An old friend

Friday night was games night, and for something different we thought we'd pull out a game of Warhammer Ancient Battles. John purchased these Age of Arthur armies off me some time ago, and they have since languished in his cabinet, but for a very good reason (more on that below), I felt like a game of WAB. So Arthur would ride again!

The two armies line up opposite each other, Mordred at the top of the picture, Arthur below.

 I didn't have much time to prepare for the battle and forgot that each unit had a character with it to give it a little more staying power, but as it turned out, we still had a fairly good game. I umpired while Mordred Mike and Arthurian Adam rolled the dice.

The two sides draw closer. Arthur's Teulu just out of picture on the right prepare to steamroll their opposition and outflank Mordred's forces.

The Combrogi see off the mercenary German mounted geoguth on the left, while Arthur's knights round the building, all in accordance with the plan.

Mordred Mike wasn't about to be beaten that easily though. he turned his left flank to meet the Arthurian cavalry and pinned the Arthurian infantry.

Here you see two units of Combrogi decide that they don't want to fight anymore, while Mordred's infantry prove a rather stubborn roadblock for Arthur's cavalry.

One unit of Combrogi rally in the centre, but by now the crux of the battle is on the right where the Arthurian cavalry has been forced to retire behind their infantry.

The last turn sees Mordred defeat and then run down the opposing infantry. Arthur and the last unit of  Combrogi fail their panic tests and the army routs.

 I had forgotten how much fun WAB is. Although I probably won't play it again. More on that soon.

Arquebusiers von Geradefurt

 I've been painting a few figures for my Dragon Rampant Fantasy project. I've also created the campaign background for the battles.

Die Schwarzenritter von Tarnach

 The plan is to paint these guys very simply. Base coats and washes with minimal highlighting. The idea is to get them on the table for battle. Later on I can come back and touch them up a bit if I like.

Close up with Goltz von Tarnach himself

Every base has a hit marker dice.

The only element of Orcs so far painted. This element fits 3 Orcs, but takes 6 hits. This works fine in Dragon Rampant.

 I want to paint a few more Orcs - some Boar riders and the other three chaps for the above unit before I delve back into finishing Craig's rebels.

Then I have these guys:

I love mail!

 This is the bulk of a Marian Roman army for Clash of Empires. Of the successors to Warhammer Ancient Battles, Clash of Empires is the one I've settled on. I had War and Conquest, but sold them a while back.
I've had the urge for a return to a WAB-style game for a while now, and with the plethora of nice plastics out there, it makes it easier to achieve than ever. So I decided that I would do the Roman Civil Wars between Pompey and Caesar. Then I thought again. That would be a lot of legionaries to paint, and two armies that fight in identical ways, which might get a bit boring. But what about my second favourite (after Hannibal) Ancient character - King Mithridates the Great? So using the Seleucid list for Clash of Empires I put together the plan for a 2500 point Pontic army. Now I just need to convince my wife that this would make an excellent birthday present...

The Romans put together and sitting in the cabinet. They need a unit of Numidian skirmishers added and they will be 2500 points. I've already arranged the cabinet so that the Pontic army will sit alongside them on the right - Cretan archers are already in place (French and Indian War collection to the left, as well as a Roman elephant that was going to be for North Africa in the Civil War - now unemployed).

So, as always, plenty going on. Next update should feature a decent number of painted Rebels for Star Wars Legion.

Nate