Random: Cyberpunk Year-Twenty-Twenty-Five Wrap-Up

As a teen, when I started on my foray into RPGs and Wargaming, the year 2025 was some supposedly distant and future dystopia.  It was the far future.  Now look, that distant chrome future is now heading into the rearview mirror.  I will let you decide if it was better or worse than what 2025 was portrayed as in the popular culture back then.  All I know is that it will soon be over.  

That means, it is time to take a look at my aggressive goals for 2025 and see how I did?  As usually, I have broken it down into the usual categories to help keep me organized.  Shall we begin?  

Purchases

None of this section would be possible without the generous financial support of readers like you! 
Every time you purchase one of my books from Osprey, my Wargame Vault page, my Drive-Thru RPG page, and follow my Patreon you are helping to fund the continued existence of Blood and Spectacles Publishing.  The money I earn from these areas I put back into content on the blog, content on Social Media, and new products for you!  Any money I earn goes back into the business of wargaming and role-playing.  Thank you!  I could not do it without you!

With that said, it is always hard to decide how I intend to use these investments into purchases for the year.  Going into this year, I had a few goals lined out for what I should purchase to help generate content.  Let's see how I did! 

• Stay Caught up on the Osprey Wargaming Series - Success!  I bought and reviewed all the offerings from this year.  Pacific Command and Voidfighter
• Purchase Victory at Sea- Success!  
• Purchase Three Fantasy Ice Hockey Teams -  Failure     
• Start one or more of the following..... let me stop you right there.... - Failure  
• Cowboy Miniatures, Terrain, and rules - Failure
• New set of RPG rules - Success! I actually picked up the Pendragon Gamemaster's Handbook and Adventures in Rokugan which I have reviewed.  For next year, I have Fate Core, Wrath and Glory, and Inspirisles for you to get reviews on. 
• New Heroquest Expansions - Success! I have them all except Perilous Dark and the new Wizards of Morcar. Reviews have slowly been filtering out with Mage in the Mirror and Spirit Queen's Torment on the blog now. 
• A fourth Reaper Nativity Scene- Success! 
• I also purchased a new Ocean Mat and an Austro-Hungarian Fleet for Castles in the Sky

That was a pretty aggressive set of goals for 2025.  As long as it was a book I was able to purchase it.  If it was a miniature, I was not as lucky.  I try not to buy miniatures unless I have cleared out my backlog, and I never quite got there this year.  That doesn't mean that I did not get a lot of painting done..... well, we will talk about that next.  What it means is that thanks to all my Heroquest I always had something sitting there waiting for me all year.  That means, I did not buy a lot of new miniatures to paint.  

Painting and Modelling

I had a pretty strong start to the year, but summer sapped that energy.  Once winter came, I was still having a hard time getting back into the painting grove.  I was busy doing a lot of stuff that was not Blood and Spectacles Publishing this fall and winter.  However, I expect that to change in 2026 as the winter months are usually some of my most productive for writing and painting. 

This year I painted:

• Anglo-Saxon army - 92 Victrix miniatures.
• Heroquest stuff - 47 miniatures and furniture from a few expansions, and all the Heroes
• Aeronefs - 15 Brigade flying warships
• Misc 28mm - 12 including a Nativity and a few odds and ends. 

That puts me at 166 miniatures painted for the year.  That is still a decent amount of miniatures for the year and in line with what I have done in the past.  

Anglo-Saxon Army

Heroquest- First Light

Heroquest- Mage in the Mirror

Austro-Hungarian Fleet- Brigade

Heroquest - Heroes

Gaming

My gaming was focused on getting out stuff that I have painted recently.  

• Heroquest - 12  
• Kill Team - 1
• Blood Bowl - 1
• Fury of the Northman - 1
• In Strife and Conflict - 2
• Castles in the Sky - 3
• Restless Sun - 1
• Odin's Ravens - 1

Fury of the Northman

In Strife and Conflict- Battle of Kadesh

Inquisitor Heroquest- Battle for Ammoriss

Restless Sun - Battle for Ammoriss

Odin's Ravens: Viking Age Bad Boys

Castles in the Sky - Osprey Games

Heroquest

Castles in the Sky - Osprey Games

I think there was one note-worthy success this year.  I was able to take my Battle of Kadesh Demo game out and played it in public.  That was something on this list for a couple years, and now I can mark it off the list.  Another success was getting to play some Castles in the Sky at the Guild.  

I also got to go to 1 board game night, have my weekly RPG, and have a few online games going as a player.  I have been RPGing a lot more than Wargaming this year.     

On the downside, my Skumgrod moved away so my games will probably drop next year.  It also explains the drop off towards the end of this year.  I was too busy with "Real Life" over a lot of this year to indulge in wargaming and hobby time.  

At least, that is what I am trying to tell myself.  

