Trip back to the old Country, Part II

Earlier this month, I had a second trip back to the UK in almost as many months, this time for a happier occasion (more weddings, less funerals, but you'll have to look elsewhere for the pics of all the kilts).

I will however use this picture from my visit. It will of course be clear to you all why this Glaswegian relic of a former age has geek cred.

This time, a much shorter time spent in my parents attic, but with more space in my suitcase. Fortunately I had put things in order on the previous visit, so only had to pick up a couple of boxes and stash them. I also found out that there's a new games cafe opened in Edinburgh, right next door to the flat I sold there not a year ago! Why couldn't that have been there at the same time as me? Anyway, on with the haul.

First off, the things I picked up from storage:

Urban War rules (in magazine form). These were too heavy for the last trip, but with all the UW minis I have brought over, I figured it was time to have the rules to hand. Of course, I have access to pdfs (downloads here), but I do prefer paper versions, despite the space they take up.

Void TAV MKIII resin kit. This is more for Void than for UW, but I do so love the mini, and I intend to use it in some fashion for UW even though I don't think vehicle rules for the game exist (I'm sure it won't be too hard to house rule something). The kit i have differs slightly from the one pictured in the link.

Empire Army. Lastly I picked up 2 boxes of old school WFB minis, mostly metal, with a few plastic pikemen in there for good measure. These will be used for my Bretonnians, and/or Empire, in the case of any local WFB gaming. I say army, but really it's all infantry, as I left my few knights and artillery pieces. There will surely be more pictures of these in the near future, especially as there are some nice oldhammer minis amongst them.

Whilst there, on a quick visit to Static, I also bought:

MacBeth. I have had one eye on SAGA for a while, even going so far as to painting up some Vikings, but the release of a Scots faction, with a leader as infamous as MacBeth at the fore could not be passed up. Of course the real MacBeth and the Shakespearean version are not to be confused, as it seems the original version was actually quite good at the king thing.

Napoleonic British Peninsular war Officers. There's always room for more Napoleonics. I'm sure these can be used to back up various of the rank and file figures I already have, be they riflemen or highlanders. Planned for use in Drums and Shakoes or Sharp Practice.

Highlander Missile Troops (bow and musket). From Warlord, these are kind of multi use,

I also bought and had posted to my parents house, some Prussians from the war of 1866, when North Star were selling off their old stock to make way for new sculpts I think. I'm sure I can put them to good use in something Victoriana, for example, as troops for IHMN. The Jaegers from this batch are already prepped and primed and in the process of being painted, so more on them soon.

A visit to WH Smith's meant I picked up the trio of magazines (Wargames Illustrated, WSS and Miniature Wargames). The first two I can get here, eventually, but the third is not an option. I was less impressed with Minature Wargames this issue (I have only read two issues), as it held less of direct interest to me.

To round out the wargaming related purchases, I picked up another book on Churchill at a discount book store (there's not enough of those over here), this time more on his political career than his military career, but it fit with my other current reading. Be on the lookout for a review of Young Titan soon.

My my, the summer just got a whole lot busier with all this stuff to work through!

French & Indian War: Alternative Quebec

Major General James Wolfe

Warlord games have posted an article on wargaming the battle of Quebec, specifically with their supplement for Black Powder, Last Argument of Kings. It includes a historical background for the battle as well as an order of battle and Black Powder stats for both sides. There are then some alternatives for gaming the battle, just to keep things interesting. Lots of options and lots of inspiration. One day I will game this, one day...

Check out the article here.

And for those of you that want a real alternative, Zombie Indians!

Renaissance Army: Personalities

Some of the miniatures were obviously command types. Like the guy to the left, he's surely the general. the others are there to add moral support, or just to bring the music.

Renaissance Army: Mounted

 Mounted figures. Mostly landsknechts I assume. I'm impressed by the painting of the barding. Each is individual.

Renaissance Army: Infantry II

The pikemen.  Lots of.

Renaissance army: Infantry I

Here's a picture of the box (click to enlarge), as it was handed to me. I went through it all last night, trying to put it into some kind of order, and figure out what went with what. It was mostly in order in terms of units, with some small number of individual figures left at the end that I'm unsure where to put. Thankfully, these have the look of leader types, and drummers/standard bearers, so I don't think it'll be too hard to put them somewhere useful.

Like I said, I went through them photographing what I have gained, and will stick them up here for 2 reasons. Firstly, that those in the know may tell me what I have got my grubby hands on (in terms of the units they represent, and possibly even the manufacturer), and secondly that I myself may have a record (as these have all been re boxed and put away at the back of the cupboard till I find a rule set, and more importantly, an opponent.

In general, they were all in good condition. Only a few pikes had fallen off, and from what I can tell only one or two are missing (and these are the smaller ones from the mounted javeliners). The painting was well done, for the most part to good tabletop standard, with a couple of flourishes here and there which raise the bar. The consistency of the painting, especially the stripes impressed me. I doubt I'll ever finish an army to this standard for sure.

Anyway, on to the pictures, the first batch at least (as always, click for larger pics).

25mm Renaissance Army

Here I have some more info, from the kind gentleman who gave me the minis, in response to some questions I sent him (links my own addition):

  

  "The army represents a European army of about 1525. This was the time of the Italian wars of which the Battle of Pavia is perhaps the best known engagement.

    The army consists of Spanish Tercios, which is basically pike blocks with sword and buckler infantry and some crossbow men or arquebusiers (early muskets). There are small mercenary units particularly Swiss pikemen and Landsknechts similar to the well known 'Black Band'. There are also some Italian state infantry.

    In the cavalry there are of course heavy knights and some special light Spanish cavalry carrying javelins.

    The War Games Research Group, Tercio rules were what I used to use but this was many years ago. I have not used them or played wargames for many years so I'm not much use for any contacts.

    The figures are all made of some kind of metal alloy. It's not lead it may in fact be some sort of pewter. I think you will find some odd Saxon figures in the box and even a couple of 15mm size figures. Oh and there is a mounted Bishop who used to go to battle particularly with Italian troops giving them a morale boost when nearby."

I can find no reference online to the Wargames Research Group 'Tercio' rules. As it is, their web presence is minimal (not a modern setup by any means). This means I may have to look into getting a copy of Pike & Shotte to run these guys with, as this seems to fall under the wars of the Tudors, which looks like the start of the period covered by these rules.


Quite a trove all in all.

(Links and pictures courtesy of Wikipedia)