Week in Review - Aug 28

Slowly getting things done.

LARP Helmet

I finally got around to painting my helm

I ordered a chin strap and helmet liner kit from Medieval Collectibles. I got it Wednesday and attached it to the helmet. I just need to hit it with some clearcoat.

Painting

After a long hiatus, I got back to paining the chariots and galleys I ordered in May and June.

This picture shows my latest set-up. I ordered this painting station from Amazon. 

It was a pain to put together, but now it is paying off. It has most everything I need in easy reach when I paint. It is also very portable. I put it on a high shelf when I'm done so they cats don't get into it.

Arena Fights

I planned to test out a skirmish with half dozen figures a side. I pulled out my 10mm fantasy figures, but then got lazy.

I decided to do some arena fights instead. I paired off my figures. The towers represent obelisks in the arena. I used them for some cover.

In the first bout, Sly (in black) took on Armolas the elf. Armolas managed to wound Sly, but then Sly charged and cut down the elf.

In the second bout, Gimlet the dwarf faced Sir Loin. Alas, Sir Loin fell prey to a cat quake.

As per house rules, if the cat kills you, you're dead.

Speaking of cats, Onyx had a blast playing with the dice.

At this point, I gave up, much to Onyx's chagrin.

Status Report

 Last weekend I planned to test differing scopes for skirmish gaming. These were my two test games:

1. Activation, movement, and combat by individual figure with 5-6 figures per side.
2. Activation and movement by unit. Each figure rolls in combat. About 15-20 figures per side.

This plan got sidetracked a bit when I jotted down a skirmish variant for MicroBattle but then began writing them as a full length set of rules.

Test 2

I managed to get the second test done. I don't have enough individual figures so I used my 3mm units. I assumed that units comprised 3-4 figures. I tracked casualties on a piece of paper.

Here we see the start of the battle. Two bands of dark-cloaked skeletons (bottom) advance on unsuspecting human settlements. Human troops (top) rush to the rescue.

I gave up after a few turns. Two issues cropped up.

• Keeping a roster is a pain.
• I did not know how to handle retreats. What happens when only one figure fails a retreat test? Does that one figure leave the unit to fall back? For a large skirmish, I want to keep units together. I'll have to think about this a bit.

I ended up finishing the game using the standard MicroBattle rules.

Melee breaks out around the town.

The human leader overruns a band of skeleton archers. However, more skeletons advance across the bridge to join the fray.

Some skeletons pillage the village and set it on fire.

But the human cavalry destroys the skeleton leader just as day breaks. The remaining skeletons withdraw.

Placing an order for miniatures

The above test convinced me that a true skirmish game works better with individually mounted figures (or at least individual casualties). With that decided, I ordered some 10mm Dark Age and skeleton figures from Irregular miniatures. for a fantasy Byzantine skirmish project.

I also ordered some 6mm, just out of curiosity. I'm thinking of using them for small-scale battles, with each unit approximately company sized.

Making casualty markers

As you can see above, I'm still using wooden markers to track casualties. I originally created these for my block armies, and have been meaning to replace them with casualty figures for my 3mm armies. I finally put some together.

I chopped up some 3mm cavalry and skirmishers blocks and mounted them on some circular bases I had lying around. I am still in the process of painting them.

Which Way to Go?

 I'm already rethinking my Byzantine skirmish project.

My original thought was to build a small squad of half a dozen 10mm figures. The rules would feature:

•  Activation, movement, and combat by individual figure, and
• Figures with special abilities.

I quickly expanded the concept to a larger band of approximately 20 figures. Rules for these would feature:

• Activation and movement by unit
• Individual combat, and
• Hero figures that could act independently.

I became a bit concerned by this larger approach. I don't have a large enough board or terrain in 10mm. The project started to seem a bit daunting.

Then I started thinking about doing 6mm skirmish. This approach, however, would seem to preclude individual combat because I would most likely mount figures on stands, with each figure = 1 man. But if I have combat by unit, I'm basically playing MicroBattle. I'd like a skirmish game to have a different feel to it.

