How do you Wargame a Legend?

When you sit down to wargame a well-documented period like World War II or the Napoleonic Wars, you can lean on endless reference material. Uniforms, battlefield maps, after-action reports—they’re all out there, ready to be turned into tabletop scenarios. But when you step back further into history, into the shadowy world of the Late Bronze Age, the picture gets much hazier. And that haziness is exactly what makes the Trojan War such a fascinating challenge for miniature wargamers.

Our main source for the war is Homer’s Iliad, written centuries after the supposed events. It’s a masterpiece of storytelling, but it was never meant to be a reliable battlefield report. Gods appear on the field, warriors pause to deliver grand speeches mid-combat, and armour shines with almost supernatural brilliance. Wonderful for poetry, less helpful when you’re designing an army list.

Archaeology gives us another perspective. The site of Troy at Hisarlik shows layers of fortified cities, some destroyed violently. We find pottery, weapons, and walls that hint at real conflict. But the evidence is fragmented, and scholars still debate which, if any, corresponds to Homer’s Troy.

For wargamers, this leaves us in a fascinating position. Do we focus on the archaeological record and try to reconstruct a plausible Late Bronze Age battle? Do we embrace the mythic elements, letting gods, Amazons, and epic heroes onto the table? Or do we, as many do, find a balance—grounding our armies in archaeology but borrowing themes and atmosphere from Homer?

That’s the joy of tackling poorly documented periods. There’s no single right answer. Instead, there’s space for creativity, interpretation, and conversation within the hobby. One gamer’s Trojan War might be a siege campaign rooted in Hittite tactics. Another’s might be a skirmish of epic heroes shaped by the gods. Both are equally valid, and both keep the story alive.

In this video, I dig into these challenges and opportunities, asking what it means to wargame a story that might be more myth than fact. If you’re a historical wargamer, a miniature painter, or just someone who enjoys hobby discussions, I think you’ll find plenty to spark your imagination.

The Battle of El-Qa - A Biblical clash of arms near Kadesh

Over the weekend a handful of the Rejects gathered at the Shed-o-War for a rare Biblical/Ancients game. Stuart got his collection of Egyptians and Hittites out of storage and three of us had a very entertaining set-to on Sunday. Colin took command of the Egyptians, with a slightly smaller but better quality army than the Hittites commanded by Surjit and me. The resulting game was an interesting tussle where first one, then the other side, had the advantage. 

After deployment, the Hittites (closest) put all their Chariots on the right wing against a deep formation of mostly bow-armed light troops.

Meanwhile, Colin deployed most of his archers on a small hill and had his smaller chariot force on his right wind facing spearmen on the Hittite left (my command)

Ready for the game to commence, neither side is sure their deployment is wise...only time will tell.

We placed all the Hittite Chariots on our right wind and Surjit's job was to break and turn the Egyptian flank. 

On our left flank, I had several units of good quality spearmen which I hoped would be enough to deal with the smaller Egyptian chariot force facing me. 

The Hittite centre was mostly medium infantry with spears and a line of bow-armed open-order units. 

The Egyptian chariots were smaller but one of those units are elite nobles. 

The Egyptian archers were leathal, but were grouped together rather than spread out so for much of the game they couldn't all fire at the same time. 

The Egyptian chariots rout my javelin men and smash into a unit of spearmen.

Fortunately the Spearmint held firm and won the melee, sending the Chariots back. 

Behind this I had formed a string line of spearmen, many armed with shields. They were able to repel a similar charge by the second Egyptian chariot regiment. 

IN the Egyptian centre, Colin was having a few command and control problems, with some units not moving because they were out of command range. 

Surjit's chariots start to engage with the light infantry screen, running down any units foolhardy enough to try and stand their ground. 

The centre looks pretty evenly matched, but the flanks are where this game will be won or lost. 

With the Egyptian chariots repelled my infantry began to advance. I still had to be wary of the remaining chariots, they could always come back and hit a flank, so I was cautious. 