Rules Writing

This one ebbed and flowed over the course of the year.  I was much better with RPGs than I was on Wargames.  They do not have the same overhead in the post-production process.  However, if I had the miniatures painted it was a lot easier to finish some stuff off and explains any success in the Wargame arena.  The lack of miniatures has derailed many a project this year and in general.  

However, going into the year these are things that I planned to finish and did: 

• Glittering Void- Space Mecha Theatre RPG
• Badlands- Wild West Role-Playing

Other stuff was.....

• The Corinthian War - Men of Bronze Supplement
• Odin's Ravens: Viking Age Bad Boys - Viking model vs model game   
• Song of the Siren - Flashlight: Tales of Terror Module
• Sleepers in the City - Flashlight: Tales of Terror Module

My Patreon also has a lot of mini-games, modules in draft, and even some basic game rules for various periods and styles of games.  If you are a paid Patron, you get to have access to what I have finished and all those draft games too.  Thanks for being a Patron! 

Other Stuff

I was happy to do the "other stuff" I wanted to do this year.  I left that pretty limited.  

• Kept up on my painted mini tracker
• Kept up on my games played tracker
• Started a Bluesky
• Reduced my Social Media output to weekly
• Got a blog post up every week
• Added blog previews, Patron content and rule drafts to my Patreon

Yeah, that's what I can think of for the "other stuff".  Nothing that impressive.  

In addition, I spent time organizing my wargames space.  Now seemed like a good time and I am contemplating moving my wargaming room into a year-round space.  

Conclusion

Dang.  I started this year really strong and then slowed down considerably after summer hit.  A lot of stuff happened in my real life, and I expect the same will be true for next year.  Sometimes, the side hustle has to take a back seat to "real life".  The exotic and futuristic year of 2025 was a bit less exotic and chrome than I hoped, but maybe I am still too close to it to really appreciate it?  

Anyway, so long to all that.  Time to start thinking about what I am going to do to make 2026 a great year for Blood and Spectacles Publishing and wargaming/RPG gaming?  

Until next time.

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Men of Bronze- Italiotes

 

The information below is an extract from the Hercules Abroad supplement that can be found on the Wargame Vault.  This post has been sitting in my draft box for a long time, but as I have been working on the Carthaginian supplement Rise and Fall I might as well send it out into the wild now.  Merry Christmas!  

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As we continue to expand the world of the Ancient Greeks, it is natural to expand westward into Magna Graecia.  This was a series of loosely affiliated Greek colonies located in Sicily and southern Italy.  This Diaspora was often attributed to the Greeks following in the footsteps of the "Journeys of Hercules".  This mythology was used to justify their expansion, colonization, and infringing on indigenous people's territory.  

We all ready have a list for Syracuse and the City-States of Sicily.  However, Magna Graecia had a vague definition and also included the Southern coastal regions of Italy.  These colonies existed before and during the rise of Rome on the Peninsula, and eventually were rivals to her growth.  The area of Southern Italy was ill suited for traditional Greek hoplite battle, so local variations were required in the military habits of the Greeks who found themselves there.  

This area began to see extensive Greek settlement in the 8th and 7th centuries BCE.  These colonists brought their Greek culture with them such as the idea of an independent City-state, religious traditions, and trade with their homeland.  These Hellenic cities became vital power houses in the region and began to fuse the native Italic cultures with Greek cultural practices as well.  

These Italic-Greek city-states eventually formed their own league for mutual support, trade, and protection against the neighboring Oscan tribes and other Greek rivals in 430 BCE.  This was known as the Italiote League and was controlled by the city of Tarentine in the late 5th century.  

How They Fought

As usual, nothing is known precisely about how the City-States of the Italiote League fought.  We can make some assumption based on how their founding city-states fought, and how rival Italic tribes fought as well.  In addition, there were some military trends in the Hellenistic World that would impact the Italiotes as well.     

Of course, the foundational unit of any Greek city-state army was going to be the Phalanx composed of the land-owning freemen farmers of the nearby lands.  They had the status to buy their own equipment and assemble for drill with their peers.  The Hoplite warriors in Magna Graecia was similar to their brothers elsewhere.  However, the terrain and conditions of Southern Italy were not conducive to the normal Hoplite tactics.  

Native Italic tribes tended to be lighter armored and more mobile than their Hoplite neighbors.  Hit-and-Run attacks and cattle raids were the de facto fighting style of the local tribes.  In this fighting style, speed, mobility, and lighter weapons were critical.  Distance fighting with Javelins was also a common feature.  

Therefore, the Greek colonists to the region needed to meet these needs of warfare.  To do so, Hoplites tended to avoid the use of the panoply and instead used a lighter, native garb that featured bronze pectoral armor plates in the front and rear.  In addition, their head ware tended to be open in the front allowing greater visibility and allow a greater field of vision.  Greaves were often reduced to a single leg or discarded to reduce weight and increase the soldiers ability to pursue or evade.  Indeed, the Hoplite of Italian Magna Graecia was a much lighter and nimbler foe than the heavily armed shock troops of the Greek Peninsula.    

