2mm Portable Ancient Wargames

Anglo Saxon (top) and Norman (bottom)

Ancient British (top) and Imperial Roman (bottom)

While waiting for the undercoat to dry on the 2mm pike and shot units today, I had a play around with some Antonine Miniatures 2mm blocks and 50mm x 30mm bases. I thought this combination would work for the Portable Ancient Wargame rules, which can be stretched to cover the early Middle Ages. I had a go at some Anglo Saxon shield wall units and Norman cavalry, infantry and missile bases, which seemed to work well. I also tried to organise some Ancient British chariot, horde and skirmish bases, together with some Imperial Roman units. I think this might be a good way to create armies for very little time, cost or effort, using my terrain from the English Civil War project and leftover bits from my Strength and Honour project...although I remain to be convinced.

Strength and Honour Carthaginian Victory

An excellent game of Strength and Honour at the club tonight, made even better by a very narrow but decisive Carthaginian victory. It could have gone either way at one point but the Romans jumped the gun and called Homunculus Est a fraction too soon, followed by the Carthaginians at just the critical point in proceedings. Thanks to Kevin, Gary and Mark for another great gane and, of course, to Mr Backhouse Esq. for a brilliant set of rules.

Strength and Honour Club Game

I haven't been to the club in months due to other commitments on a Tuesday night and a lack of get up and go on my part, but I was invited to join a game of Strength and Honour next week, so have arranged a pass. I enjoy playing this set of rules, even if my grasp of the system is still sketchy to say the least, so it's a good opportunity to get a bit more of a grip. It's a Roman Vs Carthaginian scenario for a change, with two players per side. I'm looking forward to it and hope it will give me some impetus to get another army painted next year, probably Agricola's Imperial Romans, the Numidians or the Caledonian Tribes, but maybe something earlier, who knows?

Old Winchester Hill

A morning walk around Old Winchester Hill, a mid to late Iron Age univallate hill fort about half an hour away, one of hundreds in this part of the world but at one of the highest elevations. It would be great as a terrain feature for Strength and Honour but you need a lot of high density foam, polyfilla and static grass!

Strength and Honour Agricola's Caledonian Campaign

 

Here's the latest addition to the Strength and Honour lead pile, a core force for Agricola's Caledonian campaign. There are two legions - IX Hispana and II Augusta - although I may downsize these and base them on the smaller size bases. There are also three auxiliary units - two infantry and one cavalry - representing Batavian and Tungrian auxillaries I've subsequently found out that these should be organised as quingenary cohorts, so I'll replace the blocks and add two or three more to field the full campaign army. Finally there are some skirmisher strips to support the main units. I'm looking forward to getting this army underway, once I've cleared the decks a bit.

Strength and Honour Inspiration

 

The Strength and Honour Game yesterday has given me some really good ideas for my next 2mm army and terrain, having seen what Mark has done with the Antonine Miniatures range. 

1. I was sceptical about the extra faff of adding toothbrush bristle spears or lances to the units but, having seen them up close the effect is well worth the effort, so I'll be adding some to my Parthian Cataphracts for starters.

2. Mark's painting is far more subtle than my blocking in and dry brushing approach, so I'll be taking more time to paint things like faces and shields, especially for the Numidians or Caledonian units.

3. The basing is key to making the units really pop, so while my desert themed bases look fine, I'll give some more thought to base texturing, painting and decorating for my non-arid basing. I really like the snow effect that Mark achieved but scope for that is a bit limited.

4. I've still not sorted a terrain cloth with a grid pattern, although I'm trying to find one for my birthday, but Mark's terrain boards looked brilliant and would be easy to make using high density foam or similar. A pain to store but visually way better than a cloth and easy to colour match to the army bases. 

5. I really need to learn the rules and play more games in order to grasp the system properly and really make the most of the armies I've assembled.  It's great that the buzz from the game yesterday may well encourage other club players to get stuck in but I'd also like to play solo.

....watch this space.

Romans 2, Sarmatians 0

 

Two very enjoyable back to back games of Strength and Honour at the club tonight, very kindly umpired by the author of the rules Mr Mark Backhouse Esq. The Sarmatians lost the first game badly but in the second gave the Imperial Roman army a run for its money, achieving the objective but be being routed in the process. A great evening of wargaming! 

Strength and Honour Game Plan

 

There's a bit of a Strength and Honour theme this week, with a game at the club tomorrow night run by Mr Backhouse himself, and a small order on the way from Warbases for a new army. This will be a Roman Provincial army based on Agricola's Caledonian campaign, with two legions, four auxillary units and a unit of auxiliary cavalry. Strength and Honour is my rules based project this year, the aim being to fully learn the system and be able to play it solo at home, as well as at the club against opponents, perhaps even building to a small campaign. That's the plan!