Wednesday 25 March 2015

Off the Painting Table (March 2015) part 2


In the proceeding ‘Off the Painting Table’ post I mentioned my next project; a pair of retinues to use with the ‘Lion Rampant’ rules. I decided to field Teutonic Order and Baltic Pagans. For the Baltic Pagans I planned to use FireForge Games Mongol Cavalry and Steppe Peoples, and I would modify these figures to give a less oriental feel. I ordered 3 boxes of figures (roughly £60) which gave all that I required (with an additional 6 mounted figures), plus a Steppe Tribes Warlord figure from Gripping Beast.  The first task was to assemble the figures which proved straight forward. I changed all the oriental heads for hairy, bearded heads from my Viking spare parts collection. The Men at Arms units had helmeted heads which would denote their higher status, together with the round, decorated shields from the kits. The additional mounted figures I used as an extra mounted M/A unit because I feel the list in the rules is rather cavalry lite for the Baltic Pagans. I also changed a few arms to enable the Ferocious Foot units to contain more men with axes and club/maces. I initially considered having a mixture of shields (kite, heater etc.) but quickly rejected this idea and settled for a cut-down version of the wicker shields again supplied in the kits. I primed/undercoated all the figures, and I decided to use black primer because this army will be painted in dull, muted colours with a lot of grey and brown. Using a lighter tone grey or white undercoat would brighten any subsequent colours too much. Normally I add base texture once the figures are completely painted, but when I use black primer I find details become hard to distinguish. Having the unpainted white base texture reflects light on to the figure making it easier to paint. Also the additional weight gives stability to the figure.

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So, I now have 61 Baltic Pagan figures to paint up. I think I will start with the mounted units first. My next purchase will be the Teutonic Order, which I plan to buy at the Salute show in London later in April. I intend to use LBMS transfers for the heraldry rather than hand paint it – too many straight lines where any wobble would stand out a mile! On reflection I feel this army may prove tough to paint; so much flowing white cloth and armour, with little colour to vary the palette.

Number
Scale
Period
Manufacturer
Notes:
97
15mm
War of the Roses
Peter Pig
 
16
15mm
Pony Wars
Peter Pig
Casualty markers
12
28mm
C17th British Cavalry
Wargames Factory
 
20
28mm
C17th British Infantry
Wargames Factory
 
12
28mm
ECW cavalry
Warlord Games
 
14
28mm
ECW pikemen
Wargames Factory
Conversions
8
28mm
Jacobites
Col. Bill’s
 
1
28mm
Napoleonic Rifleman
Bicorne Miniatures
 
1
28mm
Horse and cart
4Ground
 

 

Monday 16 March 2015

AAR; 1745 Jacobites; Donnybrook; 15 March 2015


IMG_1313.JPGI have previously reviewed Donnybrook by Clarence Harrison & Barry Hilton (Wordtwister Publishing 2013), based mainly on solo play. I therefore decided to trial a game at Devizes Wargames Club using my 1745 Jacobite and Government forces. The first game I played against Ian who used the Jacobite force. Initially The Government forces started strongly. My ‘regular’ Royal Marines deployed forward (using the attached ‘Scout’ character) and unleashed a volley which devastated a highland unit (and knocked out their ‘Bard’ character). My militia unit shot a couple of highlanders who were deployed forward on a rough hill. These highlanders were then charged by my regular horse and wiped out! (so, cavalry can be useful). Two Jacobite units KO’d for little lost to myself, this was a good as it got for me. The Jacobite leader and a bunch of highlanders then charged around a wood into my horse and routed them (they had a morale dice roll of 1). This is the stage of the game photographed below. The leader’s highland unit then continued to charge my militia, who were beaten and routed (another morale throw of 1). Next another highlander unit charged my Royal Marines and forced them back. I did manage to wound the Scots bagpiper, which I classed as a moral victory for the government cause. At this point my army was below 50%, so further morale checks needed to be done, and guess what, my Royal Marines routed (another throw of 1!). Finally the Jacobite leader charged my leader and the two spent the rest of the game duelling with each other. At this point I conceded the game because I had only a single unit still functioning. Game, set and match to Ian’s Jacobites.

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Figure 1: First game. The government militia about to die!

The game only lasted 90 minutes, so a second club member, John, who had watched the first game offered to replay using the Jacobites. I again deployed my Royal Marines forward to enable them to unleash some deadly volleys into the Jacobites. Their activation card never came up and they were overwhelmed by a screaming highlander horde. On the other flank a group of highlanders crashed into my horse, who had moved to intercept them, killing my noble cavalry to a man. The victorious highlanders continued their charge into a regular infantry unit, who failed to fire! The ensuing melee was a convincing win for the highlanders, only my drummer managed to take out an opponent. Three government units down and my lone militia unit almost surrounded. It was time to give up and go home!

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Figure 2. Second game. Before things went wrong.

So what was the verdict on the rules? Both games were fast paced and fun. The use of different dice to represent differing quality of troops worked well. There was a strong feeling that luck, particularly in the card activation sequence, dominated the games and that victory or defeat was not due to a player’s skill or decisions. I certainly found that throwing only 1’s when testing morale was disastrous, and I yet again found the ‘drummer’ character was very useful to the government forces. Both Ian and John very quickly picked up the rules, they did not even need to refer to the QRS to play the game, and quickly took on the aggressive highland characteristic of their army. I think John would have preferred to play without the ‘end of turn’ card, which would allow all units to move in a turn (a mechanism also suggested in the rules themselves), but he understood the rational for including it. As new players, both Ian and John, spent some time flicking through the Donnybrook rulebook and they commented that it was very pretty but contained rather too much ‘fluff’. Also, they found the inclusion of the ‘Cultist’ faction strange. I don’t think that either will be inspired to fork out £27 to get their own copy of the rules, but I think they would be very happy to play in future games that I might arrange.