Legio Wargames

In our previous Sharp Practice War of 1812 game the Americans succeeded in throwing back the British counter-attack on Queenston Heights. When more British reinforcements later came up, the position became untenable as further American units were refusing to cross the river. The Americans were able to withdraw back to the US side in relatively good order. The British now want to take the fight to the American side to harass and discomfort the enemy as winter approaches. An A

Having completed the basic Etruscan force for Andy Hawes’ Dux Italica I have been turning my hand to building an Italian Gallic contingent — the Senones who famously sacked Rome in 390 BC. I begin by kit-bashing several figures that have been languishing in my lead pile, supplemented by a recently purchased sprue of Victrix plastics. The Victrix Gauls are wonderful figures. If I did not already have so many unpainted Relic, Warlord and Foundry Gauls I would have been tempted

April 7 th  1862.   Today our brave boys utterly routed the blue bellies at Chard Farm. Many unionists were killed and several officers wounded. Confederate casualties were minimal. Celebrations continue well into the night as our boys avail themselves to the ammunition and supplies abandoned by the fleeing Tories.  Edward D. Malone reporting for the New Colchester Gazette. In a previous action at Chard Farm the Little Framlingham Militia (LFM) managed to seize a gun and ammu

Another cracking Battle Day put on by the Society of Ancients last weekend. The only downside was that it was held on the Sunday after the clocks went forward! The battle was Cunaxa in which Cyrus, aided by 10,000 Greeks challenged his brother Artaxerxes for the Persian throne. Our game was played with 20mm figures using Alala! rules. We concentrated the action on Cyrus’ right/Artaxerxes’ left given that the other wing saw little or no action in the historical battle. Artaxer

With the preparations for the Society of Ancients Cunaxa Battle Day I have been in a bit of a Greco-Persian mood. With all the units we need for Cunaxa painted and ready, I still have some unpainted Greeks in my lead pile and so decide to get to work on them. I have painted them as Thebans or other Boetians — identifiable as such by the distinctive club of Hercules shield design. At Mantinea some Thebans were also distinguished by white painted helmets. I am planning to tr

Time for one more play-test before we take our Cunaxa game with Alala! to the Society of Ancients Battle Day on 29 March. The game opens with Artaxerxes’ chariots surging forward against Cyrus’ Greek hoplites. The hoplites are unable to open ranks to let the chariots through as they do not hold an open ranks card (more on this later). Proxenus’ hoplites suffer a fair amount of disorder before the enemy chariots crash. Not to be outdone Cyrus sends forward his single chariot a

It is 1239, somewhere in Gaza.  Rukn al-Din al-Hijawi’s Ayyubid army has set a trap to rid the holy land of the invading crusaders. Using a caravan as bait he hopes to draw the crusaders out into the desert. Al-Hijawi’s plan is to use light cavalry to harass and break up the crusader formations and then converge to pick off isolated units. With the Ayyubid caravan (led by Al Muzaffir Umar) on table, two of the crusader players deploy their vanguard. Amaury de Montfort command

...well if you are an American militiaman in the War of 1812 you might regret it. These men are just off the painting table and ready to join my British and Canadians in our next 1812 game. I think they look ready for some serious business. The figures are mostly Dixon and Old Glory that have been languishing unpainted in my lead pile for several years. I intend them to represent men of the western tribes — Shawnee, Ojibwa, Potawatomi, Odawa etc in my ongoing 1812 campaign.

