New Blog for Boxer Rebellion

I started a new Blog for our groups Boxer Rebellion games. Its located here: http://krautnrice.blogspot.com/
Its titled "Sour Kraut and Fried Rice" The adventures of Colonel Klink during the Boxer Rebellion. Colonel Klink is a figure from my 15mm Boxer Rebellion collection that we've had a lot of fun with. Here he is shown with some East Asia Brigade troops and German Marines.

Check it out.

What Mitch has been up to

In one of my weaker moments, I found some Victrix Napoleonics on sale on E-bay and couldn't resist. Sixty figures in a box. Wow! I thought. What a cheap way to get a bunch of figures.

 

When I opened them up. Wow! That's a lot of parts to put together. Much to my dismay, I found you had to glue everything on, heads, arms, back packs and sometimes legs. They were very fiddly.

Wow! Even more parts. So I put a few together to see how it went. The first batch wasn't so good. I was using Krylon white to  prime them with since it had worked well on other stuff. Well the paint must have been old or it was too cold, I don't know, but the paint clumped up on the figures obscuring the detail.

The first ones went into a jay of Simple Green to soak and remove the paint. Next I tried some artist's  Gesso as a primer based on something I read on the web. It worked alright, but I found it was a pain trying to paint the chest area due to the odd positioning of the arms and muskets. I managed to finish the two below and used Army Painter "Strong" stain on them.

Next two I tried painting before gluing the arms on. That worked much better, but was really fiddly. These two below I used the "Dark" stain and liked the result much better.

Here are some more of the first batch after removing the primer and some I left as there weren't so bad. There is also a mounted Afghan leader waiting to be painted for NW Frontier.

 Here its what waiting to be decaled and camoflauged for 15mm WW2 if we ever find a set or rules. the building on the left is being mounted for use with my Boxer Rebellion figures.

Rest of my Hetzers waiting to be assembled. One on the left by Command Decision are squatter. The FOW brand on the right is better proportioned, but more expensive.

 Here are some Brits being painted for NW Frontier.

 Another Box of Naps, this time from Perry Brothers. Much nicer and less parts to put together.

A view of the figures right out of the bow.You can see there are less parts to glue on. Don't know when I'll ever get to these. Another good deal I couldn't refuse. Found them at Fall-In Convention Flea Market being sold by a guy I met at Cold Wars last year.

Another project I couldn't resist. A German pre-dreadnought Brandenburg class battleship in 1:700 scale.

More fiddly parts and that's all the instructions you get.  Wonder how long this will be sitting around before I ever get to it.

Not shown. A bunch of 15mm Panzer IV's and V's. If we ever decide on a set a rules, maybe they'll get more attention. Just bought some Panzer Grey spray paint, so they'll be easier than doing the camo.

That's what is on my painting table. What's on yours?

New Years Day Battle: Greeks vs Pesians

Long time member of the West Sound Warriors, Gary Williams finally managed to get his Greeks and Persians painted and mounted. We decided to try them out on New Year's Day, 2014. These Persians are from the 480 B.C period during the time of Xerxes. Gary and Brad Philpot commanded the Greeks while Ron Berry and myself led the Persians. These were fairly large armies with lots of skirmisher infantry which mad the 8 X 5 table a  little crowded.

The Persian Army had nineteen units as follows:
Unit                Qty    Weapon
Persian HC           18    Jav/Bow
Median HC          18    Jav
Sakae LC             16    Bow
Caspian LC          16    Jav
Bactrian LC         16    Jav
Paricanian LC      16    Jav
Immortals 1         48    Spear/Bow
Immortals 2         36    Spear/Bow
Medes 1               32    Spear/Bow
Medes 2               32    Spear/Bow
Lydians                32    Spear
Bactrian LI          24    Jav
Chorasmian LI    24    Jav
SI  Ethiopians     12    Bow
SI  Jav-1              12    Jav
SI  Jav-2              12    Jav
SI  Jav-3              12    Jav
SI  Jav-4              12    Jav
SI  Pisidian          16    Jav

