NOT the Last Post

Well, given that I finally moved into the new place nearly two weeks ago you would no doubt be expecting a post from me by now. No, alas, thanks to my wonderful service provider NTL, who let me know the last day before the Xmas weekened that they don't operate in my new postcode area. Well thanks boys. Great customer service. Regular posting will resume the minute BT Home Hub is installed. In the meantime, here's a breif rundown of what you can expect to hear about when I finally have regular internet access again:

Two battle reports involving the Normans.
Miniature Painting and Purchasing Updates.
Eberron Update (or should that be "Proper Introduction"
and some other random gaming thoughts.

Anyway, lunchbreaks nearly over and I need to get back to work.

Speak to you then.

Moor's the Pity

Well, I've gone and done it. I've managed to arrange my second game with the Norman's for next week. I challenged Julian's Celts to a game just as Sam was about to invite me to his Iron Kingdoms one off game next week. Having heard what he had planned makes me want to split myself in two to play both, but I really need a second outing with my army and I couldn't possibly break off one engagement to accept another - despite Julian's generous offer to allow me to do so. Cheers Julian, but an agreement is an agreement. I've been meaning to get in a game with you for weeks and I`m looking forward to our game every bit as much as I`m looking forward to hearing the screams of dismay coming from the players around Sam's table. Bwahahahahahahahah!

I actually challanged Julian to a game against his massive array of British Celts (over 7000 points worth!!) but happily Julian has a more appropriate army sitting in his shelf and as yet unused: Moors!!!! Hurray! Another historically appropriate enemy I didn't know a thing about. Thing is now, when he says Moors what does he mean? There were so many Arab and Muslim armies that the west labelled "Moorish" (much in the same way that to a Arab or Turk of the time, Europeans were all "Franks") that the army could be based around any one of half-a-dozen lists that I can think of. Is the army chosen from the list in Armies of Antiquity, or one of the lists in El Cid? Who can tell?

Not me anyway. So thats why I'll have to ask Julian. Or maybe the all-seeing all knowing Spence. More pics of my painted milites coming up shortly by the way, honest. Just as soon as I can manage a decent lighting rig for a change.

P.S Still no sign of a blog entry r/e our Battlelines game appearing on Johns Blog. Ah well. I suppose he'll get around to publically admitting his humiliating def....er, I mean, honourable overall draw, one day :D

Army General (Plus Free Bonus Rant you should certainly feel free to ignore)

Well, between baby-sitting and getting semi-ready for tomorrows move Ive have done exactly nothing. Again. Except work... and even then I didnt do much as I managed to skive off to pick up some Xmas decorations for the office and then spent the next three hours decorating the damn place. It did mean I had to stay back for an extra hour though, as I couldn't just leave the job half-finished. My, isn't celotaping tinsel to the ceiling a great way to make a living?

Yeah, more sarcasm. Still, beats having people moan at you all day about how inefficient the government is. Believe me, I already know. We tell our senior management how utterly useless they all are often enough that they no longer even bother consulting us before introducing the latest inefficiency anymore.

Gah! I miss the army. Sure, the MOD was every bit as blithely incompetant as the Department of Work and Pensions but at least we could ignore their stupid directives until they took the hint and tried something else. They once asked us to count every individual 5.56mm rifle round held by the entire regiment (as opposed to counting and weighing the twenty round boxes in open ammo crates and examining the seals on the unopened one's). Yeah, seriously, only about half-a-million rounds or so! Needless to say they were told in no uncertain terms where they could shove their ammunition audit.

But now I`m just a lowly civil servant who cares more about getting vulnerable people they're money that he does about the governments bloody unemployment figures. I cant really get away with that sort of thing anymore. Honestly, I`m not sure how much more rule bending they'll let me get away with. But frankly, I dont see why a customer should have to wait five days to be paid just because their GP can't fill out a medical certificate properly. Especially not when we can use Internet Banking to pay the customer on the same day the doctor re-issues the cert! Sure it takes a half-an-hour each time. But it's not the customers fault the government sacked nearly a third of our processing staff is it? Or that the "time saving measures" brought in the goverment actually increased the time it takes to issued emergency payments. Yeah, we told them that would happen, but now that they've spent 13 million on a payment system that forces us to start from scratch if we make a spelling mistake (or, heaven forbid, try to go back ato the previous screen!) they're determined to make us use it rather than admit to the mistake.