By now Surjit's chariots have started to get behind the Egyptian flank. There is still heavy fighting to be done, but it looks like the Hittites have the upper hand at last. 

My spearmen start to take heavy casualties from the Egyptian Archers. Fortunately, the archers have decided to advance, closing the gap and presenting an opportunity for my men to charge in. 

The centre spearmen units are being decimated by archery fire, but either side of them are other units, including one which has not taken any casualties. It charges and reaches the flank of the Egyptian archer units. Payback time!

More Hittite Spearmen are rushing towards the front, but the battle is nearly over. My attack on the spearmen routs them and the follow-up charge routes another unit....

Meanwhile (in a blurry picture, sorry) Surjit has completely turned the Egyptian flank and is just one quick dash away from capturing their camp.

Colin wisely decided enough was enough at this point and conceded defeat. A great game that challenged everyone and made us all work hard for victory. 

Lake Trasimene: The Largest Ambush in History

The Battle of Lake Trasimene was another crushing defeat for the Romans and was Hannibal's second major victory on the Italian peninsular. This Quick Strike, After Action Report, tells the whole story and reveals my recreation of the battle using 6mm Punic War miniatures and the To The Strongest! rules. 

TtS! is played on a Grid but for this game I marked out the grid in a fan, radiating out from the shoreline of the battlefield. This meant that I could move units as per the rules while accentuating the idea of the Romans being surrounded and attacked from all (landward) sides. As with previous games, the grid was marked with dots so it is barely perceptible - especially with the 'fog' overlaid. This is an idea I may use again in future games.

This battle report has been a long time coming, but now that it is done, I hope you enjoy it. Planning the game and work on the script began in the Summer of last year, with the game taking place in November! I continue to love the Quick Strike format, but editing a game to under ten minutes is a really tough challenge. It takes a lot longer to knock into shape than making a long-format battle report and kept letting myself get distracted!! 

Nero: The man behind the Myth Exhibition

Yesterday I had an opportunity to visit the British Museum's latest special exhibition with my daughter. She is studying history at A level and had a chance to pick a subject of her own choosing as a special side project. She has chosen to look at the first emperors, Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero, collectively known as the Julio-Claudian dynasty. This exhibition focuses on the last of these, Nero, but understandably there was a lot of information about the emperors that came before them, so my daughter was very happy and came away with a tome of photos and ideas for her project. I enjoyed it too but I also got the chance to spend an afternoon nerding out with my youngest daughter, so win-win. 

I took a lot of pictures as usual but thought a few were more military than others and therefore worth sharing here. 

Sword and Scabbard AD 14-16 - The scenes on this scabbard celebrate julio-Claudian military successes in Germany and stress harmony and order. Germanicus hands the enthroned Tiberius a figure of victory. In reality, the troops had mutinied at Tiberius' accession, preferring Germanicus as princeps.

Soldiers of the Pretorian Guard AD51-2 - Augustus established the Pretorians as his personal guard. They were an elite unit and the most powerful military force in Italy, where no regular troops were stationed. They enjoyed considerable privileges and their support was crucial for the emperor. The relief depicts six Praetorians in parade armour and was taken from a triumphal arch in Rome that commemorated Claudis' conquest of Britain in AD43.

Copper Alloy Helmet found in England, c AD50-100 - Following the conquest of Britain, Roman and local tastes influenced one another. This led to the emergence of a new distinctive artistic identity that is evident in decorated military objects. This helmet combines a Roman Shape with Celtic style decoration. Its owner was perhaps a local warrior fighting for Rome, or a Roman soldier who commissioned armour decorated in a local style. 

Copper Alloy Cavalry Helmet AD 1-100 - The Roman governor Gaius Suetonius Paulinus was campaigning in Wales when local discontent erupted into rebellion. Boudica attacked Camulodunum (Colchester), defeating the Ninth Legion when it attempted to rescue the town. This decorated cavalry helmet was possibly war booty ritually deposited in a marsh by a Briton. Alternatively, it may represent a votive offering made by a Roman soldier adopting practices similar to those of the native population. 