Greeks had thirteen units:
Unit                    Qty    Weapon
HC                      16    Jav
LC                      12    Jav
Spartiate PH       48    Spears
Lacedaimon PH  48    Spears
Messenian PH     48    Spears
Sicyon PH          48    Spears
Ionian PH           48    Spears
LI                       24    Jav
LI                       24    Jav
SI   Bow-1          12    Bow
SI    Jav-1           12    Jav
SI    Bow-1         12    Bow
SI    Jav-2           12    Jav




Deployments were pretty standard with Cavalry on the wings and Infantry in the center. The Persians greatly outnumbers the Greeks in Cavalry, but the Greeks had stronger infantry fighting power. The Greek Phalanxes had a FV of 5-6 while the Persian troops were only 4-6 at best. It would be a contest between whether the Greek Phalanxes could destroy enough Persian Units before they were caught from behind by the Persian Cavalry.

 A view of the initial deployments, Greek on the Right, Persians on the Left. Notice the large amount of Skirmishers. They mostly just got in the way.

Except for the Persian Right wing, the Persians mostly upon The Persian General's (Ron) orders stayed put and let the Greeks come to them. In the photo below, notice red uniformed Greek unit. That's the Spartiates in melee with the Chorasmian LI. Next to them Ron has maneuvered the Medes-1 Unit to apparently get a Wing Attack on the advancing Greek Lacedaimon PH unit.

 Here is a closer view of the Spartiates and Persian LI melee. As you may guess,the LI didn't last long.

 With the Chorasmian Light infantry gone,the Spartans wheel and catch the Medes-1 Unit in Flank. Disordered by the Flank Attack and outscored in the melee,the Medes-1 is soon gone allowing the Spartans to advance into the Flank of the already engaged Medes-2 Unit.

 Meanwhile over on the Persian Right Flank, the Persians are kicking Butt and starting to envelope the Greek from the rear.

In the Center the Immortals and the Lydians are holding their own, but the Spartan Juggernaught is getting closer.

 

 The Spartans with another Flank Attack, take out the Medes-2 unit and then the Lydians.

When the Lydians break they cause a morale test for the Immortals-2 unit. They fail which causes them to be disordered. Outscored in the subsequent melee they have to take another control test which they fail again. They break and that's it. Game Over for the Persians.

Game took about two hours to play and was a lot fun although it looked pretty lopsided. The Spartan Flank attacks did the Persians in and if not for those the Persian Cavalry might have been able to change the outcome. We are looking forward to another try with these armies.

A Queen of Sparta was once asked why Spartan women were given far more freedom and responsibility than the women of any other Greek city.  She replied, "Because we are the only Greek women who give birth to real men."

Second Battle of Blue Sky

 Our group decided to give this Battle another try using the same forces as last time. Tom Condon and Ron Berry played the Romans. Brad Philpot and I played the Armenians. We rolled for terrain according to the rules(3 rolls each) and the Romans received a flank Steep Hill and a regular Hill. The Armenians could only manage one Steep Hill. ( It's possible to get "clear terrain" when rolling). No woods came up. I divided up the Armenian Horse Archers into two units of eight instead of one unit of sixteen used in the previous battle. We're using the playtest version of the Tactica II rules by Arty Conliffe. Following is the roster of troops used. All are Veteran troops. Total points value is 1076 points for each side.


