PARADE GROUND 20mm

New Newline Designs - Thorakitai

2026-08-17T17:09:27.454+01:00

In June I received some lovely samples of some brand new Newline Designs 20mm Hellenistic Thorakitai. Filling in a much needed troop type in this scale, not only for Newline's comprehensive 20mm Ancients range but for 1/72 in general, those looking for Thorakitai to work along side their plastics will find these useful. Along with the African Veterans which can easily be used as imitation legionaries or more armoured Thorakitai with greaves these brand new Thorakitai represent the line art shown in Duncan Head's classic Armies of the Macedonian and Punic Wars - showing a thuroes bearing spearman with a mail shirt that lacks the reinforced shoulder yoke.

When I received these in June they were a much needed tonic, with the way the last year and this year had been going. I immediately cleaned and prepped them. I used bristles to make the spears and the swords - I was aiming for a Kopis like sword. As ever they painted up remarkably easily, undercoated in black then dry brushed in an appropriate metallic, it didn't take too much effort to block in skin, tunic, straps and helmet. I've tried to show some versatility in the two poses offered spearmen, Javelin and sword armed warriors here.

I was hoping this would prompt a break in the dry spell of painting but so far it has not been the case. The ongoing issues mentioned elsewhere have been very draining and I'd rather get back into painting when i have the time, energy and patients to enjoy it again. Even getting a chance to sort this blog out has been difficult. These are on my Newline shopping list again once I have the opportunity to stock up on these I will be doing so.

So here we have a impromptu diorama of possibly Ptolemaic soldiers moving through an oasis, or along the Nile. Of course are useful for any despotic Hellenistic Dynast.

Are you not EntertAIned!?

2026-03-31T23:28:00.000+01:00

I'm going through my blog post drafts, working on getting them published, this is a little one I started a while back when, longtime friend within the hobby, Dougie was having fun with AI backgrounds. He sent me some of my Iberians emerging from an ancient forest, intrigued I asked him if it could make an arena setting for the Newline Designs 20mm Gladiator conversions, and I was pleased with the result. I was meant to post these months ago (June I think) but as I have mentioned in a previous post general life has been too much all year and has been impacting hobby pursuits. I try to keep working on little bits here and there, floating between what I fancy, building miniatures, paper soldiers, research and rules writing. Sometimes just whatever I can manage, a look through a wargames book or magazine to keep or build interest. As of late it has impacted further and I've had almost no capacity for the hobby, my new hobby being, fending off "help" from various local services that lack awareness or training in the UK's Statutory Framework. This is why I have not really updated this blog for a while, all writing energy has been going into complaints and data rectification requests.

Back to hobby talk! AI seems to be regarded between a novelty and the devil incarnate, based on the things I've seen on social media. A fad will have a few moments of intense action, such as the AI images of imagined action figures or the bringing to life of wargames miniatures into an unsettling scene, reminiscent of the film Young Sherlock Holmes when inanimate sculptures come to life to attack people. Then there are reactionary responses that seek to ban their use in groups, and when its so overused, this is understandable, but for the fact that the gimmick soon wears off anyway, it seems heavy handed. There are the legitimate concerns of artists losing out and that creative work is being lost to AI, and it seems that technology continues its meteoric rise in replacing human labour in general. While this is clearly happening, commissioning an artist is out of reach for most people, personally I wouldn't buy cursed AI images over professional artists' prints, but one day we may not can tell the difference, however if you have a project in mind that needs some graphics resorting to AI generated images is an option.

Ultimately, these LLM are currently out there and like all human inventions its how you choose to use them that counts, users need to be very discerning and be wary. In a wider context how societies will regulate their use will be vital. So far however I'm finding it a useful tool, especially for bouncing ideas off, brain storming, and looking for feedback and suggestions. With a bit of work it might be useful for solo gamers, probably not so much as an opponent directly but for suggesting general strategies you could enact on the table top, probably in a RPG style format, it has potential but will require thoughtful use. I'm interested in how others view them, and if they use any AIs and what for?

One (or Two) Hour Wargame

2025-11-23T12:45:00.000+00:00

I have begun making a few bases of paper soldiers for the Wars of the Roses, the paper soldiers continue to be a relaxing project, with all that is happening in the background which has continued to hit hobby time, they're providing short bursts with nice pay offs in terms of finishing bases. As I jump between projects and work on half baked rules and I'm looking at Wars of the Roses rules, in which even I'm working on two branches of rules based on some army lists, one unit based and one Ward or Battle based. Both in infancy and will no doubt join the litany of part baked and abandoned rules, but its a creative endeavor in its own sake, is what I tell myself in excusing the lack of completion of these rules.

Recently a comment was left by Olivero with regards to a set based on One Hour Wargames for Punic Wars that I tested a while back asking if I had a chance to look at them and post up. The spirit of simplicity in Neil Thomas' wargames books provide such great inspiration to me, I heard there is another book in the making that has a more grand tactical or strategic take which i hope is the case, his rules also inspire many other gamers. John's Wargames Page and Playing Around with OHW Rules provide great food for thought with 3 hit variants that provide a bit more chaos when units will break but with a similar probability to the original rules. This suits my tastes more and provide the basis of the rules below. The I added in the needless complication which you can quite easily remove if needs be, it was more of an experiment to include a bit of command friction, and now I'd probably change it to a more Rampant series style activation system to give that friction but without command roll rules and command point currency. One thing I tried to complicate things more was introducing flight and pursuit. Usually in a game a enemy unit breaks and the surviving unit can now turn an enemy unit's flank, but I wanted to incentivize pursuing an enemy unit to cut them down causing real loss to an army.

As ever my preference for grids is present, this I always find speeds things up, offsetting the added complexity with more simplistic grid movement. I'm pleased that gridded wargames are becoming more prevalent, more mainstream these days.

The rules are in need of tightening up and clarifying but it will give you a gist of what I was aiming for. There are example units and suggestions for Rome and Carthage. Because of the loose nature of the rules if you trial them and find an odd situation or one not covered just do what you think is logical bearing in mind units are imagined to be legion sized contingents. With the added complexities they're probably more two hour wargames!

O/THW ANCIENTS

Sequence of Play

Move own fleeing units and resolve own pursuits.

The active player can activate a unit or group (individual units may only take part in a move as a group once per phase) to move or activate units to combat.

Roll 1 d6 before an action is taken. On a roll of a 1 that ends the phase after the action has been taken. However unused general’s activations can be used up before the following player’s phase.

Movement Activation

Units within orthogonal spaces can conduct a single group move per phase. All units in the group must move in the same direction and same speed.

Units may move or turn orthogonally up to their listed movement rating each costing 1 move. Thus a heavy infantry unit of 1 move can either turn or move forwards.

Some units can turn for free so only count the move into orthogonal squares towards their limit.

Interpenetration, only skirmishers can move through other units and other units may only pass through skirmishers.

Units that have not moved yet in a phase may conduct a charge move that is followed by combat. Activate as normal and if the move would reach into the enemy occupied square follow the combat activation sequence.

Units that have moved may conduct a further move but may not combat. Activate as normal and if a leadership test is passed the unit may move again if it fails the phase ends for that player.

In terrain such as a river ford or wooded areas, all units must move as individuals and count as having a movement of 1 per activation. Skirmishers and units with “Loose Order” trait ignore this restriction.

Combat Activation

Combat activations are always done on an individual unit basis. If the unit starts adjacent to the enemy this phase it may combat.

Combat is conducted orthogonally by both units, a unit may only attack in the direction it is facing.

Consult the unit roster to determine the attack roll.

If a unit is attacking from the rear that unit hits on 3+.

All units fighting into and out of forest terrain fight at Attack =1. Troops with “Loose Order” trait fight as Attack =2.

If fighting a unit crossing a ford or downhill +1 Attack dice.

Retreat; if a combat is lost (taking the most hits in a round of combat) a leadership test is conducted upto 3 times unless it passes. First failure the unit falls back 1 square, second failure face away from enemy, third failure move forward 1 square, that is away from the enemy. Some troops may have to test less (see unit stats).

If the unit is pushed back off the board it is eliminated.

A victorious unit can follow up and occupy the square by passing a leadership test. Impetuous unit traits MUST follow up.

Elephants that lose a round of combat may rampage. “Rampage” rolling 1 die on a roll of 1 they move and/or attack left, 2 right, 3 rear. On a 4+ they do not rampage.

Rampaging elephants can be attacked by allied troops and they can be “attacked by themselves” Mahouts putting down elephants, the rampage continues until the unit is eliminated while rampaging roll 1 dice 1=left 2=right 3=rear 4+=forwards

If a combat would result in both units fleeing whoever won that combat remains with 1 Strength point remaining. If a draw then both remain reduced to 1 Strength point.

Flight and Pursuit

When a unit reaches 0 Strength points it breaks and flees. It turns towards its base edge and moves its full allowance. If it breaks in its own phase, move straight away otherwise wait for the beginning of its own next phase.

The victorious unit will now be in pursuit and chase that unit during their own phase until it successfully passes a Leadership Test removing the pursuit status at that point it can halt and be activated normally on its next phase. If the pursuers' target flees the edge of the table, the pursuers wait on the table edge until pursuit status is removed.

If a unit's line of retreat is blocked by an enemy and the fleeing unit can not continue to flee, or it’s caught by an enemy unit the unit is slaughtered and a following point is removed from army morale.

Generals

NAME/ATTACK/RALLY/ARMY MORALE

Hannibal/0/2/2 “Battlefield Manager” +1 to “Fate Roll”

Alexander/2/1/2 “Fortune Favours the Bold” ignore 1st failure of “Risk to General” on attacking

The unit the general is with is exempt from making the phase end test, including if it is part of a group move.