Roman Horse Trapping c AD50 - Rome's frontiers along the Danube and Rhine were under constant pressure from neighboring tribes. The author Pliny the Elder served as an officer in Germania during the reigns of Claudius and Nero. While stationed here he write on military topics, followed later by his famous Natural History. These horse trappings are marked 'Pliny prefect of cavalry'. They may have belonged to Pliny, or a soldier under his command. 

Limestone carving of a Parthian Horseman - The Parthians established a vast empire across modern-day Iran, Iraq and Armenia. It endured for almost 500 years and was recognised by Rome as its equal in wealth, culture, and military strength. Its military might came primarily from its superior cavalry. Mounted on light horses and carrying bows, these legendary fighters feigned panicked retreat at full gallop, only to turn in the saddle and shoot back at the pursuing enemy. The archer depicted here wears the characteristic Parthian dress and carries a composite bow. 

Nero was a great supporter of public sports and entertainment. He, like many of his predecessors, was a populist and drew political power from the support of the masses. Military spectacle, including chariot racing, in the arena, was common. Chariot racing was managed by teams called factiones. Each faction had numerous charioteers and hundreds of supporting staff. Nero was a supporter of the popular Greens and when he raced chariots himself he would mix expensive ground chrysocolla with the sand turning it green in their honor. 

Marble of Nero AD 66-68 - This marble statue was displayed to stress Nero's martial qualities and in particular to Celebrate his success over the Parthians. The breastplate of this statue depicts the emperor as the Sun riding in his chariot. Below two mythical figures symbolise the Parthian submission to Rome. 

It was a great day out and a very interesting exhibition to share with the Young Padawan. 

I would certainly recommend seeing this exhibition if you are interested in the period. There is far more to see than the handful of items I have highlighted here. As with all of these special exhibitions, the British Museum is very good at selecting artifacts that tell the story they want to tell. Most are from their own collections but they can also bring in rare and special artifacts from other museums so often this will be the only chance to see some items together. 

My only gripe is with the museum's presentation of the information panels. The information they contain is excellent...but would it kill them to use a bigger font! All the info panels are at waist height and if you want to read them you have to stand in front of the display, blocking the view of anyone else. And some of the artifacts are very small (coins and small items of jewelry) inside huge cases so it's really hard to get up-close-and-personal with some of the artifacts...and if you do you block the view of the information panels for other visitors! Don't get me wrong, I love the British Museum, but they really need to break with stuffy tradition and work on their presentation skills! 

The Battle of Trebia - A Quick Strike AAR

A Quick Strike After Action Report of the Battle of Trebia using 6mm figures and Simon Millers To the Strongest ancient & medieval wargame rules. It is December 218BCE and Hannibal has invaded Northern Italy. He is outnumbered and needs a victory to steady the support of local tribes. But he has laid a trap for the Romans and is confident of victory.

This AAR has been in production for a long time, mainly because holidays and work commitments have eaten into my time a bit this summer. I have learned a whole new set of skills making the film, including finally getting to grips with some sound editing software to improve the audio. I'm still not 100% happy with the sound, but I had to draw a line under this project at some point or it would never have got finished! 

I shot a load of pictures while making the video and thought I would share a few here (it was a pity not to use them) as a teaser for the film. 

6mm Chariots are Fiddly!

I have finally started work on some models that I bought back at the start of the year. My 6mm Celts arrived in May and I did an unboxing video at the time but other projects meant I couldn't get started on these until now. 

Now that I have started preparing them - cleaning them up and glueing them to sticks ready for painting - I have come to appreciate just how fiddly 6mm Chariots are! The irony is that I ought to know all this having assembled and painted a dozen ancient Indian chariots for the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge a few years ago. 

