Azincourt!

I'm quite excited, something I have been waiting with anxious anticipation for quite some time has finally been released (for pre-order anyway). Last year, when I attended Claymore, I purchased the Hundred Years War variant for Test of Resolve and after vacillating on what figures to use, I  learned that Wargames Atlantic announced they would be releasing box sets for the Hundred Years War battle Azincourt (which I always spelled Agincourt, but nevermind that..). 

I felt like I was checking in on updates regarding the Azincourt releases for about a year or so. In the interim, I purchased a box set of the Wargames Atlantic Fantasy Battle Orcs and began painting them up as practice run for speed-painting (well, no painting is "speedy" for me) the Azincourt armies. When the Azincourt armies finally appeared for pre-order, I took the plunge and purchased a Christmas gift for myself (if you can't love yourself, who can you love?). I added in a box set of the Fantasy Battle Dwarves (need an opponent for my Orcs) and also a box of Bone Blades (aka undead skeletons).

Box art for the English pictured above. The set includes: 

• 246 English knights/men-at-arms on foot
• 362 longbowmen (with both bows and melee weapons)
• 105 wooden stakes (in plastic)
• Casualty figures

Box art for the French pictured above. The set includes: 

• 351 French knights/men-at-arms on foot
• 108 knights mounted
• 246 Genoese crossbowmen with pavise
• Casualty figures to include horses

A picture from Wargames Atlantic above of the painted English knights/men-at-arms.

That is quite alot of figures...and not every battle of the HYW had similar orders of battle like Azincourt. I probably don't need all 108 mounted knights to be French and I think some could be painted up as English. Perhaps some of those English longbowmen can be painted as French archers and some of the longbowmen with melee weapons can be painted up as French rabble.

The box sets also include very nice plastic bases 40mm x 20mm in dimension. While nice, I doubt I will use them. In Test of Resolve, melee units are comprised of two bases stacked behind each other while missile units are two bases side by side. I am thinking of perhaps 60mm x 20mm or 60mm x 30mm...or even 80mm frontages. I'd like to have melee units deployed as either squares or perhaps a bit wider than they are deep. 

I have quite a few painting projects milling about so who knows when I will be able to put paint to plastic on these little fellas but I look forward to everything about this project. 

Moroccan Adventure

 

Work has unexpectedly taken me to Morocco. It's not necessarily a trip I had planned to take. Whenever I travel I look for military history related sites: battlefields, museums, wargaming stores, etc. 

While I have found some spare time to investigate various landmarks (some with some interesting historical stories behind them), I haven't really encountered much in the way of wargaming fodder.

I brought with me Conrad Cairn's wargaming guide to the Carlist War (Side Note: I met Conrad at Claymore last year and he is an incredibly friendly person, an interaction that will ne a cherished memory) and that got me thinking about a Spanish theme to a Moroccan wargaming venture... specifically the Spanish Civil War. The Moroccan Regulares of Franco's Army of Africa were heavily involved in the conflict and were considered some of the elite troops for the Nationalist cause. 

I had already dipped my toe in the SCW waters when I began (but didn't finish) a 10mm Italian CTV infantry company to fight against the International Brigade in scenarios based on the Battle of Guadalajara (1937). 

In fact, I even had primed and began to paint some International Brigade infantry as well. Those are still languishing on a popsicle stick someplace in my hobby storage....they have little crude dabs of grey and brown on them and look quite rough at the moment, but I digress.... A bit of research revealed that the Moroccan Regulares fought the International Brigade at the Battle of Jarama about a month or so before the Battle of Guadalajara. In fact the very lovely wargaming blog Baber on Wargames has an excellent scenario posted for an action between the British battalion of the International Brigade and some Moroccan Nationalists during the battle of Jarama.

With this idea in mind, I placed an order for some 10mm Moroccans in winter kit from Pendraken. Of course this means that I really need to paint up those idealistic fighters from the International Brigade and since the CTV are nearly complete, I might as well paint them up too...

UPDATE: Since posting this on the blog, I also purchased a few old Osprey books on the SCW forces and another on foreign volunteers in the SCW. I also stumbled upon a few good blog posts with painting guides and color plates to aid in painting the Regulares and other factions. 

More Greenskins...

 I've decided that I will paint up this whole box of Wargames Atlantic 10mm orcs before I resume my other projects. With that being said, I finished 6 bases of swordsmen and 3 command stands. The box set has two types of swordsmen: heavily armored guys without shields and lightly armored guys with shields. I decided I didn't need two types of swordsmen so I just mixed them together and I think that gives a better visual. 

Here you can see the 6 bases of swordsmen (above).

Rear angle of the same swordsmen showing off some of the casualty figures WA includes on their sprues. You can also see the Pendraken dice trays I added to the Litko bases. The basing was done with sand. I painted it medium brown craft paint, inked with Army Painter Dark Tone and then dry brushed with Vallejo Cork Brown. The static grass is a mix of several brands and give a nice bright green look. 

