the perfect tonic.  Nonetheless, as so often and inevitably happens, matters closer to my wargaming pursuits present themselves.

Staying in Toledo was a must.  It is one of the most beautiful cities, but for me the association has always been its famous marzipan (true)... 

A shop front where nuns sell their marzipan.  They have dolls shwoing the different stages of marzipan making.

Yum!

...it's damascene craftwork, and the world famous Toledo steel that provided the cutting edge to the growth of Spanish power in the 16th and 17th centuries.

So, no surprise that around every corner was an opportunity to purchase a sword.

There were an amazing number of shops selling Toledo steel.  I checked and they were all made in Toledo. 
There was a nice sign outside of one such shop that said,
"Everything inside is made with AI.  Artisanal Intelligence"
and that is so easy to underestimate.

We had an hour or two to spare before having to get the train back to Madrid after our couple of nights there.  So, we quickly popped into the Army Museum housed in the Alcazar.

For those who like the Reconquista.

A close up on the tunic.

Always nice to see some armour from the late 15th and 16th centuries.

The horse didn't look pleased to be wearing the armour.

Ka-Boom!

Great bust of Cordaba.

Before going my better half and I read Captain Alatriste.  It's been on my list for a long time.  So, it seemed right to read it before going to Madrid.

It's a great read and what I found particularly good was that Perez-Reverte brought together great research of history, fact and culture (music, poetry and art) to produce this superb piece of fiction.

It writes about places around cultural events around Madrid of the 1620s.  Allowing us to see the city through Alatriste's eyes.

The area closely associated with Alatriste included some murals.

Of course, all this tourist work requires vermouth and tapas en route.

I could show you so much from what we saw and did in Madrid and Toledo, but that is for me and my family to enjoy... I'll already spent too much time just putting this quick post together.

Flower of Chivalry Practice Game

Not much of a battle report as such.  Four Rejects gathered via Zoom, and a fifth spectated, to have a practice medieval game using Flower of Chivalry rules.  These will be the rules used to fight any tabletop actions arising from the Imagi-Medieval campaign.

The Battle of Crecy, from an illuminated manuscript of Jean Froissart's Chronicles

Jonathan and Ray were pitted against Steve and Dan. Meanwhile, Lee spectated.

For the campaign, I have given Flower of Chivalry units points values.  For this game, I asked both sides to produce a 1000 point army.

Ray and Jonathan constructed the following:

1st Battle (Ray)
1 unit of foot knights
1 unit of men at arms
1 unit of Longbow

2nd Battle (Jonathan)
1 unit of mounted knights
1 unit of foot knights
1 unit of men at arms

Steve and Dan had:

1st Battle (Dan)
2 units of longbow
3 units of retainers

2nd Battle (Steve)
1 unit of longbow
4 units of men at arms

It looked like a situation of quality versus quantity.

Based on the number of units, the Army Morale Points for Ray/Jonathan is 6 and for Dan/Steve is 10.

The figures are 2mm Irregular miniatures.

The Battle

Jonathan's and Ray's smaller army look north across the table to Dan's and Steve's array.

Both sides advanced towards each other.  Dan's Battle showed unwelcome enthusiasm by racing forward.  However, Dan's longbow units quickly starting finding their mark.  It was important now for Ray to get his foot knights into contact.

Ray's foot knight charge into contact.  Meanwhile, the rest of Ray's and Jonathan's troops continue a steady advance.
The white labels are just my temporary fix to have at a glance unit stats... apologies.

It would be true to say that Ray and Jonathan both cursed that they were not getting the number of actions that would help them most.  All players also suffered the frustration of not having all of their orders come through.

Flower of Chivalry allows for personal challenges.  This is really a high risk and limited return strategy.  If you can kill or capture an opposing commander then an opposition Battle or even the Army could find itself stalled and unable to move.  If a player is challenged and refused, then all units in that Battle have their morale reduced until the leader either challenges or accepts a challenge.  So, a challenge is a risky move but at the right moment could be important.  Well, Ray challenged Dan.  In the process, Dan was killed and Ray was captured!  Very funny.

Ray's foot knights and men at arms in melee with Dan's archers and retainers.  On the right, Jonathan's mounted knights trample under foot a unit of men at arms.