These Celtic chariots however are much smaller and my fingers are as big and clumsy as ever! 

As you can see I also have a considerable body of heavy and light Celtic cavalry to get on with and I'm hoping to get paint on metal in the next day or so. 

Disorganised Slacker plays Wargame

I'm currently berating myself for being disorganised and lazy because I haven't really got anything to show you today. I haven't even got a quick unboxing video or pointless monologue. What a slacker! 😆 To be fair to me (and I always am If I can) it's not for want of activity. I've had quite a bit of holiday during August and much of it has involved tramping up and down the Motorways of Britain visiting interesting museums and spending time with my family. As always I have shot a ton of pictures and will be trying to share some of the photos and discuss the museums I have visited over the next few weeks...once I get time to sort through them. 

While you wait for something interesting to happen here, and if you need a Wednesday fix of Miniature Adventures, why not pop on over to my YouTube Channel and watch a few videos. 😊

In truth, I haven't been entirely idle. I have been carefully planning and preparing a big solo game with my 6mm Punic War armies. This finally got underway yesterday and will probably take me a few days to get completed, especially as I am filming it for a video AAR. In the meantime here are a few teaser shots to whet your appetite. 

These pictures will have to suffice for the time being because it will probably take me weeks to edit the video I have already shot. The 'script' for the film is already the longest and most complex I have ever done and all this for a ten-minute AAR! 

Unboxing - Baccus 6mm Celts

|I have just posted an unboxing video on my YouTube Channel Miniature Adventures. This is a long awaiting and much-anticipated delivery of 6mm Celts from Baccus. These will turn some Celtic allies for my Carthaginians into an army in their own right and expand my options for gaming during and around the time of the 2nd Punic War.

I'm a big fan of the Baccus ranges and anyone that follows my blog will know they are my go-to 6mm manufacturer. 

New Projects and the future

I have recently been quite busy making terrain for my Normandy games (although much of it is generic and could be used for other periods/settings). Over the next few weeks, I'll be sharing some videos showing off some of this work, but right now I am working on a new project. I'm still sticking with Normandy 1944 and Chain of Command, but I'm starting work on some late war British Infantry that I recently bought from Skytrex. If you watch the 'unboxing' video in the link you'll see how nice these 15mm metal figures are, and now that I have started work on them I like them even more.

My eventual aim is to have a couple of different platoons for both sides that can fight alongside each other in a big multiplayer game down the shed-o-war with the Rejects. This is a long way off and I need to prepare well for such a complex undertaking. Not least because I'll need all my umpiring skills to manage four newbie players simultaneously. The hope is that eventually, I will be able to run this game on a much larger table, in effect playing out two games simultaneously side by side but with linked objectives and of course an overall outcome. Maybe I'm slightly crazy, but the idea has got me excited and I have no doubt I'll live to regret it!! 

In the meantime, I have a 'New' project to keep me going. The miniatures are hopefully on their way to me right now...a long awaiting delivery of 6mm Celts from Baccus. I didn't purchase a whole army because I already have several bases of Celtic/Gaulish warriors for some of my other armies so all I needed to do was add some commanders, cavalry and chariots and I have the ability to field a Celtic/Gaulish Army against my Romans or Carthaginians. These miniatures have been on order for a long time but I have been happy to wait for their arrival. When they do I'll have the 'fun' task of assembling the Chariots... and after the Indian Chariots I painted a few years ago I know I will need all my patience for that particular task! 

On a side note, I'm quite enjoying making the YouTube videos for my channel Miniature Adventures so expect to see more of these in the future. I realise that most of my posts here have been links to these films and judging from the amount of visitor traffic they have generated the combination seems to be popular. Certainly, I feel the two platforms complement each other and my only regret is that I didn't do this years ago.... mind you, it's only the availability of my still relatively new Operations Room that has given me space to make videos and play solo games so maybe now is my time, stop regretting what wasn't possible, and focus on the future. 

