Review: Pillage- Victrix

 

I was buying a lot of miniatures, so I figured I might as well pick-up this set of rules to go with them.  I all ready have a large Viking, Anglo-saxon, and Dark Age Irish army so I had more than enough miniatures for a dozen or so figure, model-vs-model skirmish game.  I also have cattle and loot markers.  Therefore, this one seemed like a low-cost investment for me to pick up! 

This would not be my first raid into the Viking Age.  I myself have a few rulesets related to Vikings; Fury of the Northman and Odin's Ravens.  Therefore, I know my way around a Viking based game.  I was curious what this brought that could be new to my table.  

This one has a very nice forward where the author is very clear that this game is about "forging the narrative".  I.e. the focus is on telling stories on the tabletop and revolves around scenarios and scenario play.  This is not intended to be a competitive, tournament ready ruleset.  

So, don your hauberk, heft your shield, and hoist your spear arm for now is the time to loot this rulebook of ideas!  

Things I Liked

This is a gorgeous looking book.  It has very high production values, great photos, great miniature pictures, and really nice terrain lay-outs.  This reminded me of what separated early GW books from the competition.  Rules are detailed with images and diagrams over laid on the photos.  This is a sumptuous looking book with great, hard cover, artwork.  Just really top-drawer production values all around. 

This book is pitched at beginner wargamers.  It is written like the reader is unfamiliar with the hobby of wargaming.  In addition it has a short history section, timeline, historical sidebars, etc.  There is also a Hobby section about collecting miniatures, making terrain, and painting.  There are some fun little tutorials about painting miniatures and making nice looking terrain.    Again, it reminds me of early GW rules as an introduction to wargaming.  I do not need this section, but I unironically LOVE this section.  

There are a few charge reactions a model can make when they are the target of a charge.  If you have a missile weapon you can shoot, you can run away, or you can stand and accept the charge.  Nothing super hard to do, but gives some options for melee early on.  

Armor is similarly simple with unarmored, some armor, and fully armored.  Of note, armor dictates how fast you can move as well.  That is a good idea, and everyone basically moves the same.    

This game is called Pillage, and there are several chapters on looting and another on setting things on fire.  That matches the theme of the game and ties into several scenarios.  Interesting, there is also rules for ship-to-ship combat!  Nice!

Things I Did Not Like

The game does not use frontage or combat arcs.  Weapons and line-of-sight is 360 degrees.  This reduces some of the tactical gameplay. There is some detail about shooting from windows or other constricted spaces, but that is a niche rather than the standard.   

Charging into combat is an extra 1d3 of movement leading to contact.  I am not a huge fan of random charging typically.  No real reason, but for such a critical action I like a bit more certainty in the action.  Melee is pretty quick and brutal by design but still is a bit of Melee Yahtzee coming down mostly to dice rolls based on a table with different weapons hitting better or worse based on armor type. Pretty basic.  Thankfully, the advanced weapon rules add some more nuance to the weapons and melee about supporting allies.  

There are 5 scenarios.  Nothing that you have not seen before.  The game explicitly recommends you to design and make your own scenarios.  However, I think the game could have provided a few more guidelines on alternate deployment zones, objectives, and perhaps some complications.  

Meh and Other Uncertainties

Of note, this game does not allow pre-measuring.  If you grab a tape measure, it is assumed that you are committed to the action.  I.e. you do not measure until you are all ready going to shoot at that target, move to that place, or charge that model, etc.  

Of note, this game only uses d6 to resolve all actions.  It uses simple modifiers and rules for rolling above a 6.    

It also uses WYSIWYG for simply determining who is armed with what.  

The game itself is for 4x4 tables or even 3x3 tables.  This makes it just a bit too large for a Kitchen Table game.  However, it is a good size for a convention or club game.     

The game turn is broken down into the usual of Initiative, Move, Shoot, Melee, and End.  This gives you all the basic 4Ms.  Of note, games use alternating Phases, so it is not IGOUGO but not alternate activation either.       

Army lists include Vikings, Anglo-saxons, Normans, Irish/Scots/Picts, Carolingian Franks, Bretons, Welsh, and Generic.   

Final Thoughts

This is a solid, well-produced product.  It is a basic wargame, but comes into its own with the Advanced Rules.  Here is where it shines allowing some period specific and unique activities to add some tactical depths.  However, it is still relatively straight forward and easy to teach.  That is its strength.  

This is not for Competitive play because there is a fair amount of randomness in the rules.  It is not intended for that.  It is intended for a beer-and-pretzels experience focusing on story-telling, social interactions, and narrative fun.  This is explicit in the foreword and in the rules themselves.

For a first rulebook product from Victrix, this is a slick product!  It is intentionally designed to get people into playing the period and folks that are new to wargaming.  I applaud this approach BUT I am not sure that it is a good strategy.  I think they are simply following the GW template of a rulebook, but I am not convinced that people get into Dark Age Wargaming cold by buying a rulebook.  However, I really do not know how people get into Historical Wargaming anymore.  

Anyway, a great introductory product but not a great wargame.  It is very serviceable but old hands to the period will find it wanting.  To veterans the big adds are the pillaging and ship-to-ship combat ideas.  