ROMANS      

No.     Size      Type     Name

1     14     HC     Roman Javelins
1     12     LC     Allies   Javelins              
9      8     FT     Legion I Cohort Pila/Swords
1     16     FT     Legion I Cohort Pila/Swords 
1     12     LI     Tribal Javelins
1     16     LI     Auxilia  Javelins               
1     14     SI     Skirmishers Bows
1     12     SI     Skirmishers  Javelins 
      Army Breakpoint=     71   
   
                  Armenian
      Size      Type     Name
2     8      LC     Armenian LC Bows
1     18     CAT(I)     Katoikoi  Lance               
1     48     PH     Phalanx Pikes
1     32     PH     Phalanx Pikes
1     24     COH     Imitation Legion  Pila/Swords               
1     16     LI       Iberians Javelins
1     12     LI     Armenians  Javelins                
1     12     SI     Armenian Bows
1     12     SI     Armenians Javelins
      Army Break Point=83 

 Here is the set up from the Armenian Side. LI and Horse Archers on the Wings. Pikes on Right, Cataphracts and imitation Legionaries on the Left. Had to use my phone camera for these first two photos. Almost fifty percent of the Armenian Army is tied up in the Pike Units. This means if the Romans can't Break at least one of the Pike units they must break every Armenian non-Pike unit in order to win.

This is a view of the Roman set-up.  They had all their cavalry on the Right flank plus one LI unit. Only one LI unit on their Left flank. All but one Cohort is "reinforced" ( i.e doubled up). Romans have ten "Massed" units to fight with. Armenians have eight.

Deployment and Opening Moves

In map above and photo below, Armenian LI is overwhelmed by the Roman LI and HC and soon routed. Armenian horse archers decide discretion is the better part of valor, do an about face and evade away from the more numerous and better fighting javelin armed Roman light cavalry. In the middle, the skirmishers launch missiles at each other and the Armenian javelinmen melee the Roman Archers in an attempt to take them out.

Opening Moves on Armenian Left

Mid-Point of Battle, Roman Left Collapses

At mid-point of the battle, the Imitation Legionnaires are no match for the regular Roman Cohorts and are soon defeated. The Armenian Horse Archers are still evading away from the roman light cavalry staying just ahead of them. The Roman Heavy Cavalry swings around and catches the Cataphracts in rear leading to their demise. Over on the other side its the Roman Cohorts that aren't doing so well. One Cohort breaks which causes morale checks by the others. Gods are against the Romans this day as the cohorts fail their morale tests and find themselves fighting disorderd against the Armenian Phalanxes. They are soon overwhelmed by the Pikes and sent packing. Right most Phalanx swings over to hit the Roman Light Infantry in flank quickly routing it. With loss of six Cohorts and the LI unit, the Roman are getting close to their Breaking Point (71).

Roman HC Breaks giving Victory to the Armenians

 Both sides, now having defeated the enemy's left flanks, attempt to wheel around to engage the remaining enemy units. The Roman Heavy Cavalry manages to catch the large Armenian Phalanxe in the side, but it is a wing attack, not a flank attack (See Photo diagram below for more info). One Armenian Horse Archer unit boldly charges into the Roman Heavy Cavalry to assist the Pike unit. They are in turn caught on the side by the Roman Light Cavalry. The Armenian Horse Archers are soon routed, but not before putting a few kills on the Roman Heavy Cavalry. The Roman HC is now at eight Kills and they break at nine. In the last melee, the Roman HC unit rolls badly not doing enough damage to the large Armenian Phalanxe. They in turn however receive several kills from the Phalanxe and they Rout away giving Victory to the Armenians.

It was a hard fought battle by both sides which could have gone either way depending on the die rolls.

Last Melee of the Battle

Critical Moment of Battle

 Roman HC attempts to make a Flank Attack on the Armenian Phalanx. This Photo has been modified to show the initial and ending position of the Roman HC. For a Flank attack to occur the attacking units whole Front edge must begin behind the target unit's Front line and the attacking unit's whole unit must end up behind the target unit's Front line. Neither of these two requirements occurred so the attack is deemed a "wing" attack which does not Dis-Order the target unit. In a "wing" attack the attacking unit gets Double Dice. The Roman HC started out with 6 figures in the Front rank and must divide their melee dice against all opponents. So they get three dice against the horse archers and get six dice(3 doubled ) against the Phalanx. With the Roman HC being one figure short of Break Point, there was no way for them to win. If they could have made a Flank Attack, then things might have been different. The Phalanx would have been disordered ( getting half dice) and if out scoured, would have had to make a morale test.