Ray's foot knights destroy a unit of longbow but are now stranded as his men at arms are forced to retreat.
Jonathan's mounted and foot knights are annihilated by Steve's counterattack, and his men at arms forced to retreat.

With army points reduced by one for every unit forced to retreat and two for each destroyed unit,  Dan and Steve have their army morale reduced to 6.  However, the game ends as Jonathan and Ray find their Army Morale Points have been reduced to zero.

Jonathan and Ray put up a good fight against a larger army.  They didn't always enjoy the best of luck.  I reckon that we could play this again and get a different outcome.

Afterthoughts
Army Morale Points were based on the number of units. On reflection this benefits the side that buys lots of cheap troops or tries to "game" the system.  I am now reviewing this and may link the Army Morale more closely to the amount of points the army is worth.

I was really pleased with the game.  It played out well, in my opinion, and provided the kind of uncertainty that perhaps ought to be in a medieval battle.  Sometimes the troops don't want to move, sometimes they will charge forward when you would rather have a more controlled advance.

The rules are essentially IGOUGO. However, the uncertainty about orders and how many actions available from turn to turn prevents any advantage being derived from going first or second.

From my perspective the game was fun, but also very instructive for all.  As well as the Army Morale, I'm going to look at tweaking the personal challenges.

Lastly, in my opinion, the result was plausible, and you can't ask too much more from a set of historical wargames rules.

Imagi-Medieval Campaign Part 3: First Moves

After the previous selection of neutral areas (see part 2), some players were rather exercised by who chose what. Most vociferous being King Leopold of Austria (Ray).  He seemed frustrated by Trent being closed to him.  I don't know his strategy - nor would I divulge even if I did - but I think that he'd very much like to extract revenge!

Detail from Arrival of the English Ambassadors by Vittore Carpaccio

Whilst the orders for Turn One were being contemplated, many flowery worded missives were being sent back and forth to fish for information and secure alliances.  The players have certainly entered into character and communicate accordingly, forsooth!  

I must confess that with "emissaries" and "ambassadors" hurrying wither and thither, it was a little tricky to keep up with the various twists and turns.  I think that there may even be an alliance cemented through marriage (is this role-playing now going too far?), but I'm not sure.  

Detail from The Month of April: A Wedding Procession

With at least a couple turns before some of the players clash over areas, I'm guessing that everyone is playing it coy and sounding each other out until actions confirm suspicions.  One thing is certain, Ray has a duplicitous reputation that proceeds him from previous campaigns.  Will he be able to overcome this character handicap?  I suspect that Duke Frederich in Brandenburg (Jon) may apply some of his silver tongued skills to good effect... oh, who am I kidding, they are all as mad, bad and untrustworthy as each other!

With only unoccupied territories to conquer, our six rulers can divide their army strength (in points) to invade and capture some.  This is where I start to see some small differences in strategy.

To conquer an area the players must allocate a certain number of army points to invade.  If the ratio of army to area value is 4 to 1 in favour of the invader, then the area is automatically won.  The smaller the ratio the greater the risk of failure.  Each aspiring empire starts with 750 points to allocate to armies and/or comment to savings or the Pope.

In placing their orders, there are those that seek certainty and those that gamble on the odds.  Some you win some you lose.

Here is the map of Mittleuropa as it stands after Turn One.

The circled areas are the neutral principalities that no one can invade or move through for at least six turns.

The areas with coloured dots show ownership.

In the previous post, Norm placed his money on King Elrond of Franconia (Surjit).  It's early days, but who is making a good early impression with you?

Imagi-Medieval Campaign Part 2: Players and Opening Tasks

As part of setting up the campaign, we needed to know who would take command of which aspiring empire.

The players willing to put their reputations on the line are Rejects Ray (Don't Throw a One), Lee (Big Lee's Miniature Adventures), Dan, Steve and Surjit, along with the Chief of the Rejects USA Chapter, Jonathan (Palouse Wargaming Journal).

Who Chooses First?

I could have picked names out of a hat.  However, I thought that here was the first opportunity for a test of knowledge and speed.

The six players were sent an email giving them seven days notice that at 8pm on 15 September they would receive an email with two questions.  The first to answer the questions correctly would choose first from all six countries; the second would choose from the remaining five, and so on.