Larth Ulthes, Prince of Tarquinia, has learned of a planned Roman raid on the Sacred Temple of Tinia (Jupiter to the Romans). Larth assembles a force and leads them forth to prevent the sacrilege. Led by Tribune Marcus Manlius Lupus, the Romans advance quickly over the hills towards the temple. To protect the Etruscan left, the gallant Velthur Macstarna, leads forward the dashing young aristocratic cavalry of Tarquinia to counter Roman cavalry advancing on that flank. Moving

The stage is set for our second Sharp Practice game set at Queenston Heights 13 October 1812. In their dawn attack the Americans failed to capture Queenston village but succeeded in capturing the British gun battery on the heights, but not before the guns could be spiked. Area of Operations Queenston 13 October 1812 Now Major General Sir Issac Brock is leading reinforcements from Ft George to recapture the heights and drive the Americans back across the Niagara river. Samuel

I am nearing completion of my basic Etruscan force for Andy Hawes' Dux Italica. Fresh off the painting table is this unit of Etruscan cavalry and their leader. They would most likley be young aristocrats who provided their own equipment and horses. The figures are a mix of Victrix Macedonian Successors and Republican Romans with a few Footsore Etruscan heads. Most of the shields have Little Big Man transfers but a couple are hand painted. Such men could afford the latest body

I have now set up a Shop on my website where hard copies of some of my rules can be ordered direct from the printers for world-wide distribution. These are available now. Comitatus 2026 coming soon.

Proof copy of the new edition of Comitatus arrived from the printers today. Having a good look over it and hopefully soon ready to go live.

Our initial Queenston 1812 game saw the Americans gain possession of the British redan on the heights. I have since being painting reinforcements for the British/Canadian counter-attack which will be played in a couple of weeks time. Leading the attack will be Captain (now Major) Dennis’s Grenadier company of the 49 th  Foot (green facings and black plumes). They have been reinforced by the newly painted Grenadiers of the 41 st  (red facings and white plumes). The figures ar

New Colchester Gazette January 6, 1862. Today the good citizens of New Colchester rejoice. A convoy of guns and ammunition has arrived safely in the town defying an attempt by the Yankees to capture it. Edward D. Malone reporting, photography by Mr Jay Cloth. Colonel Sanders, Commanding Officer of the New Colchester Volunteers (NCV), has obtained a section of 6 pounder guns and ammunition. Having been commissioned into the Light Artillery in the War of 1812 this pleases him n

Etruscan society was highly stratified. Citizens of wealth and rank ( hoi dynatotatoi ) provided the hoplite phalanx backed up by their vassals ( penestes ).  The Etruscans were loath to arm the lower orders of society. When such men were called up they were lightly armoured with oval/rectangular shields and heavy javelins — forerunners of the Roman scuta and pila. Dionysius of Halicarnassus wrote that some Etruscan cities used mercenaries to swell their ranks and I have dec

In 838 the Abbasid Caliphate invaded Anatolia. Emperor Theophilos led the Byzantine field army, reinforced by Khurrami Persians, to attack Prince Afshin’s Arabs, Turks and Armenians at Dasymon. The Emperor attacked at dawn when many of Afshin’s Turks were away foraging. His intent — to destroy the Arab army before the Turks can come to their aid. This game is another play-test for my revision of Comitatus rules which will be published in the new year. Most of the Byzantine f

My Etruscan 1 st  class citizen hoplites ( Rasenna  as they called themselves) are now ready for battle, joining the 2 nd  class hoplites previously painted . These are proper citizens of wealth, good standing, and refined tastes — not the hoi polloi fielded by the Romans and other lesser mortals with their dangerously radical republican ideas. The Rasenna can afford full hoplite panoply and decorate their shields, armour and helmets to display their wealth and prestige. The

The next chapter of our Dux Britanniarum campaign sees the wild painted men of the north landing in their small boats on the coast of Caer Colun (East Anglia). The Romano-British of Denningtonum have been finding it hard enough to fend off the Saxons and now it seems they must secure their homes and wealth against the Picti. The Saxons are also concerned as they have no wish to share the fertile lands of Caer Colun with another group of migrants. So they call their warriors t

My latest project is to paint up a force of Etruscans for Andy Hawes’ Dux Italica  rules — an adaptation of Dux Britanniarum for the early stages of Rome’s conquest of Italy 4 th  C BC which is still work in progress. I start by kit-bashing miniatures from a wide variety of manufacturers including Footsore metals (including their separate Etruscan and Italian heads), Agema Roman Republican plastics, Victrix Greek and Italian plastics. These men will eventually become 2 nd  Cl