Month in Review - February 2020

Well, back again, and I have a lot to cover.  It's been a busy month one way or another, so let's jump straight in to the recap.

20 more down...

Painting - It's been more Stonecast Eternals this month.  The theme for the #talesofinstahammer challenge was Monster, so, the real obvious choice from my planned list was to paint up all 3 Celestar Ballistas to theoretically deal with all the big bads running about.  I didn't want to just paint them up, so I figured I'd knock out a unit of Castigators too, because that would give me access to the Hailstorm Battery battalion.

Who needs machine guns when you have these?

Castigators.

Along with the theme of Monster, the secret challenge was Duel, and I thought that I could cover that by painting up Garrek's Reavers and Steelheart's Champions, as the opposing warbands from the original Shadespire box, but Red Dead Redemption 2 ate up a huge amount of my time and I only got Steelheart's Champions done.  To cover that, I painted up the special store birthday figure Larissa Shadowstalker, as she is pretty much a Monster Duellist.

Steelheart's Champions.

Larissa Shadowstalker

I also ended up painting the Lord-Arcanum on Gryph-Charger because my Lord choice for the challenge won't be done until June, and it gives me a suitable leader model to use in the meantime, seeing as I have enough stuff painted now to play some small games.

Lord-Arcanum on Gryph-Charger.  Looks impressive, bit squishy in reality.

Looking at my planned list, I've already finished 890/2000 points, plus the extras I've done over the last 2 months which is another 800 points (go me!) so, hopefully a full/tournament sized army isn't too far off.


I've also managed to completely clean up, assemble, base , add spears if applicable, and prime my Footsore Vikings for my SAGA Age of Vikings list, so I'll have to move on to the next project now.


I've also gotten back into gaming this month after my sojourn to Linlithgow, and spent yesterday gaming at Common Ground Games after Sarah finished work.  We played two games of Age of Sigmar, with the same lists both times, Stonecast vs. Cities of Sigmar at 1000pts.

You don't get much SCE for 1000pts...

I had the Lord-Arcanum on Gryph-Charger, a Lord-Ordinator, 2 x 5 Sequitors, 6 Castigators and 2 Celestar Ballista, and Sarah fielded a Freeguild General, Sorceress, 2 x 20 Darkshards, 10 Bleakswords and 20 Freeguild Greatswords.   I felt severely outnumbered.  And outgunned.

The first game was a basic affair, we didn't bother with Allegiance Abilities or Magic Items or any of that, just the core stuff to get a handle on the rules, seeing as the last time we'd played was when the AoS rules originally released.  I'd been a stand-in at a tournament since, but had fudged my way through that on my opponent's advice.

Sequitors

Stars of the show were the Celestar Ballista on my side, and the Greatswords of the Freeguilds, both doing pretty horrific casualties, those zweihanders are deadly.  We finished up with the Cities army being wiped out to a man, mostly from Ballista shots (and it would have happened quicker if I'd set up both in the Lord-Ordinator's bubble).  The second game, we added in the Allegiance rules and stuff.  The Cities spread out a bit more this time, but I knew to focus fire on those Greatswords.  The game ended up the same as the first, with the Ballista whittling down the superior numbers of the enemy.

We then changed over to Dragon Rampant, and, aptly, played the Into the Valley of Certain Death scenario, apt baptism of fire.  I had some Elite Riders, 3 units of Belicose Foot and a unit of Light Missiles with the Sharpshooter upgrade.  Sarah had 2 units of Elite Foot, a unit of Offensive Light Foot and 2 units of Heavy Missiles with the Weighty Projectiles downgrade.  We fudged through it with my new knowledge of Lion Rampant, but had to pack up before the game finished as the shop was closing. Ultimately, we had both managed to get one unit  off the table, destroy one unit, and complete our quests. 

Needed more terrain in hindsight.