A general can reroll failed Leadership checks but also must test “Risk to General”.

Add attack dice according to abilities during a combat activation, they must also test “Risk to General”.

Rally units, a general can remove hits inflicted during a combat activation depending on the general's abilities. On a roll of 5 or 6, cancel a hit. Test “Risk to General” on a single die.

Risk to General, on a roll of a 1 a following roll is made to determine the fate of the general, the “Fate Roll”. 1-2 removed from battle 3-4 miss their next turn, 5-6 near miss no effect.

If a general is lost minus 1 point from army morale. A general can be lost via fate roll or if their unit flees.

Unit Types

Units can be classified by the following;

NAME/MOVES/ATTACKS/DEFENCE/STRENGTH/LEADERSHIP/SPECIALS

Movement rate is given in squares or turns a unit can move orthogonally.

Attack dice show how many d6s can be rolled in a combat.

Defence shows the dice score that will inflict a hit while being attacked.

Strength shows how many hits a unit receives before being shattered.

Leadership shows the modifier to morale/discipline rolls.

Specials are for rules that allow for different troop interactions that the normal stats don’t cover.

Victory

An army morale is a quarter of non skirmish troops rounded up +4, e.g. 16 non skirmishers 4+4 = Army Morale of 8.

When a non-skirmish unit is reduced to flees due to combat Army Morale drops by 1.

When a fleeing unit is intercepted and destroyed, Army Morale drops by 1.

When a general is killed or swept away by a fleeing unit, Army Morale drops by 1.

When Army Morale drops to 6 and below consult unit roster when Leadership rating matches the Army Morale reduce their strength by 1. Henceforth everytime the morale drops further another strength point is removed. Thus a unit with exceptional leadership of 3 won’t lose Strength points via Army Morale until Army Morale drops to 3.

Table of Generic Troop Type Examples

NAME	M	A	D	S	L	SPECIAL RULES
Skirmishers	2	1	5	2	6	Hit Elephants 5+, Vs Skirmishers A= 3, interpenetration
Heavy Infantry	1	3	6	4	4
Infantry	1	2	6	4	5
Light Infantry	2	2	5	3	5	Loose Order
Warband	2	3	5	4	5	Impetuous, Loose Order
Levies	1	1	5	4	6
Cavalry	3	2	5	3	5	Facing change for free
Lancers	3	3	5	3	5	Facing change for free
Cataphracts	3	2	6	3	4
Light Cavalry	4	1	5	3	5	Facing change for free
Elephants	2	3	6	4	5	Hit all troops on 5, D=5 vs Skirmishers, Rampage
Chariots	3	2	5	3	5
Scythed Chariots	3	3	4	2	5

Traits

Infantry units:

“Archers” A=3 vs Skirmishers & Light Cavalry, reroll 1 failed attack roll

“Hoplites” when fighting other units with Hoplite trait A=3 D=5

“Throwing Spears” while at full strength add 1 attack die

“Phalanx” while at full strength 1 hit can be negated by passing a leadership test. Attacks on flanks hit on a 5+

“Loose Order” Ignore terrain penalties for combat and movement

“Elephant Drill” Elephants that attack this unit require 6 to hit

Elephants:

“African” or “Indian” Indians hit Africans on 5s

Republican Roman Unit Examples

NAME	M	A	D	S	L	SPECIAL RULES
Velites	2	1	5	2	6	Hit Elephants 5+, Vs Skirmishers A= 3, interpenetration
Legion	1	3	6	4	4	Throwing Spears
Raw Legion	1	2	6	4	5	Throwing Spears
Italian Allies	2	2	5	3	5	Loose Order
Warband	2	3	5	4	5	Impetuous, Loose Order
Levy Legion	1	1	5	4	6	Throwing Spears
Equites	3	2	5	3	5	Facing change for free
Allied Cavalry	3	2	5	3	4	Facing change for free
Light Cavalry	4	1	5	3	5	Facing change for free
African Elephants	2	3	6	4	5	Hit all troops on 5, D=5 vs Skirmishers, Rampage

Carthaginian Unit Examples

NAME	M	A	D	S	L	SPECIAL RULES
Skirmishers	2	1	5	2	6	Hit Elephants 5+, Vs Skirmishers A= 3, interpenetration
Veteran Infantry	1	3	6	4	3	Facing change for free
African Infantry	1	2	6	4	5
Iberian Infantry	2	2	5	3	5	Throwing spears, Loose Order
Warband	2	3	5	4	5	Impetuous, Loose Order
Levies	1	1	5	4	6
Heavy Cavalry	3	3	5	3	5	Facing change for free
Light Cavalry	4	1	5	3	5	Facing change for free
Elephants	2	3	6	4	5	Hit all troops on 5, D=5 vs Skirmishers, Rampage
Chariots	3	2	5	3	5
Scythed Chariots	3	3	4	2	5

Lost Battles Hastings 1066 scenario

2025-11-03T18:38:00.000+00:00

Below is a scenario for Lost Battles, I tried to follow the section in Lost Battles that described the parameters of scenarios in the system. It has the Normans at 7,500 soldiers and the Anglo Saxons at 8,000 soldiers and the scenario uses the multiplier of 1. The scenario is untested and it was made in June to give me something to build paper armies towards. The paper armies were made with Lost Battles troop ratios in mind. Also each paper warrior to real warrior is roughly 1:7 or 8. Average heavy infantry have a frontage of 80mm (16 x 4 warriors) Huscarls represented by Veteran Heavy Infantry on 40mm front (8 x 4 warriors), each Levy heavy infantry units have 2 x 80mm bases as they represent twice the amount of warriors of an average unit. Light infantry here is represented by 2 x 80mm frontage bases (16 x 2 warriors per base) Average Light infantry in Lost Battles represent the same amount of warriors as an average heavy infantry base, however they are twice as wide. Veteran Cavalry have an 80mm wide base, and have 18 riders on them whereas Average cavalry have 2 bases across, 36 riders and like Light Infantry they occupy a wider slice of the battlefield.

I didn't want to come up with any special rules and wanted to test the Lost Battle system to see if it can manage Hastings. I feel like cavalry was probably very similar to their ancient counterparts, depending on closing and javelin throwing. One of the main features is the somewhat uncontrolled charge off the secure hill by the Anglo Saxons chasing down fleeing Normans. Instead of an involuntary charge rule the Norman Key Zone is placed on the Norman Left, thus if the Anglo Saxons want to strike a morale blow to the Normans they should try to take that zone. Or try to grind down the Normans from the hilltop but in doing so they allow the Normans to dominate most of the field. Also there is a risk that William can use his Brilliant Commander ability to intervene on a faltering flank with his turn flip flop. The field itself has difficult terrain on the flanks, the historical deployment would probably ignore the flank zones and funnel into the 3 central zones, but players can see if flanking forces can make a difference, or whether focusing commands on the attacks and not wading through marsh or navigating trees would be more prudent as the forces on the day found. This is the beauty and fun of Lost Battles you can experiment and tweak as you see fit. I'm certainly not an expert in the battle so I would love to hear suggestions or tweaks to the scenario or even your version of the scenario, its a classic British battle and we love to rake over it!

HASTINGS, 1066 AD

M: x1 AL:3
Anglo-Saxons:
King Harold Godwinson (Inspired Leader) attached to a VHI
8 VHI (Huscarls 2,000), 8 AHI (Select Fyrd 4,000), 2 LHI (Greater Fyrd 2,000), FV 72.

The Normans:
Duke of Normandy (Brilliant Commander)
8 VHC (Norman Knights 1,000), 4 AHC (French/Breton Cavalry 1,000), 8 AHI (Norman/Mercenary Infantry 4,000), 3 ALI (Bowmen/Crossbowmen 1,500), FV 95.

Approx. 300m per zone

FOREST	HILL	HILL	HILL	FOREST
		HILL KZ
MARSH	KZ
MARSH				FOREST

Hastings Paper Project

2025-11-02T23:33:00.003+00:00

2025, I knew on the 1st of January it was going to be a tough year. Our daughter had been having major struggles at school around sensory issues and expected a rough year. Having a child that needs adjustments in the UK around school uniform, despite the law being on our side, it is not enforceable for most parents, and in the mean time you can try to protect your child but the system forces you to either force and harm your child to comply or punish you as a parent for not doing so. However this is not what this blog is for, but for context, the trials of trying to raise and protect a child with neuro-divergent profiles in a system that punishes non-conformance has thoroughly sapped my strength and will to pursue hobbies. Even in school holidays where the whole household sighs relief for the break from coping with this system, things are not always easy. In June I began to prep some metal 20mm Celtiberians from Newline Designs and I just lost the will to go on!

I thought instead of powering through I need to pursue a topic I fancied at the time, to use what little enthusiasm I had. Hastings 1066 had captured my imagination and I felt Lost Battles could work for that as it works great for solo. I worked on a scenario (post to follow) that gave me a basis for an army list for each side. I then dug out my Victrix stash and worked out what miniatures I would need while keeping the Lost Battles troop ratio. Being larger figures I wouldn't have the usual mass of troops I like and I would need to get another set of cavalry. This was looking more and more like a huge project that would take years and require tonnes of storage! I didn't want to buy any more cavalry and didn't want another main project.

