Command bases

  Having given Fantastic Battles a go and having come to the conclusion they are pretty darn good I decided to paint up some command bases for my multi-based forces that up until now had none. Commanders are really important in the game, the loss of them can pretty much doom your army to nuckleheaded movement and sad, sad (and kind of funny) defeat. I intend the commanders to be used for my 10mm fantasy forces.

 

First up are the commanders for the Iron Badgers mercenary company  

 

General Welchingtonne, leader and founder of the (in) famous Iron Badgers. The 3rd son of the Earl of Welchingtonne, he is a born soldier and leader with very little patience for anyone he considers below his station.

 Brother Glover, the company record keeper, padre and magic user. He never intended to join a military unit of any type, he just woke up one day in a tent belonging to the Iron Badgers after a legendary 5 week bender and has no idea how to get home. He's not even a priest, he was just wearing the cassock when he awoke. His real names Gavin...he thinks.

Captain Spalcher is the Generals right hand man and the company 'beating a man half to death for no particular reason' champion. By a country bloody mile. He is a naturally cold, hard man who has found his true vacation and plans to stick to it.

  Sargent Gifford Tappitsworth is best known for his calm, encouraging leadership style and easy manner on the battlefield. Often he can be heard geeing up the troops with phrases like 'oh come on lads, we're only outnumbered 6 to 1, we've had worse', or ' Don't just stand there, the gigantic and very angry fire breathing dragon won't kill itself, get stuck in!'. The rank and file think they like him...

  I also painted some commanders for the press ganged troops of the towns on the border of the wastes which have now been taken over by the Badgers.

Mayor Duckett, leader of the town of Wayward-Nowhere, the largest settlement bordering the wastes  He is a stickler for detail in all folk he deals with, even if he does often have half his breakfast down his breastplate.

Sargent Digby 'red fury' Dibbleswort, scourge of the wastes, or so he tells everyone. Basically he has a bit of a temper and thinks it's some kind of virtue.

  Corporal 'tally ho' Wilkinson, currently in command of the border town of Spillin-Over (population 76). Has a can do attitude and can't get on with those that don't. He tends to lead from the front, normally because most of the lads know they can push him out ahead to attract arrows.

  Sheriff 'Sparrow Hawk' Callhoon, Meanest lawman in the wastes. Known for being hard but fair. I.e. he always works hard to prove his targets guilt once he's decapitated them. In fact it was his creative police work that got him transferred to Wayward-Nowhere in the first place.

  I thought it would be an idea to do some for the Badgers current opposition and scourge of the wastes The Bastard Sons of the most black'ed Crow

  Ol' Papa Crow is the devious patriarch of the Crows, ruling over his extended brood with an iron fist.

 Big Bear Crow, current bearer of the Crows whistling totem known as the 'dinner bell'. He is the largest of the gang, it has been rumoured he ate a whole Ogre in one sitting , making him a legendary figure among his peers.

'Dirty' Ma Crow, witch of the wastes. Ma is not really a member of the Crows, although she is believed to be the mother of more than a few of them. She lives away from the Crows, traveling where ever her gut takes her to sell her various cure all's and potions to travellers and outlaws she encounters. She also serves as Papa Crows eyes and ears in the wastes,  settlers that get a visit from Ma can expect the Crows to not be far behind.

  The black Weasel, outlaw, outcast and all round git. the man known only as The Black Weasel has been exiled to the wastes for years. He was Chased to Wayward-Nowhere after he pushed his luck too far in proper society and was chased from there by Sheriff Callhoon shortly after. He was found half dead and definitely mad by the Crows and was spared the pot as he convinced Papa he has inside knowledge of the border towns that could prove useful... 

...'till next time...

Mentally Terraformish: When in Lamavic (AAR1)

Hi folks, it feels like its been a while. I started a new job last week so things have been a bit slow round here as focus has been diverted but fear not, i wont be ignoring these prattish pages of (un)polished pointlessness and procrastination (try saying that five times quickly after a few pints!), i will be updating as an when time allows so bear with me and i will reward your patience with my peculiar brand of tosh and prattle!. Speaking of which i have an AAR to write!....