In other news, we also went to the Vapnartak show at the start of the month.  most of my purchases were books for a change, picking up Too Fat Lardie's Dux Britanniarum and the Raiders supplements (plus cards), Lucid Eye's the Red Book of the Elf King, along with cards and figure from the bring and buy, and the Age of Ravens sourcebook for Clash of Empires from Great Escape Games (didn't realise it was a sourcebook...)  Other purchases were 2 Knight figures from the bring and buy (the one that Footsore sent out with the Age of Crusades book) and the metal Champions and Command for the Oathmark Goblins.  Final purchase was some Teutonic SAGA dice for when the army is done.  Sarah picked me up a set of Nordvolk Armed Villagers from Westwind as some generic Dark Age standers by, as well as Peter Cush... Van Helsing from Wargames Illustrated, purely to sate my disapointment that the Viking one was sold out.

Other additions to the hoard this month include my Oathmark Goblins from the Nickstarter, one set each of infantry and the new wolf riders along with a metal wolf rider champion and the limited release foot model, as well as the big wolf resin miniature, and my copy of the deluxe edition of Rangers of Shadow-Deep (IT IS AN ABSOLUTELY LOVELY BOOK!) I also picked up one of the 2nd issues of Mortal Realms, as I wanted a set of Banshees to keep on bevelled bases for Shadespire (I put the first set I had on lipped ones).  I got a set of Squigs and 2 boxes of Squig Hoppers from Sarah for Valentine's Day to finish off the NightGoblin list I have planned for Age of Magic (the second box of Hoppers was extra, but lets me build 2 units of warriors and one of hearthguard) Sarah also picked me up the 4 metal Tribal characters for Frostgrave: GA in the Northstar flash sale, along with an Ancient Guardian.  Final purchases this month were a couple of Underworlds warbands (Zarbag's Gitz and Ylthari's Guardians) before they go out of the cycle.

Finally, some real world news...  I am starting a new job on Monday.  No more night shift after almost 12 years doing the same thing.  Still working about the same amount but, it will be during the day from now on.  The hours are great around the kids, and I'm really looking forwards to getting to the club on a more regular basis now and finally pushing about all these figures I've been painting over the years.  On a more serious note, I'm hoping it just picks me up in a more general sense and stops me being such a recluse.

Actually, I'm hoping my new work schedule has a positive effect on my hobbying in general, and whilst I still dabble most days, I find it bitty.  I'd like to get a good routine (which is admittedly a lot easier when your day off wasn't already half way done by the time you finish work and get a sleep) and maybe focus more on smaller, quicker turnaround projects, than big armies.  I've even considered dismantling the massive paintstation to make space for a smaller more focussed area.  Time will tell.

Anyway, enough waffle, that's been my month, and hopefully I'll be back soon with more gaming exploits or painted minis.

Cheers,

John

FDWC Lion Rampant Campaign or How I learned to stop being a hermit and play some games.

So, a long time ago (July 2018) I wrote a blog post about turning my SAGA army into a Lion Rampant force, and now, it turns out is when I put it into practice.

Recently, a Lion Rampant Campaign was announced at the club, headed up by venerable campaign master and all around excellent gamesmaster John E, so I had no hesitation in signing up (despite not being able to make most club meetings at the moment between work and commuting) because I figured I could try and get some games in at other venues.

The Campaign is called The Rutland Chronicles, set in the 1200's and using 42pt rosters from the Early Plantagenet period.

So, first things first, I had planned on painting up the Crusader Teutonics as an Age of Crusades army for SAGA and expanding it for Lion Rampant, but, I still haven't assembled any of them, so I turned my attention to what I already had painted for my SAGA Normans, and set about thrashing out an army roster.