Frankly, if the senior bods were really even remotely adequate for the job, they wouldn't be civil servants. They'd have been head-hunted long ago and off to the happy, delerium -inducingly high-wages of private bussiness. Instead, they're still here. Basically because no other bugger would be stupid enough to employ them.

Don't get me wrong, there are a few senior bods whom I truly believe have stayed on in the civil service because they are genuinely trying to make things work. Alas, they're just banging their heads against brick walls every bit as much as we are. At the end of the day, it's the civil service culture that's at fault for allowing second-rate individuals to rise to the top of the chain. But how do you change a culture thats become ingrained after several hundred years of development?

Truly, I just dont think you can. And that, to me, is a real shame. When civil servants (we're SERVANTS remember?) care more about their statistics and the next performance review than they do about the people they are supposed to helping you can't help but be inundated at our level with a thousand little tradgedies a day. Like a primary school teacher who has worked for thirty years being told that although she has developed bowel cancers and now has toilet issues, the fact that she has survived breast cancer for six years now makes her fit for work! Now it will take an Appeal and as long as six months to get her Incapacity Benefit claim up and running again. And all because the certificate informing us that the cancer had spread was lost in the interal civil-service mail. What kind of social "security" system is that? It disgusts me!

It also makes me very sad.

Right, enough. This is supposed to be a wargaming blog after all. So, included for your delectation (I love that word) are some pics of my recently touched up Army General. Again, apologies for the picture quality. I have had some great advice from some good people, but these pics were taken off the cuff about fifteen minutes ago and it's far too late to be messing around with lighting and such. Anyway, I've off to bed now. G'night.

Horsing Around the Battlelines

Well, I was going to post up pictures of my mounted milites tonight, but on relfection Ive decided not to. As they were a little rushed I didnt put as much detailing on them as I would have liked, so the shields are off and a little updating is in progress. I know, I know, I`ve broken the cardinal rule of army painting: never go back till the whole army's done. But in this case I felt it was justified. Ive gone back and added a few more blazes, highlighted a few manes and tails I didnt have time to finish, and now I need to mount the shields again (heh, heh, I said "mount", get it? a double entandre and a pun all in one word. Damn I'm plleased with myself).

Anway...

In the meantime Ive being playing a few games of Battlelines with John. See his blog, here: Got game! for more details. Our game isnt up yet but I`m sure it will be eventually. That was sarcasm by the way. John has yet to write up a single game in which I've beaten him, though he's quite happily to admit to a few loses from badger? I wonder why?

Nah, I`m just ribbing you! Actually John and I rarely play boardgames, mostly because Im not a big fan and they quickly bore me. I've only played boardgames with him on three occasions: one in which I was soudnly beaten (Settlers), one on which I was victorious during my first ever game of Up Front (Well, I have commanded real infantry platoons a time or two, even if I was a tankie!) and on this last occasion an overall draw. He trounced me in the first game and I won the second, far closer game, after getting a grip on the game mechanics.

All in all, it's an enjoyable little game, but I cant bring myself to think of it as a wargame or a simulation, only as a very pretty dice game. A peasant with a shortsword and a bow is just as likely to kill a fully armoured mounted knight in close combat as he is to kill a fellow peasant ( a one in six chance either way). And if you ask me, that just isn't right. Plus the support rule encourages generals to form their units into "wedge" formation. The successful player is the one who exploits the rules mechanics to his best advantage rather than the one with the best tactical knowledge. In fact, someone with a decent understanding of historical combat is likely to be at a severe disadvantage in their first game (like I was). Just because a unit of knights would be near invulnerable to a peasant with a sword sword in open field doesnt mean they are are going to ride over them in this system. Admitedly,I did charge my knights unsupported across the field (well, I WAS playing the French at Agincourt :D) but even so it should not be possible for four stands of peasants with shortswords to withstand a charge by three stands of heavy cavalry and then wipe them out a turn later!

So, on the whole an enjoyable evening, especially when I came back from defeat and (again using the Fench) defeated John in a straight on infantry fight, using my knights as bait for his archers and swarming his men-at-arms (medium infantry) and dismounted knights (heavy infantry)with own medium infantry suported and one unit of medium cavalry. I didnt bother trying to take down his archers: they were faster than my men at arms and would simply flee "in good order" after a round of combat with an equally sized unit of my medium infantry. Also, my unit of medium cavalry was put to better use attacking already weakened infantry units to capture their banners. As the game is won by the player who captures a cerain numbers of banners first (in this case four) this was a far more useful role for them than chasing hordes of archers back and forth. Heck, theirs no guarantee the archers wouldn't have mown them down with their shortswords anyway, not in this game at least.

