Recruiting

Now that I am back in a horse & musket mood, I've been contemplating my minis organization. I decided to abandon my Risk armies but was debating between 2mm and 6mm. Well, I have settled on 6mm (using Baccus's excellent figures). Here is my plan:

• Create 3 main armies (Empire, Bluderia, and Redgrave)
• Each army will consist of 4 infantry, 2 skirmishers, 2 cavalry, 2 artillery, and a general. This will allow me to field any of the random 6-unit force compositions in One-Hour Wargames.
• Create a 4th main army of native tribesmen. I have not decided on the exact composition but I'm thinking it will consist of skirmishers and spear-armed warbands.

The goal is to shift my wars to a new continent recently discovered by the Francesian powers. They will be battling to seize control from the natives and from each other.

The last part of the plan is:

• Create 3 minor armies (Drakendorf, Grayrock, Greenglade).
• Each of these armies will be half the size of a main army. They will be used as allies.

I have enough infantry, cavalry, and generals to create 2 main armies. I need to order some skirmishers as well as troops for the third army.

2mm or not 2mm. That is the question.

Although I am not using the rules as written, One-Hour Wargames has sparked a resurgence of interest in horse & musket battles. Since the beginning of this blog I’ve talked about completing the armies of Francesia and once again I am pondering this project.

The big question: 2mm or 6mm?

I really like the Baccus 6mm miniatures and am tempted to go that route. However, I have a lot of 2mm stuff and I do like the scale. Which one should I choose? Well, let’s look at the pros and cons.

6mm pros:

• Larger figures look better in photographs (important for my blog)
• Larger figures are easier to pick up
• It is easier to distinguish between troop types (e.g. elites vs. regulars)
• Squares look more full (using 2mm the squares look a little empty)

2mm pros:

• I already have completed armies for the Empire, Redgrave, and Bluderia
• I can probably complete an army quicker
• I already have terrain 
• I can use the hills I have
• I have a few 6mm trees but could use more
• My biggest gap is buildings. I would need to make some
• Looks more realistic (like a helicopter view of the battlefield, although I probably should rebase so that there are 2 blocks on a base)

To sum up, 6mm will look better but 2mm will be easier to do. 
Decisions, decisions.

Notes on Medieval Francesia

Having the day off and inspired by the receipt of my latest Baccus figures, I decided to run another Redgravian Raiders scenario. I realized, however, that I have no buildings for 6mm.* How can I raid a village if I have no buildings for a village?

* Actually, I don't have any buildings anymore. Overly enthused by my 6mm miniatures, I started to divest myself of my 10mm stuff and prematurely gave away my Village in a Bag to Goodwill.

So I decided to put together some buildings. During my latest visit to Hobby Lobby, I picked up some balsa wood and other wood bits and pieces which I now put it to good use. Here is a sample:

New buildings pressed into action. The glue is still drying on the hut.

Inspired by Bob Cordery, I decided to make thin buildings, such as the one on the right, that would not take up much space in a square. I also picked up some wood buttons to make huts (left). In the spirit of Village in a Bag (and sheer laziness) I only painted the roofs while adding doors and windows with marker. For stability and a little height, I mounted the buildings on wood stands. I still need to paint the base edges.

I'm taking a new approach with my 6mm figures. I picked up a couple of these divided craft organizer boxes at Hobby Lobby. I want to keep everything I need for a game (except for the board) in one box. I currently have my medieval figures, trees, building, and casualty markers in this box. My current hills won't fit so I just made some new, slightly narrower, ones that will.

Anyway, I took my new toys (not the hills - I made them after the battle) and played out a raid. The battle report follows.

Updates

A few updates about my gaming goings-on:

Last Saturday was another edition of family game night (no pictures of Tom, though). This time we played Star Trek Catan and it was a massacre. Elizabeth raced out ahead and never relinquished the lead for an easy victory. I came in second with a paltry 5 points. If you're keeping track, that's 3 consecutive victories for Elizabeth. Her evil reign must end.

Final position.
Elizabeth really liked the horseshoe-like design of her galactic empire (blue)

 Next up, I received my latest order from Baccus. After my positive experience painting up the Saxon huscarles I'm moving back to 6mm figures.I ordered 2 armies of 18th century minis, which will form the armies of Redgrave and the Empire. I also have some medieval Norman cavalry and archers to add to the huscarles.

My Baccus bundle

 Finally, I did some work on some LARP weapons. I previously showed off my two-handed "torch mace" that I built using a PVC core. A few weeks ago I broke it in half against someone's shield. I cut it down and am in the process into turning it into a one-handed "torch mace" (I still need to cover it).

I really liked my two-handed "torch mace" so I built another, this time using a sturdier fiberglass pole as a core. It was previously a two handed warhammer but I found it to be a little unwieldy so now it is a 4' "torch-glaive."

