The Fractured Isles

 The Fractured Isles

I have a 17th/18th century Imaginations project that has been bubbling or maybe simmering below the surface, by which I mean mainly in my head with no actual physical progress.

My setting is geographically the British Isles and Ireland but as the title suggests, not united in any way. Instead we have multiple smaller confederations, principalities, duchies and kingdoms similar to early anglo-saxon england but with some aspects of the holy roman empire. Or so it goes in my head. It's all very loose and very made up!

I've mainly been working on the mapping. I found a hex map of the area in the hexographer app some time ago, although the time period was dark ages or early medievel. The hexes were approximately 6miles across according to the author/artist. 

I used the .hxm file and opened it in notepad to grab the terrain information for each hex, then manipulated it to the correct layout (number of columns of hexes) and used conditional formatting to colour the map. I used a mirror image to generate tile income and an income table to generate the Annual Income for each territory by assigning each hex or square now it was in excel, an owner.

This allowed me to generate an indicative annual income for each of the territories in the Isles. From that I made some assumptions about military spending in this world of mine. 

Raising Troops

From income I can then define a proportion which is used for the military, and work out the split between the different arms. Say 40% of the total income is diverted to the military, and that amount is split between Infantry, Cavalry, Artillery, and Engineers including other specialists.

I've assigned costs on upkeep and raising of regiments for the four main arms, although engineers are a bit specialist so i will handle them seperately. Think on it now I probably need to account for Naval spend which could well be 50% of the total military expenditure given the nature of the isles. I'll need to rework the sums but the principle holds.

From what I've read in "The art of warfare in the age of Marlborough" by David Chandler, cavalry were around 20-30% of the total force. In addition there appears to be an average of 1.6 guns or artillery per 1000 men. So I can set an amount of infantry and determine the amount of cavalry and artillery as a result. Allowing me to adjust the infantry figure to get the upkeep within the indicative annual military expenditure. Well minus naval spend which will need some more research!

Initial Plans

The idea is to use Sharp Practice to play out small level encounters and narrative missions, and either Maurice or shot, steel and stone for the higher level actions.

First off I'm planning on zooming in for a smaller sub-campaign which will involve the Grand Duchy of Saxonia, the Kingdom of Dumnonia and maybe Cymru, Anglia and Mercia. For that I added a larger hex to the above map and translated the "dominant" terrain to a blank sheet of A4 with a hex printed on. This will allow me to cover a wider area with ease. The area is centred on the area of the map where Saxonia borders Anglia, Mercia, Cymru and Dumnonia. That felt like a fertile area for dispute and controversy.

In the Warlord Games sprue sale I grabbed 5 sprues of Marlborough wars infantry sprues and 2 of cavalry, alongside two or three of the pike and shot cavalry, which I figure should work alright. Imaginations after all. The 5 sprues of infantry will give me about 50 figures or two forces of 24 figures each plus a Leader. I also picked up to metal figures on horse, which will be the big man for each side. 

These will form the core of two forces. One for the Grand Duchy of Saxonia - a regiment of infantry raised by Colonel Henri von Hyde. I'm still pondering the uniforms but a light or sky blue coats and yellow cuffs for the Saxonia force is a high contender. 

The other force will be from Anglia i think, a larger and perhaps more belligerent neighbour to the north. Not sure what coat colours I will use for them. Possibly a light grey.

I have worked out the leaders of the territories and some characteristics for them based on d100 rolls. This will give a basis for higher level diplomacy if it should be required. I will also work out their goals and desires, and vices or weaknesses.

I initially had Hibernia (geographically Ireland) as a single entity, and then decided I would split it up into some provinces as I did have it as a confederation, so I split it into the provinces of Ireland (may rename them at some point) and included Meath for more variety as there is no Ulster - it's part being taken by Dalriada which has a foothold in the geographical western Scotland.

I'll leave it there. I plan to cover this more, using this blog as a project tracker and place to put down my thoughts on the project.

What's on deck

 Here is what I have sitting on the painting line - a variety of projects, and stages.

Fallschirmjager, 28mm, mix of Wargames Foundry, Perry Miniatures and Warlord Games. Almost done with the base coat of these, the cluster at the front still need black bits painted (boots, webbing/yoke, belts, occasional pouch, water bottle strap). All of them need gunmetal on the weapons. Then will need a once over to check for any missed bits and touch those up. I'm going to try speedpaint Warrior Flesh on the flesh areas which have already had one thin coat of Army Painter Goblin Skin, hopefully that will give some depth and shading to the skin areas. If not a flesh wash on top and then some highlights. I'll try one figure with army painter military shader wash and see how it copes with the Luftwaffe blue.

