Wars of the Roses Revamp Progress II

Being conscious of not posting anything connected to do with my current projects I hope that what follows goes some way to make up for that.

The Wars of the Roses has progressed to the point where I've nearly finished all the metal figures currently possessed.

First an overview of all the foot so far completed. In the center of the second line stands the Knights. Either side of them are the Men-at-Arms. Backing them up are the bills, a mix of retained men and hired militia. Fronting it all are the bows, again a mix of retained men and militia.

A closer view of the center of the retinue.

The nobility - the heart of the retinue. I painted these in full white harness (GW Boltgun with GW Chainmail highlight) and some livery.

One of the Men-at-Arms. These are in three quarter plate with various hauberks and padded armour. In order to distinguish these from the nobility the plate is of a darker sheen (GW Chainmail washed with black ink) and they wear hose in blue, green or red.

One of the bills. Here only the front rank wear armour other than mail. In addition the quilted armour is darker and less decorative. Additionally clothing is of plain colours and in various shades of brown. Shirts are coarse linen and not the finer material sported by the Men-at-Arms (GW Bleached Bone highlighted with white as opposed to the GW Skull White shaded with GW Fortress Grey).

The bows are portrayed exactly the same as the bills.

Finally a shot of the painting desk. At the back are the completed figures waiting for reinforcements to take them to full strength and movement trays. In the center the last of the foot - some knights and bows. To the right the last of the horse.

I'm not sure how to classify the figures for painting points. They don't take as long to paint as a base metal figure, with many only requiring repainting of the faces. All the bills and bows had shirts and hose repainted with additional livery added. The Men-at-Arms all received new quilted armour and livery schemes where applicable. The Knights had new livery where appropriate and flesh tones enhanced.

Figure wise since Christmas I've completed 280 foot figures and twenty mounted. I'll count the lot as 200 points given the amount of work taken to remove and clean the bases, build movement trays and the sixty new figures added in (including 40 Perry plastic).

Phoenix Squadron

The story behind the mission that saved Belize, or at least British Honduras as it was formerly known.
Rowland White delivers the story in his usual well defined and crisp manner that keeps the pages turning and the read gripped. He builds the tension until you can feel the relief in the colony when the Buccaneers scream in from over the sea, and that is the trick to telling this tell because at no time do the militaries of both protagonists actually clash.
Here is the last flourish of the Royal Naval strike carrier. The last time that the RN demonstrates what a true aircraft carrier can achieve.
The story revolves around the increasing pressure on British Honduras from Guatemala and how, in the end, it came down to the strike force from Ark Royal to show that Britain meant business. It tells the stories of the men that flew the mission, the men that sailed the ship and the engineers and lower ranks that made it possible.
In many ways it is a moving tale because, as Rowland puts it himself "you never miss something until it's gone". And as he shows ten years after the events in this book, in 1982 we did truly miss the presence of a ship like HMS Ark Royal and her squadrons of "heavies".

Well worth a read.

More Thoughts on rules

Okay we're back.
I managed to pick up a virus on my home PC which effectively curtailed any chance of getting onto the Internet effectively. So as a warning - please do not open any popup labelled Security Tool warning you of infections - firstly they are not infections and secondly once opened the programme prohibits you from using the desktop and accessing your own security.

Anyway back to wargaming.

How good are your rules? At what point do you say enough and stop meddling with them?

Taking two examples in use at the Grimsby club.

The rules used for the Malburian games are pretty much set.
The core elements of moving, firing and fighting are well established. Morale works reasonably well given the blood thirsty nature of the firing and fighting mechanisms used. Over the last ten years we've come to a set of rules that now receive an occasional tweak but little fundamental change.

On the flip side are the rules used for the Wars of the Roses.
For the last couple of years these have been used without any major revision. We all used similar armies and fought battles that could only have taken place on English soil. Okay we thought that there might be some issues buried in the rules with the more exotic troop types but since none of us used them it never came to be an issue.
It was the introduction of armies with more than a few exotic troops (and here I don't mean turban wearing orientals but rather half naked Scots & Irish) that the rules began to show some flaws. Fundamental flaws in some cases where points value did not reflect tabletop value & visa versa.
Resolving those issues is not a simple task either and there are now several players involved in trying to come to a resolution.

My point is that a set of rules that should be set is always in evolution and a set of rules that should have been evolving wasn't forced to until recently. Just when you think you have the bases covered someone comes along with a play that blows the defence open.

In short, recent experience suggests that rules should never to be taken as finished I think.

Where We Belong

I'll make it through each day

Singing death or glory

Last night we went to see The Lost Prophets on stage at Hull City Hall and an excellent night was had by all.

Okay the extra half hour wait in the cold because they couldn't erect the security barriers wasn't welcome. But even that had it's moments as we had a Mexican wave in the queue and the crowd were having a good time (my wife even helped a couple of lads with their chemistry homework!).

Supported by the Hexes who were fun and Kids in Glass Houses who were polished and very good, the Lost Prophets had a good show.

They played almost all of the new album and several fan favourites. Sound quality was good and being a small venue we all had a good view of the band and felt close to the stage. Whilst not the big set of previous tours the guys gave it their all and made the place rock.

Today my ears still ring, the knees hurt from pogoing, the throat is sore from singing but the heart is full of enjoyment.

A band for the younger generation that can still make an old rocker dance like he did twenty years ago.

Wars of the Roses Game

Images from the most recent Wars of the Roses game played at the club.
We see the two armies arrayed on the field and then the Anglo-Scottish army in a little more detail. I had a battle consisting of a unit of foot knights, a unit of men-at-arms, four units of bills and four of archers. My Scottish counterpart had five schiltrons backed by a unit of men-at-arms and two units of prickers.
Starting off well I managed to pick of a unit of the enemy archers but with both lines closing fast I had to pull them out of the front line. As the lines clashed, and with the way things go in the rules the melees swung backwards and forwards. Initially I managed to dislodge an enemy unit of bills it left the men-at-arms dangerously weak and I tried getting them out of harms way. Despite my best efforts the remaining enemy archers fired several volleys their way and routed them.
However, things were looking okay in the center with the enemy commander falling in the melee. Whilst celebrating this turn of events the enemy killed my commander in turn.
On my left the Scots were holding their own if not making any inroads into the enemy.
As the day drew on things were getting close. At the end it came down to which of the units of knights would break first. In the end it was the enemy nerve which broke first and gave victory to the first time of battle for my new troops.

Very pleased with the way my figures looked on the tabletop. The old basing style is, in my opinion, no match for the cleaner, fresher & brighter revamped troops.