In addition to the lighter hoplites the Italic Greeks made extensive use of Peltasts and Psiloi. These were used to supplement the infantry.  They could provide covering fire for the advance, or screen the other troops.  These were frequently mercenaries or poorer members of the city-state, much like Greece. The javelin was the favored missile weapon of the region.    

The Italiotes made great use of Light Cavalry.   These were designed as a skirmisher based force that utilized javelins and missile weapons, but also had small shields and curved swords for melee combat.  They were an excellent pursuit and scouting force.  This type of light cavalry was frequently referred to as Tarentine Cavalry, even though they were not necessarily native to the city of Tarentum.  It was in reference to the style of skirmish cavalry that was being referenced.  

The final element of an Italiote force would also be made up of Greek mercenaries.  These would fit the more standard Hoplite, heavy infantry role in an Italiote force.  They could form a solid core of heavy infantry.  

Italiote Army List

Armed with the information above, we can start to piece together an army list for the soldiers of the Italiote League or its member city-states.  The bulk of the infantry will most likely be composed of Light Hoplites to represent their lighter panoply and more mobile style of fighting.  This will be supplemented by good Peltast and Psiloi options as the Javelin was a popular weapon in Italian conflicts.

The Cavalry should be Light Cavalry, but the melee ability and skirmisher nature can not be discounted.  Therefore, I am going to add the following Option for the Tarentine Cavalry forces.  

Tarentine Cavalry - 8 Points

Move    Attack    Armor    Courage    Discipline

12BW    4            1            4                2

Shoot: 2 (6BW) 

Special: Evade, Pursue, Move and Shoot

This differentiates them from standard Greek Light Cavalry that focused more on skirmishing, missile fire, and pursuit.  Now, you have a Light Cavalry unit that had enough Melee capability to challenge other Light Cavalry, Peltasts, Warband Infantry, and Psiloi.  However, they are still no match for dedicated Heavy Cavalry, Elites, or Drilled units.  

Italiote Line of Battle

Use the following lists to build your historical forces for the Italiote League or other Itallic-Greek forces. The Lines of Battle help to choose the appropriate units for your historical forces. These are sample lists and there to provide a flavor of potential forces. Players can always modify these lists as they see fit

Each Line of Battle will have an entry with a number. The number indicates the limit of that Unit you can take in the army. If an entry says 1+ your army must have at least one of these units in it. If it is 0+ any number of that unit may be taken. If a Unit is not on the list, it can not be chosen.

Italiotes

1+ Light Hoplites

0+ Peltasts

0-4 Psiloi

0-4 Tarentine or Cavalry

0-1 Drilled Hoplites

0-1 Archers/Slingers

The list above gives access to regular Light Cavalry or you can use the upgraded Tarentine Cavalry provided in the rules.  In addition, the bulk of the force will be Light Hoplites to match the subtle differences between mainland Greece and their Italic colonies on the table.  

Sample Army Lists

Below you can see an example force for the Italiote Greek City-States.  It is built to the 38 point standard and is composed of 6 units.  

2 Light Hoplites

2 Tarentine Cavalry

1 Peltast

1 Psiloi 

Battle of the Elloporus

Most of the warfare of the Italiote League was between fellow Greek City-states and the nearby Latin, Oscan, and Samnite tribes.  However, the threat from Sicily by the Tyrant Dionysus I was a primary concern.  Some scholars speculate that the rise of Dionysus the I of Syracuse was the prime motivation for creating the Italiote League.  Therefore, eventually the rivalry between Syracuse and the Italiote League would come to a head.  This inevitable clash happened in 389 BCE.  

Unsurprisingly, we know little of the actual events of the battle.  We know that it was fought, and that Syracuse won the battle.  The armies were probably in the 15 to 25K range on both sides.  Sources also indicate the battle was fought in the toe of Italy near the Stilaro River.  That pretty much summarizes what little we know of the battle.  

To put it in perspective, this battle took place during the 3rd Sicilian War.  In the same year, the Spartan King Aegislaus II was crossing the Gulf of Corinth to attack the Arcananians.  Athens is getting involved with Rhodes and taking control of the Hellespont under the command of Thrasybulus.  Military activity across Greece and Sicily was common during this time period.    

Of course, situations like these allow for a wargame to fill in the blanks.  We don't know much about the battle strategy, tactics, or terrain.  We also know next to nothing about the forces involved.  Therefore, whatever we choose to do is as accurate as anyone else chooses to do! 

Forces

For this battle, we will be using the Syracuse list and the Italiote League Lists.  Neither of these can be found in the Men of Bronze rulebook itself.  Both lists can be found in the Hercules Abroad supplement on the Wargame Vault.