This illustration was my inspiration/target for these figures, I like the blue helmet and contrast with green uniforms (easier than camouflage!). I also wanted an early war force. I played one game from the Too Fat Lardies Blitzkrieg book at Deep Fried Lard a few years back (run by the greatly missed Derek Hodge), and it was such good fun. It was with his 15mm figures and both the scale and feel of early war was a huge draw. So much that I painted up some 15mm armies (British Paras and Germans for Kampfgruppe Von Luck) but that is another story and project.

Next on the bench are some Warhammer Fantasy figures that someone passed on to me a while back. They had been given to their son but never touched and he found out I enjoyed "painting little men" from my wife so gave them to me. These are the first test figures, and I'll need to ramp up into batch painting to get full units ready. The idea is to knock up some armies for Midgard. These are basically done. I need to add some gloss varnish to the gems (really can't paint them well) and then sort out basing for them, probably relatively simple basing, I might try make a simple basing mixture for these. Some find coloured sand, aquarium rocks and then flock and see how that looks.  

Then some kitbashed zombies for Silver Bayonet, a mix of Warlord Games, Perry Miniatures and Victrix Miniatures along with some Mantic zombie bits to help sell them as zombies! Need to finish off the base colours and then give them a grungy wash - dark/black, brown and green mixed up I think. 

Finally the figures from Flags of War for Devilry Afoot. I'm a bit hesitant on these as I haven't worked out a proper colour scheme for the characters. I'll probably use the painted examples on the Flags of War site as inspiration and tailor each to the colours I have handy, and of course my very limited painting ability.

And that is it for now. I have more sitting around primed or awaiting a wash but these are the ones to hand. There are 16 Romano-British Spearmen waiting for a wash to give them some depth, and then flocking.

There and back again

Goodness me it has been an age, an epoch, a damn long time. Checking back it was mid-2020 when I last posted on this. I have thought about getting back to posting something but life, as they say, got in the way. I'd like to start posting semi-regularly to keep a log of my projects and progress, if only for myself. Social media is handy for staying in touch with various wargaming chums and contacts, and getting an idea of what others are doing, but I find it vacuous and unfulfilling compared to the blogs of old (well maybe a decade ago). There are still a few stalwarts out there still blogging and my goal is to read more blogs and spend a lot less time on any sort of social media. Big idea - not sure how I will do.

So to start a brief overview of all the projects I have on the go, perhaps as a reality check for myself, but also as a stocktake.

Early War Chain of Command

Painting some ebay bargains and old warlord sprue sale Fallshirmjager to make up an early war platoon and supports for chain of command 2 and the blitzkrieg book. This project will need an opponent which I think will be French Dragon Portes or Motorcycle Troops (Crusader). I've 3D printed two french tanks which need priming, and some fallen parachutes for scatter and points of interest, replen or jump off points.

Devilry Afoot

I picked up about 12 figures, 3 packs, of border reiver range of figures from Flags of war for Devilry afoot which is a fun looking solo (or cooperative game) set around the 16 & 17th Centuries and wars of religion, witch hunting and witchcraft. You create your band of monster hunters and play out scenarios against a programmed group of monsters.

Packing Heat - Modern Middle East

I have a few already painted Taliban from Empress along with some British Army which I aim to use to play Packing Heat. Idea is around a small group of special forces vs a larger group of insurgents/militia etc. Need to paint some empress special forces, picked up off their clearance deals.

Dux Britanniarum

Have some basic Saxons from Gripping Beast plastics all painted up. Working on the British or Romano-British force. Need terrain for it too, have printed out some wattle fencing and working on designing a simple church to print based on the one from 1st Corp.

Rangers of Shadow Deep

Have played through the first scenarios with a mate, printed out some gnolls for that which need painted properly. They will come in handy for the next scenario too. 

French Indian War - skirmish

Tempted to do something around FIW too which I have some figures for, was tinkering with using What A Cowboy for this and it does work well too. May also consider using packing heat.

Sharp Practice

Still have a load of Austrians to paint for Sharp Practice, Grenzers and cavalry and some french dragoons. Working on an Austrian Deployment point for their Jagers.

0200 Hours

Have painted a bunch of the allies and in process of painting up some more guards but I already had a bunch of German sentries and similar so can comfortably play without painting much more, aside from topping up from time to time for specific missions. Need to rebase the Germans as they were done on square plastic bases and the PVA and sand has started to peel away from the base. Will move them to plastic and magnetised bases.

Guards of Traitors Toll

Picked up the box set for this a while back and haven't started painting or assembling it yet.

