Temptation

 I went another week without a game so I wanted to provide an update on what's going on.

My mind has been focused on LARPing. We still cannot meet, but the time is drawing near. I get my second vaccination shot next Monday. The same day, our governor is opening up vaccine reservations to all 18+ residents. With the availability of vaccines, I foresee our LARP group returning to the battlefield sometime in May! I have been making preparations for that day, such as this new Byzantine garb (except the shoes; those are slippers)

I am also considering a new miniatures project - Byzantines, of course! My generic 3mm figures work for now, but I am tempted to get specific figures. I would probably start in 3mm, using Magister Militum's Late Romans. This way, my figures would have shields. I envision 3 armies - red Byzantines, blue Persians / Goths, and white Arabs. I know this violates my Lazy Gamer principles, but the temptation is strong. I don't plan on starting is any time soon, though. My paints are packed up for now. My brother-in-law is moving out of our spare room. Once he does, I plan to convert it to an office/game room. Once this happens, I can embark on new projects.

Stay tuned. I have next Monday and Tuesday off, so I hope to have a new Byzantine battle next week.

Battle of Dekaexi

 A Byzantine Battle Using the MicroBattle Rules

Although much delayed, I finally am posting a Byzantine-themed battle. I am using my generic, 3mm miniatures so you'll have to use your imagination that they are what I call them. ;)

A Sassanid Persian invasion force (blue/black) has crossed into Byzantine territory. The Emperor has sent out a force to intercept and destroy the enemy.

The vanguards meet near the village of Dekaexi. While the Byzantine light cavalry gets there first, the Persians have the numbers.

And they force out the Byzantines.

But the rest of the Imperial vanguard arrives. A wild melee begins around the village.

Byzantine cataphracts overrun their Persian counterpart.

Then they get cut down by a rain of arrows from the Persian archers (in the village) and light cavalry.

The Byzantine infantry advances. Persian cavalry tries to halt them, but they are routed.

Seeing their comrades flee, the remaining Sassanid forces break and run.

A victory for the Empire!

Notes

Some points about this battle:

I used MicroBattle as the rules for this game

The scenario came from my new, hardcopy version of One-Hour Wargames. I used a new technique for picking the scenario; one that I can't really do with my Kindle version. I just randomly opened the book to a page and chose the scenario on that page. I ended up with # 16 - Advance Guard. Each army represents a patrol sent out to scout the enemy. It seems like a great start to a campaign. So the Byzantines are up 1-0.

I randomly rolled on OHW's army generation charts to select my forces. I used the infantry-heavy Dark Ages list for the Byzantines and the cavalry-heavy Medieval list for the Persians. I had to supplement the Persian cavalry with some stands from my black army. All my blue cavalry are missing a strip of figures so I designated them as light cavalry. The full 3-strip black cavalry became cataphracts. I did a similar designation with the Byzantine cavalry. I used a stand of light infantry as archers, and treated archers and skirmishers the same. Overall, I felt that my army generation fudges worked quite well.

I intended to play the full 15 turns as specified in the scenario, but the Persians broke before the time ended. Because having an army morale rule causes battles to end early (OHW armies fight to the last unit), I think I need to shorten the number of turns. I may experiment with 10 turns. This battle went 8 turns so 10 turns seems about right. I'll try it with the next battle.

Keeping Byz-y

I've been quiet so I wanted to give you an update.

Over the past two weeks, I've received some goodies in the mail!

Front and center is the beginning of lamellar body armor. I purchased some plates and cord from plasticlamellar.com and am in the process of lacing the armor together. Naturally, this is taking up time that could otherwise be spent gaming.

In the upper right you can see that I have been continuing my research into the Byzantines. I picked up this Osprey from Amazon and am using it as a guide as I develop the structure for a new LARP unit, the Chimera Legion.

The chimera banner from a previous group.

We are recycling the sigil for our legion

Finally, you'll see a hardcopy of One-Hour Wargames (upper left) in the above photo. I previously mentioned an interest in getting a hardcopy. Fortunately, it is back in print and available from Amazon US for under $20. I got free shipping because I have Amazon Prime, so the overall price was very reasonable. Now that I have it I need to use it. Therefore, I am putting together a game once I post this update. Stay tuned for a battle report sometime this coming week.

More Byzantine Business

I'm still on a Byzantine kick, although I haven't managed to squeeze in a game. I was looking at the army lists from Neil Thomas's Ancient and Medieval Wargaming and think I can do a Byzantine battle with the 3mm figures I currently have. The Byzantines will be light on cavalry and I'll have to combine my blue and black armies for the enemy (I'm thinking Sassanians), but a battle is still doable. Just not this week.

So what have I been doing? Making plans for LARPing. 

I'm scheduled to get my first COVID vaccine shot tomorrow, so I see a light at the end of the tunnel and hope to be back on the field sooner than later this year. When I do, I am considering forming a branch of Way of the Sword, a LARP organization in my home state of Florida.

Branches in WoTS are expected to choose a historical theme so I selected, naturally enough, the Byzantines. To this end, I have been researching force structures, clothing, armor, and weapons. I began to put together a guidebook with the fruits of my research. Here is a sample illustration that I did.

I had previously formed a short-lived LARP group that used the chimera as its sigil. I want to resuscitate it as our new unit's symbol and call us the Chimera Legion (yes, I know that Byzantines did not use the term "legion," but it sounds better than tagma and it emphasizes Byzantium's connection to Rome).

Anyway, stay tuned for more information on the Chimera Legion, and hopefully a Byzantine battle report!