 Governor Paral starred down his nose at what was once scribe Garrat and tutted to himself, he slowly walked back to his solid oak desk and sat, still tutting as he went. He drummed his fingertips on the table top and sighed. 'So you say he rejected our most generous offer....' he glanced down at a piece of parchment on the table and back down his nose at Garrat who was shaking before him...' and he had the nerve to kill all the guards we sent with you. Tell me Scribe, did he say anything positive at all?'. 'No my lord, not a thing' replied Garrat. 'He said, and im quoting him directly, he said, ''He'' meaning you of course my lord, ''he can ...er...he can....he can chew on my shite before he gets my land'', he had the gaul to say that!'. Parals face was unmoved by the scribes words. 'Did he' he said after a pause. Garrat shuffled beneath the governors burrowing gaze. 'And he said something queer my lord'. 'Really' said Paral in mock surprise, 'tell me scribe, what did he say?' Paral lent forward, his gaze intensified. 'He said something about the offer sir', started Garrat. 'He said, and its mad sir, shows just how stupid and uneducated these savages are sir, he said, and this will make you laugh sir when you hear it, he said'.... 'Yes' interrupted  the Governor, a thin smile on his lips and his eyes still fixed unblinking on the figure before him. 'He said......he said you want him to attack us so, and this will really crack you up sir, so you will be justified in going to war with the Clans!. Garrat broke out in a nervous laugh, it took half a moment before he realized the Governor was not joining in, in fact he was sat bolt upright fixing Garrat with his cold stare. After an eternity Paral calmly stated 'I am'. Garrats face was the perfect picture of shock and surprise, 'but sir, that would be in direct opposition to the policies put in place to control guild actions overseas, a war may only be sanctioned by a high Governor in times of dire threat, you cant start one sir, you cant!!'. Paral rose from his seat and walked slowly towards the Scribe. 'Who do you think sanctioned this trip scribe?, are you so slow you dont realize the nature of our mission?'. 'www..wwelll ssir'. started Garrat cowering slightly as Paral strode towards him. 'We are hardly here to mine this scrap of land Garrat' continued Paral, 'This trip is to take the area in the north of Lamavic, create a gateway into this god forsaken wilderness for our further expansion but to do this we need to, how would you understand this, clear the land. We need to be seen to adhere to policy and as you know we cant very well stroll up and start a war, we require some provocation. Thats where the offer came in, to goad the savages by insulting them. However it seems they are brighter than i gave them credit for, we will need to step up our activities.' The governor was standing before Garrat, towering over him. 'Now im sure you understand this information is on a strictly need to know basis'. Said Paral, smiling at Garrat. Garrat relaxed a little. 'Which is why...' continued Paral as he thrust his hand towards the scribes belly, berrying his hidden dagger up to its hilt, Garrat gave a faint 'hurmph' as Paral placed his hand over the scribes mouth and bored his gaze into Garrats.....' you cannot be allowed to know'. The lifeless scribe slumped to the ground. Paral clapped his hands together and two guards strode into the room silently and removed his body. 'CAPTAIN ALLAC', shouted the Governor, 'ENTER'. A tall, thick set, dark haired man entered the tent, his glistening steel armor shining in the candle light. 'Yes sir' he said smartly, removing his helm and bowing before his seniors gaze. 'It seems we need to give our enemy further encouragement. Take a force with you to the area known as the Barracdoons, there you will find a pile of earth known as the cairns of clan Mallarac by the locals. I want you to ensure it is not there come sunset. Take some of the local troops to show you the way and take that mage too, he gives me the willies'. 'The one with the entrails wound through his hair and the blood on his face Sir, keeps swearing and kicking children sir?' enquired the captain.  'Yes Allac, mad fannah i believe he is called, claims to use magic. If nothing else the locals will follow him and if we are very lucky we can get him killed, might stir them up a bit'. 'As you say sir'. replied the captain smartly. He bowed again and turned to go. 'Captain' called Paral as he was leaving,  'i am sure you understand how sensitive this mission is, i would hate for anything to go wrong, heads would be sure to roll'. Allac paused for a moment in the doorway. 'As you say Sir' was all he said as he departed.