LARP projects

A Redgrave Raid

With my 6mm huscarles complete, I've been itching to see them in action. One problem - I have no 6mm terrain. I tried my hills and they'l work, but I'll need new trees and houses. Fortunately, I had some bump chenille lying around, so I whipped up a few trees and I was ready for a quick scenario.

I have 2 inspirations for this battle. First is Dux Britanniarum, the Dark Ages rules set by Too Fat Lardies. The campaign system features one of the post-Roman kingdoms fending off Saxon attacks. My plan is to have Redgravian raiders attacking the decrepit Empire. My second inspiration was this beach battle from the TV show Vikings. My plan for the scenario was to have the raiders trying to get back to their ship but they are blocked by Imperial forces. However, I don't have beach terrain so I used what I had. Well, I had some new trees so I had to use some of those too!

Here is the opening set up. Ragnar and his raiders had just successfully sacked several villages and were on their way back to their boats, laden with plunder. They crested a hill to find an Imperial force, led by Count Delaus, blocking their path. Unbeknownst to Ragnar, Lord Flavius had a band of spearmen lying in ambush in the woods.

Ragnar spies the Imperials

 Wary of the woods, Ragnar shifted to his right. Sir Marius advanced with his band against Ragnar. Delaus preferred to bide his time, remaining motionless while Marius advanced. On the Imperial right, Lord Flavius grew impatient and began to chase after the raiders who were moving away from the woods.

Ragnar shifts right

 With a yell, Ragnar's left-flank band charged down the hill toward Flavius's troops.

Charge!

 There is a desperate struggle, but Flavius held his ground. The charging Redgravians were cut down to a man. Meanwhile, on the left, Marius grew nervous without support from his commanders. He drew back so he would not be completely outflanked. Ragnar pursued and brought Marius to battle.

Flavius holds his ground while Marius is beset.

 Marius launched himself into the fray. His inspired men took heart and they cut down their foe.

Ragnar's band suffers casualties

 Ragnar's other bands advanced but could not come to grips before Marius struck down the enemy commander.

Ragnar falls!

 With an enemy band directly in front of him, Count Delaus finally moved forward to engage while Lord Flavius smashed into the enemy flanks. At the same time, Marius engaged the raiders on the flank.

The Imperials wiping up the raiders.

 Delaus and Flavius wiped out their opponent. The remaining raiders gave up on trying to reach their ship and fled into the countryside.

The End

Despite his cowardice in refusing to advance against the enemy at numerous occasions, Count Delaus secured an impressive victory (largely due to the stellar efforts of Flavius and Marius). Most of the plunder was recovered and Delaus's reputation at court has skyrocketed.

I Finished a Project! (Sort of)

On a whim a week ago, I ordered a pack of Baccus 6mm Saxon huscarles. Today, I finshed a super quickie paint and basing job, and here are the results.

Redgravian raiders

Imperial spearmen

My camera cannot take good close-ups, which is probably a good thing because I did a very rudimentary paint job. I primed both sides in dark gray and then slapped on the armor color. I used silver on the Imperials but then decided to go fancy with gold armor for the Redgravian raiders. It's not particularly accurate for a medieval inspired army, but hey this is an imagi-nation. It also lets the Redgravians stand out more from their adversaries. I then painted the shields - white for the Imperials and Red for the Redgravians. Next I was going to paint faces and spear shafts, but with my bad eyes I could not really see that detail from table level so I skipped it. I then based them on green-painted wood rectangles from Michael's.

Overall, I'm satisfied with the result. Sure, they're not particularly pretty, but they are ready for a game in a week! You may have noticed that I usually dawdle with my painting projects. The ease of speed painting has convinced me to move back to 6mm. I just placed an order for several packs of Baccus's American Revolutionary War miniatures in addition to some Norman knights and archers to complete my medieval Francesian armies.

I plan to make one change to my basing. The huscarles were based one strip to a stand but in the future I'll use 2 infantry strips to a stand. I think that will give each infantry unit a bit more impressive mass.

GADD Again

I'm suffering some more Gamer's Attention Deficit Disorder when it comes to prepping troops for gaming.

I noticed that the Kaptain Kobold over at The Stronghold Rebuilt is moving away from 6mm figures to paper minis for one of his projects. Ironically, I am contemplating doing the reverse for my medieval project.

When I last mentioned it, I had built up two paper mini armies for battles between medieval Redgrave and the Empire. I just never got around to using them (I don't like how the stands came out but I'm too lazy to fix them. As a result I have not been inspired to play a game). Well, on a whim, I decided to order a pack of Baccus Miniatures 6mm Saxon huscarles. So far, I like what I see. The figures are easily recognizable, nicely proportioned, and with nearly non-existent flash, I primed the pack and will try a quickie paint job. I'll post some pictures once I get more done.