If it sounds as though I hated this game, please, don't get me wrong. I truly enjoyed it and would gladly play it again a time or two -this time including the "Lore" rules. See Johns blog if you want to know what I mean by that, as I wont explain it here. It's a fantasy game after all, but I would expect a fantasy game that perports to be set in an "alternate medieval europe" to at least reflect the realities of medieval combat a little better.

Two units of knights wiped out by two units of peasants archers with sword swords indeed!!!!

Haven't forgotten

No, I havent forgotten to update and no little green men havent come down from mars to upduct me...

They were blue.

The truth is that a lot has been happening lately, the new house is sorted and the organising of furniture is about to begin. Throughout all this I havent had much (read "any") time for painting, but somehow Ive managed to out the finishing touches on all the mounted milites and the general EXCEPT for the shields. Which should take no time at all. After that, I have to consider whether I`m going to paint the libres next, or the axemen. And also consider what miniatures to buy. Colin's VIkings have a bunch of Foundry, Crusader and Gripping Beast mixed in together and they look fine. Just a normal distribution of build amoungst a standard group of guys. Oh yeah, and I have to figure out my new minaiture buying budget. Darn lucky I dont drink, thats all I'll say.

Pictures of mounted milite unit to follow when all the shields are done.

First Engagement.

No, I`m not getting married. As promised, here is the Battle Report for my first ever game of WAB, 1300pts of disciplined Norman ranks against 1300 pt of Viking Horde. Vikings played by Colin. Norman's run by me. The result, you'll find, was quite satisfactory for us both. Cos we both had fun.

The Tabletop: The table top was mostly flat level ground. I arrived last so Colin had already set up the board with "symmetrical" terrain to ensure the ground did not provide an advantage to either side. In my left quarter there was a hill, level ground in the centre and woods on my right. In the centre of the table was a field of crops which allowed half movement and did not block line of sight (No, 15 feet of corn will not stop an arrow!). On my left Colin had a wood on his side of the table and a hill on my right.



A Brief Word ABout Photo's:

There are a lot of very bad, poor quality photo's scattered around this battle report. Believe it or not, these are the ones that turned out best. For some reason the flash on my digital camera had packed in and as we've already seen my cameras autofocus isnt exactly top class. So I can only apologise for the very poor quality of these pictures. Colin had a very well painted army, but it doesn't show through well in these pics. Any naked figures you see are my own: I`m ashamed to admit it, as I HATE playing with naked miniatures (I`m a bit of a paint Nazi, it's true).


Oh yeah, about the "naked"balsa wood movement trays. Yes, I know, they are very garish. But I only finished painting and flocking the movement trays last night. As I had to blue tack the figs to the base for transport I fixed them to the underside of the base. I didnt want the flock coming off before I'd had time to give it a PVA wash over the top. The idea was to arrive early and then place the minaitures on the trays the "right" way up. But due to running late at work (fixing other peoples mistakes, as usual) there wasn't time to sort things out before the beginning of play.



The Armies:

Vikings

I didn't think to ask Colin for a copy of his list, so this is not an exact breakdown. But from my left to his right:

1 unit of 13 skirmishing Hirdmen (Hirdmen) with Double Handed Axes and Throwing Spears (began in the woods on Colin's side of the table.

A fairly large unit of Bondir (Bondir 1) with throwing spears and handweapons. Maybe twenty-four strong.
This unit deployed directly opposite the hill on my left. 4 ranks.

A second, larger unit of Bondir (Bondir 2) with throwing spears and two-handed axes, accompanied by a Godir. Directly opposite the crop field. 4 ranks

A unit of around 24 Hirdmen (Bodyguard) led by the Army General. Double handed axes and throwing spears. Includes 3 Berserkers. Facing crop field. 4 ranks

A unit of about ten skirmishing archers (Archer 1) deployed in front of Bondir 1 and the Hirdsmen, screening them both.

A final unit of ten skirmishing archers (Archer 2)deployed on the hill to my fight.

Normans:

Again from my left to my right.

21 Dismounted Milites, (Milite Foot) thrusting spears, heavy armour, shield.
Deployed on the rear slope of the hill on my left. 3 ranks.