THE BATTLE
  I decided i fancied a game of Dragon Rampant for this one as i plan for this to be the start of a small campaign with a far bigger battle to follow!.  This battle is set in the borders between north east Lamavic (the home lands of Clan Mallaric) and the Frostfangs in the area known as the Barracdoons, within which is the Cairn of Clan Mallaric, the resting place of the hero's  and great leaders of the Clan. The land is almost holy to the Clansmen and those within are the subject of many Sagas. Its fair to say that messing with such an area is unwise to say the least!. The Cairn is a massive burial mound that gets bigger with each hero that rests there. It is marked with flags and patrolled by the clansmen that live by it. No foes have ever attacked the Cairns since they were defiled by the exiled Bondsman known as Callar and his dark mage accomplice known simply as mad fannah, two individuals that lead a failed rebellion against the Clan leaders, the result of which was their exile to a small settlement in the Frostfangs where Callar and his followers now lick their wounds and plan their next move .....the very bhoys the High Governor of the Mining Guild  has contacted to help his guilds forces land unnoticed in the Frostfangs in fact.....
 The battle begins when the clan troops under the control of Captain Allac guided by some of Callars men led by Mad Fannah no less advance on the Cairn, however the local Clansmen are only too aware of their intentions and are moving to stop them....

The Cairn of Clan Mallaric.

 The objective of the game is to be the only force with unbattered troops within 5ins of the flags on the Cairn at the end of turn 5 (sundown). The side that manages this will be the winner.

THE FORCES

The guild forces

(left-right) 2x Pike squads, 1 lead by Captain Allac (heavy foot), 1x Musketeers (heavy missiles)

                                                      (minis by Red box and Revell)

Mad Fannahs Frostfang exiles (allies and guides to the guild forces)

(From the back) 1x Scouts, 1x Rebel Clansmen (light offensive foot), Mad Fannah (wizardling with almighty prod, stronger sheilds and heal thee, light foot).

                                             (minis by Red Box, Revell and Hat)

Opposed by:

                         THE CLAN CAIRN PROTECTION COMPANY

(back row) 1x Huntsmen (scouts), 1x  Clan crossbows (light missiles) 

(middle) 2x Clansmen (Bellicose foot, Hatred)

(front) 1x Hunting Hounds (lesser warbeasts), 1x Clan Horse led by Laird Barrack (local Bondsman to Laird Aralin) (Heavy Horse, Hatred).

                                               (minis by Red Box, Revell, Strelets and Hat)

Note: I made the Clansmen Bellicose foot to represent the fact that they were some what put out by the attack on the Cairn, i also gave them Hatred for the same reason!.

As always i have used my colored bases. Guild forces are on Red with Yellow trim, The Rebels are on White with Blue trim and the Lamavic forces are on Blue with Black trim.

The field, before the battle. (the Cairn is to the left)

SET UP

The Guild right, Rebels on the flank, Muskets protecting the ford.

The left, Scouts in the trees,  pikes and a mentalist together and more pikes over the ridge.

On the Lamavic side the crossbows get ready to assault the cairn flanked by the frothing Clansmen units.

The Hunting hounds, Clan Horse and Huntsmen get ready to wipe out the Guild flank!

TO BLIMMIN' BATTLE N' THAT!!!

The Rebels advance, the hounds have the same idea!.

The Pike on the flank move out to meet the Clansmen barreling towards them!. 

Huntsmen...er....Hunt by the rocks.

The opening turns saw both forces advancing piecemeal towards each other taking pot shots. On the right....

'RIP...SNARL....TEAR.....OWWW, DOWN BOY....NICE DOGGY...!!!!!!

On the Cairn the Lamavic troops crested the ridge before the enemy troops got organized enough to stop them (the musketeers fluffed two activations in a row!. They put it down to frozen shot and union cold weather guidelines...'sorry mate, what can i do?, union rules innit, too cold to load, ave ta wait till spring mate!....').

1 ridge, crested.