Italiote League    

2 Light Hoplites

2 Tarentine Cavalry

1 Peltast

1 Psiloi 

Syracuse of Dionysus I

2 Militia Hoplites

1 Cavalry

2 Archers

1 Peltast

Since we know nothing about this battle, we can safely use any lists we want.  I have opted to use the sample Lines of Battle provided for both forces up to 38 points.  

Set-up

We know so little about the Battle of Elleporus, that it seems like just about ANY scenario from the main Men of Bronze rulebook could be used.  However, I feel that the Set Piece Battle scenario maybe the best and safest option.  

The game should take place on a 72 BW by 48 BW board.  The only set feature would be a river traveling along one flank of the battle, probably with the deepest edge being no more than 8 BW in from either short edge.  This could be Difficult, Dangerous, or Impassable terrain depending on how restricting you want the terrain to be.  After placing the river,  I would recommend deploying terrain in the remaining sections of the board and rolling for complications as normal.  The Set-Piece Battle scenario should be a good guide.  

Special Rules

Again, since we know so little about the battle, its prelude, and what occurred we can use any complications that we wish!  No special rules are needed for this battle and the normal process for generating Complications should be sufficient. 

Victory

Again, we know so little that special Victory conditions do not seem to be necessary.  Instead, the Victory Conditions for a Set-Piece Battle should be sufficient.  

However, feel free to add any spice you want to the battle.  For example, the Italiotes could be trying to kill Dionysus I once and for all, and their Victory Condition could be routing the Unit he is in.  If successful, the Italiote wins.  If Dionysus I unit is not routed, then the Syracusans win.  Your choice really! 

Final Thoughts

The Italiote Greek City-States act as an interesting bridge between the world of the Romans and the world of the Greeks.  Since the Italic-Greek City-States began their life in the 8th and 7th Centuries that leaves a lot of time for them to clash with their fellow Greeks such as Athenian Marines or colonists new to the region.  They can also clash with the Barbarian tribe lists, or some of the lists from Hercules Abroad such as the Carthaginians, Syracusan/Sicilian Greeks, or the Etruscans.  There are always no shortage of opponents to fight in the ancient world! 

I think I am starting to wrap-up the world of the Greeks for Men of Bronze.  I have covered a variety of different regions and cultures far beyond Mainland Greece now.  The full list can be found below.  If I go too much further and deeper, I will be into the Roman period which will be covered in Osprey's  Wars of the Republic.  No need to to do that, since it is fully compatible with Men of Bronze. 

You can get all of the updated materials including a FAQ, Campaign rules, and Lines-of-Battle in the Men of Bronze Supplement: Hercules Abroad.

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On The Painting Desk: The End of the Year Sprint

The end of the year is upon us!  Soon, the year that was once considered mythical; 2025 will be over.  Since mid-year I have not done a ton of painting but I do have some projects I want to get wrapped up by the end of 2025 to clear space going into 2026.  This post basically covers painting that I would have done from the end of October until today.  

Most of what I have left is Heroquest stuff.  I have picked up all the expansions that were available except Perilous Dark and the Rogue Heir.  I can't find the Rogue Heir anywhere at a reasonable price, and I was not impressed with Perilous Dark enough for one dragon (although a very cool dragon) miniature.  There is rumor that the Wizards of Morcar will also be out soon.  Therefore, I am focusing on catching up all my Elves, polishing off my last Heroes, lot's of Henchmen, and furniture for Spirit Queen's Torment, Rise of the Dread Moon, Jungles of Delthrak, Prophecy of Telor, and The Frozen Horror.  When I put it like that..... that is a lot of miniatures!  

Progress

I was slow to get started, but in late October I went to one of the True Grit Gaming Guilds painting sessions.  That got me started on the final sprint.  There I undercoated all the elf models I had from the Mage in the Mirror and Rise of the Dread Moon boxes.  I also got the Bard and Knight heroes undercoated and ready to paint.  In addition, I got Elf Felsh on all the fleshy-bitz on the Elves.  

I think the big story was that I finally broke the seal on my painting and finished everyone's favorite hero, the orc bard.  

As usual, I am using a mix of Armypainter and Armypainter Speedpaints.   The undercoat was a Grey Seer spray, followed by a cheap acrylic Pavement Grey wash, then drybrushed with cheap acrylic white.  The finish was a basic satin protective seal.  Base is Runic Grey with a straight black base rim. Nothing fancy.    

That broke the seal from the summer and now it was officially the end-of-the-year painting season again!  Next up, I wanted to complete the Knight.  Typically, for my hero miniatures, I like to paint them individually.  Monsters, Henchmen, and Furniture I tend to batch paint.  

November Painting

Starting the month I knew I wanted to finish off my HeroQuest heroes.  I would have every currently non-Kickstarter, available hero except for the Rogue Heir.  I have no intention of paying the ridiculous prices for that.  Secondly, the Wizards of Morcar are not out yet either which has a female Wizard sculpt that I am looking forward to.

