Town temple ~ Beginnings

When most people think of a Roman temple they usually picture this, seen here in the original colours...

In reality there were different designs, such as the Romano-British 'temenos' style. This is a reconstruction of one near Nottingham, UK.

I built one of these with the attendant high priest/priestesses' house years ago...

Yes, that green is a bit lurid. I'll tone it down when I get time.

...but no thoroughly civilised Roman town should be without at least one in the classic Mediterranean style.

The beginnings of the temple, with an expanded foam core mounted on thick card and a square of MDF. Next up will be to clad the walls, fit the columns then the roof.

A little construction work.

Some years ago I began work on a 1/300th scale Roman town, with modular pieces which can be interchanged to alter the layout. Emigrating and other stuff rather got in the way, so it's been a while since I added to the set-up.

Here's a trio of urban buildings, based on archaeological interpretations of Silchester, Deva and Venta Icenorum. The middle is a courtyard apartment block, the right a combined apartment/emporium, and the lower left another, slightly fancier urban dwelling.

Construction is card on foamcore and expanded polystyrene off cuts. The emporium columns are slim cocktail sticks, those of the fancier building lengths of expired ballpoint pen tube. A balcony will go on top of this.

They're all a bit basic right now. Once I've filled up some gaps they'll get a coat of paint/filler mix then window and door detailing.

Following an idea from another gamer I plan to mount these on square sections of quarter inch thick floor tile, which should be sturdy enough for the purpose. Ideas for a temple and a theatre are bubbling away at the back of my mind. Just got to work out the details...

Henge and Bracken

I finished this henge model a couple of days ago, but due to technical issues have only been able to post the results now. So, with the vegetation in place, here it is...

The vegetation is made up of pieces of Spanish moss, mostly painted a dark green-brown, along with a couple of clumps of foam and coffee grounds painted a lighter green and dotted with magenta to represent flowering bushes. A little wet brush stipple work created the dandelion patches.

As Fitz-Badger commented, you have to get the scale right. This model works for 10mm and 15mm figures. Anything larger would find it a bit of a squeeze.

Hadafix the Druid gets down and funky in a private ceremony accompanied by his pet adder, Abernathy, a monstrous snake with a sweet disposition.

Watched admiringly by his wife, Sharon, Hadafix's descendant Father Unctuus blesses the pagan sacrificial stone to remove all that primitive ancestral magic rubbish.

Next up will be another scenery project from the Neolithic Era. Stay tuned...

Early Romans & Germans

My gaming table is out of commission for a while as I need to rearrange furniture to make best use of what space I have. In the meantime I sorted through the 6mm Early Imperial Roman collection I brought back from England. So far so good - the contents of the box got a bit jumbled in transit but there's no sign of damage to any figures. Even the buildings came through mostly unscathed. I was quite stunned by the discovery. Airport baggage handling systems are not known for their delicacy.

The legion itself is made up mostly of Irregular Miniatures with a leavening of Heroics & Ros. The Germanic horde is mostly Heroics & Ros with a leavening of Irregular Miniatures. I use a man-figure ratio of 10:1, but with a bit of readjustment the legion could even take the field at 1:1. It's quite a sight lined up ready for action. Hopefully once the table's back in operation I'll be able to take photos of it.

Part of the legion deploys in front of a Roman civilis in the province of Germania, somewhere near the Rhenus. A cohort of Classiari (Marines) takes post behind the legion's left flank. Auxiliary archers take position in front of the Cohor Millaria whilst the legate gives a rousing speech.

All the buildings are scratch-built. There's even a statue in the centre of the pool in the apartment house courtyard. My eyesight was much better back then. A few Irregular Miniatures civilians gather in the grounds of the bathhouse, gossiping over the presence of so many soldiers whom they suspect vandalised the tree in the corner of the grounds. A funeral party attends the temple at top left. The dingy native quarter is at top right.

Not shown are the resin earthen ramparts and gates to make town walls for frontier settlements. I did make an entire basilica, the administrative heart of any Roman town, but unfortunately it proved too bulky to bring away. I shall build a new version. I also plan to expand the town with more buildings and roads to the point where I can play out a game of urban insurrection using the (in)famous Rioting in Alexandria rules published many moons ago in the Society of Ancients magazine.

So, here are a few more figures, this time Germanic tribesmen paying a not-so-neighbourly visit.

Tribesmen, comrades of Hermann. This is about a quarter of the total number of figures. I must do something to improve the basing, though.

Some of the relatively scarce Germanic cavalry and a gang of skirmishing youths make a speculative foray against the legion's left flank.

Fun at Fort Meigs - Muster on the Maumee

We had a great afternoon out Saturday at Fort Meigs up near Toledo. A host of re-enactors from Roman times up to Vietnam were there, strutting their stuff with a mass of interesting stories and facts about their periods. Thanks to all we spoke to. 

I also met up with a group from the Great Lakes Gamers who were putting on a display of wargames in the information center. A nice bunch of guys, they were happy to meet a fellow gamer and talk games and gaming.  Plenty of Too Fat Lardies rules were in evidence; the chaps are big fans of their rules systems.