Small Tactica Game- Romans vs Armenians

Our last game held 19th October at Blue Sky Hobbies in Bremerton was intended to be part of an Ancients Campaign that Tom Condon is running. However, only Brad and I showed up and he had to leave about half way through. Fortunately, the new guy Kevin Walker had showed up and was able to finish the game for Brad.

We were using small Tactica II Armies of only 1076 points. This is about half the size we normally play with, but makes for a simple and quick game. I decided to do Armenians vs Romans this time to give the Ponts a break. Since the Romans are more complicated to play, I gave Brad the choice of which side to play. He chose the Armenians.  Composition of the armies is as follows:

            ROMANS      

No.     Size      Type     Name

1     14     HC     Roman
1     12     LC     Allies                 
9     8     FT     Legion I Cohort (Note: Romans deployed as reinforced cohorts )
1     16     FT     Legion I Cohort   
1     12     LI     Tribal
1     16     LI     Auxilia                 
1     14     SI     Skirmishers
1     12     SI     Skirmishers   
      Army Breakpoint=     71   
   
                  Armenian
      Size      Type     Name
1     16     LC     Armenian LC
1     18     CAT(I)     Katoikoi                 
1     48     PH     Phalanx
1     32     PH     Phalanx
1     24     COH     Imitation Legion                 
1     16     LI       Iberians
1     12     LI     Armenians                 
1     12     SI     Armenian Archers
1     12     SI     Armenians Javelin
      Army Break Point=95 

Opening Moves

With the exception of the Armenian Cataphracts which were part of the main battle line, both sides deployed their Cavalry and Light Infantry on the flanks. Armenians placed their Phalanxes on the right side of the main battle line with Imitation Legionaries in the middle and Cataphracts on the right. Romans put their reinforced 1st cohort opposite the largest Phalanx and their Heavy Cavalry on the side with the Cataphracts. With more men tied up in the Pike blocks the Armenians had two fewer units than the Romans to fight with. The Roman player was therefore hoping to be able to flank one of the Armenian Phalanxes.

Initial Deployment

In the opening moves, the Roman Light Cavalry (no doubt some reluctant Gauls) were sent packing by the Iberian Light Infantry. Over on the Roman right flank things were more even. The Armenian Light Infantry managed to get into position in the woods and drove off their Roman "tribal" counterparts, ( probably also some less than enthusiastic Gauls). The Roman Heavy Cavalry, however had no trouble defeating the Armenian Horse archers and advanced hopefully to be able to catch the Phalanxes in the rear. (Note: I forgot to have the Roman HC roll for "pursuit" which might have had them purse the Armenian horse archers, but in the long run it didn't matter. Game was over before they could make any difference).

Crunch Time,  HI in Melee

    

Mid- Game

The right two Roman cohort units advanced to occupy the hill in front of them and decided to wait for the enemy Cataphratcs to attack them. Meanwhile all the Heavy Infantry of the Roman left and middle met near the center of the field and began to slug it out. The Cataphracts eventually advanced to take on the two Roman units on the hill. The Armenian Light Infantry seeing the Cohorts locke din melee advanced out of the woods trying to take the end cohort in its flank. The Iberian Light Infantry on the other flank advanced to engage the Roman lights in the woods on top of the hill. The Roman Heavy Cavalry continued its attempt to get behind the Armenian Phalanxes.

The Armenian Cataphracts and the Imitation Legionnaires eventually broke leaving a huge hole in the Armenian Battle line. Unfortunately, the left two Roman Cohort Units broke soon after leaving the Romans perilously close to Break Point.  Using a break through move plus a couple of turns movement, the large Armenian Phalanxe caught the engage Roman Light Infantry on the hill in the flank and it was all over. The Roman Heavy Cavalry couldn't move fast enough to make a difference.

