Untied Kingdom: The War in 2011

UNTIED KINGDOM: THE WAR IN 2011:

Inspired by Crisis in Alcovia and England Prevails I've decided to set about creating my own modern warfare campaign setting. It will be set in the UK (primarily because ever modern-period gamer in Britain that I know off has at least some UK army miniatures). The premise is that no-one outright won the British elections in 2010 (as in real-life) not simply because of the vote, but because of allegations of vote-fixing and corruption ala Florida in the USA. The labour party (still under the leadership of Gordon Brown) boycotts parliament in protest when the Tories and Liberals form a new coalition government.

As the year progresses, the Tory public spending cuts (25% across the board) combined with rising fuel prices, strikes and an outbreak of swine flu (with which the weakened National Health Service cannot cope) leads to increasing unrest until a popular rebellion breaks out, led by militant elements of the Unions and the Labour Party. The Royal Ordinance factory in Leeds is quickly captured by rebel forces (dubbed “The Reds” by the Tory government for their labour-party leanings and the red armbands they wear). A series of disproportionate responses by the Tory-Liberal government drives elements of the armed forces to defect to the Reds.

Meanwhile, in Scotland, First Minister Alex Salmond (of the Scottish National Party) uses the opportunity afforded by this civil unrest to issue his long-awaited referendum on Scottish independence. With a definite mandate from the voters, he declares Scottish to be a sovereign nation, ordering Scottish elements of the armed forces to remain neutral in the Red-Tory conflict (or to withdraw from it if already engaged) and return to Scotland. Meanwhile, he has Non-Scottish units North of the Border confined to barracks. Many Scottish units obey his “return home” command (including forces based in Germany, Afghanistan and the Falklands), others do not. Meanwhile, a small force of Unionists forms around the charismatic Lt. Col Edge (formerly of the Royal Scots Regiment) and enter the war as an anti-independence, pro-UK faction.

This gives us six factions to game with: The Reds, the Government Forces (known as Tories or “Blues”), the Scottish Government Forces (known as “Scot-Gov”) and the Unionists (pro-UK Scots) being the obvious four. The fifth group will include “neutral” parties trying to limit the damage to UK infra-structure (such as a small RN task-force defending the North Sea Oil Fields from all factions for “posterity”). Finally, we have the inevitable NATO or UN led peacekeeping forces, caught in the middle (as usual) and probably manipulated by the remaining five actions for their own purposes.

I'll record the campaign on a blog of the same title, here, but it will be a while before I get round to setting it up. My fellow war gamers might have plenty of appropriate (“painted”) miniatures, but I sure as hell don't.

Old School Miniatures: On the Cheap

Times are hard. Metal figures are expensive. Buying enough lead figures to make up a decent band of brigands, for example, can set you back forty or fifty euro's. And then, of course, there's the whole new issue that most modern fantasy rpg miniatures are targeted for the modern audience/gaming industry. By which I mean late medieval armour, dress and accoutrement's as opposed to the more traditional "old school" dark-age style.

However, all is not lost. You can still acquire decent looking miniatures for your RPG while keeping up that all important Old School feel -and without putting too much of a dent on your pocket book. The answer: wargames miniatures.

Plastic mould technology these days is so good that it's possible to produce plastic figures that rival (or even exceed) their metal counterparts. Moreover, even metal wargames miniatures (from historical specialists at least) tend to be cheaper than roleplaying miniatures and even most fantasy wargames ranges.

True, you can splash out ten or twelve pounds for a pack of random pre-painted miniatures, but going down that route might cost you a veritable fortune before you get enough figures of a given monster type to use in an encounter. Plus the paint jobs tend to be terrible. Contrast the painted miniatures at the beginning of this article with any of the D&D figures available on ebay. I bought a pack of 32 of these plastic vikings from wargames factory's Hammer of the Gods Range for £18 (You lucky Americans can get them for $19.95). These figures here, 8 of them, took four hours to assemble and paint and cost me the equivalent of £4.50. If I'd bought 8 viking looking types in single figure Reaper miniatures packs, it would have cost me at least £24 (probably as much as £30, depending on where you shop). How many packs of D&D boxes would I have had to fork out for to obtain 8 human warriors in chainmail? A heck of a lot, let me tell you.

As it is, I intend on painting another four of these guys for gaming purposes. The last twenty (plus 8 figures from the Saxon Fyrd box) are going to make a Viking Mercenary unit for my Norman WAB army. The remaining 24 Fyrdmen are going to be split into a unit of 8 archers (on stone, roleplaying bases) and 16 unarmoured RPG melee types. And voila, for a grand total of £36 quid, I've got myself another wargames unit AND all the armoured and unarmoured human NPC warrior-types I''ll ever need for an Old School RPG campaign.

Of course, it would be nice to have some more disciplined looking armoured warriors as well. Which is why I bought 8 metal Norman spearmen from Wargames Foundry for a grand total of £8.00 as well. I'll paint these guys up and use them as henchmen and hirelings for my PC's. Pictures to follow when I've finished painting them.