The two questions were not difficult:

1. What was the name given to Louis XVI at his trial and execution in Jan 1793?

2.  I am always in front of you but you can never see me.  What am I?

The first correct reply come back at 8:01pm!  Keen or what!

The order of response was as follows:

1 - Ray at 20:01

2 - Lee at 20:02

3 - Steve at 20:09

4 - Dan at 20:11

5 - Jon at 20:28

6 - Surjit at 21:42

A close call between first and second.

Who Chose What?
Now that we had established the order of selection, what did they choose?

Ray - Austria

Lee - Lombardy

Steve - Batavia

Dan - Bohemia

Jon - Brandenburg

Surjit was left with Franconia

Interestingly, a couple of the players expressed surprise that certain countries were not chosen.  Especially  that Franconia was not picked at all, but left to last place Surjit.  Do you agree?

Naming and Neutralising

The next tasks were for the players to access their campaign order sheets and to give names to their ruler and three generals.  For the battles, the generals will all start with the rating of "plodding".  With time and battlefield success they can improve their ratings.  The rulers' will be given a permanent rating at random.  The ratings are buffoon, plodding, efficient and brilliant.  These ratings affect the weighting of the number of actions per turn and command radius.

The names of the various rulers and their three army commanders are:

Austria: Ray will now be known as King Leopold V, the Virtuous (howls of laughter now coming from the rest of the Rejects).  His generals are Prince Frederick the Krieger, Duke Heinrich II Jasomirgott, and Count Lukas von Graben zum Stein.

Batavia:  Steve now becomes Earl Ragnar Lothbrok assisted by his three Constables Sweyn Forkbeard, Ivar The Boneless, and Harald Fairhair.

Bohemia:  Dan has a rather formidable sounding Queen by the name of Eliska Premyslova.  Her loyal army commanders are Lords Oldrich of Vitkov and Zbynek of Lichtenburk, and General Jan of Rozmberk.

Brandenburg:  Jonathan is now Duke Frederich von Freytag.  His trusted commanders are the Counts Ulrich von Lindow, Hermann von Orlamünde, and Dietrich von Stade.

Franconia:  Surjit now becomes King Elrond the Wise.  He has the loyalty of Marshal Gandalf the Great, Prince Aragon the Brave, and Prince Legolas the Swift.

Lombardy:  Lee is now transformed into King Ottaviano di Valperga.  His three army commanders being Duke Giacomo da Varenna, Count Ottone Grimaldi, and Marshal Matteo Farracorta.

Each player must also secretly submit the name of one area/principality in Mitteleuropa that will remain neutral for at least two campaign years (six turns).  That means that no-one, including the person who selected it, during that time may invade and capture those territories.  So, a careful choice could give advantage, protection and possibly hinder a rival.  These were their choices placed in alphabetical order of territory:

Cisalpine

Eins

Mainz

Neu

Sesia

Trent

Would you have made different decisions?  How do you think these choices might impact play?

As I type, emails are already flying back and forth as rival rulers negotiate pacts, alliances and (no doubt) spread rumour and sow discontent.  At the same time contemplating their orders for turn one.

Making a Hole in the Collection

Well... strictly speaking I've made a breach.

Siege of Orléans in 1428 (Vigiles de Charles VII, 15th century) - Public Domain

Following a play test of my siege rules using my 2mm buildings and troops (see Testing Siege Rules), I decided to make some breaches instead of just removing walls.  So, this short post is just that!

A wall section in the raw!

They are very easy to take a hacksaw to, and cut crisply.  A sharp Stanley knife was then applied.

Grit and sand is then applied.  Then undercoated in black.

The rest is all just dry brushing - a darkish raw umber/white mix then sky grey and finally wraithbone (a kind of bone colour - off white).

A breached section in the middle of a curtain wall.

I just have to paint some siege towers that I received through the post yesterday.  They shouldn't take long... they're 2mm scale for heavens sake!

All models are produced by Brigade Models.

A Retreat from Moscow Game

A number of us Rejects gathered in Stuart's shed for Lee and Ray to present and umpire a Retreat from Moscow game using Sharp Practice rules.

Stuart and Surjit played the Russians, who were tasked with defending the road and preventing the retreating French from breaking through and continuing the retreat west.

David, Steve and I commanded the French.

This is not really a battle report. I didn't take many photos.  So, just a few pictures to show off the gorgeous game that Lee and Ray organised.