Final Positions

Armenian Phalanx catches Roman LI in Flank

In retrospect the Roman Units on the hill should have engaged sooner.They might have been able to make a difference, but sometimes it doesn't matter what you do. In order to win, the Romans had to break at least one of the Armenian Phalanxes. This they didn't do although one was fairly close ( 16 kills vs 21 needed to break). It was an enjoyable game however and thanks to Brad and Kevin for playing.

]

Using Army Painter "Quickshade"

I bought some of  The Army Painter Quickshade and decided to try it out on some Northwest Frontier Ral Partha figures. I had obtained some used figures from Dennis Trout but they were in pretty bad shape. I also bought some from Great Endeavors http://www.greatendeavours.co.uk/colonials/ as the ones I got from Dennis were limited.  Below is a picture of what the used figures looked like.

Here are some after "repainting"

This is a picture after they were dipped in the Quickshade. It gives them a Glossy look, but does a nice job of shading.

Here is what they look like after spraying the dipped figures with some "dullcoat".

Next is my paint job on a Ral Partha British figure.

Here is the same figure after "dipping".

Finally the finished figure after spraying with "dullcoat".

All in all, the Quickshade does a nice job. The British figure looks much better than the photos show. I now have almost a full TSATF unit of Afghans done. Working on the Brits now. Gawd how I hate painting. With the Brits it isn't too bad. I spray paint them khaki and then there are but 6 other colors, flesh, white belts, brown rifle, shoes and straps, off-white haversack, dark blue puttees, steel gun barrels. Next up Gurkas and then some more afghans.

Tactica II Game Phyrrus vs Rep. Romans

<! <!

Greeks (Phyrric) vs Republican Romans

Overview

Date played: Thursday, November 29, 2012
At Blue Sky Hobby shop in Bremerton, WA
Gary Williams and Mitch Berdinka commanded the Greeks
James Gray and Tom Condon led the Republican Romans

Greeks (Phyrrus)

                                                                                                                                                                    Qty 48 HI, Agyraspids  336 points
                                                                                                                                                                    Qty 48 HI, Tarantine Phalanx  288 points
                                                                                                                                                                    Qty 32 HI, Phalanx 224 points
                                                                                                                                                                    Qty 12 Cavalry, Macedonian HC 96 points
                                                                                                                                                                    Qty 12 Cavalry, Aitolian LC 48 points
                                                                                                                                                                    Qty 36 HI, Oscan Hoplites 216 points
                                                                                                                                                                    Qty 3 Elephants 126 points
                                                                                                                                                                    Qty 16 LI, Peltasts LI 64 points
                                                                                                                                                                    Qty 12 LI, Peltasts LI 48 points
                                                                                                                                                                    Qty 12 LI, Javelin SK 24 points
                                                                                                                                                                    Qty 12 LI, Archers SK 36 points
                                                                                                                                                                    Total: 1506 points

Republican Roman

                                                                                                                                                                    Qty 12 HI, Principes-I 96 points
                                                                                                                                                                    Qty 12 HI, Hastati-I 96 points
                                                                                                                                                                    Qty 12 HI, Triari-I 96 points
                                                                                                                                                                    Qty 12 HI, Principes-II 96 points
                                                                                                                                                                    Qty 12 HI, Hastati-II 96 points
                                                                                                                                                                    Qty 12 HI, Triari-II 96 points
                                                                                                                                                                    Qty 12 HI, Principes-III 96 points
                                                                                                                                                                    Qty 12 HI, Hastati-III 96 points
                                                                                                                                                                    Qty 12 HI, Triari-III 96 points
                                                                                                                                                                    Qty 12 HI, Principes-IV 96 points
                                                                                                                                                                    Qty 12 HI, Hastati-IV 96 points
                                                                                                                                                                    Qty 12 HI, Triari-IV 96 points
                                                                                                                                                                    Qty 16 Roman HC 96 points
                                                                                                                                                                    Qty 14 Allied HC 84 points
                                                                                                                                                                    Qty 16 Auxilia LI 64 points
                                                                                                                                                                    Qty 12 Auxilia LI 48 points
                                                                                                                                                                    Qty 12 SK, Javelin SK 24 points
                                                                                                                                                                    Qty 12 SK, Archers SK 36 points
                                                                                                                                                                    Total: 1504 points

Deployment

Deployment

Standard deployment with HI in center, cavalry and lights on the flanks. We had only small tables available at the local Hobby Shop so deployment was much reduced from the usual Tactica requirements. The Romans with a shorter frontage, tried to use some LI to cover the left flank of their Legions.