I then thought Peter Dennis' Helion book on 1066 might be an option. I had looked into paper miniatures in the past but felt I wasn't up for intricate snipping. This time I did a deeper dive into the practicalities of it, there was a number of videos that gave excellent pointers. So I got a few free files from Helion downloads section, followed Peter's advise and was impressed with the possibilities. By the end of June I bought and downloaded the 1066 book and printed off the required sheets for my Lost Battle's scenario I printed 4 x A4 pages to 1 side of A4 effectively halving the scale of the troops in the book.

early July saw me making steady progress getting a unit done every other night when i got the chance to spend an hour or so on them. I hoped to have the full armies done, and a game set up and hopefully posted by the anniversary of the battle. 2025 being 2025 has lead to that date passing by with finishing touches still needed, still not too bad, but the situation had halted much productivity! But casually tinkering on and ending up with two completed armies would never be possible with my usual medium of painting miniatures. I enjoyed printing and snipping the paper soldiers and have done as I usually done and gone all in, got most of the Helion ebooks and a few of the sets from Peter's Paper Boys webshop (with my eyes on other eras on there). Its an ideal side track, produce satisfying armies quickly and cheaply, ideal for the wargames butterfly and when I'm feeling more refreshed I can pick up my 20mm ancients main project.

While plowing through fyrd and Norman knights, I quite fancied AWI next, then I was thinking again on 28mm Dark age skirmishing. This project has cemented what I'm using my Victrix miniatures for, thus I have decided that my 28mm Victrix miniatures will mainly be geared towards a fantasy setting whether that's Middle-Earth or my own made up fantasy setting. This also frees me to build and paint miniature without historical accuracy to contain me. I like the look of swords despite their less frequent historical use, more practical spears are more at risk of snapping in plastic. I still could do with making some paper terrain for Hastings but I've started assembling some Victrix Early Saxons again following the principal of following hobby whims.

I'm also thinking on on my next Paper army project, originally AWI, then thought Peninsular war, now I seem to have settled on the Wars of the Roses. I'm in the research phase, imagining the armies, how I will format them using the Helion book by Peter Dennis, and what rules to go for, tending towards homebrew inspired by various other sets including the ones included in the ebook.

For the Anglo Saxon and Norman armies here, I settled on the usual 80mm bases, with the strips being printed at half scale the frontage of each strip was 20mm, so each base of infantry got 16 strips. Huscarls were based as Veteran heavy infantry so did them on a 40mm base (Lost Battles quirk). I got into the swing of things working on the Fyrd troops and I didn't cut between the legs hoping to give a stronger bond to the base, by the time I got onto cavalry and Norman foot I started to cut between the legs and will do so going forwards. I think the cavalry would have appeared better had I mounted them closer together, but I based them on the troop ratios in Lost Battles (cavalry tends to be half as many mounted warriors as infantry but on double the frontage). I also used spare shields to give casualty markers a bit more drama. I could still do with making a few trees for the flank sections of the battlefield but other than that the armies are done for now.

I've always loved Peter Dennis' art which is an integral part of the hobby, box art, rules and supplement illustrations, board and card game art (I love Milito) and Ospreys to name a few, so to have full armies of his illustrated warriors is a true pleasure and I'm eager to print and assemble more. The relative speed and ease alongside the lower costs makes Peter's Paper Boys an invaluable option to the practical wargamer! The can be stored quite compact also.

Hopefully in time, things improve here and I can have a blow by blow account of Lost Battles: Hastings 1066! in the mean time I will post a scenario for Lost Battles enthusiasts to try. I also hope to get these Moria Goblins posted they have been painted and photographed for ages they are cursed on this blog, there's also a few other June draft posts when I was last blogging. I'm assembling the odd Victrix armoured Saxon warrior, enjoying the assembly phase and hopefully soon I'll work out what forces I need for the Cousins War!

Lost Battles: Magnesia 190BC

2025-06-21T09:00:00.000+01:00

Rome began with Eumenes who forced the withdrawal of the Scythed Chariots, no one else suffered from this flight from the field but the continued combats wore down the levy light infantry. The Roman veteran cavalry swiftly dispatched the Galatian levy horse on the Seleucid left, this caused the yet to be bloodied levy heavy infantry on the Seleucid left to withdraw. Fighting in the centre was inconclusive while the Seleucid levy skirmishers on the right became spent.

The Seleucids countered, somewhat on the back foot, the Roman advance had pressed the Seleucid in the rear of the battlefield so they needed to push the Romans back. They started in the centre the Seleucid Light Infantry pressed the velites back being able to retreat behind the legions they avoided a second hit. The Seleucid phalangites used their depth to push the Roman legions, there were two successful attacks one had to all out attack by becoming spent, hoping that the greater numbers of Seleucids would pressure the Romans with less troops, causing veteran legionaries to become spent. The second was also an all out attack but this time the phalangites in their effort expended two veteran legionaries as well as themselves. The Seleucid left after seeming quite brittle pushed back hard, Eumenes guard (who forgot to rally) took a hit along with the Roman allied cavalry and the veteran Cretan archers.

The Romans after taking some hits knew they had to press their advantage, having control of most of the battlefield was dampening the spirits of the Seleucid troops just as much as the damp conditions were dampening bow strings. Roman velites pushed themselves almost to breaking point to shatter the Seleucid levy skirmishers. Another Seleucid skirmisher swarm was shattered, the resultant morale of the Seleucids saw a levy heavy infantry rout and the withdrawal of an average heavy cavalry and the levy cataphracts. The flight inspired the withdrawal of last light levy troops in the centre.

While the cavalry on the left withdrew to fight another day, the remaining troops felt the pressure, they had to start breaking Roman troops before the Roman right regrouped to attack their flank. The elephants pressed some veteran legionaries inflicting a hit as Antiochus finally got into the fight his Agema wrecked havoc on the Roman lines with allied legionares and veterans becoming spent. The cataphracts followed in the carnage and in their attempt to emulate the kings guard exerted themselves inflicting damage on two veteran legions.

The Romans used to dealing with elephants and inflicted a double hit the levy phalangites taking the brunt of the elephants wrath. A following veteran legion finished off the elephants and the levy pikes routed from the field. Antiochus himself was under threat the Agema received a hit but the king rallied his men.

The king knew this was his last chance, after his men rallied they once again undertook a thunderous charge destroying veteran legionaries and the Velities sheltering behind them. Roman morale held despite the looming threat of light cavalry to their rear who appeared after skirting along by the river. The Silvershields brought their strength to bear shattering average and veteran legionaries, this caused the remaining veteran legionaries to rout as well at the velites in the centre. The light cavalry now headed to threaten the Roman centre but the phalanxes did not make any headway.

By now the victoriuos roman right was geared to strike the flank of the phalanx and after the final phalanx became spent a unit of pikes were shattered causing the rout of the remaining two and the levy light cavalry quietly withdrew, the victorious Roman right now swept towards the Seleucid camp, the Roman centre now thier opposing troops dissipated, turned to finish the Silvershields with another shattered phalanx and another two routing units after a attack from their left flank. Antiochus could only withdraw, the cataphracts routed following the kings decision and Antiochus he hoped to rally his army to fight again, and that the Romans were bloodied enough to slow their advance into Asia Minor!

Rome

Shattered: 1 x ALE, 2 x VLE, 1 x ALI

Rout: 1 x VLE, 1 x ALI

Spent: 3 x VLE, 1 x AHC, 1 x VHC, 1 x VLI
74 Seleucid VP (94 with handicap)

Seleucids
Shattered: 1 x LHC, 2 x LLI. 1 x IEL, 2 x APH

Rout: 1 x LHI, 1 x LPH, 4 x APH, 2 x ACA

Withdrawn: 1 x SCH, 1 x LHI, 1 x AHC, 1 x LCA, AL + VHC
109 Roman VP

Clear Roman victory (Narrow victory with handicap)

Very Bad Day in Cisalpine Gaul

2025-06-20T09:31:00.000+01:00

I made a couple of army lists for Strength and Honour, based loosely on the Battle of Trebia. I also wanted both armies to have a chance at winning so I used the points system to buy roughly equal amounts of troops. Also based on my Lost Battle refights of Trebia I wanted the Roman infantry to outclass the Punic while the Punic Cavalry would outclass the Romans. By the time I added the Generals the points cost was skewed towards the Carthaginians who ended up with 6 generalship points to Rome's 1.

Both Armies advanced, the Carthaginian Infantry did so expecting to be pushed back, hoping the advance would give them space to fall back, they just needed to hold on enough for the cavalry to encircle to Roman lines. The legions advanced steadily confident in their superior combat abilities the cavalry just had to hold long enough to break the Punic lines.

The cavalry wings advanced both Roman wings were out classed and the Roman left wing was set to be overwhelmed by flanking Numidians. However the Equites despite overwhelming odds and losing most combats held their nerve and kept in the fight even successfully defending against a Crunch. Mago had to use his generalship point to avoid losing an attack combat despite having the advantage. This prevented the Numidians from getting around the flanks, the Equites falling back frustrated the efforts of the flanking force. On the other flank the Gallic cavalry pushed back the Roman horse although it wasn't all plain sailing, a Grind result frustrated the Punic momentum on the flanks. Eventually the Romans were disordered and began to retire they were on the brink of being destroyed!

As the cavalry wings of the Romans were being pushed back towards their rear, the legions marched fourth Sempronious' emphasis on attack proved to be the true Roman way. Attack after attack went Romes way, the Carthaginians burned through Defence points in rerolling terrible Discipline rolls. The Romans called a Homunculous Est! Hannibal used a generalship point to remove a card before the reveal. Despite this the Carthaginian army became fatigued and that would make the results of bad rolls worse. Eventually the terrible Discipline rolls with no options for rerolls lead the various infantry units to become disordered units began to retire, and another Homuculous Est! was called but Hannibal burned a Generalship Point to cancel it, merely delaying the inevitable. After another round of combats Punic infantry contingents went from retiring to routing with 3 units routing 1 retiring and another disordered Sempronius' victory was complete and it was a victory worthy of a triumph! A whopping 42 for the Carthaginians after so many disasters and the Romans save for a crumbling but hobbling on right flank and 6 legions losing their velites were still only sat on 13 break points.

