More late medieval tomfoolery

  I had a few pre-easter days off so managed to paint another Swiss pike block (and almost finished a second) in between watching far too much Trailer Park Boys, I even got another test game of this in:

 I decided to roughly link it to my last game, the plan being to play a very loose narrative campaign as I paint more units. In the last game the Swiss frankly mullered the Burgundians so this time I decided to put some slightly larger forces on the table to play a game where a hastily deployed Burgundian force have been tasked with slowing the Swiss advance to allow the main army to properly prepare to meet them. To that end a battlefield was prepared:

A field of battle, somewhere over the Burgundian border.  

 The basic idea was for the Burgundians to deploy on/ near the hill in the top of the picture, the Swiss would deploy opposite and must have more units over half strength than the opposition on the hill by the end of turn 5.

  Burgundians prepare to receive the Swiss (all minis are 10mm Pendraken).

Swiss pike form a strong center ( in the rules Swiss pike can 'double up' to create massive units).

Crossbows deployed on the hill on the Swiss left.

The final unit of pike march along the road on the right.

The battle begins with the Swiss advancing under heavy missile and artillery fire.

The Burgundians prepare to unleash another volley...

...Badly as it turned out!.

The Artillery take a heavy toll on the opposition as the Swiss close.

On the road the forces finally clash.

Which goes badly for the Burgundians.

In the centre the Swiss steamroller the Burgundian pike at the foot of the hill.

On the road the Swiss brush the opposing enemy aside and continue on.

The view from the Burgundian lines.

The final assault on the hill begins.

With just the archers left the Swiss move to the foot of the hill but it's too late!. The game ends with one unit each on the hill so a (very) narrow victory for the Burgundians!. They have done what they were ordered to do and slowed the Swiss enough to allow for a proper defence to be organised... although they would not live to see it.

The final positions at the end of the game.

Hopefully I will have some more painted units to show off soon meaning I will have an excuse for another game!. Yay!....

...'till next time...

A small piece of Swiss 'diplomacy'

   I managed to grab a few hours to myself this morning to get a quick game in so decided it would be a good idea to test one of the rule sets I am planning to use for my Swiss Burgundian wars project. The rules in question being:

Ancient and medieval wargaming by Neil Thomas.

 Having played and enjoyed his One hour Wargame rules i decided to pick up a copy.  The rules seem pretty simple (not One hour simple but still) which suits me as one thing that I find puts me off games these days is needlessly complex systems. They also seem to be very customizable with each unit only needing a few pieces of information to make them work ( their type, armour and morale level) along with a few simple special rules go give them flavour. So I decided to get the table set up and chuck some units together to give the rules a try.

  In the rules forces are made up of 8 units chosen from a set list, I had enough painted units for four a side. Also in the rules you win by reducing the enemy to two units, I decided that I would play until one side was completely wiped out.

A valley on the Swiss border about to get far less peaceful.

Swiss pike march onto the valley.

Swiss crossbow swing around the left to support the pike.

  A bevy of Burgundians stand in their way.

The Burgundians push their archers forward and form up the pike.

The Swiss advance. One of the Swiss special rules is that they have to advance at full speed and always engage the enemy if able.

The Swiss van take heavy damage from the Burgundian longbows and artillery.

Speaking of artillery, in the rules they roll 1d6 attacks each time they fire. However if they roll a 1 they explode and are destroyed. Guess what happened...

The Swiss crash into contact.

Crossbow continue to pour shots into the Burgundian line.

With the archers minced the pike clash.

Which goes the way you would expect!. 

Before long the writing is on the wall for anyone present that happens to not be Swiss!.

The rules play really nicely. I have to admit the Burgundians had little chance once the cannon blew up as it had caused plenty of damage before that and the rest of the force was heavily outmatched. I think once I have painted up their Gendarmes they may stand more of a chance. Combat was nice and 'crunchy', units would stand long enough for it to feel right without dragging on. Artillery is fairly random in effect having a random number of shots which feels right to me for the period as it was pretty new at the time. All in all a nice simple set with plenty of period flavour. It does exactly what a lot of bigger pricier rule systems do with a fraction of the faff. 

...'till next time...

  

Ordonnance Ordonnance ( and more Swiss)

 After a slight mid project slump (is it just me that gets them?) I have got back to the brushes and knocked out some more units for my 10mm Burgundian wars stuff:

The Burgundians so far.

Ordonnance for the Ordonnance army!.

Another angle of the guns.

Handguns ready to bring the black powder based fury!.

I also painted some Swiss missiles in the form of some crossbow men. (After painting and basing them I then made the brilliant decision to drop them!. Cue a ton of swearing and regluing).

The complete collection so far...having a small falling out.

In other news my 15mm dark age forces got a run out, as ever my opponent was Sprinkling three: the revenge, who continued his hot streak by beating me yet again!. Here's a few pictures from my latest humiliation!.

My brave force of Normans ready to finally beat the 9 year old lead Saxon terror.

Norman warriors getting minced!.

The brave Saxon Champion 'not hiding'.

The tactical genius that is Sprinkling Three: the revenge!.

My loyalist fyrd running away!.

Norman Knights act all big.

Archers take up position on the bridge.

My leader failing to give the 'not hiding' Saxon Champion what for!.

Cake as makeshift terrain.

Saxon reserves ready to cause my downfall. Sprinkling Three calls their formation 'the train of pain'.

My champion is felled by both Saxon leaders!. This was the final act of the game sealing a well earned victory for the lad. I'll get him some time!.

...'till next time...

A bevy of bellicose Burgundians bravely bearing blades (possibly before bolting!)

 I have spent my last few painty sessions primitively  daubing the first few units for my late 15th century Burgundian Ordonnance force to face my Swiss. Do you want to see them?...

Here you go:

 Just my little (historically accurate) wee joke. Here they really are:

Two pike units and some archers.

Pikes the first, as with the Swiss all the minis are 10mm pendraken.

2nd pike. I have to admit to being rather fast and loose with the banners. I struggled to find much info on what each one represents and who should be carrying what so I have just gone for what looks good.

Archers.

The brave Burgundian line prepares to turn back the Swiss steamroller...or (more likely) die trying!.

...till next time...

More pikes!

 I managed to get two more Swiss pike units done over the last few days:

As with the last lot they are all 10mm minis from Pendraken and are really nice (not to mention quick) to paint.

They are intended to be fielded against a planned Burgundian Ordonnance army I'm also going to be knocking up over the next few months.

I'm planning on using Kings of war as far as rules go and will also have a go with Neil Thomas' Ancient and medieval wargaming rules, both use unit sizes that are compatible so I can do either.

Here's a picture of the force so far:

In the Neil Thomas rules the Swiss may combine 2 pike units to make one huge wall of spikey death, on the table that would be something like this:

Which makes me extremely happy!.

Speaking of things making me extremely happy:

Till next time...

The boys from Bern

 Just a very quick post to show off my first painted unit for my 15th century Swiss force. 

The minis are 10mm pendraken and are really nice to paint, which is handy because I have another 5 pike units to do!.