The Russians deployed on the left. They were behind fences, barricaded and in ruined buildings.
The French arrived on the road with each command one behind the other.

Ray's lovely French sledges.

The view from the French side.

French cavalry throw themselves at Russian barricades.

Russians have reinforcements appearing on the French flank.

Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dum... I mean, our honoured umpires in a rare moment when us players weren't asking lots of questions and testing Lee's levels of calm.

The finishing positions at the point when the French morale fell to zero.

It was great to all get together with all the usual banter and laughter.

A beautiful looking table with superb miniatures and eclectic units.  Well done Ray and Lee.

Imagi-Medieval Campaign Part 1: Introduction and Background

Let me introduce you to the imaginary continent of Mitteleuropa.  Six players representing the aspiring empires of Austria, Batavia, Bohemia, Brandenburg, Franconia and Lombardy are all casting their covetous eyes over the rich territories of Mitteleuropa.

Mitteleuropa
The six players will each control one of the nascent empires: Franconia, Batavia, Brandenburg, Bohemia, Austria, and Lombardy.

Background Sometime in the early 15th century, powerful, yet fledgling, empires are preparing to launch themselves on an ambitious round of conquest in the unsuspecting region of Mitteleuropa. Rivals may ally but there can be only one victor with the goal being to dominate and prove themselves worthy of acclaim.  Each player has between 5 and 10 campaign years to make their mark.  The only fly in the ointment of the aspiring empire builders is the troublesome, dangerous and rapacious Lithuanian Confederation… and the occasional natural (and unnatural) disaster!

Being the master of Mitteleuropa will mean acquiring a number of titles, with the possessor of the most being the one to hold the title Ultimus Imperator.  The titles to win are:

Fidei Defensor - The player who donates the most treasure to the Pope.
Imperius Rex - The player who owns the most territories.
Castellan Dominatus - The player who successfully besieges the most castles.
Alma Habitatus - The player who has increased the value of their final possessions the most. This will be evidence of enhancing the prosperity of your subjects.
L’Homme de Guerre - The player who wins the most field battles.
Renaissance Man - The player who fulfils a range of tasks in different disciplines and wins the acclaim of others. These tasks being:

• Produce a painting or drawing.
• Write a poem at least 15 lines long.
• Display some musical talent.
• Produce a commentary on a scientific or astronomical event or development.
• Show speed in calculation and accuracy with the bow.

L’Homme sans Reproche - At the end of the campaign each player must secretly give to the umpire their choice for the one who has played the best campaign in terms of fair play, heroic conduct and honourable behaviour.

Campaign Elements As you may now realise, this is not a quick, over in a month, campaign.  More of a leisurely stroll than a sprint.  Each player must gain territory, build towns, castles and increase wealth.  All of that increases the treasure available to build armies.  I hope that the campaign is one of battles, sieges, alliances, chivalrous behaviour and non-onerous resource management.  In short, the players have to be good generals, builders and wise rulers.

The campaign rules are ones that I have written.  If you are interested here is the link to them: Founding Empires.  I won't pretend that they fabulously written... but they'll do!

The tabletop battles will use Flower of Chivalry as they provide quick games that capture a little of the  difficulty of commanding medieval armies.

Each area of Mitteleuropa that is captured provides an income shown on the map above.  This can be augmented with some investment - the towns etc. that I mentioned earlier.

There will be random events - some good, some bad.  The army lists are based on early 15th century troop types.  However, both can change with the passage of campaign time as technology and knowledge develops.

Apart from the fun of piecing the campaign together, I've actually spent a fair bit of happy time getting a range of spreadsheets in place to handle the vast majority of the umpire admin and to assist the player in doing their orders and building.  Fingers crossed it all holds together under duress.

Ultimately, it's all about having fun and creating purpose for some games.

Well, that's enough for now.  The next campaign post will set out the sides and their pre-turn 1 tasks.

Testing Siege Rules

In preparation for a campaign, I tested out siege rules that I have written to go with Flower of Chivalry.

Flower of Chivalry, published eons ago by the Canadian Wargames Group, are a simple yet flavoursome set... in my opinion anyway.  My slightly amended version of these are what will be used for field battles.  These, with my siege adaptations will also be used to assaults castles.  It just made sense to use the same base for both types of battles.