With Hannibal a fugitive in Cisalpine Gaul would it be a matter of time before a Gallic tribe hand him over to Sempronius for leniency. Those that were waiting to see what happed after the battle would undoubtedly stop sharpening their spears and send gifts of thanks for repelling the invader from Cisalpine Gaul.

Thorakitai Advance

2025-06-18T14:19:00.004+01:00

In the dark days before discovering Newline (a long time ago now) I was hunting for thureophoroi, I grabbed a few Hat Thracians that had suitable figures and to get them in strength would leave lots of spares, I needed to secure a source of dedicated thureophoroi. I got hold of some Xyston thureophoroi, sold as 15mm they seemed about 18mm, I contemplated using some creative basing to incorporate them or to simply change to a more common scale of ancients as I really liked the Xyston miniatures. I then came across the Newline with their comprehensive selection and would be a closer match to the plastics I already had so the Xyston's ended up in a drawer.

What I loved about Xyston's figures was the helmets which were interesting and varied, I thought the size of their heads were roughly the same as Newlines so I thought while I was doing head swap conversions I could create a unique unit of Thorakitai using the Xyston heads and the Newline Designs 20mm African Veterans advancing. I missed the faces on the Newline figures but those heads were used on the Cretan Archers and now I have spares for future conversion ideas. The command figures remained unchanged.

I experimented a bit with the painting, I dry/over brushed the helmets with Vallejo Silver and used Agoras Dunes Contrast paint to give them a bronze tinge this was also applied to the greaves. Its an effective way todo metallics and something to consider for future projects. I also applied Contrasts to the shields again more of an experiment but I'm pleased with their turn out.

I got the railway background out to do some photos so I redid the last thorakitai conversions and attached below. I also got some pictures of the Moria Goblins finally so that will be a post at some point. I've also had a bit of solo gaming in so once written up there will be some posts on Strength & Honour, Dominion of the Spear and Lost Battles. On the miniatures front I'm preparing some Celtiberians for now but time at the desk is very sporadic and progress slow. I could also pick up some plastic sets that are part built but I'm into ancients currently. I'm wanting to pursue Punic wars campaign so expanding armies for that is a goal as well as expanding armies for Hellenistic states namely Ptolemiac troops for Raphia.

African Armoured Spearmen

2025-05-20T21:06:00.000+01:00

These 20mm African veterans standing from Newline Designs were painted at the same time as the last post featuring the converted versions of these. These are tweaked slightly in that the spears have been cut away and replaced by bristle spears and this also allowed a small variation in the positions of the spears. The paint scheme was pretty straightforward and the shields have custom decals on with the command shields having had theirs painted over.

I've made good progress on the next batch of converted Newlines next being Africans advancing with spears but they now have various Hellenistic heads from Xyston. After that it's back to choosing the next batch to prep (Celtiberians and Italians maybe but could do with expanding Hellenistic pike blocks). I veering towards the Punic War theme as I've been making progress on a 2nd Punic war campaign setting to play out Strength & Honour battles. Other than that I can pick up one of the 28mm plastic sets that need assembled!

Thorakitai

2025-04-12T11:32:00.000+01:00

I'm pleased to get this unit done representing Thorakitai, armoured Thureophoroi essentially, they were a labour love being a head swap conversions. Note if there were to be a dedicated set of 20mm Thorakitai made I would still certainly get them! The Command is the standard Macedonian command figures from Newline Designs 20mm Macedonian range, they just have shields from the Maccabean range. The rank and file troops are the African Veterans standing from the Carthaginian line. I snipped off the metal spears and drilled out the hands, filed the parts that the spear connected to on the tunics to add a replacement bristle spear. This allowed a small bit of variety as the spears can be held at slightly different angles and more bend resistant. The main conversion was the head swap. The heads were procured from the Greek range from mainly the old style Thureophoroi sculpts with clean shaven faces (I believe they have been re-sculpted with beards going off later purchases) also some heads from the newer Hellenistic infantry code. The heads were placed in various positions to give natural variation.

It was a tedious task but I was pleased with the conversion, they didn't have the smoothest joins but I tried to make out they were the sort of scarves ancient warriors might use to protect their necks from armour rubbing against it. Again the shields are the ones from the Maccabean line. I went for a blue theme with the unit and spent a bit more time highlighting the tunics.

I'll post up the African veterans soon, I've been distracted this week working again on a campaign setting for the 2nd Punic War. As with other campaign rules and rules is general they begin to get more complex so I'm trying to keep them as simple as possible with some flavour. I've settled on Strength & Honour for tactical settings and I have a map made so I'm working on getting it functioning but there's still lots of decisions to make with army lists and victory points.

The Best Laid Schemes.....

2025-04-02T23:04:00.000+01:00

We've had a lot on our plate over the last few months, its been one thing after another with the whole household being burned out and the hobby has had to take a massive back seat. I've been very slowly doing a bit of painting and a rare test game of home brew rules but I haven't had the time or energy to keep up with social media side of the hobby, keeping up with my favourite groups/forums/blogs or Blogging. While things have improved a bit of late its still not plain sailing and time to concentrate on hobby stuff is very limited.

I've been getting the odd moment to paint here and there over the past few months and I've finished the Moria Goblins and some Carthaginian veteran spearmen. A conversion of African armoured spearmen into Hellenistic Thorakitai is almost painted to completion. The Veterans are ready to post up, I haven't done any photos of the goblins yet, I was contemplating having a suitable Moria-esque background but I'll eventually get them dug out and photographed on one of my usual backdrops. I had also been preparing a post about painting Wargames Atlantic Les Grognards so another upcoming post at some point.

On the gaming side I got the Strength & Honour Supplement as well as Command and Colors: Ancients printed off with view to getting to grips with them. Strength & Honour's Reversal of Fortune system in which failures in combat and movement switches the active player provides enough friction and chaos to make a great soloable game. With Command and Colors the fog of war provided by the limited stock of card actions seems to have potential for soloing and by all accounts its a fun system. However as mentioned above I haven't had the time or the mental energy to sit down, digest and get more familiar with the texts but I'm hoping that will change in time.

In the mean time I needed something that could fit onto a page or two and provide a plausible and fun game, even my 2d6 Ancient rules were feeling too clunky and taxing for my tired mind. I once again looked at One Hour Wargames, the base rules leave much to be desired for me personally but the core mechanics and the scything simplicity provides a great base to build a more expansive game. The trick is to build up slowly and I found the first attempt while providing an entertaining game I added too much too quickly. I went back and began to strip back unnecessary rules and took the main message of the book in that does it NEED that rule and does it add anything substantial to the game?

Invariably because I'm focusing on Hellenistic era specific troop types and roles need to be added, as well as command and control to some degree. Unit stats became more of a thing within this expansion. On the One Hour Wargames Facebook group I came across a post about using to hit dice instead of a damage roll also known as the "More Chaos" modification, just what a set for mainly soloing needs so it was quickly adopted. Where I have kept movement and combat as simple as possible, and added in a simple activation system I ended up adding in rules for flight and pursuit.

I've tried to keep them simple also but its more rules to add and to follow, more complexity and I'm not sure if they're truly necessary but I feel that when a unit breaks, according to Professor Sabin, is when the casualties would significantly mount up and why they would be so lop-sided and I feel that would take up quite a bit of time. While the victors pursue and cut down the fleeing enemy they aren't turning any flanks unless they are finished chasing their foe or their commanders have enough control and awareness to stop the pursuit and break the next formation. This harks to Total War games where the pursuit and chasing down units can mean the difference between destroying an army or letting it escape to continue to be a thorn. That along with wanting to basically have a Campaign context for table top battles made me want to include such a thing in the rules. If a unit is caught and cut off it reduces army morale further and if its part of a campaign a loss of a unit. As like with most of my ideas its very untested.

Eventually I set up an impromptu battle, the aim was to see if I could have a quick, satisfying game that was easy to set up, play to a conclusion and pack up within an hour or two. I did a classic Carthage vs Rome in Iberia (Iberian Allies on both sides) Rome had better infantry with four good legions. Carthage had more and better cavalry, Elephants and two units of Veterans so skewed in their favour unless the legions get stuck in.

Carthage moved the whole army without issue, Rome advanced their skirmish line and main battleline but the cavalry were hesitant, but the worry was being driven off the field early. Unlike my previous rules or because of them the skirmish clash has been written to be quick and decisive while having a small chance to inflict hits on the main battle units.

Not long after the Punic cavalry started engaging the Roman cavalry and began to drive them off after a few turns the Roman cavalry melted away and the Punic cavalry began to organise themselves to threaten the Roman rear. Once the Punic cavalry stopped pursuing the Romans they were able to chase down fleeing Iberians running from Elephants. The Roman allied Iberians were struggling with the Elephant unit and the African infantry and Gauls never really got into it with anyone by the time the battle came to a dramatic finish.

The main lines began to clash in places the legions opposing the Iberians began to push them back, but the opposing generals lead their respective veteran units to decisive conclusion. The Roman legion had already took a hit from dealing with Carthaginian skirmishers. In this battle both the African veterans and Legions get 3 attack dice (if the Legion was at full strength it would get an extra die). Both leaders committed to the attack adding a further die but this die came with a risk of death or injury. As you can see below it was an intense fight, both units required 6s to lose strength points both generals were injured and would have missed their next phase. However after taking 3 hits the legion were sent into flight losing their general in the chaos much to the relief of the now battered African veterans!