First up was the Knight from Rise of the Dread Moon.  I was looking forward to painting this one up as I wanted to use him with my new adventuring team, Hope Reborn.  However, I did not get him purchased and painted up in time.  However, now he is ready in case one of the current Heroes falls.  

 

Not much special to say about this good sir.  I used Armypainter speedpaints and my usual methods.  One trick is that I used Runic Grey for the scale/chain armor instead of a metallic speedpaint.  I have found that this and Graveyard Grey can give good non-metallic metal looks.  The High Lord Blue cloak also really stands-out on this model in person.  

That led me onto my Halfling Warlock.  This character has an alternate "Demonic Form" that is an alternate Gargoyle sculpt.  The Halfling is one of the rare Heroes that has a default ranged attack with her wand.  Like the Orc Bard and Druid, she feels like more of a support character to me.  It was also interesting that they decided to make Halflings cannon in Heroquest!  I kind of see her as a elf Noble child that decided to take a shortcut to power...... 

In retrospect, I should have painted the "Warlock Hand" to match the Demon Form, but..... I did not paint them at the same time.  I had intended to paint the Demon Form that purple color, but when I sat down to paint it Swamp Thing came out instead.  Not 100% sure how that happened!  Then I was too lazy to go back and re-paint the Warlock hand.  Done is done.....

Next up was the female Barbarian alternate sculpt.  This one comes equipped with a shield on the miniature.  Not 100% sure how I feel about that.  However, that did not stop me from diving in and getting her painted.  This sculpt painted up really nicely though.  I particularly like the "ringlets" on the front of her armor.  

Of course, she had to be a blonde.  I am pretty sure that is the female barbarian archetype at this point?  Of note, the Speedpaints only have "Crusader Skin" as flesh tones.  I actually never use it for flesh, and just use it as an alternate color for cloth and leather type materials.  For flesh tones, I have standard ArmyPainter paints that I use.  I normally use Barbarian Flesh, Elf Flesh, and Tanned Flesh.  I also have a flesh wash from them, but I rarely use it.  You will never guess which one I used for the Flesh Tone on this little lady.  

From there, I went to do my pair of Dwarf Explorers from Jungles Of Delthrak.  I am way behind on reviews, because I think the last one I wrote was for Spirit Queen's Torment.  Obviously, I have these heroes so I have a few other supplements.  I got to get writing some reviews!  Things to look forward to in 2026 I guess! 

So, the Dwarf models I make an exception on the skin tones.  For these guys I use the Sand Golem color from the Speedpaints set.  I also use this same color for Ogre skin tones.  I like the look of it I guess.  These folks are dungeon delvers and ranger-types so I tried to keep their color scheme on the natural side.  I really struggled with what colors to use that would not make them too dark looking.  I finally settled on Malignant Green, which is the same color I use for Goblin skin.  

The most interesting thing about these guys is their backpacks.  They have a lot of detail and painting the backpack is like painting another dwarf model.  I had flashbacks to painting that Ork Kommando Kill Team!  Another trick, is I like to use the color Pallid Bone for a variety of uses including a dirty white or leathery strap look.  I find it is a very versatile color.  I also use it for Elf metals, as it makes them look distinctive from everyone else. 

I also rarely use Grim Black as a color.  Instead, I typically use Graveyard Grey if I want dark hair.  However, on these Dwarfs (Dwarves?) I gave it a go.  I think it is darker than I normally want it to be, but done is done.  No going back!  

That led to my last pair of Heroes, the Berserker.  These guys also had a rough and ready barbarian look to them.  They would fit in nicely with the Barbarians.  Those axes were comically huge too!  

So, I intended to paint the Female Berserker with the same Runic Grey armor as the Male one but.... things happened.  I accidentally used Dark Wood instead!  Oops.  It still looks like a heavy leather jerkin, but not what I had intended at all.  You can see Pallid Bone on the straps on the Male Berserkers legs, the difference between Graveyard Grey (Male) and Runic Grey (Female) as a metal, and that I used a metallic speedpaint of Golden Armor on the boss of each shield on their backs.  These two were relatively straight forward to paint.  

That left all my Heroquest Heroes done and ready to game with!  Here they are all together, plus a couple of statues from the Rise of the Dread Moon.  

With these done, it was time to turn to my next painting challenge to finish before the end of the year.  This one was going to be a bit different from the other things I painted this year.  However, it was not going to be the first time I have tackled this kit...... The Reaper Nativity Scene!  In the past, I painted them as gifts for my in-laws, my own parents, and for my wife.  This time, I am painting one up for my Skumgrod and their place as a gift.  Let's see how I can make this one unique!

December Painting

This month, I was focused on completing that Nativity scene!  This one had some nasty mold lines on the bases.  They took clippers and files to sort out.  Yuck!  This is an old mold, but sadly not the first time I have run across this issue on this kit.  

Once these were cleared, I undercoated them in my usual method.  What, you don't know what that is?  I base coated them with Grey Seer primer, washed them with watered down cheap acrylic dark grey paint, and then dry-brushed white with cheap acrylics again.  They were now ready for painting.  

