My Blog
A Little Game
My lad and I played a little game yesterday - 1,000 points a side. It wasn't wholly successful - we forgot several special rules - like 'Fall Back in Good Order', the 'Stampede Test' when an elephant takes a wound from shooting and things like that, resulting in the Romans getting utterly trashed by the Sassanids. The Romans' case wasn't helped by utterly dire dice rolling - in some rounds they failed even to hit anything at all let alone deal out any actual wounds. I'd have thought that, by the age of 14, my son's 'kiddy rolling dice' attribute would have begun to wear out - but not a bit of it - and he still jinxes my rolling too.
We're going to try again, probably on Thursday, and will play a much bigger game - which will, amongst other things, allow us to use formations and tactics more like those of the real armies. Hopefully we'll remember the special rules this time (and probably forget some others instead!). Much as I like WAB, I think one could write a simpler set of rules which did the same job, and didn't lose any of the period flavour. This game has given me the impetus to get started again.
More Figures
Life is getting a bit too busy at the moment - not a lot of time for wargaming, or the associated activities. I've got quite a bit of DIY to do - starting with more insulation in the loft, which I'm planning to start on this weekend, and then into next week, helped (I hope!) by my lad.
But I am managing to do a little bit, here and there. …
Finished Hills
So, that's the hills finished. I need to do a few palm trees, and maybe some rough ground, and I'll have done all the terrain I had planned for this project - which isn't to say that I won't do more at some point.
Hills
Having finished the camels, I wasn't sure what to paint next - I've got another unit of Sassanid 'Savaran' armoured cavalry to paint, a unit of Roman archers, and a few Roman cavalry - to turn an ordinary infantry cohort into a cohors equitata (mixed cohort). But I don't fancy painting any of them. …
Megalomania and Cost-Benefit analyses
Yesterday was quite fun - we went up to Carlisle to celebrate my father's 83rd birthday. He was having one of his more lucid days, and seemed to enjoy himself. We went for lunch out, in a nice little cafe in Brampton - it's a regular haunt for my parents, and so they're known there - meaning that the staff cope well with my father and his dementia. …
Dromedarii
Here is a small unit of Roman Dromedarii. Actually, they're only a sub-unit of 'scouts' - part of a cohort of auxilia. A&A camels, from their 3rd/4th Century Roman range, with riders from the Middle Imperial Roman range. transfers, as usual, from Little Big Men Studios.
Distinguishing Features
I have, I think, almost succumbed to the temptation to do Pyrrhus and Republican Rome next. I say almost because I haven't actually bought any figures yet - so far I just have the 15 assorted samples Keith from Aventine Miniatures has given me - so I could still change my mind...
Not that that seems very likely now! …
A Little Progress
Today I have started work on half a dozen A&A Miniatures camels, with Roman riders. They're going quite well, except for a slight problem with the separate 'baggage' parts, which include little round shields - of a design not really appropriate for Romans, besides which, the riders are going to be carrying shields. …
Corrupting Influences!!
Sorry I've been quiet for so long. Real Life (TM) has been far too busy, and I have had very little time for anything to do with wargaming - for instance my wife has been away at a conference in Innsbruck for a week - she got back in the early hours of this morning (and has taken the kids out, leaving me in peace for a while).
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