Overall it gave that quick satisfying game I was after. It had chaos and unpredictability but not to the point of frustrating and generally playable. I think these ones are just about ready to post up with a bit of cleaning and tweaking.

Numidian Skirmishers

2024-12-06T14:18:00.000+00:00

Again I've been finding time and energy to write blog posts difficult to acquire. These 20mm Newline Designs Numidians have been complete for some time. It didn't take a great deal of time to paint up by keeping the colour scheme simple and they are based individually to act as skirmishers markers. I have made more than needed no doubt but they can be used as a unit in their own right for gridded games.

They're for Strength & Honour ready for the new Conquest: Alexander & Hannibal Supplement. I treat myself to the PDF as I've been looking forward to this booklet! The supplement provides more army lists and with them more unit characteristics, for example, Phalanxes in these earlier armies can be classified as "Professional Phalanxes" making them a bit more formidable. The legions are not as tough as the professional legionaries of the later republic and I'm looking forward to testing the classic legion vs phalanx match up. Before tackling the scenarios I think I'll do a few basic set ups to try out the various traits, especially since I don't often get a chance to play. Hopefully things will settle after Christmas and I'll have some time to get to know the rules better as I still hope to play campaigns. I will also make another custom movement dice as now troops can be classed as "hesitant" meaning they will be a little less likely to advance.

The Moria Goblins are finished also they are just waiting for their photo shoot! I've made a start on some more armoured Hellenistic and African infantry. For some reason also my eye has turned east, I'm not sure why, but it might be a combination of watching Onimusha Netflix and the new Wargames Atlantic Grand Scale Samurai and Ashigaru sets caught my eye. After some inner struggle I resisted the urge to embark on a new scale thanks to a stash of 1/72 Samurai of which I did a few of test figures a couple of years back.

Iberian skirmishers

2024-10-20T20:35:00.001+01:00

An assortment of skirmishers from Iberia based individually to be used as skirmishers markers for Strength & Honour, which has a supplement due out soon covering the Punic wars. I've probably made far more than needed but they can quite easily be used for other systems along with my usual bases being mainly a grid based player.

I painted these Newline Designs 20mm Ancient Spanish during a painting slump. It took quite a while to get through them all, painting so many at once and trying to make them individually styled slowed down further by the infrequent visits to the painting bench! In the end by chipping away at them they eventually made it to completion and now they have finally made it to a post. Again my motivation to mess about with the blog is also low so its taken a while to get them uploaded and write up a post.

With this general on going malaise, I've lacked the inclination to set any games up. I've recently completed all the troop types required for Lost Battles Magnesia scenario and despite having the odd chance here and there I opted to paint instead, I couldn't quite face the set up and brain power needed to play! Overall its the lack of plenty of free time, not having much of it, setting up a game is a large investment of time so its best saved for when I fancy such an endeavour.

As is my custom, at this point in the year I tend to fancy a change in project. I've been eyeing up some Victrix sets again, due to the release of early Saxons and I've been getting inspired by Middle Earth once again. Between Rings of Power and Games Workshop's previews of upcoming War of the Rohirim starter set anticipating the new animated feature I picked up my Moria Goblins. 24 ready for varnish, 23 ready to base, and 24 ready to basecoat. As ever a change of theme has been refreshing.

Meanwhile the 20mm Ancients have many Hellenistic and Punic chainmail clad infantry to paint up when I'm ready. They're mainly headswap conversions so I'm quite excited to paint these unique figures up! The pictures below show all what has been painted, the picture featuring the multibases of Balearic slingers features 3 bases of older paint jobs with the colourful ones being the new ones. Next up will be a short post featuring Numidians which were painted within a week.

Caetrati

Balearic Slingers

2D6 Ancients 2nd Playtest

2024-08-18T01:41:00.001+01:00

Recently my friend and I undertook the second playtest of my homebrew rules. The pictures are a few quick snaps and are in no particular order. The real challenge of the rules was whether they could be played with multiple distractions namely in the form of a demanding and fussy child as well as a puppy. In that regard I think they were good.

I opted to set up a Punic War fight set in Sicily with Rome gaining some Sicilian Greek allies. The armies were fairly equal with Carthage having more cavalry and Rome having better infantry (see the list below). This time we tried out some deployment rules. We diced off and the highest roll had priority, then each player alternately placed units by type, firstly light infantry once both players deployed all their light infantry would they move onto the next troop type. It was simple and it worked well.

I tweaked the rules in an attempt to make the initial skirmish clashes more decisive. They felt right but in the context of the full battle they could be even more decisive. I'm considering allotting "Hit Points" to units and removing the 4 step status of each unit so skirmishers may have 2HP and cavalry 3HP, it can also be an indication of troop quality.

Eventually the heavies came to blows and we came to the conclusion, after quite a bit of successful combat that was being rallied away by Generals, that rallying needs to be riskier and limited, either by per turn or per battle. To wrap the battle up we called that the generals had exhausted their rallies.

In the first playtest the morale tests for units breaking was punishing especially for levies, while I stripped them back for this test, I will bring them back next time and just do a single morale roll when units are lost to combat results to prevent too much cascading as there was not a lot of sympathetic routing resulting in a mutual bloodbath.

We did begin to find that quite a few combats were starting to break both opposing units, this is probably due to me changing the turns to simultaneous phases rather than each plyer completing a full turn. so I have been since working on a mechanism to prevent that so each combat will have a "winner". Of course this will bloat the rules a bit and will require testing.

I am also thinking that command and control is too "easy" currently armies can pretty much do what they want with a few to quite a few spare commands to spend on attack bonuses. Perhaps the command points should be more restrictive since all opposing units will combat or restrict combat to individual units that can be activated, more to mull on.

There was a bit of fun with the Elephants, one unit went berserk and prompted me to tighten up the rampage rules a bit, but in game with some excellent battlefield marshalling, the elephants and the infantry units nearby managed to avoid each other before the elephants found a route away from the battle without trampling anyone!

There was no clear winner, as the Carthaginian cavalry began to make serious progress the Legions began to make theirs. So some kind of morale or army break point is needed to discern a winner of the field. There was some great suggestions provided in the comments of the last play test post that are being carefully considered. However the game survived the stress test of many distractions, played relatively quickly with lots of figures and raised points that needed worked on for the rules to progress as well as providing entertainment.

On the painting front there's been barely any progress. I'm working on individually based skirmisher marker bases for Strength & Honour which seems to be just about ready to release their new supplement. I'm also ready to have a solo re fight of Lost Battles Magnesia, just need the opportunity to set up and play through!

Cretan Archers

2024-07-30T12:20:00.000+01:00

Since finishing the Iberian Scutarii I've been busy chipping away at the next large batch of troops. I've been doing mass clean up of the projects I'll be working on, roughly 8 unit packs, including head swap conversions so it's been slow going. Once all the metal was filed, drilled and washed, the conversions finished and the light troops sprayed, I gathered this lot to paint up first.

The main thing that's new here are the Cretan Archer conversions, I wanted to create the type that carried and shield and helmets. They are based on Newline Designs 20mm Cretan Archers bodies and all have heads from the Newline African Veterans, who have great Hellenistic type helmets. Having new heads attached allowed me to have some poses to have their heads at different angles adding a little more variety. Finally I got hold of Macedonian shields from Xyston to complete the skirmishing archers not afraid to get close to the enemy. These shields may be useful for other Newline Hellenistic pikemen if I wanted to use LBMS transfers as they seem to produce some that are made to fit these shields.

They were painted alongside the Greek Archers and Slingers. The Greek Archers had a couple of head swaps just to give a slight variant in the form of adding a bandanna wearing Greek head to the pose that lacked one originally. All three unit types were broken down into tunic colours so I could batch paint the various units in this way I slowly chipped away at this substantial chunk of the prepared figures.

One of the things I have done to cut a corner is to selectively highlight some parts of the figure. With these it was the tunics, faces and helmets, everything else received a base coat and wash. The shields have water-slide transfers from Veni Vidi Vici but I had some trouble getting them to lie flat without creasing. In the end I used many layers of varnish to mitigate this best I could.

Some are based as usual on 80mm frontage and quite a few based individually to represent skirmisher markers for Strength & Honour. I have quite a few Iberian Caetratii and Numidians to paint up that are entirely for this purpose, furthermore if they are needed for another system since I tend to use grids the different format won't impinge on the game. There's also an option to make a movement tray for them.

I managed to squeeze a game of Strength & Honour in with my friend and concentrating on getting the rules right to teach them. The game went as well as it could and was a testament to the play-ability and beginner friendly nature of the rules. We were both able to focus on our tactics with only minor rules checking for certain situations.

Cretan Archers:

Cretan Archer Skirmish Markers:

Head Swap Conversions:

Greek Archers:

Greek Archer Skirmish Markers:

Greek Slingers:

Two Iberian Scutarii Units

2024-04-10T09:04:00.000+01:00

Four more bases of Newline Designs 20mm Scutarii finished, they had been sat undercoated and basecoated in Army painter Barbarian Flesh since last June. When I rebased the rest of the Scutarii I realised that I was now a few bases short of a Lost Battles Ilipa re-fight so I prepped enough for 4 bases worth. As they are unarmoured I used Barbarian Flesh spray as it undercoats and basecoats the figures in one go. Then it was just a case of blocking the rest of the colours, brown wash then highlighting. I opted for a more uniform colour scheme for a change and for ease of painting.

