Innholdsfortegnelse for WSS 121 i Wargames, Soldiers & Strategy

“… all the columns were levelled with the ground by the frequent strokes of the battering-ram … whilst the sword gleamed, and the flames crackled around them on every side. Lamentable to behold, in the midst of the streets lay the tops of lofty towers, tumbled to the ground …” – St Gildas, De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae Behind the medieval fantasy of Holy Grails, Round Tables, and courtly romance told by Geoffrey of Monmouth and other medieval bards, there lies a very real and far more interesting story obscured by the mists of time. The power of Rome had once forced unity upon the tribes of Britain, but Rome’s departure left the island fractured. New petty kingdoms emerged. Set up along the old tribal lines, they began to fight…

Around AD 400, Roman rule in Britain was dribbling to an end. The later years of the fourth century and the early years of the fifth century had seen barbarian raiders and settlers overrunning imperial borders everywhere. Raids from the Picts and Irish to the north and west, and from continental Saxons and Franks to the south and east, beset the Romanized Britons. The overall picture of this period, constructed from archaeological evidence and legendary myth-history, is that the Britons continued an enfeebled, crumbling, sub-Roman way of life into the sixth century, but with a cultural heritage also harking back to the glory days before the arrival of Rome. The late-fifth century and the sixth century saw the gradual loss of land as Saxon and Irish raiders became settlers, and…

Here are some suggestions to adapt this scenario to different games systems. Hail Caesar For Hail Caesar, use the forces suggested in the scenario. The Earl Saxon list on page 13 and Arthurian British list on page 26 of the Hail Caesar Army Lists: Late Antiquity to early Medieval should be used. Arthur should be treated as a Leadership 9 General. Lion Rampant 2 For Lion Rampant 2, split the forces into three warbands a side, each with their own leaders. Assume all infantry units contain twelve models, while skirmish infantry and cavalry are in units of six, so double these units (giving two Elite cavalry and four light cavalry). That way, the same amount of cavalry will be used. The following conversions should be used: Amalric – Commanding Ambrosius…

Five Leagues from the Borderlands By Ivan Sorensen (Modiphius Entertainment, 2022) £25.00 D6 and D10, initiative-based alternate turn Imagine recreating the stories in The Fellowship of the Ring or from dozens of fantasy literature books, but on the tabletop and designed for solo or cooperative play. Like its companion game Five Parsecs from Home, this game is best described as an engine for creating stories on the tabletop through different scenarios. The concept is similar to Rangers of Shadowdeep, although I’m not sure which one came first, the dragon or the egg … The player makes up four heroes and two companions who then venture into the world. The heroes’ race (including some options for feral and avian races) and background (frontiersman, noble, mage, etc) can be chosen. One of…

Battlegroup It is a straightforward task to convert this scenario into a small (squad-sized) Battlegroup game. The forces can be copied, with the inclusion of the officers (one aside), an all-important BR total, and scout units (slight Russian advantage here). Assign the bridge as an objective and give the Germans a special objective, with the Russians taking a BR counter for each German supply truck that crosses the bridge. The bridge demolition charge might need some special rules, like giving the bridge three structure points and allowing it to be attacked by Russian IDF fire, with an extra chance (say a 6) that any hits set off the ad-hoc demo charge. For added variety, make the German stragglers auxiliaries and all movement count as off-road. No turn limit is required…

Seleucid army (add these to the recon engagement units) King Seleucus on horseback CAVALRY: • 1x Macedonian Companion shock cavalry (small unit) • 1x Carmanian (Persian style) armoured shock cavalry (medium unit) • 1x Hippakontistai (Persian style) javelin cavalry (small unit) • 1x Median (Persian style) shock cavalry (medium unit) • 1x nomad horse archers with bows and shields (small unit) (Caspians) INFANTRY: • 1x Macedonian phalanx (large unit) • 1x mercenary hoplites (large unit) • 1x Bactrian/Sogdian skirmisher archers (small unit) ALLIES: • 1x Indian war elephant (single-model unit) (Bhrta) • 1x Indian skirmisher javelin men (small unit) (Bhrta) • 1x Indian bowmen (large unit) (Sreni) RESERVE • 1x heavy ballista artillery and three crew (small unit) Seleucid army notes: Axemen: The hypaspists, Thracians, and mercenary peltasts should be…

The Arthurian period is ideally suited for both large-scale battles fought with full-battle rules and small-scale skirmishes. Some thematic scenarios based on surviving annals and folklore can be fought alongside stand-up battles, including: • Battles at rivers: Treat yourself to a nice model river. Of the famous twelve battles fought by King Arthur, no less than seven were fought at rivers; the authenticity of these battles is often questioned, but Saxon and British records note other battles at rivers and fords too (rivers probably marked the borders of territory). • Cattle raids: Made famous in Irish literature, the raiding of livestock seems to have been somewhat of a sport for the well-armed nobility and their retainers. Such raids probably led to small-scale skirmishing along borders. • Coastal raids: The Irish…

The beauty of Dark Ages skirmishing is that you can fight the same battle using many different sets of rules. I hope that you might take the opportunity to explore Song of Arthur and Merlin (SAM), my Arthurian rulebook from Ganesha Games’ Song of Blades and Heroes stable. Studio Tomahawk’s Saga is another popular choice. If you do refight Camlann using SAM, pick both warbands from one of the two following lists: “Welsh King” game • Arthur, Pendragon of the Britons • Mordred, British noble • Bedwyr, Arthur’s companion • Morfran the Ugly, British warrior • Champion (British) • Lesser chieftain (British) • Warrior (British) • Skirmisher “Historical King” game • Arthur’s warband: Choose from the Romano-British list • Medraut’s warband: Choose from the Cymric British list.…