         

I always start this project by painting the Manger and the Star.  I did a bit of research and went out of my comfort zone on this one. I actually started with a pink base coat on the star. I even mixed some paints in order to get the right color shifts.  I used my Armypainter regular paints for this one, no Speedpaints on the star.  I also tried to do some OSL, which is not something I have done on this in the past.  I am happy with how it turned out and am glad I stretched myself. 

From there, it was time to move onto the figures.  I typically do the animals next, so sheep and donkey.  I was mostly using the Speed Paints on this one.  Runic Grey donkey with some white highlights.  Holy white on the sheep with Grim Black.  I then dry brushed some white on the wool and away we go.  

That led to Joseph, Mary, and the Shephard boy.  I did not do too much special on these guys as I mostly stuck with my Speedpaints for the first coats.  I made a strange choice to give the kid a Fiery Orange over robe.  Not sure exactly what I was thinking on that one.  From there, I decided to reverse what I usually do with Mary.  I gave her a Blue cloak instead of white and made her dress white.  The Blue is Highland Blue, and I wish I would have used Magic Blue.  Magic Blue is a bit lighter.  Finally, Joseph is a weird cat in that he is a central part of the Nativity but no one really wants him to stand-out.  Therefore, I used mostly natural colors on him so he can be present but not draw attention to himself.  

That left my Nativity looking like this, and I had 1 weekend to finish it off....

From there, I moved onto the baby Jesus himself.  I did the usual Hardened Leather crib, with Zealot Yellow straw.  The big question with Baby Jesus is how you want to paint his blanket?  In the past I have tried to make it stand out with Prismatic Bolt or match Mary's dress with blue.  That was to align them and make it look like Mary had used her own dress to swaddle him.  This year, I went simple, I made his blanket Holy White.  Simple, yet elegant. 

That left me the three Kings or Wisemen, depending on who you want to believe.  It is interesting to me that some versions of the Nativity in the Bible mention these guys, others the shepherds, and others the Manger.  The stories we are presented do not line up that well, but modern Christians have made a sort of amalgam of all the stories into the traditional Nativity scene.  It is amazing what we think about the Nativity scene, and how much actually does not line up with what we are told in the Gospels.  Anyway, just some random thoughts as I paint.  I am by no means a Theologian, so what do I know? 

Anyway, the three Wise Men are the most difficult to paint of the scene.  I have seen some versions where the painter just leaves them out in order to focus on Joseph, Mary, the Manger, Christ, and the animals.  This makes a nice, compact set-piece.  However, I am not going to do that.  They are the most difficult to paint, but also my favorite models from the set!  I decided to make each one predominantly a primary color of Red, Blue, or Green this time around.  In the past I have made them mostly purple, or painted them in Christmas colors.  This is yet a different take on these dudes for me.  

For the Green one I went with Malignant Green for his robes, Orc Skin for his cloak, and Camo Cloak for his head wrap.  I made some details in Zealot Yellow and Absolution Green.  The Blue guy used Magic Blue, Highland Blue, and Storm Cloud Blue with some Zealot Yellow and Plasmatic Bolt details.  Finally, on the Red one, I actually used Fiery Orange (?) and Zealot Yellow on the inner robes and then Blood Red and Slaughter Red on the upper layers.  I used Zealot Yellow on a few details as well.  They all got Gravestone Grey beards though.  

After that was done, I washed all the figures with Light Tone wash.  I then waited for it to dry, went back and highlighted the colors back up where it was needed with Armypainter Paints.  Then, I gave them a protective coating to call it a day!  In the end, they turned out like this.....

Conclusion

Wow, what a sprint to the close of the year.  I feel like it went down to the wire this year.  

However, I did not clear my backlog out completely.  I still have Heroquest modesl from several expansions to paint.  That includes all my antagonist and mercenary elves, some furniture and more.  I have plenty to keep me busy into next year on the painting front.  When I am done, I will probably have enough Heroquest models to make a mass battle game!           

            

Until next time.  The End of 2025 is upon us!  Seasons Greetings to you all! 

 

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Battle Report: Castles in the Sky - Club Med Adventures

 

The Austro-Hungarians are back and looking to blow-up some more British ships!  Their last face off had the Austro-Hungarians defend their borders against a British attack.  I am not sure they still count as freshly painted, but the Dual Monarchy is looking to see what their bigger ships can manage! 

After the Sudova Riviera Incident, the Royal Navy still had a bad taste left in their British mouths.  They had paid reparations, but it was the HMS New Zealand that had been lost with all hands.  This distaste made some captains in the Air Navy Service look for the chances to make the Austro-Hungarians pay.  

The Austro-Hungarian fleet was on maneuvers above the Mediterranean, clearly in international airspace, far enough away from any shores.  They had been careful to chart their path to avoid any international incidents.  However, the British Navy heard about these maneuvers and moved to shadow the Hapsburg fleet.  

