Legio Wargames

While the Senones are still marshalling their forces, Roman Tribune Marcus Manlius Lupus has established a fortified camp on the border of Etruscan territory. He has been sending out patrols to gain intelligence on Etruscan dispositions and movements. One such patrol, led by Centurion Quintus Licinius, is returning to camp when it is ambushed by the Etruscans. Tribune Lupus leads a rescue force out from the camp to help bring the patrol in to safety. With reinforcements comin

My Senone Warriors are now joined by the elite of Senigallia in their chariots. They are ready to take on the Romans in Andy Hawes’ Dux Italica campaign set in 4th Century BC Italy. They come from the Victrix Celtic Chariots set and I am pretty pleased with how they turned out. You get three chariots in the set, 2 driver options, and a plethora of possible warriors with lots of different heads, weapons and bits and pieces. It is a shame there are only two horse options. A thi

A wagon loaded with tribute and taxes is making its way through Rendlesham forest to Orford castle in Suffolk. Knowing that outlaws are endemic in this region, the Sheriff of Suffolk leads men from the castle to help escort the wagon to safety. The Sheriff’s men at arms are ambushed by Bill Rouge’s ‘Merry Men’. Their longbow volley inflicts significant casualties and the Sheriff himself is wounded. As this is happening, the Hooded Man leads his outlaws through the woods in th

Yesterday found me playing the role of ‘Mad Anthony’ Wayne commanding the forces of Congress in an American War of Independence game set in 1777. Sir William Howe is marching through New Jersey with the aim of capturing the Congressional capital at Philadelphia. The Americans have moved to intercept the Crown Forces and to frustrate their march on to Pennsylvania. Assuming that the Crown forces will advance on the flanks (most probably their left) Wayne deploys a small coveri

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