The Planned Roster

A - Knights (Mounted Men at Arms) @ 6pts
B - Town Militia (Foot Yeomen) with Mobile Schiltron x2 @ 4pts each
C - Mercenary Spearmen (Foot Sergeants) with Mobile Schiltron x2 @ 5pts each
D - Archers x2 @ 4pts each
E - Crossbowmen @ 4pts
F - Bidowers @ 2pts
G - Fierce Foot @4pts

As you can see, there is still a lot to be built, primed and assembled, although I cunningly fitted in as much of the Footsore Vikings I had planned to paint, just to cut down on 'extra' models to add to the list, but I was still adding 8 Town Militia, 12 Archers and 12 Crossbowmen.  Handily, the 3pts of Viking Warriors for SAGA translated straight over to both the Mercenary Spearmen units, and the 3 units of Hearthguard (including Berserkers) made up the Fierce Foot.  Finally, half the Viking Levy with bows would cover my Bidowers, meaning that I only had the Warlord/Bannerman and 6 Archers from the 7pts of SAGA to paint afterwards.  Result.

Still, that is a lot of painting just to play games, so with John's permission (and the promise of making it plausible in my campaign backstory) I fudged my roster a little for the beginning stages of the campaign.

The "Less painting required" option.

A - Knights (Mounted Men at Arms) @ 6pts
B - Town Militia (Foot Yeomen) with Mobile Schiltron x2 @ 4pts each
C - Archers x2 @ 4pts each
D - Crossbowmen @ 4pts
E - Bidowers x2 @ 2pts each
F - Fierce Foot x3 @4pts each


I managed to pull together a lot more painted figures for this version.  I dropped the 2 units of Merc Spearmen for another 2 units of Fierce Foot and a second unit of Bidowers.  The Fierce Foot are made up of the Foundry Vikings I painted up for my Jomsvikings last year, along with the 3 units of Berserkers for Age of Magic, and a unit of Viking Levy with bows ably stands in as both my Bidower units.  Finally, I replaced the 8 Town Militia I still had to paint with my Norman Hearthguard so they are now fully painted units, and the posh guys with armour that I'll hide at the back can die first.  I still have a unit of Archers and Crossbowmen to paint to have the roster fully painted, but 24 models is a bit easier than 74.

So, roster sorted (background permitting) it was time to get playing.  John very kindly offered to break me into playing by hosting a mid-week game in his shed, so off I set to Linlithgow, suitably suited and booted, to learn how to play.  After a welcome lunch (breakfast?) of soup and sandwiches (bearing in mind I was just off a nightshift and hadn't slept) Allan, Rob, John and myself braved the 20ft of rain to go to war.

Ready for War

We were playing Scenario I: A Taxing Afternoon, with John and Rob commanding the Abbot's forces out on tax collection duty, with my own force playing the part of the Attackers, ably assisted in moving far away units and offering sage advice by Allan.  If memory serves, the Abbot's forces were made up of...  2 units of mounted Serjeants, 2 units of spearmen of some description, crossbowmen, and 2 units of Bidowers.  Prior to the game, Rob and myself had both rolled Rash as Leader Traits, giving his Mounted Serjeants Wild Charge, and making my own automatically successful.  Way to feel stereotyped, huh?

Move aside peasants, the big boys are here.

The first few turns of the game saw the Abbot's forces move up the table, securing 2 or 3 objectives, and sending the Bidowers far out, and flanking hard with one unit of Mounted Serjeants, whilst the other (the Leader) stayed pretty central.  My own moves saw one unit of Fierce Foot securing a 3pt objective, whilst my Knights and Bidowers advanced up the centre of the table.  More Fierce Foot moved up my right flank, securing another objective, and more importantly, standing knee deep in cow muck behind a wall to avoid the Mounted Serjeants bearing down on them.

My own Spearmen were charged, and driven back by the Mounted Sergeants, and the Fierce Foot decided that discretion was the better part of valour, and cowered behind the wall (probably thigh deep now...) whilst the Spearmen formed up to take another charge.  In the centre, my Knights obliterated a unit of Bidowers that had had the temerity to take shots at them rather than fleeing to the safety of a nearby coo shed.  My left flank saw the Fierce Foot mow down the other unit of Bidowers, with another unit hanging back, not committing to battle, but not making off with their plunder either.