Spanish Cavalry in the Army of Hannibal

Having completed my Classical Indian army I thought I'd revisit one of my existing 6mm collections. I've been giving some thought to enhancing the cavalry forces that formed part of Hannibal's army in the 2nd Punic War. It soon became clear that there was a gap in my army list that needed to be filled in the shape of some Spanish Cavalry. Various estimates suggest that after Hannibal descended the Alps into Italy he had about 6000 cavalry in his army, approximately 2000 of which were Spanish. These troops, along with about 8000 infantry, would have been recruited from areas directly under the control of the Barcids in their territories in the Iberian Peninsular. 

Despite being sometimes described as Heavy Cavalry they were typically fairly lightly armoured, similar to the infantry. The standard 'uniform' for the Spanish was a white tunic sometimes trimmed with red cloth. Most infantry wore sinew caps but these were gradually replaced by bronze Montefortino (conical helmets with cheek plates and neck guards) either taken from defeated Romans or forged by their own blacksmiths. All troops, foot and mounted, were armed with javelins or spears and the curved Falcata sword. Small round shields called caetra completed their equipment.

Polybius does describe some Spanish Cavalry being used as shock troops. These wore scale cuirasses and carried the larger oval Scutum shield and a single long thrusting spear. 

I have also read about extra men being carried on the horse, who would then dismount and fight on foot. I'm not sure if this sounds like a viable tactic as surely the newly deposited foot troops would be outnumbered by any infantry they engaged and would have run the risk of being trampled by their own cavalry. I'll have to read a bit more about this, although at the moment there are no rules that I am aware of in To the Strongest that would replicate this tactic.

Incidentally, my main reference source for this article is as always the excellent Armies of the Macedonian and Punic Wars by Duncan Head. I bought this some time ago and it cost a pretty penny but has been an invaluable reference source ever since. I constantly find myself diving into its pages for detailed information and is always a good place to start before widening the search for information.

Classical Indian Heavy Chariots

There is evidence that Chariots had been in use in India for centuries before the arrival of Alexanders Greeks. Epic stories tell of the great hero's going into battle in chariots and for a long period, it was the elite arm of Indian armies. However, by the fourth century BC, they were being superseded by the Elephant and by the time of the Battle of the Hydaspes leaders such as King Poros went into battle astride these massive beasts of war. The Chariot was still an important and prestigious arm of the military but its heyday was over.

Much of the visual information I have gathered suggests that Indian War Chariots were highly painted vehicles, many with umbrellas or canopies over the occupants (probably removed during battle). Chariots came in a wide variety of sizes, from single man vehicles through to massive constructions supposedly capable of carrying six occupants. I have chosen the four-man variety and all are painted in bright colours.

Constructed to be light but strong they were mostly leather over a timber framework. They are recorded as being highly decorated with bells, animal skins and flags. The wheels were usually fairly small with up to sixteen spokes and had a metal (probably iron) tyre. The chariots, even the larger ones, had a single pole and usually, only the inner pair of horses were yoked. The outer horses were connected by side traces but these would have been needed to carry six crew and all their fighting equipment. One description of Poros' chariots says they had six crew but this may be a miscounting, including escorting infantry with a typical crew of four. These models have two crew armed with bows while the 'drivers' have Javelins. 

I have been looking forward to painting these for a while but decided early on that I would treat these and the Elephants that are coming next as my reward for getting through the 'drudgery' on the infantry and cavalry. I use that word advisedly because once I get past the initial inertia at the start of a project, I enjoy painting all of it, including the less glamorous units! These chariots, however, could never be described as unglamorous. 

There are six units here which include 12 Chariots, 48 crew and 48 horses which should earn me 60 points. I've also done a couple of command chariots, based individually which should net a further ten points. With the Chariots complete its now time for me to focus on the Elephants and I expect these to be just as spectacular and an even greater riot of colour.