I also forked out another £8 for a pack of Saxon "outlaws" from the same firm -giving me a nice mix of armed civilians for use in gaming as hapless civilians, prisoners, mule-skinners and even torch-bearers for the party. I'll post up my painted versions here at some point too,

Grand Total: £52.00 for 80 gaming miniatures. How much would it cost to order all that from Reaper Miniatures eh? £300 quid at least, I reckon.

Archers Done. 1st Game Arranged.

What a busy day it's been.

Today started with a little (very, very minor) disappointment. My Gripping Beast banners and LBM shield transfers still haven't arrived. But given that it's (, well, was) only Tuesday I can hardly grumble. Maybe they'll arrive tomorrow (later today that is, since its well past 1am). The day improved considerably though. I now have seven flats to view over Thursday and Friday (yah!). On the other hand, considering I have Bill's Ebberron game tomorrow night, Pirates of Penzance at the Theatre Royal Glasgow on Thursday night and my Uncle to visit on Friday, I`m not going to have much time for painting.

Together with having popped along to G3 tonight for an hour or so to arrange a game against Colins vikings next tuesday ( a double landmark: my first game of WAB AND my first game with my new army), this means I've had to rethink my painting schedule. Especially since I absolutely hate playing with unpainted miniatures. Doesnt matter if the other guys figs are all shiny lead, just as long as mine arn't. If I fall back into the habit of playing with "naked" miniatures I`ll never get anything painted.

So, now that the Archers are finished (as of about ten minutes ago: I`m still waiting for the paint on the bases to dry so that I can add the cork. Once thats done I`ll edit this post and put up the photo's) I`m going to start work on the mounted milites, rather than the liberi spearmen. Purely because I`m going to need them as a core unit and can muddle by without the Liberi if I can't finish them all in time. I reckon that if I can do four complete cavalry models (rider and horse) each day for the next three days I`ll still have time to paint the spearmen. It will be tight, and it would probably be quicker to paint the 12 axemen I have from Perry plus their command group, but I dont think 15 Serjents with handweapons are going to cut it against Colins Vikes. I`ll have to think on what to do next, after the horsemen.

Anyway, I'm glad I had the chance to challenge Colin. For one thing he has a good reputation at the club for being patient with beginners and, despite having some pretty impressive facial hair, for not being as "beardy" as far as rules are considered. He should be a good teacher - but I`m still expecting to be soudnly thrashed. His glee when he discovered I had no armoured crossbowmen painted (or even unpainted - they'll be on order at the end of the month, as soon as I get paid) was altogether unholy. Note to self: buy more crossbowman than originally planned. Tweak army list accordingly.

One extra consideration that was brought to light by my quick visit came about from a chance conversation with Spence. Spence, the guru of "keeperdom" (on the grounds that he needs a second house just to keep his lead in - this guy has no danger of dying from painting his last miniature any time soon) reacted with some degree of surprise when I mentioned "diluting" my Perry force with Crusader figs. Spence seems to reckon that while Perry figs do indeed go well with the occasional Gripping Beast or Foundry fig, Crusader figs are far to "chunky" by comparrison to look right in the same army, let alone having the two product lines in the same unit. Colin on the other hand, (whose question's about my new Army more or less initiated this particular conversation) feels that why they're not suitable for fielding in the same unit, they look fine as seperate units.

I truly hope so, because I think the Crusdaer figures are more than merely "very nice" and I especially want some of their archers, axemen and spearmen for my collection. I was even thinking of using Crusader or GB to supply my light cavalry unit as well, but the Perry Twins will probably edge in to another fine victory over my pocket book once again.

Anyway, back to the basing and the photo's. In case your wondering, all the figures shown were painted using Vellajo Model paints, with a few colours (the dark browns and the blue-grey) from the MP "Miniatures Paints" range. Actually, I was surprised by how quickly these were to paint ( exactly three hours for each batch of six - same as the armoured spearmen) especially since there was nothing to drybrush. In fact, I seem to spend more time waiting for the "White Stone" textured paint to dry out than I do actually painting. Just so you know, I use the white stone to blend the minaitures molded-on stands into the plastic GW bases that I`m using, so that there isnt an odd bump. Ive found that if I build up two or three layers before gluing smaller "true 25mm" figs to the base, the extra 3mm or so of height can create the illusion of scale and make the different figure lines more compatible. Provided I only sprinkle two or three throughout the unit, that is.

I would try this with the Crusader miniatures as well, but Spence tells me the issue is one of breadth rather than height. Apprantly, they are just proportionally broader than the other miniature lines Ive been using. Ah well. I`ll order a pack or two (probably one of archers and one of those quilt-wearing spearmen Ive mentioned a few times) just to try them out together. Even if they dont go well together in a unit, I still hope that (for once) Spence is wrong and I can at least use them in seperate formation. If anyone out there has any experience of combining Crusader and Perry figs, I`d love to hear from you.

Pics will be up shortly (not that anyone out there is crazy enough to be reading this right now). G'night.