The attackers are making their approach.  Off picture are two trebuchets that are pounding the walls.

In keeping with Flower of Chivalry, the loser is the first side to reach zero on the Army Morale countdown.  The defenders can also lose if two of their units are driven off the table edge within a certain time limit.  This represents the poor fellows dispersing to escape the possible mayhem and murder wrought by the attackers.

The missing wall sections represent breaches.  knights are pouring in.  On the left, men at arms are assaulting the walls via a siege tower.  Doesn't look good for the defenders!

The defenders' Army Morale was driven down to zero at the point where their second unit was driven off the table.  The castle is captured and the population put to the blade!

As you can see I used my 2mm figures to enact this siege.  The figures are from Irregular2mm and the castle, towers and walls from Brigade Models.  

After thoughts

I got a lot out of this, both as rule writer and player.

As a player, the attacker could use more ladders (I only gave one unit ladders and they got beaten back!).

As for the rules, I made a couple of clarifications and a couple of additions.  The most important being the starting levels for the two armies' battle lust - this represents the exhaustion and morale of each Battle/Ward in an army.  Plus 7 is exhaustion and big minuses in combat; minus 7 is a collapsing morale with big minuses for morale checks.  The starting point is usually zero with the levels rising and falling depending on orders given.  Manoeuvre and charge orders add to the battle lust;  react and defend orders provide a minus to battle lust.  However, I found that adjusting it so defenders start at plus 4 and the attackers at minus 4 kept the attackers moving without exhausting too quickly and allowed the defenders to react and defend without morale falling too sharply.

Lastly, I have some breaches to model along with a few more walls to paint.

I guess that I will write more about the upcoming campaign in due course.

No Gaming in August, but plenty of butter and reading

August was a bleak desert for hobby activity, on every front.  However, I can't complain.  The beginning was taken up with stays at Lincoln, North Yorkshire and Bronté country, and the Lake District. The latter was more an homage to Beatrix Potter than Wordsworth - that probably reveals much about my level.

The second half was the annual pilgrimage to stay with my in-laws in Bretagne, France.  

Bretagne/Brittany is famous for a number of things including: crêpes, cidre, butter and high rates of alcohol consumption.  I made sure that I enjoyed daily visits to a crêperie to enjoy the first three on the list, and superb evenings eating and drinking well.

The best place in Concarneau to buy fresh baked kouig amann and gateaux bretons.  The latter being like a bakewell tart but with more butter. The former being a laminated pastry thing made almost entirely out of butter and sugar... amazing fresh and warm from the oven. Terrible for the heart!

My summer reading complimented my getaways.  For Yorkshire, I read Jane Eyre and The Professor by Charlotte Bronté. The former I had read before and remains my favourite Bronté novel.

For my stay in France I read House of Lilies.

Basically telling the story of the Capetian kings of France from the rise of Hugh Capet in 987 to the death of the last, Charles IV, in 1328.  A story that bumps and grinds against the history of England with their Norman and Plantagenet kings.

An excellent account that opens up the idea of playing out some of the many and little known battles fought within France and against their neighbours.

What was great for a history book was the inclusion of maps that located every one mentioned in the text.

With what seemed a fair amount of Wars of the Roses chatter, I decided to acquaint myself better with this bit of my history.  So, onto the Hollow Crown by Dan Jones.

I have yet to read anything by Jones and be disappointed.  This was no different.  He has a way of telling, what is a fairly complex, story in an entertaining, engaging and comprehensible narrative.  His family trees and maps were helpful and complemented the text perfectly. Not once did I get lost amongst the numerous Edwards, Richards and Henrys.

This not a detailed account of battles, though the battles feature... of course!  For me it was a clear telling of the story of the times taken from 1420 through to c.1509.  It compellingly told a story of wars created by the collapse of royal authority.

I would highly recommend both.

I must end by confessing that I quite enjoyed not blogging for a month.  I'm not sure what this says about me?

More 6mm Austrian Cuirassiers

Some quick painting done in the cooler hours of the day so the paint doesn't dry on the brush!

Two regiments of 6mm MDF Austrian cuirassiers for the French Revolutionary Wars.  The 5th and 6th regiments. Not that you'd notice at this scale.

Figures are from Commission Figurines.

They are on 60mm x 60mm bases.

There is something peculiar going on here.  Can you spot it?