On the edge of the Cairn the Pike and rabid Clansmen met in a storm of Pikes and strong language, the pikes were forced to retreat and would remain battered for the rest of the battle!

Faced with a hill covered with mad Clansmen Captain Allac ordered his men to form a wall of pikes!, these were boosted by Mad Fannahs magic (stronger shields!).

Before they could get their act together and , you know, shoot or anything the Clan Horse stomped into the muskets, sending them to look for other employment that would make the best use of sword wounds and spear holes!. 

On the Cairn the Clansmen were too wound up to be bothered by anything like a defensive position and flung themselves into the pikes, getting pushed back up the hill for their troubles!.

Sensing victory The pikes broke formation and charged up the hill, forcing the Clansmen back further. The huntsmen responded by showering the pikemen with spears, forcing them to retreat and fail a battered test!.

While all this was kicking off Mad Fannah cursed the other unit of pike cowering in the face of the pee'd off clansmen. Bellowing something about 'Soft southern jessies and shite faced Clan bastards' he charged head long into the Clansmen!!

Killing 2 and chasing them off!!!!

'Och and stay outta it ya gurly swine!!!'.

With the Clans on top of the Cairn and the Guild forces with nothing able to move close enough to contest it dusk fell (along with the temperature!) and Captain Allac ordered the retreat. 

Final positions at the end of the game from the Lamavic table edge.

The Cairn may be safe for now but the war is far from over........

Well that was fun to play, the combo of wild charges and hatred on the Lamavic side meant they would charge automatically each turn they could see the enemy and were close enough!. This made for a very fun 'fluffy' game where a charge in the wrong conditions ( read: wall of pikes!!) almost spelled disaster for the charging side!. Proof that powerful upgrades are not always the blessing they appear to be!. The question is, where to go with this from here?, will the Clan forces seek revenge for this cowardly attack on their 'holy' ground in the face of common sense?, Will they hole up and make the Guilds come to them?, Will the Guild forces perform more gorilla attacks to goad the Clans into action or will this be enough to convince the them to make an all out attack to force the issue?. What do you think?, comments below and i promise most popular idea will shape the direction this campaign goes in!.

Very much looking forward to your comments (keep them clean...who am i kidding, don't bother!!)...anyhow...till next time you lovely peeps........

Of life and distractions

Hi all. In the last post i mentioned the next post would be doing something special......well....um....still planning to and all that but, well, life and all that stuff have put their heads together to ensure that has gone on the back burner for now. In fact gaming related stuff in general has gone a bit quieter, but not dried up totally thank the dice gods (i always thought they hated me as well!).
First off, these new old school beauties turned up!.

Actually it was the first three books not the ones shown but you get the idea!.

These are the iron wind redos of the original ral partha rules and they are very cool,  kind of the middle ground between oldhammer and lion/dragon rampant. They have greater flexibility in force creation and representing different troop types on the table than the rampants but play quickly and cleanly like those newer systems and don't tend to 'bog down' like every edition of warhammer ever!. Also they use a set unit size that is the same as the sizes used in the rampants so forces for one system will transfer to the other. Anyway i have been giving them a spin of late when time has permitted and am enjoying them. If i get my life back anytime soon i will try to use them for a game report.

Also although i have not been gaming i did win a huge lot of minis on the dreaded bay of e at a very reasonable price ( judging by the fact that Mrs Sprinks only swore a bit, the mark against which i judge the cost of all my ebay halls!) that i think fill in the gaps i had remaining for the setting i am building so de-spruing, gluing and basing have been filling in those tiny gaps of free time we all take for granted.

Lastly the summer hols are here so the demands of distracting the sprinklings has taken its toll on the free time me and mrs Sprinks normally get to enjoy however gaming has won some brownie points here as i banged together a quick set of rules to get the imps tablewards and much fun resulted!. 

 Hopefully more gaming sessions may occur (and if the rules actually stand up to the stresses of the table i may post them for you to use with your own sproglettes). They even looked interested when i explained we could link games to make a story called a campaign! (i will turn them to the dark side!). 