Zona Alfa

Have kitbashed and painted a handful of stalkers for this, have a few more to make. Have some monsters painted up and zombies, dogs etc. Terrain is lacking. 

Where Nightmares Come

Have painted 4 or 5 crew for this, have a few ideas around enemies/monsters and spare sprues etc to make them from.

Terrain

An ongoing and never-ending process! So many things to do here, partly due to having a 3D printer now (got it as a Christmas present from my wife almost 2 years ago now). I want to sort out more bocage for 28mm WW2, as well as being handy in a lot of other settings. Got a river printed, primed and partially painted, needing finished off. I'd like to get more trees made, I have printed some, I've got some old school twigs made up as trees that need finishing, I've got armatures from Woodland Scenics, trees from Evemodel that need based or added to other scenic items like rocky outcrops, and I've got some gutter guard, cut up and a fair few shaped into pine or conifer trees. Plenty to be getting on with.

That is a lot of stuff....

My main realisation over the past 5 years is that my hobby is just for me. I struggle to get much time to game, although I do now usually get a 2hr session once a week online playing a TTRPG of some description. So the focus on making and painting is largely what the hobby gives me, some peace and quiet away from other things in life, I'm not chasing completion, just relaxation and enjoyment. If I can get some solo games in on one of the many rulesets I own, then all the better, but it won't be a failing if I do not. From time to time I do get to wargame with a mate, and the past few of these have been Rangers of Shadow deep, and a few of Undaunted: Normandy. Maybe in future one of my kids will be interested in wargaming or just tabletop games, or perhaps just the painting or crafting aspects. Maybe not. Either way as long as I am enjoying the process and peace - then this hobby will continue.

More bits and pieces

So I have been doing some hobby work but recently it has been curtailed due to starting a large outdoor project where I am building a shed. Slowly.

Before that happened I had managed to finish up some 28mm British Napoleonics all part of getting ready for some Sharp Practice games:

And a load of 6mm Baccus French and British Napoleonics. I've not settled on a ruleset but have Over The Hills and am looking at General d'Armee as the Lardy stables seem to suit my temperament best!

That's all. Short update, might try one on the shed soon!

Rangers of Shadow Deep - Mission 1, Scenario 1

Rangers of Shadow Deep - Mission 1, Scenario 1 - Deserted Village

My first game of RoSD. The setup is on a 3x3ft area, the group starts in the centre of a deserted village with 5 abandoned buildings. There are 6 clue markers, 4 in line with each intermediate compass point (NE,SE,SW,NW) and about 14 inches away from the centre. The final two are in two random buildings.

The scenario starts with 2 Giant rats on the table and 2 zombies. As companions I selected the following: Templar, Rogue, Man-at-arms, Conjuror, Arcanist. I passed the task roll for perception and was able to move 1 clue marker closer to the group starting position.

In the first turn my Ranger attempted to shoot a rat. Missed. Arcanist, Rogue and conjuror moved north, the rogue towards a building with a clue. To note here I probably shouldn't have allowed myself to know which buildings had clues, it would be easy to simply roll once the door had been breached, it would have made the mission more complicated at least!

The Man-at-arms and Templar moved south to another clue marker in a building and closer to the southern zombie. I then moved the zombies and rats, which was wrong, they should have activated before the companions moved. No harm on this round and a good lesson to remember the proper sequence!

The Templar was getting good rolls and she twatted the zombie in one hit. The Arcanist was fortunate that the zombie closing in on her required both actions to move to get to her. The conjuror was well placed to send a bolt of magic into the zombie allowing the Arcanist to move away, in some panic! The Rogue set to work on picking the door lock and succeeded. However the clue marker inside resulted in a zombie being in the house and surprising her.

I got this bit wrong, I allowed the Rogue to move away which when having an enemy in base contact, I don't believe is allowed.

At turn end more zombies started deploying as a result of the event deck. The basic strategy involved utilising the Templar, Man-at-arms and Ranger to use their combat skills to kill off the enemies while the others tried to sweep up the clues. It largely worked. The ranger had to move north and support the squishy types at one point but withdrawing and consolidating towards the fighters allowed them to survive and continue uncovering the clues.

The conjuror even managed to pick up some treasure, which turned out to be an explosive flask. The zombies and rats came on thick and fast but the waves were defeated without too much hassle luckily although the Arcanist took a big hit but limped through on 2 hit points!

It was a fun game and moves quickly when you get a grip on the basics. There is a good amount of uncertainty so works as a solo game nicely. And as mentioned earlier I can ramp this up by "hiding" the clues in random buildings, or more accurately, rolling for them once the door has been opened.