12 Coloni Skirmishers (Coloni) with bow. Skirmishers. Deployed on the hill crest.

16 Serjents (Serjents) with lightarmour, shield and double handed weapons. Deployed opposite Bondir 2 and facing the crops. Light Infantry. 3 ranks.

21 Liberi (Liberi) with shield and spear. Deployed to the right of the Serjents. Facing Crop Field. 3 ranks.

11 Mounted Milites plus Dux (Knights) deployed slightly behind and between the Serjents and the Liberi. 2 ranks.

The forest on my right remained empty (apart from dice and "dead" miniatures) for the duration of the game.

I set up second and finished first. Colin won the first round (which suited me fine).

THE BATTLE

Turns 1 and 2:

On turns 1 and 2, the Viking Line advanced along its length, with the Hirdmen on my left moving forward to flank my forces on the hilltop. My Serjents, Liberi and Knights marched to meet the Vikings while the Milite Foot on the hill stood their ground. My shooting was largely ineffective, but it did suffice to reduce the numbers of Bondi unit 1. The Viking shooting was far more formidable. The Liberi were quickly reduced to a single rank and some change by the end of turn 2. However, they were know firmly in place and ready to charge the Viking Archer unit screening his battle line (Archer 1). I knew that once they drove off these pesky skirmishers, the Berserks would unleash their fury against these sacrificial lambs. Whether it was the bravery of their hearts or the thought of being run down by their own Knights should they turn and run, they passed every panic test (one per turn) and advanced steadily into position. The Godir chose this moment to leave Bondir unit 2 and join the Bodyguard in anticipation of a charge by the oncoming cavalry.

By this point, the First unit of Bondir were also at the base of the hill on my left.

Norman Turn 3.

The Viking Bondir at the foot of the hill chanted and jeered as they tried to entice the Milite Foot down from the hill, the crest of which they had advanced to at the beginning of the battle. However, the poor-sighted Bondir leader (no doubt squinting as the sun reflected off the shiny helmets of his foes) was unable to discern that the Milite Foot were in heavy armour, and could not have charged them even had they been foolish enough to give up the hill.

Meanwhile, on the right the Liberi let out a mighty yell and charged the Viking Archer unit screening the Bodyguard. Though a few more of these brave and doughty warrior (with the encouragement of their Duke and their own unit leader) fell as the cowardly Bondir fired and ran, their failed charge did bring them close enough to the Bodyguard that they could see the rolling eyes and frothing mouths of the three berserks struggling to break free from their comrades and wreck bloody havoc upon the field.

Meanwhile, the Knights cheered the brave sacrifice of their peasant levy, advancing behind them in anticipation of the gap they would open in the line. This would be a path leading straight to the Viking General, his bodyguard and a moment of Norman glory.

To the Liberi's left, the Serjents advanced into the cornfield. Their shouted challanges and crude gestures made clear their intentions to engage the second and largest unit of Bondir at the earliest opportunity. This was a clash the fierce vikings seemed to anticipate with relish. Meanwhile, the Coloni screening the Milites atop the hill moved round to screen the left flank of theMilite Foot from the encroaching Hirdmen skirmishers.

Viking Turn 4

The Viking General and his Hirdmen could restrain their frothing maniacs no longer. Two of the three berserkers burst from the unit, storming into the sorrowful remnents of the Liberi and ripping them to pieces, accompanied by gales of laughter from the Bodyguard. A third berserker, seeing an whole regiment of Norman Serjents before him, could not resist the thought of attacking so large a unit single-handedly and was quickly cut down for his trouble, having claimed only a single mercenary to wait upon his table in Valhalla.

The small unit of Bondir on the Norman left maintained their position beneath the hill, waiting for their Hirdmen skirmishers to move into position and steeling themselves for a bloody slaughter. The Hirdmen themselves moved to engage the Coloni at a run but could not reach them this turn, eager to avenge the single shield-brother who had so far fallen to Norman archery.


Above: " I taunt you a second time!".

Meanwhile, the Viking Bodyguard inched backwards in horror of the coming charge, but despite their best efforts at "finding surer ground" they knew they could not hope to put sufficient distance between themselves and the Norman horseflesh bearing down upon them

The viking archers upon the hill and those who had fled from the Liberi assault now turned their bows upon the now screenless Norman Knights. Three knights and their mounts died screaming under Viking Arrows, and the brave knights gritted their teeth and the loss of so much noble blood in so unseemly a fashion. Yet their Dux's strong will and calls for order kept the maddened knights from wasting their charge upon such unmanly foes. The knights, couching their lances, grinned evilly as they summoned up thoughts of revenge, anticipating the slaughter their powerful lances would wreck amongst the Viking Hirdmen of the Bodyguard.