Anyhoo, just a quick update to show that hobby stuff has yet to die here at cassa del Sprinks (but is a little bit sniffly)......Till next time!.

Mentally Terraformish, Rats over Lowbridge (AAR)

'Anyway, i think i may get this game played tonight (if i can prep and base enough militia minis in time!) so i may turn this one around quite quickly (which will be a change!)'. Thus ended my last post over two weeks ago.....what a tit!!. So why the wait?, well i have just returned from two lovely stress free weeks with the family Sprinks in Spain, and i have stayed as off line as poss during this time. I did play this game before going but it has had to wait until now to write this up. Sorry!. You can read the first part of this post here.

   The outlaws camp was cramped, muddy, smelled of rotten veg and this noontime was alive with the sounds of fiddlers fiddling, outlaws singing, drunks burping and wenches....er......wenching!. Big Ronnel lurched over to the lone figure clad in a hodge podge of rat pelts and rags on the edge of the crowd, The man was stooped, feeding morsels of food to a gaggle of massive rats crowding around his dirty feet. Ronnel stopped to laugh at a bawdy jape and pat mouldy dave on the back before facing the rat man . 'So young Stephan you were no jokin' yous can deliver on your word, me an the boys thought yous was just full o' shite but turns out you really can get people to do what you says. we's all been talkin', he held out his massive hand in friendship 'put her there, if yous wants it yous can be one of us', he grabbed Stephans hand before it was offered and turned to face the rest of his men 'AY BOYS, WHAT DO YE SAY, HES ONE O US NOW, ONE O THE BLACK WOOD BOYS EH!, YOU AN YOUR RATS!'. The rest of the outlaws raised their flagons and dropped their strumpets and gave a rousing manly cheer. Ronnel pumped Stephans hand rather too enthusiastically, almost dislocating his arm with a massive smile on his massive face. 'Who'd a thunk it, me an the lads ave been tryin' for months to raid the tax wagon out of the bridge country and youz just walk up an ask those solders to give it to us!'. Some of the men raised sacks of stolen gold and gave another hearty cheer.  He put a brotherly arm around Stephans shoulder and turned him towards the men. 'I have to kno' how do you do it?'. Stephan stepped away to remove Ronnels arm, causing Ronnel to stagger a few paces, the ale making him unsteady. 'First thing my man, its The majestic Stephan, I,ll have you know i dident spend the last three years honing my talents to be just called stephan. And i dont want to join your grubby little band i am going to lead it!'. Ronnel looked confused for a moment before he began to protest. Stephan cut him off before he could say anything. 'You are the first of my underlings, soon i will form an army of obedient followers and i will storm the lords keep and take the area for my own before enslaving the local townsfolk and then marching against the crown itself!!'. Ronnel looked confused, then angry then a little more angry before his features finally twisted into a toothy smile. He laid his huge hand onto Stephans shoulder and let out a massive belly laugh!. His men relaxed and also joined in the laughter. 'Oh youz really ad me goin there pal, i thought you was for real for a mo....'the Majestic Stephan'....what is you like man...'. While Ronnel roared with laughter Stephens face grew dark. He looked at his biggest black rat and clicked his fingers, the rat bared his yellow teeth and jumped at Ronnels neck, a spurt of crimson sprung from the big mans wind pipe and he fell back with a dull thud. The rat leaped deftly to the floor and washed the blood from its nose. For a moment the camp went silent, then as one the outlaws drew their blades and notched their bows. The majestic Stephan raised his gnarled staff and waved his hand before the camp. 'You will drop your weapons' he said slowly, not blinking. As one the outlaws dropped their weapons and stood, confusion on each face. 'You are now my loyal followers you will do as i bid and will obey me totally. As one the camp repeated the words vacantly, all except one brigand who shouted 'YOUZ CAN BUGGER OFF MATE!!' and charged towards Stephan with his club raised. Stephan sighed, theres always one that dosent take, children if you would be so kind' he turned and walked away as the rats pounced...... Above the gnashing and screams came the sound of horns and galloping hooves. 'Damn, we've been discovered, men to arms, defend the camp!', without blinking the men collected their arms and rushed to meet the attackers......