I haven't shown the full variation of the codes by choosing a single pose and single variation for each unit. The red shields set came with 2 head variants and I have left out the bowl type helmet, they may appear in future units. The blue shields I think are from the Cetratii code which features quite a few variants and along with the Scutarii codes you can get a great amount of variety. Simply by swapping shields they can all represent Scutarii or Caetratii.

I did try to bring a bit of variety through the shield designs and the placement of the shields on the figures. The blue shield designs were painted on with contrast paint. Now these are done I'm back to the prep stage and quite a few things are currently being de flashed. Firstly the Greek archers, along with the rebasing these are the last unit needed for Lost Battles Magnesia scenario. Lots of light infantry also on the bench, a couple for full bases but mainly to make individually based skirmisher markers for Strength & Honour. If I'm still up for more prep I have a few bags of African veterans that I'm looking to convert into Thorakitai or Imitation legionaries.

Its very slow going so it may be quite quiet for some time painting wise. However I will hopefully get some games done in the mean time. I'm also back on thinking about an ancients campaign for the Second Punic War but I can't seem to get far or make decisions with regards to the mechanisms for the game. Currently I'm aiming somewhere between Phil Sabin's Empire's broad brush approach and Little Wars TV Age of Hannibal's campaign system. There's much to mull over!

Lost Battles Ilipa 206BC

2024-03-24T20:43:00.001+00:00

In honour of The Society of Ancients Battle Day 2024 I set up the battle of Ilipa using Lost Battles by Philip Sabin, the successor rules to Strategos II which is still offered on the society's store page. It's been a very long time since I was a member and hope to re-join one day in the not too distant future.

The scenario was set up as per the book, but when I set the battle away I realised I mixed up the Roman commanders so they swapped wings in comparison to the published scenario. I took a few photos of the Roman deployment with the back scene before swapping them for the Carthaginian pictures.

Ilipa pitches a Carthaginian army of roughly 70,000 infantry, 4000 cavalry and 32 elephants versus the Roman army of about 45,000 infantry and 3000 cavalry. A significant numerical advantage to the Punic army and Scipio took measures to equalise the fight. It involved Scipio deploying for battle day in day out, with his best Roman troops in the centre and his Iberian allies on the wings only to not commit to a fight that day. Hasdrubal mirrored the deployment, his best African troops in the centre and Iberians on the wings until one day they were roused earlier to form up for battle, so like every other day they deployed as before, but without being fed or watered.

However on that day Scipio was going to fight and his troops made sure they were prepared, furthermore Scipio's legions were opposing the Iberians on the wings and his allied Iberians were in the centre opposing Hasdrubal's African infantry. Now Scipio waited some time so that the Carthaginian infantry would feel the pang of hunger and being parched beyond human endurance. It was then when Scipio attacked.

With the Carthaginians on the back foot hoodwinked by Scipio deployment, he then further troubled Hasdrubal's army by flipping the turn order, this after deploying in a position to attack, allowed Scipio to launch the first strike. The Roman allied Caetratii struck the first blow against the Balearic slingers. On Silanus' wing the Romans caused a hit against the Elephants and Scipio's wing began to press the Carthaginian Scutarii. Both cavalry wings began to attack and the Roman allied Scutarii in the centre advanced to further pressurise the wrongfooted Punic army.

The Punic allied Iberian skirmishers are quickly brushed aside allowing Scipio's wing to rapidly apply pressure on the Punic right rear zone.

The isolated elephants brace the Roman assault taking a hit.

Despite this aggressive and vicious Roman advance, the Carthaginian army was not too battered. The Iberian cavalry unleashed a thunderous charge against the veteran Roman cavalry shattering the unit, a very early blow but it barely caused the Roman army to flinch.

The Iberian Cavalry swing around to threaten Scipio's wing

Fighting in the centre ensues, the Carthaginians hoping to break Rome's Spanish allies.

The Elephants, despite being spent, continue to cause concern to Silanus, while avoiding being shattered themselves.

The Iberians opposing Scipio, gave the legionaries much trouble, however become very fragile, but the Iberian cavalry operating behind the Legions becomes a distraction helping to prevent the Romans from inflicting that next hit, even with the personal leadership of Scipio.

The Punic Right Wing holds its own and inflicts hits on the Romans.

The Iberian Cavalry descend on the Romans inflicting a double hit on the spent Velites, they break but Scipio manages to rally the Legionaries taking the second hit.

The attack on the Elephants cause them to panic and inflict devastation on the Iberian Scutarii.

After inconclusive fighting the Roman cavalry inflict a double hit on the Numidians but owing to their nimbleness the light horsemen manage to avoid being shattered outright. This continued for a few more rounds before the Romans eventually prevailed and would go onto threaten the Punic left wing.

The Liby-Phonecian infantry in the centre pressed home their attacks, becoming spent themselves to inflict double hits. However because of fatigue this would make their future attacks more difficult.

Two units of Liby-Phonecian heavy infantry become shattered and the Punic light troops rout with them but the centre holds and continues to fight but owing to their fatigue struggle to land any hits.

The Iberians manage to inflict hits on the Legions across the field but Scipio keeps the line intact by rallying the troops and a morale boost by his mere presence.

The Punic centre collapses after two further shatters, Scipio figured them to be his biggest liability but they proved themselves resisting the Punic attacks, with help from the fatigue suffered by Hasdrubal's army. He tried to rally his troops but was himself struck down.

Silanus' wing was under some pressure from the relatively fresh Iberians, he did manage to prevent a unit from breaking by rallying them.

The tired Iberian cavalry struggle to hit home with their attacks.

The victorious Iberians begin to march around the Punic rear, if the Punic allied Iberians had been fresh they may have prevailed against Scipio's wing, Scipio feeling relieved that his underestimation of the Iberians didn't end in disaster. Despite rallying away hits previously eventually a unit of Roman veteran Legionaries were shattered. The Romans counter attacked and shattered a unit of Scutarii sending the remnants of the Punic force into flight.

The fighting became more desperate on the Roman right, a veteran legionary unit was shattered also on this wing however the Iberians were taking hits themselves and with the looming threat of Roman cavalry they routed when they realised that the Punic Right wing fled, leaving them the last remaining troops on the field, so took to flight leaving the Romans to finally expel Carthage from Hispania.

Victory points worked out from the book version:

Carthaginian losses: Shattered; AHI x 5, AEL x 1, ALC x 1, ALI x 1, Hasdrubal Killed.

Routed: ALI x 2, AHC x 1, AHI x 7.

127 VP for Rome

Roman losses: Shattered; VHC x 1, ALI x 1, VLE x 2.

Routed ALI x 1.

Spent; ALE x 2, VLE x 2, AHI x 4, ALI x 1.

71 VP for Carthaginians, a Major victory for Rome.

+46 VP for handicaps pushes it to a Narrow game victory for Rome.

As ever Lost Battles provided a tense and interesting solo re-fight. I didn't expect the Roman cavalry to be shattered so quickly, but Scipio's greatest asset was the fatigue suffered by Hasdrubal's troops. With spent heavy infantry needing to roll an 11 to cause a hit there were quite a few 10s which would have shattered lots of Scipio's units had they have been under normal circumstances. This affected the cavalry also that kept falling short of a hit and despite their initial breakthrough were unable to capitalise on it. There were some hits landed that would have caused shatters but Scipio rallied 2 units and Silanus rallied 1, however they couldn't rally them all, the Carthaginians managed to cause quite a bit of damage to the Romans and fought well. Overall the best fighters on the field were the Iberians on both sides, the Romans and African infantry attested to that, as well as the Roman cavalry.

Mithridates VI

2024-03-19T10:25:00.000+00:00

I had never heard of the Kingdom of Pontus until I had played Rome Total War again I was fascinated, they were a faction that had both Hellenistic and Eastern style units and Roman imitation Legions. I soon learned of Mithridates VI who was a constant thorn in Rome's side. I read Philip Matyszak's Mithridates the Great: Rome's Indomitable Enemy over a decade ago and there are not many characters of the Ancient world much like the Poison King. Mithridates would take a very small amount of fatal poisons, making himself very ill of course, in turn building up a tolerance against poisons. Another favourite anecdote was how the paranoid king hid under a couch to eavesdrop and uncover a plot against him. His Kingdom gave Rome some trouble across three wars also so I felt that I had to create a 20mm version of him.

There is a bust believed to be Mithridates showing him as Herakles with the lion pelt cap, along with presenting himself as an Alexander type character and as a grandson of Antiochus IV Epiphanes I tried to combine aspects of these heritages. I used Newline Designs 20mm Kappadochian Cavalry Commander with Alexander the Great's Lion helmeted head and horse with Leopard pelt to create the King.

I haven't yet made any specific Pontic forces yet or their late Republican Roman enemies, but many of the Seleucid units and mid Republican Romans can do the job just as well. I do have plans to make some Pontic units basically in the form of pikemen and legions in a different paint scheme. Like wise I have Late Republican Romans in stock for down the line. However my goal currently is to finish the stuff for Lost Battles Magnesia (just archers left to rebase) and then move onto working towards Raphia, with Strength & Honour Skirmisher markers to knock up as well. With mainly having Punic wars stuff done I was fancying fighting a solo Punic wars campaign, possibly with Strength & Honour as I feel like that is a set of rules that will lend itself brilliantly to resolving campaign battles (once I have practiced more and I am competent with it).