I keep going around. I think I need to experiment a bit with rules before I decide on figures.

The Chovoli Project

I need a new project like a hole in the head. I still haven't finished my chariots or galleys.

Nevertheless . . .

Background

I am borrowing this campaign's lore from my LARP group.

The Chimera Legion is a tagma of the Byzantine Empire.

Note: We use legion in our name rather than tagma because no LARPer knows what a tagma is.

The Empire has posted the Legion to Chovoli Isle, a fictional island in Eastern Mediterranean. Pirates have been attacking Chovoli, so the Legion has been ordered to defend the island.

While on Chovoli, the Legion began receiving reports about monster attacks in the interior. The commander dispatched a detachment to investigate. They find a cave entrance that leads to a hidden valley overrun by mythical creatures.

Yes, this is essentially a fantasy campaign.

The Legion forces

My first mission is to find figures for the Legion. I know I want 10mm, but from whom?

What are my options?

• Irregular - They have become my go-to. I like that I can order small batches. But they don't have Byzantines, or Late Romans. Perhaps I could use their generic Dark Age figures?
• Pendraken - No Byzantines, but I could use Late Romans. With packs of 30, I'll have extras.
• Magister Militum - They have Byzantines. Again, packs of 30.
• Old Glory - packs of 100? No thanks.

Right now, I'm leaning towards Irregular's Dark Age line. Here is a photo from their website. I think they'll do.

As mentioned yesterday, I plan to do small "units." Now I am thinking 4 infantry and 3 cavalry figures per "unit" - essentially Portable Wargame size.

My current organization plan:

• 1 commander
• 2 units of spearmen (skutatoi)
• 1 unit of axemen (Varangians)
• 1 unit of light cavalry

The enemies

I found this great blog post that lists different 10mm fantasy lines. I am spoiled for choices.

I want to have some monsters. I'm thinking cyclops, harpies, a hydra, minotaurs, etc. So far, I have found most of these.

But what about the main bad guy army? I had a few possibilities in mind:

• Amazons
• satyrs
• skeletons

Right now, I'm leaning toward skeletons, like those that Jason fought.

And Irregular offers skeletons.

A Week of GADD

Since my last post, I have been busy. It just hasn't been entirely gaming, though.

Scroll down for my latest wargame ponderings.

LARP Projects

On the LARP front, I have made progress on a few projects.

I decorated a shield cover.

The sigil represents my new LARP unit, the Chimera Legion.

Onyx had to inspect it.

I also made a dragon sigil.

It's for a tabard.

I whipped this up due to a recent change in the Amtgard rules, which opened up eligibility for the paladin class. Paladins who have not received an Amtgard "knighthood" display a white dragon to indicate their class.

This dragon sigil came from a LARP realm called Dragon Coast, which I helped to found back in 2009.

Wargame Thoughts

Recently, I've been in a mood for a skirmish game, which got me thinking about doing a Byzantine themed project in 10mm. Two different approaches came to mind:

• a small-scale affair with 5 individually based figures, or
• a larger skirmish with about 20 or so figures, probably based in small groups

What to do? What to do?

It dawned on me that I could combine the approaches. Have leaders and specialty figures based individually with grunts combined on bases.

Here's what I'm thinking for organization:

• 1 commander
• 2 units of spearmen with 6 figures + 1 officer each
• 1 unit of archers with 6 figures + 1 officer
• 1 unit of light cavalry with 3 figures including the officer

Each unit of infantry will have 1 base each of 3 figures, 2 figures, and 1 figure. Cavalry will be individually based.

My player "warband" will be Byzantines. What about the enemy? I plan to use fantasy bad guys. I'd like my warband to run into minotaurs, chimeras, and other classical monsters. I'd also like some Greek-themed hordes, but I'm not sure what. Amazons? Satyrs? I haven't decided yet but I will say NO ORKS!

LARP Distraction

No gaming posts recently because I've been distracted by my LARP hobby.

Here's my latest project. Can I turn this cheap, plastic Viking helmet into a proper Byzantine helm with aventail?

Find out at the Paladin's Path.