 So another game and the first in the setting i am beginning to put together. I thought a small game would be best as time has been in short supply. To this end i gave Dragon Rampant another spin and once again it was alot of fun!. I played a pitched battle but decided that if any side lost their leader they would loose the game. The forces i chose are as follows:

THE DEFENDERS OF LOWBRIDGE

Clockwise from the front: Militia missiles ( light missiles), Militia foot (light foot), Border guard (heavy riders with missile upgrade), Lord of lowbridge and sons (elite riders), The lord is the forces leader. The minis are a mix of Mini art, Streletes, hat and A Call to arms.

THE BLACKWOOD BOYS (UNDER NEW LEADERSHIP)

 Rear from left: Bow armed brigands (light missiles), Outlaw foot (light foot). Center: The Majestic Stephan (light foot, wizardling: Almighty prod!, Befuddle thee!, Bog Thee!), and in the front: Giant rats (lesser warbeasts). The minis are airfix, red box and games workshop.

As ever the miniatures are on coloured bases, the Militia forces are on Red with white trim and the outlaws are on Black with Green trim.

The game takes place on the edge of  darkwoods eastern side, at noon.

The local forces rush to attack the outlaws head on, From the left are the horse, border guard and The lord and his boys, the Militia foot in the middle and the missiles on the flank.

The outlaws rush out to meet the attackers, on their left the bowmen stand guard the rats and the Majestic Stephan skulk behind the rocks.

The foot face the Militia on the other flank.

The outlaws take the chance to get forward and close the distance, they all advance against the foe. The militia also advance and the missiles pepper the outlaws with shot killing one of them.

The horse also gallop forward to face the foe, the border guard eager to hunt down the wizard and bring him to royal justice!. Stephan orders his rats to shield him.

The outlaw foot charge forward but cant quite reach the militia and the Bows seem confused for a moment, the glamour of Stephans spell weakening, or may be it was the ale!. The militia take the chance to unleash a flurry of missiles on the outlaws battering them, Captain Turner then gave the order to 'pay attention for smith sake and CHARGE!!!

 Even the militia are too much for the demoralized outlaws and they turn and flee!, Captain Turner  tries to reform his men while they seem intent on jeering, swearing and mooning the fleeing opponents!.
In the center the Majestic Stephan fixes the border guard with a stare and raises his staff, the border guard suddenly seemed to go blank and stop dead on the spot!.

                                         'Come get me you one eyed horse shagger!!'
The bowmen fire on the Lord and his boys wounding young Delpher twice, seizing his chance Stephan guides his rats against the Border Guard!

 The rats push the border guard back, killing two of them and sewing confusion among them!, in reply the Lord and sons charge the furry buggers!

'CHARGE THE FURRY BUGGERS!' (see told you!)

The rats are driven off by the horse and suddenly their leader dosent feel so majestic exposed against the combined Horse!.

Oh bollocks!!!!

Mean while Captain Turner has an idea, a cunning idea of truly amazing  cunning idearness. 'follow me men, lets sneak round and get 'em from behind. And no stupid jokes about taking them from behind or suchlike!'

While the lordly horse get peeved by the sharp sticks of the bowmen pinging off their armour and sweep them from the field!.

The majestic one decided to form a new plan. 'Right men, fall back and protect me.....men.....men.....'

Theres bleak and then theres this!, The Majestic Stephan considers his major decisions in his life and how the bloody hell hes going to get out of this one, i called the game at this point as he was the only member of his force left and the whole enemy force was bearing down on him!.

Well calling that one sided is like saying Salad fingers* is a touch dark!. However it was a fun game to play and i enjoyed watching the outlaws fall apart!.

Well all thats left this time out is to ask the question on every bodies lips, Is Duc de Goblin a sufferer of masochistic episodes?. I ask this because he has become the latest person to follow these silly writings of mine!. You are very welcome sir, glad to have you along!. I cant tell if you are a blogger or not, if you are please put a link in the comments as we would love to see what you get up to when you are not following this twattery!.

Anyway....till next time!

*

see!