Velites skirmisher markers

2024-03-11T00:38:00.004+00:00

I decided after playing Strength & Honour a few times that if I were to play 1 x 80mm base per unit, that it would be handy to have some individually mounted figures to show the presence of attached skirmishers. I've done this already for some rebased units with the spare figures that couldn't make up a full 6 man base. Also as I generally play via gridded games the individual bases wouldn't impact rules if they were to be used as a multi base.

I enjoyed making individual character as well out of these 20mm Newline Designs Roman Velites. The pack comes with 4 variations of velites and crucially not all are presented with the famous wolf pelt. The 2 velites in helmets and the bare headed skirmisher in a cloak apart from being useful for other armies allowed me to do some simple head swaps for a bit more variety. Below is a few examples of those swaps and 1 also has a sword that was shaped out of a crushed bristle that I use for spears.

I'm hoping to get some posts up soon of another ancient character I made and some Iberian warriors. I'm currently trying to power through another 2 bases of Iberians in the hope to set up a solo Lost Battles game and playing the Ilipa scenario in time for the Society of Ancients Battle Day.

2d6 Ancients Play Test

2024-03-01T23:21:00.000+00:00

I invited my friend round for a miniatures table top battle, being like me a fan of Rome Total War and of ancient history. I had a bit of time before we could meet so I had set to picking up where I left off with my home brew rules. For quite some time, on and off, I have been working on the rules but the prospect of hosting a game I thought I'd better get a playable set written. There are a few hasty snaps that have been cropped to try to avoid the background furniture. Its not so much an AAR as some musings on how we found the rules.

The main driving factor behind my homebrew rules is a way to fairly simply and satisfyingly resolve a battle within a campaign system. Its in essence a very derivate set with ideas plucked from various sets. The main being Lost Battles, the refights from that set give a very satisfying battle even as a solo play. Sabin's analysis of ancient warfare has always compelled me ever since reading The Face of Roman Battle, so Lost Battles provides the main inspiration for troop interaction and I like the use of 2d6 to resolve things. The troop types are broadly the same as Lost Battles also but units have 3 hits before they are broken and removed from the game.

It should go without saying that it uses a grid which I have now marked out on my gaming cloth. When set up on the table it provided a 17x9 board. Its a 1 unit per space game currently and units have a simple how many spaces they can move, keeping it as simple as possible and only worrying about facings with certain troop types. Each unit also has a discipline rating and units represent large amounts of soldiers in the 1000s.

I decided that I would set up a fight based on the battle of Magnesia, that way I'd be able to get the Legions, Pikemen, Elephants, Cataphracts and Chariots. I made most of the Romans veterans with their allies being average (total of 24 units), while I made the Seleucids mainly Levy with some average quality (29 units in all). Both sides had a skirmish line. I wanted the skirmish line to be able to close quickly have some decisive combat and then disperse not long after to allow the main fighting to occur. As a consequence Light Infantry are highly likely to take hits, and units can take up to 2 hits in a combat (unless they are cataphracts) and light infantry could easily take 2 hits.

With it set up I gave a brief overview of the units and rules. We diced off and winning the that I opted to go for the Seleucids and took the role of Antiochus. My friend therefore took the role of Scipio and had the first turn.

I opted for of a more DBA esque "PIP" system, along with command figures who provide command points in their vicinity. In essence the command points (momentum points or MP in the current version) allow the movement of troops and spares can be used for an attack bonus. If units are adjacent to each other in orthogonal spaces they can be activated as a group for 1 MP so the whole army could be moved forward which was the case for Scipio's army but he held his cavalry back. The light infantry surged forward this however while they are fresh can move without MP. There was no enemy units in reach for combat so whilst the Seleucids will get the first chance to strike the Roman advance provided the army with some breathing room for push backs.

The Seleucids sent their levy light infantry forward using their MP free move to get into combat, the rest of the army advanced using a generals MP and the left wing cavalry could advance with their captains MP. The spare MP could be used for Attack bonus, an army also get a number of commands to be spent anywhere on the battlefield from a 2d6 roll, halved and rounded up. The Seleucid skirmishers inflicted a few single and double hits along the line but decided that to make the skirmish lines clash more decisive they wouldn't have to deal with push backs. Meaning the Roman skirmish line was in a position to retaliate from the start of the Roman turn.

The Seleucids had a couple of scythed chariots that were able to combat, again Lost Battles provided the inspiration for dealing with this, as once they attack or are attacked they are simply removed. In this instance they were a useless novelty.

Over the next few turns we got into the flow of the rules, and the skirmish lines save for a few hold outs melted away, the legions came to grips with phalanxes, elephants, cataphracts and heavy and light cavalry. Legions and phalanxes get a bonus (against heavy infantry) for being fresh and legions maintain this bonus when they have taken 1 hit (worn) but lose it when the second hit is taken (spent). The infantry lines wore down slower but the Romans were doing well against the elephants and phalanxes. The left most veteran Legion was assailed by various light and heavy cavalry but held well.

Scipio was hesitant to commit his cavalry and after both sides took hits eventually a unit of Seleucid Galatian horse remained but Antiochus was unable to make use of the victory, as losses were mounting against the poor quality levy troops. Firstly the use of attack bonuses and fighting levies was paying off, the poor morale meant that they were being pushed back and in the Seleucid turn their command points were being used to get back into combat instead of attack bonuses.

As they lost heavy units and elephants (every third unit) the Army Morale was tested, 2d6 were rolled, then that score was compared to each units discipline rating any unit that didn't pass takes a hit, the first Army Morale roll didn't cause too much damage but a further rout, causing a discipline test to friendly units in the routing unit's vicinity again caused further hits and that in turn caused further routs and another army morale roll. After the morale drop cascade there was a couple of Seleucid units left so Antiochus called the retreat the battle was over.

The battle from start to finish took 2 and a half hours but that included getting used to the rules and sequence, tweaking things, food and chatting. It would have probably lasted a few more turns if the Seleucids were better quality and the morale collapse were not so severe.

I will have another tweak and trial of that system but, it may be redundant as it just compounds an already dire situation. The other option is to add complexity so that the first Army Morale roll is not as devastating, but complexity is what I'm trying to avoid as much as possible. I do like the Strength and Honour setback system and army morale being a set number, mainly as that system can lend itself to a campaign setting where an army's morale can increase or decrease depending on the strategic context.

Another question that came up with combat was about Elephants. I was wondering if elephants were able to retreat in order then be herded back into combat? Some of the rules that I have at home seem to allow this and it's a given that elephants have some form of stampede into your own line sort of disadvantage under certain conditions. However the impression I have of Elephants in combat is they were not just trained elephants but the family heard funnelled into combat and that would make giving ground in good order very difficult. It's not a subject I'm well informed on. Maybe making them more likely to stampede but more hard hitting might be worth trying.

Although nothing in game was negatively affected I need to tighten up the zone of control rules, they can be simplified and clarified better. Overall it felt like how an ancient battle might have unfolded. The dice threw enough uncertainty into the game and there was a Levy Skirmisher that was a thorn in the legionaries' side which provided some entertaining dice rolls! Overall for its first outing they were successful. They provided an enjoyable game with very little rules checking, save for using a QRS and gave a plausible outcome.

Philip II of Macedon

2024-02-18T10:41:00.000+00:00

After spending time as a hostage in Thebes Philip would have seen the height of Theban power and undoubtedly took what he learned in his time their to make Macedonia what it became. Iphicratean hoplites, lighter equipment, smaller shields but longer spears, easier and cheaper to equip, and the lessons of the Theban column inspired Philip to take his poor countrymen and create a infantry backbone that would dominate the eastern Mediterranean for the next few centuries. With this Macedonian Phalanx his son Alexander was able to become "Great".

I was inspired to make this simple conversion when I got hold of the 20mm Gladiator set from Newline Designs, it featured a gladiator with a head that could pass as the Macedon King! I simply used the body of Newline Alexander much like Ptolemy to achieve what I wanted. Then it became a simple one for one head swap, the counter figure with Alexander's head became Tigris of Gaul. The only other addition was the creation of the sword, a squished bristle trimmed and shaped into a blade.

I also got hold of a backscene for model railway, the hope was to find something suitable for the ancient world, so these Welsh hills seem ideal. The odd modern build is easy to cover. I'm hoping to employ them for in game photos also.

"My son ask for thyself another kingdom

For that which I leave is too small for thee"

Strength and Honour Redux

2024-02-07T09:11:00.001+00:00

I've started to get back into my main Ancients project. Its nice to get back into it and fancied digging out my Newline Designs 20mm ancients and setting up a battle. Its been just shy of a year since I set a up my last game of Strength & Honour, its difficult getting the time and energy to set these things up! I was hoping that the flow of the rules and the various gaming aids would help me pick up the game back up quickly. I feel like overall I did but the following report has missed out the defence dice roll! Not sure how I forgot that but it wasn't game breaking (I think). I was also getting mixed up with discipline tests and the result roll of failed discipline test, this favoured the Greeks, going forward I may make a step by step cheat/check sheet to make sure I haven't missed a step, or get more games under my belt so that I'm more familiar with the rules. I also ran out of time (I'm working on something to aid a quicker set up) but I muddled my way through to some kind of conclusion which I will recount best I can below. Overall I was trying to do too much at once, lessons were learnt.

The Army list below, based on the Pontic and Roman Warlord lists, however the figures are Seleucid and Polybian era Romans. They seemed to be equally matched on points I added fortified camps last minute but didn't update the Army break point, I did also add 1 cavalry unit per side and did update the break point to 16 each. The Romans already having an edge of command points, having gained more favourable auguries than the Greeks, who in turned favoured more defence options while the Romans had a more even spread.

Rosters before amendments

The battlefield; every other square was marked out
with bits of terrain and took a while to set up
I think a more permanent solution is required!