Turn 1 

Turn 1 – Everyone advance pretty much straight ahead. Greeks tried to advance their LC to

eliminate the Roman archers in hopes of preventing them from hindering the Elephants.

Turn 2

Turn 2 – Roman archers evade out of the way, so Greek LC ended up hitting the Roman Allied HC. Everywhere else, both sides are fully engaged. Romans up to this point are following the requirements for normal Line Relief.

Turn 3 

 Turn 3 - Both Roman LI units break, leaving the Roman left flank wide open. The Roman Pricipes units are no match for the deep Phyrric Palanxes and all break. The two left Roman Legions elect to reinforce their Hastati units rather than use the Relief rule. Those on the right maintain the Relief rule requirements. So at the end of the turn the status is as follows:

Roman Break Point = 101
Phyrric Break Point = 117
Loss Status
Romans Total = 52
16 LI Auxilia
12 LI Auxilia
12 FT Principes I & II = 24 (Not in relief Formation)
12 FT Principes III, & IV (Dont count until Triari break)

Phyrric Total = 0

Turn 4

 Turn 4 – Romans finally start to do some damage. The Phyrric Hoplites and Agyraspids have
taken a beating and rout as does the Aitolian LC which managed to rout the Roman Alied HC.
Meanwhile the II Legion is completely gone, leaving only the Legion I reinforced Hastati to do a “Complex” maneuver to about face and attempt to get back into the battle. Legion II and IV Hastati break, leaving it up to the Roman right flank Triari to save the day. The Macedonian and Roman Heavy Cavalry come to grips on the far Roman right. Both sides are close to Breaking Point. One more unit from either side will do it and some of the Greek LI and Phalanx units are only 3 to 4 figures away from breaking. Status at end of turn is as follows:

Roman Break Point = 101
Phyrric Break Point = 117
Loss Status
Romans Total = 90
16 LI Auxilia
12 LI Auxilia
14 HC Allied
12 FT Principes I & II = 24 (Not in relief Formation)
12 FT Principes III, & IV (Dont count until Triari break)
12 FT Hastati II = 12
12 FT Hastati III, & IV(Don't count until Triari break)
12 FT Triarri II = 12

Phyrric Total = 96
12 LC Aitolians
36 PH Oscan Hoplites
48 PH Agyraspids

End Turn

End Turn – Legion III Triari breaks putting Romans over breakpoint. If Melee direction had
been the opposite direction, the Romans might have been able to break another Greek unit
instead. It was a very close game, another “Phyrric Victory”.



Roman Break Point = 101
Phyrric Break Point = 111

Loss Status
Romans Total =126
16 LI Auxilia
12 LI Auxilia
14 HC Allied
12 FT Principes I, II & III = 36
12 FT Principes IV (Doesn't count until Triari break)
12 FT Hastati II & III, = 24
12 FT Hastati IV(Don't count until Triari break)
12 FT Triarri II & III = 24

Phyrric Total = 96
12 LC Aitolians  48 PH Agyraspids
36 PH Oscan Hoplites

48 PH Agyraspids

The Report is Copyright (c) 2009 MJB. All rights reserved.
The Report by MJB is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.

Component (c) Tom Wright 2010. All rights reserved.
Component by Tom Wright is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.

Component (c) 2010 Gerry Elliott. All rights reserved.
Component by Gerry Elliott is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.

Component (c) Tom Wright 2009. All rights reserved.
Component by Tom Wright is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. Component (c) Tom Wright 2009. All rights reserved.
Component by Tom Wright is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.