On the third week of maneuvers, the British used a squall as cover to move close to the Austrian fleet.  The British ignored all attempts to communicate, and their ensigns signaled that they were intent on battle.  The Austrian admiral decided to indulge them.  

The Forces

The British

Queen Elizabeth class- Battleship - HMS Valiant- Comm 4

Duke of Edinburgh class - Cruiser - HMS Black Prince - Comm 4

Warrior class - Cruiser - HMS Ajax the Greater - Comm 3 (Green Die) 

Shah Class - Escort - HMS Trout - Comm 2

 

Austro-Hungarians

Erzhog Karl Class - Battleship- SMS Kaiser Max - Comm 3

Novarra Class - Cruiser - SMS Custoza  - Comm 4

Novarra Class - Cruiser - SMS Schwartzenberg  - Comm 3 (Red Die)

Zenta Class - Cruiser - SMS Spalato - Comm 4

Huszar Class - Escort - SMS Leopard   - Comm 1

Huszar Class - Escort - SMS Panther   - Comm 3 (Red Die)

Mission

This is a standard Patrol mission from the main rulebook.  Therefore, it will be 6 turns and use Armor Loss as the victory conditions.  

Set-up

The table is a 48 x 48 MU board with 1 MU equal to 1 inch.  This battle takes place far out over the Mediterranean.  Therefore, there is no ground-based terrain.   However, there is one large cloud bank, a left-over from the squall between the two fleets at Altitude 6.  

The Dual Monarchy is moving at an angle across the board in a general Line Astern formation between 3-6 altitude and 4 speed.  The British are coming in Line Abreast in the center of their deployment at Altitude 6 and Speed 5.  

As usual, I will be splitting the battle report into three broad sections to give an overview of the game, and not every detail and altitude and speed change.  This division will be the Maneuver Phase, the Combat Phase, and the End Phase of the overall battle.  

In addition, this will be my first game using my snazzy new Cigar Box Battles mat #105 Ocean.  I have 1-inch hexes put on it in case I use it for other games that may need them.  However, this game does NOT use the hexes for play.  This is my fourth mat I have gotten from Cigar Box Battles and I really love my fleece mats.  I have a general ground mat, a space mat, and an urban mat.  They are easy to fold up and store, light for easy transport, and stand-up to wear and tear really well.  Plus, I am in a cold region and in a pinch you can use these fleece mats as an emergency blanket!            

Maneuver Phase   

The Austro-Hungarian fleet had solid command and control.  They were able to dictate the operational pace during this phase of the battle. 

The Royal Navy eschewed subtlety in their approach and barreled forward just under the cloud heights.  The HMS Trout moved to try and get in front of the Dual Monarchy battle line.  The forward guns of the British fired at the enemy fleet ineffectively as they closed. 

The Austro-Hungarians were less eager to mix it up and tried to get the British to close into their broadsides.  However, return fire from the SMS Kaiser Max went catastrophically wrong when both main batteries jammed!  

The SMS Schwartzenburg also rocked the HMS Ajax the Greater with a barrage of torpedoes early in the maneuver phase, causing two serious hits.   

Battle Phase

The two fleets get to the action surprisingly quickly.  The HMS Valiant manages to get the SMS Schwartzenburg into her port arc.  The admiral gives the order to Fire for Effect, and the Austro-Hungarian cruiser is pounded by the big guns of the battleship for 1 hit and 5 friction.  

This means the Schwartzenburg can not fire her Torpedoes.  However, her sister ship the SMS Custoza has the HMS Ajax the Greater all lined up and fires away.  The Warrior manages to avoid the worst of it, but still is hit by three, and one finds a home.  Thankfully, they had prepared for impact and the damage was minor.

The British frigate blasted through the squall and fired her two torpedoes at the trailing SMS Spalato.  Eagle-eyed gunners manage to take out one, while the armored belt absorbs the follow-up shot.  In a similar fashion, the SMS Panther manages to hit the HMS Black Prince with a torpedo as the Austro-Hungarian escort manages to maneuver around the British fleet.   

The SMS Spalato and the SMS Kaiser Max pour damage into the little HMS Trout causing the ship to rock and flounder from friction.  In the exchange, her Rudder is jammed.  The Kaiser Max manages to clear the jam from her main guns. 

It is clear that the British are trying to cut-off the Austro-Hungarian command ship, so the admiral makes a decision and decides to Come About and plow into the Squall.  However, the British ships are able to close the gap and get into short range and line-of-sight.  

 In desperation, the Kaiser Max splits her fire between the HMS Valiant and the HMS Black Prince.  The Valiant absorbs the hits on her armor but takes Friction.  The Black Prince tries to Prepare for Impact but fails!  She takes friction and two more penetrating hits.   The British Admiral smiles wickedly, but the grin is wiped away as his command ship is rocked by the desperate Austro-Hungarian fire.  He can not Fire for Effect, but he is still confident his battleship outmatches his foe.  The big guns roar out and riddle the Austro-Hungarian command ship causing 6 friction and 4 hits.  