In general I deployed the cavalry independently with at least 1 square from the main line without spending command points just to make the winner of any cavalry fights have a bit further to flank attack anyone. Also the skirmishers were given to 4 units 1 skirmish line each in the hope that the skirmishers would dissipate quicker.

The Greeks deployed their best cavalry with a ferocious charge and their general on their right flank. Then the Imitation Legion protected the flank of the Veteran Phalanx (Silver Shields) 2 units of Regular Phalanx followed whose flank was protected by thureophoroi and out on the left flank was more cavalry. Various light troops screened the troops except the thureophoroi.

The Romans mirrored the Greek Cavalry although were at a disadvantage on their left flank, the Legions were deployed to counter the Greeks, so the Veteran Legion on the left to counter 2 units of Greeks then 2 Experienced Legions and the Raw Legion on the right. Each Legion had a skirmish screen.

Greeks arrayed

Roman Legions wait for battle

The Greeks made the first move and they stormed the field, both cavalry units moved 4 spaces while the infantry moved 3, only the Veteran Pikes lagged moving 2 spaces.

The Romans must have been confounded by this advance as only the Raw Legion advanced 1 square. At least the cavalry moved ahead 2 spaces beforehand.

Greeks advancing enthusiastically

Romans stubbornly remain in place
not wanting to rush into that pike hedge

Raw Legion advances while the more experienced troops hold
back.

The Greeks continued a steady advance making sure not to get strung out and maintain a united front. Their cavalry advanced cautiously to hopefully get the first charge. The Roman Legions probably shamed by the enthusiasm of the Raw Legion began to advance. Roman allied Cavalry on the left flank failed to move probably intimidated by the Greek general's elite unit. However the Roman cavalry on their right did advance.

The Greeks continue to seize the field
the Romans begrudgingly advance

The Greeks marshal their forces to form a continuous line knowing an unbroken front is their best chance against these seasoned legionaries! The Greek general lead his cavalry in a ferocious charge, advancing against the Roman allied cavalry, first blood to the Greeks and the first setback for the Romans. The allied cavalry fall back and the Greeks hold back to prepare another charge. The Greek left show no sign of movement!

Not wishing again to suffer a ferocious charge the Roman allied cavalry inflict their own charge inflicting a crunch and pushing the Greeks back 3 spaces. The Roman cavalry on their right have a similar success advancing on the Greeks pushing them back 2 spaces.

The Greeks then advanced their line, steadily, but still there were lagging troops, only the Imitation Legion on the Greek right. The general lead his cavalry and through personal example (burning a Command Point) advanced against the Roman allied cavalry, the Roman allies' discipline failed them, even after some command effort! They ended up in disorder.

The Greek cavalry on their left flank inflicted a crunch on the Romans, the Romans failed their discipline, in an effort to save the situation the Roman command tried to rally the troops only to fumble and worsen the situation, snake eyes and a critical failure! The Roman right cavalry wing then routed from the field dealing a disaster to the Roman army.

The Veteran Legion after some coaxing from their accompanying general, charged the Veteran Phalanx, the pikemen had their discipline tested, but only held it together with the help of the Greek command. Both formations' skirmishers were dispersed in the clash. The rest of the legions steadily advanced to close the lines. The remaining Roman cavalry had to redress their ranks or face the full brunt of the Greek cavalry charge unprepared, they were successful!

The Greeks then prioritised reforming their battle line, the general and his cavalry charged the now reformed allies managing a crunch, but this time after some command effort the allied cavalry remained cohesive. On the Greek left the cavalry stormed ahead hoping to turn turn the enemy's flank and hopefully the battle. At this point the Greeks called Homunculus Est! in the hope that the Romans would become fatigued, which they were with 12, the Romans in turn discarded the 5 point disaster card.

Despite being fatigued the Veteran Legion didn't show signs of slowing pushing back the Imitation Legion. The rest of the legions closed with the Greeks, one of the experienced Legions launched an attack but became a grind the Greek pikemen retreated quite far and after expending command effort remained formed up. The attacking Romans however (after getting confused on where to apply fatigue modifiers) ended up breaking causing another disaster, and leaving a gaping hole in the Roman line with the Raw Legion exposed, about to be overwhelmed by pikes, thureophoroi and cavalry.

The Greek cavalry again charged the allied cavalry which firmly stood their ground. The second Phalanx unit supported by thureophoroi charged the Raw Legion which was then pushed back and ended up disordered, the thureophoroi followed up and charged the disordered Romans whom managed to stand their ground against the lighter armed troops. The Veteran Phalanx supported by the Imitation Legion advanced on the Romans the Roman general used his last command to re roll and pass the discipline test. The final Phalanx in the centre also found success scoring a crunch on the Romans who went on to pass their discipline test.

The last of the Roman cavalry pushed back the Greek cavalry showing they were still in the fight, the Veteran Legion got back into position ready to fight. The Remaining experienced Legion launched a desperate attack hoping to cause damage to the Greeks, the Romans were repulsed but they managed to disperse the Greek skirmishers and remained in the fight after a discipline test.

The Greeks finally got their left cavalry wing into the flank of the Raw Legion who were defeated but after passing their discipline check survived this time! With the evening closing and the Romans slowly being ground down the Roman commander called an orderly retreat. The Romans had continued to receive quite a few setbacks and despite discarding their first disaster card were still closer to breaking than the Greeks, who from the setbacks they had received, quite a few were zeroes. The auguries had looked more positive on the morning but the hesitation initially shown by the Roman Legions quickly lost them the blessings of the gods!

Greek Cavalry with their general ferociously charge the
Roman allied cavalry

After failing a discipline test the defence point reroll faired far
worse ultimately sending the Roman cavalry off the field.

Greeks form a solid phalanx while their cavalry eye up
the Roman flank.

After some to and fro the Greeks begin to get the edge

Isolated and disordered the Raw
legion struggles

The Raw Legion's situation becomes more
precarious as the Veteran Legion struggles
against the Veteran Phalanx and Imitation Legion

The Raw Legion continued to hold its own
redressing their ranks ready to take on
Thureophoroi, pikemen and flanking
cavalry

The Raw Legion holds on but the Roman general
signals an ordered retreat before any more routs
occur

Again I have enjoyed playing Strength & Honour solo, despite my poor implementation of some key rules. Calling an early Homunculus Est! seems like it is a risky strategy, it also slowed me down a bit and meant having to inflict more setbacks on the Romans to regain the lost disaster card. In future solo games I will probably avoid such an early call, at least until I'm more fluent with the rules. To save on setting up time I've since marked a grid using black dots on my gaming cloth, I exclusively play gridded wargames, on those rare occasions, or convert games to use a grid as they are far more convenient anyway!

Eastern Levies

2024-01-14T13:35:00.000+00:00

Another post of another straight up rebase from last year. These are Eastern Slingers and Archers for Magnesia using Newline Designs 20mm Persian and East Iranian codes. I think I have some more slingers to complete and the 4 spare from the original 16 were based individually as skirmish markers. I enjoyed playing a few games of Strength and Honour last year and I've been meaning to get back to it, while I liked the look of using multiple bases for 1 unit its far more practical for 1 base units. For skirmishers to work I needed to think of a way to represent them in game terms hence the individual figures to show they have supporting skirmishers which can be moved to and from the back or removed as the rules describe. Currently on the bench are some Velites skirmish markers.

Iberian Tribes

2023-12-17T23:32:00.001+00:00

Another post that has been mulling on here for a while. It's a straight up rebase of all the Newline Designs 20mm Ancient Iberian infantry so far. I did add command figures, namely some spearmen with some Hat accessories from the 1/72 Carthaginian command set. The leaders have plumes and crests added from Hat sets also. To square the bases up to 12 per base the odd rank and file warrior was also painted up. The links below show the figures in their earlier basing format.

Caetratii

Scutarii in cloaks

First batch of Iberians

Second batch of Iberians

I have 2 more 24 man units (4 bases worth) primed and ready to paint up, I'm planning on doing them in a more uniform scheme, for a change and contrast with these. It will also make painting them more straight forward! When they are done I should have more than enough units for Lost Battles and Strength & Honour. Hopefully I'll get a chance to set some battles up next year!

I hope everyone has a merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

Scutarii;

Caetratii;

Bronze Shields

2023-12-11T00:20:00.017+00:00

Finally here are the refurbished and rebased Bronze Shields! As mentioned in the previous post I had started them straight after the Silver Shields. The old base removal went as smoothly as it could, however many of them needed a bit more than the shields painted up. About half needed their linothoraxes highlighted white, and many needed a further highlight of their blue tunics. This took longer than expected, when I began the spear tips and shields I was ready for a change. I did slowly do the odd bit here and there eventually they were done, then with that complete the basing was done relatively snappy.

I'm hoping with these done I can get back into my main 20mm Ancients project but my attention span and focus is as fickle as its ever been. I'm currently finishing off another 10 Wargames Atlantic Les Grognards, however I'm ready to move on from my current sci-fi project even though it's barely started! I was then inspired to continue some Lord of the Rings as well, the Moria goblins are undercoated and dry brushed with a gun metal, but I've since moved on from that too. While my interest was piqued with LotR I looked towards dark age plastic kits as Middle-Earth warriors, but then that just lead me to look towards Late Roman and Anglo-Saxon history, then those plastic warriors become earmarked to become built as historically intended. Currently I'm building some Victrix Normans but I'm not sure how long I'll remain focussed on them. While sorting this post I rediscovered some unfinished posts on rebased Iberians and Eastern levies so I'll hopefully get them posted up soon.