All in all a great wee game, plays well and easily and not much of a burden in order to get on the table. 

Swayed by Shadow Deep

oooh dearie me! I have been very bad at any updates despite actually being relatively productive hobby wise. So I'll break it up into a few chunks and posts.

First up, Rangers of Shadow Deep. A friend and I send each other pictures on what we are working on, helps with motivation and nice to get feedback! He mentioned Rangers of Shadow Deep some time ago in relation to the Burrows & Badgers figures I had got. Not a bad idea, but then I liked the B&B rules and once I picked up the Rangers rules (a fair bit later, I got the deluxe version!) I liked them and even more, I liked the opportunity to paint some different stuff. So decided to do some collecting and painting.

So to start I painted up the free Ranger figure that came with the ruleset, yes it may have swayed me into buying the deluxe edition.

As I would be playing this solo for the foreseeable future (and that is a big part of the reason for doing it) then I'd need some companions. Bad Squiddo have a really good range as I wanted something a bit different.

 The beer maiden on the far right would be a civilian model, to be saved, hopefully, by the adventurers. I couldn't find exactly what I wanted for a rogue and Conjuror model so on the recommendation of the aforementioned friend I looked at reaper miniatures. A vast range and it was a nice surprise when they arrived that the detail is actually pretty decent.

The Conjuror is taller than all the others, including the rogue from the same range. I don't mind some variation as I think it looks better but he did look a fair bit out of whack, I cut out the mdf base below him to allow hide the plastic base he was on and try bring the overall height down. For comparison the rogue is on a 3mm mdf base, with the plastic base stuck directly on top, essentially making her taller. Anyway I think it worked out alright, and will work for now, if I find a model I prefer I may well get some new ones!

I had hit up Bad Squiddo before this all started for some of their scenic range as they looked thoroughly lovely, so some of these were obvious treasure markers.

The game also needs markers for clues or areas of interest, this seemed like a good opportunity to delve into the bits box and use up some of all the little things I insist on keeping "just in case"

Finally the bad guys that need fightin' I picked up a single sprue of fireforge living dead peasants which got me six zombies. I'll probably get another sprue as I although I didn't get over 6 on the table at once, I may have had any not been killed so quickly!
 

I also picked up the Northstar Giant Rats (and Boar) which completed all I "needed" for the first scenario.

For the second scenario I would need some spiders and a cheap pack of plastic ones did the job, no painting just stuck onto some bases and flocked. Nice and easy and cost about £3 I think.

I'll end with the starting pictures of the first game, I may try a small recounting of what occurred in the next post.

I Ain't Been Shot Mum - First game trial

So I finally got some toys on the table this year for a solo game of I ain't been shot mum by the Too Fat Lardies.

The battlefield, British enter at the left (North) and Germans defending the crossroads at the right (South)

I've read through the rules fully once, and parts of it more, and set up to play the first "tutorial" scenario from the main rule book - North of Caen.

View from the British entry side

The forces are both infantry only with the Brits getting one more platoon and a pre-game stonk to aid their attack. The Germans had two Zugs and an HQ with two MG42 in a sustained fire role.

and from the German end

I won't go through the game as it was a bit slow and stuttery to start with as I wasn't confident at how to approach it and it took me a while to get in the flow with the rules. Once I did it became very fluid and intuitive, a great set of rules and excellent fun. I found the solo play a lot easier than I thought I would, I felt before hand I may favour one side or the other but I don't think I did.

British deploying down the road, spotted by Germans defending a building north of the crossroads

I did however learn a lot about how to play IABSM, because the distances represented are greater, compared to Chain of Command, as as defender you can afford to bring some units on table early without just opening them up to fire. It does give away your position somewhat but allows you to have more of an influence on the game. I was intending to hold the Germans off table until the Brits approached and then unleash some devastating fire. This resulted in a disjointed defence as the German Blinds card didn't come up so reduced their ability to get the second Zug onto the table.

However what happened was the British managed to approach unmolested and tackle each platoon in turn, bad defensive decision from me but good to learn from!

Germans entered with shock and casualties from the pre-game stonk. Wonky, un-based trees in background!

The next scenario is utilising american forces so I will probably just proxy the brits for them.

The British press their attack

I also want to get some better material for fields in 6mm. The mat is from Cigar box battle mats, a double sided one from their kickstarter which I really like. I need to knock up some more hedges and I think some orchards. The trees could all do with some better basing. Some are just stuck onto 2p coins as I realised I needed way more trees than I had prepared!

I think I will also look at basing the 6mm buildings into small clusters, just to add a bit of a footprint and some details around the houses to make them look more part of the terrain than lone buildings in a field!