Often the motive behind such a game is to bring friends into a new game we’ve really taken to, or it could be part of a wider ‘games day’ associated with a rules producer where some of the players may notnbe as au fait with things as you’d normally expect. Teaching games are everywhere. That doesn’t mean that teaching games are always a fun experience, though. As we’ve likely all taken part in a teaching game, I’d bet we’ve all also taken part in at least one teaching game that wasn’t an enjoyable experience, and historical gamers being the polite type I’d bet we all saw that less-than-fun game out to the bitter end, too! There are plenty of reasons why it might not have been a pleasurable experience, but…

Wargaming Campaigns By Henry Hyde ISBN: 978-1473855915 (Pen and Sword, 2022) – £40.00 There was quite a commotion among my usual reviewers over this book and who was going to get to review it. Sometimes, the magazine editor has to step forward and offer his services, thus preventing any conflict (they can get their own copy or borrow mine!). This book is in some ways a successor to Hyde’s previous book The Wargaming Compendium. This new campaigns book is truly a hefty tome, weighing in at just over a kilo and a mighty 500-plus pages. There are over two hundred illustrations throughout. I like the premise of this book. As wargamers, we tend to play one-off battles without considering the wider picture of how that battle would fit into a…

I’m pleased to report satisfactory progress so far on the paint—unpaint ratio, with a good batch of figures now completed. My current project is to acquire and restore ancient armies using figures from the early to mid-1970s: primarily Minifigs, and chiefly from the first Armies of the Macedonian and Punic Wars range (1972). So far this year, I have added Spanish allies to the Carthaginians, both infantry and cavalry, as well as a good-sized horde of Numidian cavalry. Enough, in fact, to dump a newly acquired batch of Gaulish cavalry into a tub of Dettol without overly endangering the pledge. On the gaming front, I am pleased to report that the much-looked-forward-to commencement of hostilities has now resumed — albeit in fits and starts. Once more I find myself in…

The armies that the various factions commanded were very small compared to the armies seen under the Roman Empire and also by subsequent factions in England. The stakes were high, and the remains of the old Roman infra structure became key to the success or failure of operations. The British forces were fighting to keep control of their lands, whilst the Saxons were trying to expand into these areas due to the pressure of populations within their areas of control as more and more people arrived on the island. In early AD 500, the Saxons attempted to drive a wedge between the land of Wales and the southern Welsh in Dumnonia. If they could take the lands westward up to the Bristol Channel, they could cut the main communications and…

This scenario could easily be converted using the starting forces provided as a guide. Simply follow the scenario as written with those forces. Lion Rampant 2 For Lion Rampant 2, use the following: BRITONS Arthur (commanding, blessed) • 1 x elite infantry* (6 points) • 2 x heavy infantry (8 points) • 2 x light infantry with javelins (8 points) • 1 x skirmishers (2 points) Alternately, upgrade the Britons to horses with: • 1 x elite cavalry (drilled and motivated, 8 points) • 2 x heavy cavalry (8 points) • 2 x light cavalry with javelins (6 points) • 1 x skirmishers (2 points) IRISH Triffyn (brutal, eccentric, aggressive) • 1 x chariot* (6 points) • 1 x heavy infantry (4 points) • 2 x light infantry with javelins…

For the wargamer, the fight for post-Roman Britain has plenty of opportunities for gaming. The troops on either side are pretty flexible: Saxons can appear as enemies to the British or as mercenaries. Britons can likewise probably be seen fighting for the enemy, such as the treacherous Medraut (Mordred). This is an interesting period of raids, sieges, and battles, and as historians have a good but not comprehensive idea of what exactly happened, there is room for the imagination and, dare I say it, a little Arthurian fantasy. What follows is, as usual, a brief guide to the models available for the period. When searching out models, bear in mind that Arthurian models can appear under several sub-categories – I found them described as sub-Roman, Arthurian, and Romano-British. We use…

For this article, I’m painting 10mm Chivalric Knights from Forest Dragon for my Warmaster army using Scalecolor paints with a black base coat. HERALDRY Each knight must have his own heraldry, but the unit should look cohesive. I achieve this by choosing four colours that all the knights will draw upon. Start with two colours (red, blue, green, etc) and then add white and black. You can replace white with yellow. Make sure that the colours are spread out evenly among the unit. For this article, I’ve chosen red, blue, black, and white. Another way to tie the unit together is with recurring patterns. For example, horizontal bands could be used across the unit, but in different colours and locations on each knight. Patterns don’t need to be complex. Too…

The premise of the game has not changed, and the changes (all for the better) are for the most part subtle. This is still the quickfire skirmish game dealing with the clash of two warbands. Lion Rampant 2 (abbreviated to LR2) unashamedly embraces the ‘Hollywood’ caricatures of medieval times, now expanded to include the Dark Ages. It still gives a very in-period if somewhat stereotypical feel of stalwart spearmen, brave archers, and rampaging knights. The emphasis is on fun games with a medieval flavour rather than being bogged down in details. For our Let’s Play, I took two gamers, Alex and Adam, who were unfamiliar with historical gaming and threw them in the deep end. GAME PLAY Each force consists of a leader and a retinue (or warband) of typically…

IT’S THE LITTLE THINGS It often surprises me just how much impact small scatter items can have on a wargames table. They make the location feel real, help set it in a place and time, and create the sense that this is a setting where people really live. I have several boxes of scatter items that I’ve accumulated for my WWII games, and putting these out on a table really finishes it. My set contains telegraph poles, road signs, tractors, cars and trucks (repainted Lledo diecast toys), wagons, cows, crates, barrels, and more. Looking at period photos can give you an idea of what would make a good addition to your collection. I put my scatter collection to good use at the recent OUSEing Lard event (9 July 2022, Bedford),…