Norman Turn 4.

The proud company of Norman knights let fly their brave battle-cry and charged across the hoof churned, blood-soaked earth. They barely paused to swat the now exhausted and near dead bersekers out of their path. With a great and mighty crash, the Norman Knights wreaked a mighty havoc in the Viking ranks, three hirdmen of the Bodyguard fell beneath the lances of Milites and Dux and another two fell beneath the mighty blows of iron-shod hooves. Yet the Danish axes, swung with all the desperate might of hardened men, took blood of their own, the Viking General himself claiming three more brave knights. For a moment it seemed the Viking line would break, but then, just as the Norman musicians throat was dried from fear and dust, the Viking hornblower let air a mighty note. With fresh vigour, the Danish forces pushed into the Shieldwall. Hacking left and right, Dux Baldwin looked first to the screaming horses and dying men around him, then to the Vikings with their deadly axes before him, and he knew their line would not break. Deciding that to stay and fight against such numbers with the momentum of the charge all but lost was far less attractive than the thought of Viking arrows he led his brave retinue out of the fight in good order. There, sufficiently distant that no Viking charge could reach them, he set about re-organising his much reduced line and made ready for another charge.
Above: The surviving knights as they begin to fall back in good order.


The brave and doughty Serjents, seeing that their general was leading the flower of their army away from the melee, recognised that their intent was to reform and charge again. They did not panic, but steeled themselves for the coming onslaught. A few moments later they had advanced to the edge of the wheatfield.

Viking Turn 5/Norman turn 5


All across the battlefield the two armies jockeyed for position. On the left, the Hirdsmen finally manouvred themselves into a favourable position where they could charge next turn. The Bondir at the foot of the hill finally seemed to notice how heavily armoured the Milite Foot were when the Normans began to advance down the forward slopes. They continued taunting the Vikings trying to entice a reckless charge. Thus allowing the Norman Coloni better shots at the Hirdmen. Even so, the feudal serfs were so terrified by the sights and sounds around them that they only felled a single Hirdmen between them.

On the Norman centre: disaster. The retreat of the Knights became a rout. Though the Dux struggled mightily to reassemble his line in some sort of order, the hail of viking arrows and the death of two more knights started a panic he was powerless to prevent. Cursing his men for women and worse, he was left to ride after them waving his sword in the air, shouting "Rally, Rally!" to no avail.

Viking Turn 6

All across the battlefield, the Viking horde gave voice to a mighty cheer. The Hirdsmen on the Norman left charged the Coloni, who paused to fire a single arrow each before fleeing. However, so shaken were they by Viking might that not a single arrow struck home with sufficient force to piece mail. The brave Hirdsmen, thwarted by this cowardly retreat, instead charged home into the flanks of the Milite Foot on the hill ( I forgot about the redirecting charges rule). Seeing this, the more timid Bondir at the foot of the hill also finally charged forward to join the fight. Two brave Norman spearmen were quickly cut down from behind and a third from the fore, but the doughty spearmen, knowing that though their flanks were threatened, the high ground was theirs, stubbornly refused to flee. They fought on, slaying two of the Hirdsmen and two Bondir. Even without their rank bonus, this made the combat a draw. Though once again Viking Horns sounded louder than Norman trumpets, the Dismounted milites stood firm and unshaken. They fought on.

Meanwhile, across the cornfield the situation seemed just as bleak. The charge of the second Bondir unit was preceded by a veritable shower of throwing spears. Yet the doughty Serjents, seasoned by generations of similar campaigns, simply cowered behind their great kite shields and took the weapons of their enemies upon them without complaint or the loss of a single man. Only when the vikings closed with axes did the first Serjent fall. But then, the Normans struck back with powerful Danish axes of their own, and while only a single Bondir fell, the brave song of the Norman trumpet and the sheer nonchalance with which the Serjents accepted the Viking charge took the fight out of their enemy. Suddenly remembering urgent business elsewhere, the largest Viking unit on the field took to their heels and fled. However, not one would live to attend to that business. As they fled, the Norman mercenaries pursued pitilessly, so that in a few sheer, brutal moments, theViking line was penetrated. Their largest "warband" had been massacred in flight. The Viking line was split and the Norman axemen were behind their Lines.