 French-Indian War in 28mm. 

 Frank Demana discusses the period with my better half.

 Romans in Germania Libera - Can they avoid the Varus Disaster?

Italy, WW2

US Artillery, War of 1812

Small-craft action on the Great Lakes

Roman legionary in Dacian-fighting armor

Grunts in 'Nam

   

Gebirgsjager - WW2 German mountain troops

 

WW2 Russians

British WW2 - ATS (Auxiliary Transport Service) and Somerset Light Infantry

In the photo are my favourite rifle - the Lee-Enfield - and pistol - the Webley (or in this case a clone). It might or might not stop a charging enemy at fifty paces, but it'll certainly make his eyes water. 

A sniper in ghillie suit takes his ease

US Marines at rest

 WW2 US Army HQ tent with staff and 50mm mortar

 A Wyandot warrior from both FIW and 1812 - in the latter period the British gorget signifies personal wealth rather than allegiance

Rider on her way to the mounted medieval warfare demonstration

 Camp of the ACW Ohio Volunteer Infantry

L-R, Canadian Essex Regt. Arquebusier, Ronin, US Army War of 1812, British Foot, another Canadian Essex Regt.

Tomorrow I'll post a video of the ACW live cannon firing demo. Who doesn't like a loud bang and cloud of nasty-smelling smoke? ;)

Friday club night.

My family and I went to our club for the regular Friday night gaming. This particular evening was spent getting to grips with the ACW Rally Round the Flag rules. I last played these four years ago, but never had a chance to actually run them as umpire. We did get some nice photos, including this one of the 2nd South Carolina wading through a wheat field. 

Over on the other table a WW2 North African encounter was fought between a mixed German-Italian force vs. British, using some superb desert terrain.

The British deploy. In the distance, Valentine tanks move out against Italian M13 and Semovente SPGs.

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I plan to put my 1st edition copy of The Seleucid Army 168-145BC Vol. 1 up for sale soon. This is an excellent reference work, full of history, clear organization charts and the late Angus McBride's superb illustrations throughout. If anyone would like to buy this from me directly, please drop me a line.

* * *

Thanks to Jeff, I have an idea how to paint the early ACW figures I unearthed a few days ago. His suggestion of German colonial/WW1 era colours is a good one. I've decided on a name for them - The Ukraziland Provisional Volunteer Constabulary (UPVC). A lot of gamers in the UK will be familiar with the term "Plastic Plods..." These could be their ancestors.
 
 

From the archives

The bad weather across the UK has led to the regular Friday night club meet being cancelled for safety's sake. I'm taking the chance to update my blog, sadly neglected for a couple of weeks for various reasons.
 
Another foray into my shed turned up some Darkest Africa figures along with my ACW collection. The six naval ratings and officer will be welcome as crew aboard my Colonial vessels, and I have a hunch there might be a few more sailors lurking somewhere. These are Reviresco figures. As much as I admire the company's ship fittings range, the crew figures aren't the best I've seen. Even so, they have a certain charm and they'll be put to use.

I'm not sure how the three British infantrymen came to be overlooked when their fellows of the Barsetshire Regiment marched off to America. I'll put it down to an administrative mistake instead of desertion. Two officers of German persuasion also appeared, along with a solitary seebattalion chap. The rest of their troop was sold last year, but I'll press these fellows into service as adventurers in the service of the Kaiser.

The explorer's camp is 25CL9 from those fine folks at Frontline Wargaming, built onto a thin ply base, with the cooking pot being part of 25CL8 African village. Some of you may be familiar with Frontline's excellent 25CL1 "African Princess" steam riverboat.
 
Next up are my Killer Angels, the 2nd, 3rd, 7th & 8th South Carolina regiments of Kershaw's brigade, McLaws' division, 1st (Longstreet's) Corps, Army of Northern Virginia. These fine fellows have won every game they've taken part in, putting to flight a regiment from the famed Irish Brigade and taking a battery. The cannon is a 12pdr Napoleon.   

Up against them is a largely generic brigade of Union troops, the sole named regiment being the Garibaldi Guard. Composed of Italian immigrants, often recruited straight off the ships in New York harbour, they saw extensive service. They wore the distinctive Bersaglieri-style hat, and fought under a tricolour in the Italian national colours with the legend Garibaldi Guard in the centre. I made the mistake of accepting one pundit's view that the flag had horizontal stripes. I found out later they were vertical. It goes to show the value of extensive research...

The Union cannon is a 10pdr Parrot rifled piece. All figures and models are Dixon's Miniatures.

We did get good games in at the club last week. In a French-Indian War game, my better half took command of a native American force allied to the French. Being of Blackfoot and Cree descent, she's probably better qualified than most gamers in the UK to handle such forces! Much to her delight, her side won the game, completing their objectives of destroying the British blockhouse and several settlers cabins. The rules used were Musket & Tomahawk.

Over on the other table, my fellow commanders and I had difficulty leading the Macedonian army to victory over the Indian army of Poros. Our canny opponents used their infantry to soak up the brunt of the Macedonian attack in the centre, giving them a chance of weakening the phalanxes to the point they'd be easy meat for their elephants.  