Edit: Pics didnt come out right due to poor lighting. Will take the pics later this monring when the sun (and I) have both risen. Ill put up another progress report tonight (most likekly in the early hours) and report on the Ebberron game.

Dangerously Mad

Well, Ive finally bitten the bullet. Three years of nag nag nag from my mates and no-no-no from me and my willpower has given in like arrows through chainmail (well, chainmail IS just a suit of holes linked together, you know). What finally broke the camels back (first post and my mataphors are mixing like a bad cocktail already) you wonder?

Normans.

Yup, that's right. You heard correctly. Bloody Normans.

You see, it all started about a week ago. I was just minding my own bussiness, browsing through the miniatures page list of manufacturers when I happened to chance upon the listing for Perry Miniatures. Hello, I thought, not the Perry Twins surely? When did they start up their own line? Arn't they still working for Foundry? Aha! No! It transpires that Perry Miniatures is more of a hobby, something they do on the side, according to the Press Release. So I think, why not take a look.

(You can take a look too if you like, the URL is :http://www.perry-miniatures.com/ )

I was blown away by the craftsmanship of the Warring States Samuari, but luckily I have a samurai force for Clan War thats never been used, so I resist temptation and refuse to buy. But then I see the First Crusade Miniatures and Im hooked. Alas, I've just been reading up on the old Bloodstone modules for AD&D and day-dreaming about adapting them to 3.5. The period is late dark ages and it involves the player characters leading armies in the defence of a Barony and then involves them in a war to liberate their entire country! Arrgh. Next thing you know, I've got a £140 put down on mini's I`ll probably never use. Or so I thought.

You see, when they arrived, they were even better in "person" than on the web. I just had to start painting them right away - tough luck my Flames of War Germans, you are gone but not forgotten. So not only have I been madly buying and basing miniatures (on Games Workshop 20mm bases - more expence) but Ive been buying up civilians from Foundry (for the villagers) as well, along with shield transfers and Banners from Gripping Beast.

My one complaint about the Perry Miniatures is to do with the shields - the miniatures are supposed to be Franks, and yes, the boys would naturally pick up turkish shields when their own ones were knackered, but why make half of the shields Tirkish? Especially when the mini's shown are all armed with Norman-style Kite shields. Sheesh!

Well, the one consolation is that if I hadnt been looking for Norman shield packs from another manufacturer, I`d never have come across the Beast's shield transfers and banners. Lovely. Ten quid for a sheet of 24 banners and £2-3 for a sheet of 12 shield transfers. Hmm, not so lovely. More money spent and here I am supposedly saving up for a new house. Still, their worth a look if your interested.

Gripping Beast:
http://www.grippingbeast.com/shop.php?CatID=60

And oh, yeah. I had to buy a new craft knife (the old one broke) and I ran out of black spray paint early on. Why is my bank account being made to suffer so? And why has my blog turned into a forum for moaning on entry one already?

Cos I'm a gamer,I cant help myself thats why (and thats the answer to both questions).

Thank God for the savings account. That hasn't been touched (yet!)

Anyway, somehow, I make the obvious connection that if I`m going to use these minaitures for a roleplaying game, I may as well make use of them for wargaming as well. But the only Warhammer Ancients supplement with a First Crusade army list is out-of-print (Armies of Antiquity). What to do? What to do? Ahah! The old cogs begin to turn (squeekily I might add, cos Im suffering from the cold) . Crusaders are Franks right? Normans are Franks right? Theres a Norman list in the Shieldwall supplement right? Saved!!

Actually it turns out the Norman list covers Western Franks in general, so I could make them Bretons, Flemish or Carovingians if I wanted. Right now Im not sure if I want too or not, as Normans get the amazing ferocious charge ability, which is just brutal. But I may have a think later. At the moment though, the concept is that the Army represents the forces of a wealthy churchman, an abbot or bishop, and that the top man himself will lead them into battle, escorted by his bravest knight's. Conversion opportunties aplenty, methinks.

Later I'll go through my Army list choices and explain why I picked what I did in keeping with the armies theme. I`ll also explain what models I`m using for each unit and why (though it might be better to save that for when I actually stick pics of the completed units up on the blog). I'll even post up battle reports to chronicle the glorious exploits of this and my other (half-finishes) armies in order to humiliate my enemies (and my opponents). Assuming I can keep my interest up long enough to even get a battle, that is.

Bet your just quivering with excitement

I may even be tempted to use this blog for its "natural" purposes and even keep a diary of "real life" online. But personally I`m not sure about that at all. My life's not for the sharing with all and sundy. But we'll see.

Anyway, thats how I went from an army of roleplaying game figs to creating a new wargaming army. But what has that got to do with creating a blog?

Well, somebody suggested that if I keep track of my progress on a blog, even I wont get bored and start on something else ( remember those Germans?). Well, it seems to have worked for Dave Woodward ( http://paintermeister.blogspot.com/ ) so hopefully it should work for me too.

Fat chance.