Above: The crucial moment before...... and (below) after the Viking Line Breaks. The batle on the hill (the miniatures have been moved slightly forward off the hill to stop them falling over) can be seen in the background. Well, sort of "seen" anyway. The unit in the foreground below is the Viking Bodyguard.





Where once, just a moment ago, it had seemed that all was lost for the brave defenders of Caen, now victory seemed once again within their grasp.

Norman Turn 6:

Above: The Battle on the Hill Top.

"Look you fools. Stop! They flee! They flee!"The Norman Dux was finally able to raise the spirits of his few surviving knights and squires. They once again turned their faces towards the battle. Seeing that their dismounted brothers and kin were near-surrounded atop the hill, the Knights spurred their horses to their relief them. But night was falling and the Dux already knew the battle would be over before he could reach his men. He cursed the wasted opportunity to acheive victory. With just another hour of daylight he could crush the Viking Bodyguard between proud horseflesh and Norman Serjents. Instead all he could do was spur his horse towards his embattled spearmen. Preying without much hope that the sight of his rapidly approaching horsemen would steal their hearts and convince them to fight on until full dark enveloped the battlefield, he urged his horse ever onward with lash and spur.

Atop the hill two more brave milites fell to Viking axes, by now the Norman line was breaking as men and burly Hirdsmen pushed their way into the gaps. For a long, dreadful moment the standard wavered, it feel to the ground from the hands of the brave Milite who carried it only to be taken up in the hands of another. As the line began to break, this brave young squire, Baldwin II, nephew od the Dux, peered to the left over the heads of his defeated countrymen and cried out:

"The Dux, the DUX! The DUX has come!"

With that, the brave warriors put their backs into the fray, not wanting to be shamed before their lord. On till darkness they fought, and when the surviving warriors of both sides left the field, none could say for sooth whether their battle had been one or lost. It seemed then, that the only reward for their valour would be another battle on the morrow....

Summary:

This was a very tight, close game, which could have gone either way. At one point, when 600pts worth of my army were riding away into the sunset, Colin suggested that now would be a good time to concede. But like a true tenacious Scot, I said "nah!" and fought on. And just as well. For in the very next turn, when all seemed lost and Colin was rolling a terrifingly large number of dice, his Bondi broke and ran. After taking just one casualty and then failing the roll off (Although my banks ranks were still in difficult ground, their light infantry status meant that I kept the +2 rank bonus)! Just like that, Colin had lost his largest unit and a strong infantry unit was behind his lines with only skirmishing archers and a much reduced Bodyguard to face them. It wasn't until after the game that Colin realised he should have moved his Godi back into the Bondi unit after my knights were chased off.

As it was, I hadn't even realised that he'd moved the Godi into the Bodyguard in the first place If I had, I wouldn't have been so eager to charge them with my knights. Not without inflicting a few missile casualties first! Ferocious charge would have done nothing to break them and with no rank bonus left and only str3 vs toughness 5 after the first round of combat, there was no way they would win a protracted fight. But such is life. Its a shame though, when those dice came up six and five for the break test, even the presence of the general nearby couldn't stop those Bondi fleeing. And THEN the Serjents pursued 11" into Colins side of the board to contest an otherwise secure table quarter. Its funny how one roll of the dice can change everything.

Speaking of which (and jumping around a bit here) I would say it's probably best not to go charging formed units of troops, even with my powerful cavalry, without softening them up first or going for the flanks. But Colin just had far too may skirmishers for me to be able to do that. At least not without clearing them out first.

One of the many things I did learn from this inconclusive battle (the points total to each side was damn near even, with one quarter and one banner each and nearly the same points value removed from the table) is that skirmishers really ARE far more useful in WAB than in WFB. I already knew this from conversations with other players (as well as games of Rome: Total War) but seeing is believing. I knew I was going into this battle short of skirmishers and it hurt me when I couldn't counter Colins very good quality skirmish line with my own( I was outnumbered 3 to one in skirmishers). In fact, those skirmishing archers of his very nearly cost me the game. First by taking away the knights Charge Bonus (they would have won the first round of combat otherwise) and then routing them a turn later.

In retrospect, perhaps I should have chased them off with my cavalry. However, using the knights in this way would have taken my generals high leadership away from the main battle line for at least a turn. All for the sake of a few hundred points of archers. If I'd done that they might never have gotten into the main battle at all, and that would be a considerable waste of nearly half my armies total points value.