Here's a picture of the three command stands. WA sprues each contain a 3 man command strip and a 2 man command strip. The 2 man strip has a drummer and you will need to glue his drum to his chest. It's a bit fiddly but it looks good. I added some of the individual orc armored swordsmen as commanders. There are a total of 6 command strips on the box, so some of these will go in my extras bin. 

Lastly we have an image of the completed army this far. Three bases of spearmen, 3 bases of heavy axemen, 6 bases of swordsmen, 4 bases of wolf riders and 3 command stands. All that remains to be painted are the archers (about 6 bases worth). Overall, I would say it's heck of a bargain to get an entire army for $45. They include casualties and 40x20mm bases as well. I'm tempted to pick up the Dwarf army to face off against the green skins. 

Wargames Atlantic Orcs

I've had my eye on the Wargames Atlantic Orcs since their release. I don't play too much fantasy battle th se days but I was enamored with their resemblance to the orcs 1978 cartoon Lord of the Rings.

I saw a few boxes of the Wargames Atlantic Orcs at my local hobby shop and decided to support my local business with a purchase. 

I saw a video tutorial from Jim Morris aka "Mogsymakes" where he tackles the same orcs for his Midgard armies. I liked the look and copied his approach. The sprues were cleaned in warm soapy water and rinsed in clean water. Upon drying, I primed them black on the sprues and then removed them from the sprues and attached to popsicles sticks. Painting was done with dabs of paint allowing the black undercoat to provide definition. 

Here are the wolf/warg riders in all their glory. For the army, I decided to go with a limited color palette of grey, red, ochre, brown and black (and green for the skin of course). I drybrushed the wolves and that was it for them, there are three different drybrush tones but I managed to place all the grey wolves in the middle of each base even though I was basing randomly.

Three bases of orc heavy axemen, there are about 12 total figures on each 40x40mm base. I think 12 figures works, it allows me to get 3 bases gives me some space in the back for a dice tray. 

Here we have three bases of spearmen. These fellas all have shields and I couldn't just paint them black and leave it at that. I tried my hand at painting the "Red Eye of Sauron" on the shields but didn't like how they turned out so I went with the "White Hand of Saruman". I think they turned out good enough for hastily painted 10mm figs. 

I didn't really have a fantasy mass battle ruleset in mind but these are based to be compliant with Chipco's Fantasy Rules! and Nic Wright's Fantastic Battles. I have experience with Nic's Irregular Wars ruleset which have similar mechanics as Fantastic Battles, so I knew that I'd be placing dice trays on the back of these bases. Below is an image showing off the rears of those Orcs as well as the dice trays. 

I still have the swordsmen and archers left to paint, which should give me about 6 bases each. I think the entire box set will give me about 18 bases of infantry, 4 bases of wolf riders and also some command stands. I will probably purchase some trolls from another manufacturer to complement the army. Overall, I'm pleased with the figures and how much you get for less than $50 USD. 

Progress: Paint on Lead (and Plastic)

I've been trying to stay productive with my hobby, starting to tackle a 6mm Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth army to fight my Swedes and Russians. First up are enough pancerni for two regiments of cavalry. 

Only ones left to paint are the command. I will probably add a third pancerni unit and one or two winged hussars and some light horse detachments. 

There's nothing that I love more than a diversion to keep me motivated (and distract me from the primary task).  When I was over at my local hobby shop, I noticed they had some of Wargames Atlantic's 10mm plastic orcs in stock. I had planned to order some of these whenever Wargames Atlantic decides to release their 10mm plastic Azincourt armies. Yesterday I decided to take the plunge and support my local hobby shop. 

The box set includes three sprues of figures and 40x20mm bases. I plan to base mine on 40mm bases for either Chipco's Fantasy Rules! or Nic Wright's Fantastic Battles. I rinsed the sprues in soapy water and primed them black the following day. The image above shows my first go at these figures. Overall I am pretty pleased. The faces were les successful nut I am hoping to go back in and paint tusks, and perhaps a light ink wash will help with some facial details. These fellas will definitely be a speed-paint project so I'm not too concerned.

Game On....

Today, Alex and I got together for our game. It had been a while since I had seen my old friend and it was really good to catch up, share a few jokes, roll some dice and push some lead. 

Alex opted to take control of the Russian horde as they marched on towards Narva. His force was tasked with securing a village near a stream and driving the Swedes from their defensive positions. 

As the Swedes, I started with only half my force under Governor-General De la Gardie. A relief force commanded by Colonel Burmeister would arrive on Turn 3. The village was capable of holding one battalion in a fortified position. I opted to place the blue coated infantry battalion in the village with a green-coated dragoon regiment to their left and a yellow-coated infantry battalion and an artillery battery to the right of the village. 

I accidentally deleted the initial setup pictures so here we are after Turn 1(above). A unit of Streltsy on the right advanced too close to the village and received a volley from the blue coats for their trouble, inflicting a wear point. The Russian artillery bombarded the yellow coats from a distance, inflicting a wear and disordering the infantry regiment. Alex brought the rest of the Russians into position with some detachments of dragoons and Cossacks managing to cross the stream on the far flanks. 