The phalanx and hypaspists crushed the poor quality Indian infantry quicker than our opponents expected, but I balked at taking on the elephants until the closing moves, when victory hung on a whisker. A number of poor dice rolls on both sides led to interesting results at times, but in the end Alexander's personal leadership saw a win for his army. The end of the battle presaged the victories of Pyrrus by a good few years! The game was fought to Impetus rules.

More in a few days, as farther figures come to light...

 

First Game of the New Year

After an easy trip spent mostly on expensive public transport, my ladies and I arrived at the New Buckenham club for our first game of the New Year. Up for grabs was a Roman vs. Gauls game, and a SCW game run by Nigel of View from the Duck Pond blog, using some of his excellent collection.

My stepdaughter and I opted for the ancients game, me donning a Roman commander's mantle, and Amanda the war garb of the Gaul. In honour of the occasion she was given the new nickname of Boudicca, a local girl. Yes, I know she wasn't Gallic, but anyway... 

The rules are Impetus. Both sides were apportioned forces. According to the rules, the Romans began the game light by one ballista and some cavalry. The Gauls chose to deploy first. Somewhat surprisingly they chose to form up on the table side with the most difficult terrain, which took up their right flank - where Amanda's force deployed.

 Opening Deployment. My cohorts are from the top of the hill running to the left.

The center lay pretty much open to all comers and saw the most action. Our legate adopted an aggressive policy and the Roman line surged forward with a steady tread.

I was a bit surprised by this. Under Impetus rules, as in real life, attacking a Roman legion is like sticking your face into a buzz saw. Romans can attack, but lose some advantages when they do. Oh well, te morturiti, etc. No doubt the lack of some units drove his decision.

The Gauls came on and commenced aggressive attacks on the Roman center and right wing. A to-and-fro battle between auxilia and warband ran through most of the game, with the Romans rolling plenty of dice compared to the Gauls, but failing to get any significant advantage in scores.

 Auxilia and legionary cohort alike take the brunt of the fight in the center.

On the Roman right, cavalry came to blows in a long-running engagement that saw the eventual destruction of the Gauls.

Over on my flank I continued to advance, whilst Amanda struggled to extricate her forces from the marshes. Finally, her cavalry freed itself and advanced handsomely. The lead auxiliary infantry came under ineffective fire from skirmishing tribal youths, but a swift charge destroyed them.

My cavalry attacked their lead tribal counterparts, but were flung back. Another attempt to close went the same way, and, although I managed to shake off the disorder, the Gauls charged and stomped my cavalry flat.

In the center the battle had definitely gone in Rome's favour. The whole issue hung on just a few farther contests.

The end of it all. 

The accusing finger of an angry Celtic deity wags from on high at the victorious Romans.

The Gallic cavalry had emerged victorious but bloodied from their battle with my cavalry. They lay exposed to my archers, who promptly shot them to pieces. Simultaneously two warbands attacked my auxiliaries in the woods. The combat stretched for two moves and resulted in the auxiliaries emerging triumphant. Break point had been reached and surpassed. The Gauls decided to retreat to fight another day.

Thanks to all who took part. My commiserations to Amanda, on her first loss in a wargame.

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Although I was busy with our game, I did manage to get a shot of the Spanish Civil War game over on the other table. Nigel will no doubt write it up on his blog later.

  Somewhere in Spain. Republicans nearest the camera.

(Almost) the end of the year report

Instead of gaming, Friday night was a painting spree at the New Buckenham club, a successful feature which might be repeated in future. It offered members a chance to chip away at the lead mountain and demonstrate their painting techniques. My wife and I weren't able to go in the end, but Amanda painted her first wargames figure. The consensus of the club is she did a good job of it. We're so proud! ;) 

Farther poking around in my shed turned up the naval component of the Early Imperial Roman force I mentioned previously. These 1/300th scale galleys are home-made, being cast in resin from a latex mold. 

All are basically of the liburnian pattern, a light war galley used for patrol and coastal work. The model at the rear-right is an incomplete trireme intended for use as a flagship. 

I made space on each deck for a couple of stands of Roman marines, the classiarii. For those current and ex-Marines out there, note I didn't use the proud upper case M in describing the troop-type for a good reason! To quote from the Military Analysis blog, "Being in the Roman 'marines' (the milites classiarii) didn't convey the same prestige as being in the modern US Marine Corps does now [British Royal Marine Commando or Russian Marines for that matter either!]. The Roman marines were provincial or foreign auxiliaries that could fight on or off boat."

My intention is (eventually) to add a Germanic equivalent force equipped with something like the Hjortspring boat, the Iron Age predecessor to the Saxon boats and the classic Viking longboat. Unlike the longboat, the vessel really was suited only to operating in relatively sheltered waters, along a coast or in the Baltic. Quick and nimble, it would've been great for raiding parties.

 The Hjortspring boat, showing the curious double-prow and stern. Purpose unknown, these disappeared in later versions of the boat in its gradual progress toward the Viking longboat design.