The fight on the right ended up with my Fierce Foot scrambling over the wall, destroying the mounted Serjeants, and losing 4 models in the process, before failing a courage roll and being wiped out.  Cow muck obviously not providing good traction for lauping o'er dykes.

On the left, a stalemate ensued, the Abbot's spearmen facing the choice of advancing towards my Fierce Foot in order to tempt them back into the fields for another scrap, or backing away and letting them escape with their stolen taxes.

In the centre, both mounted units clashed, with the Abbot's Men being driven back and thouroughly battered, the game then centred around a few brief and bloody rounds of combat, with only minimal movement happening elsewhere.  My Knights finally rode down the Mounted Serjeants, along with the Crossbowmen, and a unit of Spearmen, leaving only a single unit of the Abbot's men rushing home with a lot less taxes than they had expected to collect.  I had managed to pull back a few units off the table, and my Bidowers had advanced up to take the final objective, the game ending with me holding 10/11 objective points.  All that was left was to enjoy a celebratory Caramel Wafer and pack up.

Casualties - from what I remember.

Knights - lost 3 models.
Fierce Foot - wiped out
Fierce Foot - lost 1 model.
Spearmen - lost 4? models


So, yeah, my first game played in absolutely ages, and definitely a lot of fun.  There is an element of frustration at the failed activation checks, especially when it seems the other force passes all theirs, but I guess it balances out over time.  The Fierce Foot were a good choice for raiding fields, but I can see them easily being pulled out of position, and it makes escaping with loot a much harder prospect.  As for Lord Martin of Cheux, well, what an entrance, nothing like riding out and giving the men of the cloth an extremely bloody nose...

Raiding and Theiving?  Us? 

The History of Lord Martin of Cheux

Brave, stoic, honourable - all words no God fearing man would ever attribute to the amoral hedonist Lord Martin of Cheux.  4th in line to the Cheux fortune, Jean spent most of his wayward youth pursuing the pleasures of the flesh, under the guise of being a student of the arts, and was expelled from more than one establishment for drunken antics and various other indiscretions.  An accomplished swordsman, more by necessity than design, he is most commonly to be found surrounded by his closest confidantes, including his cousin, who call themselves Les Chevaliers sans Pantalons for reasons best not gone into in polite society.  Jean, after finally returning home from his studies (read, nowhere else would admit him due to his reputation) has spent his time around the inns and brothels of Cheux, falling in with a band of Scandinavian types, attracted to his free spending and drunken and baudy antics.  After one fateful night when Jean decided to host a quiet soiree at Cheux Manor, after retiring for the evening with more than one painted damsel, the very drunk, very hairy, and very reckless Scandinavians made mischief by racing the Cheux carriages around the Manor resulting in untold damages to both the carriages, horses and prized vinyards.

Jean was uncerimoniously ejected from the Manor the very next morning, with the ultimatum to restore some honour to the family name, or never darken their doorstep again.  Dejected, and somewhat unused to the lack of funds, he, alongside Les Chevaliers fell in with the Scandinavians, who planned to move on to England, and figured Jean would be entertaining enough to have along on the journey.

Having arrived in Ufford, England Jean has become interested in some petty border skirmishes happening around the Great Forest of Rutland, and has taken up residence much to the delight of the Scandinavians with a view to involving himself in the disputes.  Currently he has spoken to no one, not even the other members of Les Chevaliers, as to his designs, and they are currently engaged in speculation as to whether he intends to bring his family name honour and return home in good graces, or is petulantly looking to raise merry hell as an agent of chaos in a fight that he has no reason to be involved with.



That's it for now then, my Army Roster, first game, and character back story.  I'm going to get the last few units painted up as soon as possible, and I need to speak to John about my plans for the Fierce Foot as I know he has some concerns about them taking over.


Cheers,

John