I also learned a big Viking weakness: throwing spears are great in that first round of combat, (witness the effect on my Knights) but in a long drawn out fight, the guy with the thrusting spears will proabably win. Especially when you factor in that most Norsemen fight as Light Infantry. If it hadn't been for the Hirdsmen charging their flank and some bad dice rolling on my part, the Foot Milites would have wiped the floor with those Bondir in turn 6 and possibly even in turn 5.

Colin was also kind enough to break his usual habit and take some berserkers to show me how they work. He was right of course, they were too easy to counteract by sacrificing a few, cheap troops, even with Colins clear superiority in skirmishers. That's another one of my bugbears laid to rest.

Colin was a great sportsman throughout and really let down by his dice. He completely outmanouvred me, despite having an entirely infantry based forced. Turn 5 should really have been the nail in the coffin for me. It was Colins bad luck that kept me in the game, although I call it revenge for the poor marksmanship of my Coloni, who killed just three miniatures in six turns of shooting!!!. I also had my own share of bad luck, especially with saving throws. And in rolling a ten for my generals break test. Luckily though, the Knights were by this point too far away to risk breaking my Serjents as well.

He was very patient with my mistakes and even let me move my Serjents back a few inches when he explained that the distance a berserker charges is not affected by terrain penalties as I had assumed. Most significantly though, he pointed out the presence of my general within 12" of the Milites and happily admitted that I had passed my break test as a result. Thus, in speaking up he ensured he had held me to an honorable draw at the price of a less honorable victory. In the end, another turn would probably have won the Colin the battle. My Serjents were not in a position to charge the bodyguard, the Knights would have needed to spend a turn manouveing before they could charge into the fray and the stand on the hill could have collapsed at any moment. Colin might not agree, but if we played another turn he'd have won.

Thanks Colin, for a great game, full of excitement till the end. I hope to play you again soon: but this time you'll be facing his holiness Baldwin II, (the Dux's nephew) and the holy armies of the diocese of Caen!

Above: Colin ponders his next move as the Liberi move into charge range.

First Knight Photos.

No, it's not a re-run of Richard Gere's worst movie (thats not saying much, really), it's the first batch of mounted milites.

Today was vaguely productive, even with the return of the old dears from their hols` (naturally, they wanted to tell me about it and naturally I was interested enough to listen). I managed to complete my first set of four mounted milites. Special thanks to the folks over on the Warhammer Ancient Battles List for pointing me in the right direction (i.e towards a web-article on painting horses).

It's hard to believe, but in fifteen years of painting (well, 19, but the first four years don't count because I thought undercoats were an item of clothing until I was about 12) these four beasts constitute my sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth horses! Yes, fifteen years and I've only ever painted NINE horses! I know, I know. I`m not the only gamer with a near-phobia of painting the damn things, but how I manged to go so long avoiding the job I'll never know.

Well, yeah, I do kinda. It comes from all those science-fiction and late medieval-style armies I've collected and 9rarely) painted. Barely a horse in sight in those and the ones you do see are covered head-to-foot in War of the Roses style barding anyway.

I've very fond of these four. My efforts may not have produced spectacular miniatures but I am painting for gaming purposes here and not for display. The really surprising thing I that I quite enjoyed painting them! I dont know why this was ever such a bugbear for me!

Well, no doubt you guy's will let me know what you think. I have five more on the table at the moment and when I finish those (hopefully early tomorrow) that will leave me all afternoon to sort out the command group, arrange an army list for Tuesday and prep the Libre spearmen for basing and painting.

It'll also give me time to do a little repair work on two spearmen I accidently spray painted rather than varnishing. Yup, I managed to have a good stab at re-undercoating two of the newly shielded spearmen you saw earlier instead of varnishing them. It'll take all of five minutes to cover up the minimal damage ( I realisedsomething was up right after the first sqoosh) but the worst thing is, they weren`t even in the FIRST batch of spearmen to be varnished. Oh no, they were the very LAST TWO!!!!.

Note to Self: Never Spray Varnish after midnight. Especially when your Spray Varnish and your Spray Undercoat have the same colour of lid. Bad, bad idea. Even for me.

Thought for the Week: "Your only goal in playing a wargame should be to make sure your opponent has a good time." - Jervis Johnson, quote courtesay of the WAB list.

Damn straight!