The SMS Leopard fires on the HMS Ajax the Greater, but the PD takes out two and the last torp misses.  The Ajax adds more to the Kaiser Max damage with two more real hits and additional friction.  The SMS Spalato targets the Ajax in retaliation but only causes friction.  The Austro-Hungarian Air Torpedoes had trouble hitting anything due to the winds from the squall. 

The fire from the Kaiser Max managed to unseat the forward Medium Battery of the HMS Black Prince, making the forward main gun inoperable.  In return, the Kaiser Max blew-up completely from the furious firepower from the Valiant and Ajax the Greater!  The detonation of her magazine is enough to engulf the three main British ships, and the SMS Leopard and Spalato.  The HMS Black Prince is damaged from the blast and has her screw fouled, however her captain decides to stay in the fight.  The HMS Ajax the Greater's bridge was destroyed in the blast as well.  The SMS Leopard caught on fire, and her bridge was also destroyed.  The HMS Valiant and SMS Spalato weather the blast unscathed.  

The HMS Trout manages to repair her rudder.  The Captain of the SMS Spalato takes command. 

End Phase   

Despite the loss of the command ship, it is still a close game based on Armor loss.  However, the Austro-Hungarian fleet is out of position, while the British are still in a solid formation.  Many of the Dual Monarchy's ships reload their Torpedoes, while the SMS Spalato Crash Dives to try and get out of the kill zone of the British fleet's guns.  

The SMS Panther drives straight for the HMS Trout and fires its bow battery at it, causing a hit.  Meanwhile, the British Admiral again fires for effect on the diving SMS Spalato and manages to tag it with a hit.  The SMS Custoza manages to sink a few long range air torpedoes into the HMS Trout as well.  However, the HMS Ajax the Greater also manages to hit the diving Spalato, but jammed her forward battery in the process.  

The SMS Spalato had its screw fouled, slowing it in its sprint to escape.  Meanwhile, the HMS Trout was crippled from the Torpedo and gunfire.  The Captain strikes her colors to avoid destruction.    The Leopard fails to put out the Fire on board.  

The SMS Schwarzenburg and the Custoza decide they are not done with the British just yet, and line up for an Air Torpedo attack.  The British HMS Valiant decides to Prepare for Impact.  The two cruisers launch a withering barrage that manage to overwhelm the point defenses of the British and hit the Battleship and the Cruiser.  The damage is enough for the HMS Ajax the Greater to Strike her Colors.  

With that, the Captain of the SMS Spalato signals for his ships to scatter and return to base.  

Conclusion

The British were left with the field of battle but took some serious damage in the process.  Let's go to the big board.  It looks like the British lost 17 Armor, to the Austro-Hungarian 13 Armor loss.  Technically, a win for the Austro-Hungarian forces.  However, the British can take some solace in destroying the Dual Monarchy Flagship and Battleship.  The late "loss" of the HMS Ajax the Greater and HMS Trout shifted the balance.  

Once again, the value of Air Torpedoes pays off.  Their ability to snipe from lower or higher altitudes is great.  The pair of Novarra class cruisers paid-off, and the Escorts were not bad either.  Too bad the SMS Leopard had a command rating of 1, so I had them on Battleship escort duty.  The SMS Panther worked great though.  The rest of the ships in the Dual Monarchy did their job but were not nearly as useful.  

The Queen Ellizabeth class battleship is terrifying to face.  Those powerful main batteries combined with the almost automatic ability to Fire for Effect can ruin any ships day.  It basically one-shotted the Kaiser Max!  If the British have one, eventually it is going to get a powerful broadside off.  It the HMS Ajax the Greater had not have struck their colors, it would have been a tie.  

The Royal Navy sense of pride had been satisfied as they sent the Austro-Hungarian fleet scurrying back to port.  Their control of the skies over the Mediterranean was confirmed for all to see.  However, close analysis by the Admiralty after the fact revealed the truth.  The Royal Navy had not covered itself in as much glory as they had hoped.  

At the Concert of Europe, the other powers looked upon them as the aggressors.  The Italians in particular were displeased with this show of forces in their desired sphere of influence.  The Foreign Office had hoped to pry them from the Triple Alliance by humiliating their traditional foe the Austro-Hungarians, but doing so over the Mediterranean only made the Italians suspicious of British intentions in the region.  

For the Austro-Hungarian point-of-view, this helped rally their balkanized people behind a united front.  National pride had been hurt by the aggressive British moves towards them.  The Dual Monarchy was more united than ever, and their ties with the Italians actually improved, despite territorial disputes between them.  The loss of the Kaiser Max had been a terrible loss of life and air naval power, but the boost in unity may have been a fair trade.  The crew became post-humous National heroes.

Until next time!

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