At the end of Turn 2 (above), things looked good for the Swedes. Their dragoons chased off a Russian dragoon detachment on their far left ((top center of the photo barely in view). In the center, a streltsy battalion attempted an assault on the village and was repulsed with heavy loss. Another streltsy unit was unsuccessful in reaching the yellow-coat Swedish infantry and received a cannon blast into them causing some wear and disorder. The yellow-coats unloaded a volley into some roaming cossacks on their far right causing wear and disorder. The Swedes also saw their reserves arrive at the table edge.

The end of end of Turn 3 and beginning of Turn 4 (above) was probably the high-mark for the Swedes. In the third, the Russian reiters attempted an assault on the village and were repulsed with two wear inflicted for their troubles. The Russian westernized infantry filled gaps between the center and both flanks but had yet to make any meaningful action. The Swedish reserves were approaching the lines and their horse were primed to make a counter attack on a damaged streltsy battalion on the center left. Things went bad for the Swedes from here out.

At the end of Turn 4 (above), and the Swedish cavalry comprising their left flank is in trouble. The Swedish horse charged the injured streltsy and lost badly. Despite rolling 7 melee dice to the Russians 4 (their bardische allowing them to ignore wear markers in melee), the Swedes were repulsed after inflicting only one wear and suffering three. The green-coated dragoons were charged by a Russian westernized battalion and suffered two wear. The Swedish infantry failed to attrite the Russian units facing them.

Close-up of the situation at the end of Turn 4 (above).

The situation after Turn 5 (above). The Swedish lost their dragoon regiment on their left and the thier horse regiment were at their breaking point. The Russians lost one of their streltsy battalions and another was heavily damaged with three wear and also disordered. On the far right, the grey-coated Swedish infantry were disordered and suffering two wear after being shot up by cossacks and charged by streltsy.

In turn 6, the Russian reiters slammed into the injured Swedish horse destroying them and killing Colonel Burmeister in the process. A second streltsy battalion was destroyed on the Russian side. At the end of the turn the Russians led in victory points 9-8 but would need an advantage of 3 points for a clear victory at this point. Alex and I decided to play one more turn to decide things.

The end of Turn 7 (above). The Russians managed inflict wear and cause disorder by bombarding the yellow-coat Swedish infantry. In a desperate gamble, the yellow-coats attempted to charge and kill a vulnerable Potyomkin but failed their order check. Both the grey and yellow coat Swedish infantry were destroyed including Governor-General De la Gardie. The Swedes were left with a lone artillery battery and the blue-coated Swedish infantry entrenched in the village. 

It was a bloody affair that went very bad for the Swedes late in the game. Both Alex and I had a blast. I really can't say enough positive about Tercios. We finished 7 turns in about two and a half hours and I also managed to remember to do the various things I typically forget: orders checks for weary units, adjusting dice for weary and disorganized units, etc.

I may have to adjust some ratings for detachments. I lowered their melee and stamina but often kept their shooting value the same. We agreed to play again in the future. I really need to paint up my Poles and Ottomans now!

Nevermind the Bardiche...

Just a quick post because I ran through a few turns of Liber Militum Tercios the other night and followed that up with a reading of the reviews this evening. Perhaps I should have done those in the reverse order but no matter. 

For my practice solo game, I placed a small Swedish force on the table consisting of a commander, infantry battalion, dragoon regiment and light artillery battery. The Swedes were tasked with defending a stream edge. 

Opposing them was a slightly larger Russian force with a westernized infantry battalion, a streltsy battalion and dragoon detachment. 

To start the game, the Russians advanced. Streltsy are given slightly faster movement so they are a bit further out. The dragoon detachment hadn't moved yet at the time of this picture. The Swedes moved forward to the stream edge and their artillery bombarded ineffectively. 

The Russian infantry are given assault orders while the the Swedish loose off a volley. The Swedish infantry manage to inflict some wear on the streltsy but the 

Russians slammed into the Swedish pike and shot. The bardishe axes allow the streltsy to ignore the wear marker in melee, they roll 6 dice and inflict 3 wear markers on the Swedes. 

The Swedish dragoon regiment probably should have charged the Russian dragoon detachment but they opted to engage in a firefight instead. Soon the Russian pike and shot battalion started pouring fire into the dragoons as well and they were on the brink of breaking. 

At this point, after 3 quick turns, I opted to conclude the practice run. I keep forgetting to conduct orders check rolls for reactions and when worn units are tying to act on orders. I learned that those streltsy are pretty nasty in melee against other infantry. Tercios is a great ruleset. I really need to play it more. 

On a side note, I really like using the plastic bushes from Monster Fight Club as clumps of trees for my 6mm and 10mm games. They don't take up much storage space because they are stackable, they are pretty much impervious to damage in storage and I think they look really nice on the tabletop. They aren't cheap but I think I may have to get a bunch more. I think they used to have a convention sale when I would see them at various HMGS shows.