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!  

***********************************  

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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Wargame Design: Odin's Ravens: Viking Age Bad Boys

 

You know what really speeds up the wargame design process?  Two things: 

1. Having an existing set of rules to build off

2. Having the miniatures for photos in your collection

Both of those details can be the difference between finishing a game in 1-3 years, versus finishing in 5 years.  For me, post-production is the longest part.  That is where those two points really help out.  Post-production involves making sure the game works as intended and getting all the parts to publish together.  Those parts take the longest amount of time in the whole process.  

If you all ready have a set of rules to work off of, then you know the game mostly works.  It really speeds up the process if you don't have to test the 4Ms, just the chrome.  You probably recall the Play-testing process, well building off an existing game cuts the first couple layers of play-testing off.  

The second point is self-explanatory.  Most miniature wargamers have a pile of shame they are painting through.  Buying, building, and painting models takes times and money.  If you all ready have the models in your collection then you can go straight to the photography stage, that alone can save a year in the production pipeline!  

So, that brings us to today's game: 

Odin's Ravens is a model-vs-model skirmish game with a narrative campaign element added to it. As the sub-title implies the game is focused on Norse warbands with a Hero, a Second, and up to 8 other soldiers.  The game can be played as a straight historical game, or with mythological elements added into it.  

Like all my games, Odin's Ravens is scale and model agnostic.  I did this by using generic measurement units with no fixed scale.  This way it works with 15mm, 28mm, 54mm, or other scales.  All models are individually based because this is a model-vs-model game.  There is no fixed time or ground scale, as is my design preference.  The game can be played on just about any playing surface thanks to the adjustable size of an MU, but typically plays on a 36-48MU square.     

This game can be played as a Versus game, Solo, or Co-op.  There is a simple Narrative Campaign added so warbands can evolve and grow based on your Heroes Legend.  There is myth magic, mythological monsters you can fight, mythical gear to find, and several special solo/co-op only scenarios.  

Taking on a troll

The game is trying to answer the problem of Melee Yahtzee and how to add Tactical Gameplay to a melee heavy game.  In addition, it is trying to capture the idea of Heroes being heroic and special, but not game breakers.  These are all tough needles to thread.  So, how does this game do it?  

Here are a couple key features of gameplay to keep in mind: 

1. It uses facing as a tactical component to gameplay
2. Outnumbering plays a critical roll in combat
3. Winning a combat can do more than just causing damage, sometimes causing damage is not the best option so you have to decide what to do
4. Melee does not lock you, as there are several ways to escape melee
5. Heroes have more dice and activations than soldiers    

In addition, there are about 6 Versus scenarios, and 6 different methods for deployment and 3 special Solo/Co-op scenarios.  This gives the game a lot of replayability with different tactical set-ups.  In addition, Heroes, Seconds, and Soldiers can also have a variety of set load-outs.  Each hero also has a special ability granted by his god to make him a worthy hero to follow.    

A hero and his loyal warband of followers

The astute observer will notice something right away.  This is not a new game!  It is a reskin of my popular Greek Mythology game; Homer's Heroes: Bronze Age Bad Boys.  The core gameplay is the same and uses the same core mechanics.  The Chrome has been modified to fit a Norse setting.  For example, chariots have been removed from the game.  Instead, I have replaced it with the chance to have a mounted soldier, Hero, or Second and updated the Mounted rules accordingly.  I have also changed some of the weapons and load-outs to better match Viking warfare compared to Greek Homeric combat.  

Most of the miniatures in the book came from my existing collection.  Thanks to my Viking Age rules Fury of the Northman; I have a decent sized selection of Vikings and Dark Age warriors to choose my Odin's Ravens from.  My monsters came from my rather larger selection of HeroQuest and Reaper models.  That made post-production on these rules a snap!  

When I started the year, this game was not even on my radar.  I had toyed around with some expansions of the Homer's Heroes concepts, but it wasn't until early this year when I started working on this particular version of the game.  Maybe I will expand the core game further into new periods and eras?  Got any suggestions?  

Final Thoughts

The first step to being a game designer is to create your game and get it out there for others.  From there, they get easier and easier.  The first one is the hardest because you are building it all from scratch.  Once you have the first, you have a set of templates to build your next one.  

To get more games to market, it is easiest if you: 

1. Build off of your existing designs

2. Use miniatures and art you all ready have in your collection

The more games you make, the easier it gets to make more of them!      

If you like Vikings, you like Skirmish games, or you like Homer's Heroes: Bronze Age Bad Boys then you will probably enjoy recreating the Norse epics and sagas with this game.  You can find Odin's Ravens now on Bloodandspectacles.com.  

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On The Painting Desk: Anglo-Saxons are Back on the Menu!

 

Last year, I picked up an Anglo-saxon army from Victrix using a combination of Late Anglo-saxon, Early Anglo-saxon, and Dark Age Archers ranges.  I started by painting up the Anglo-saxon shield wall infantry.  I left off the process here: 

 I still had to do the finishing touches on these troops.  They needed a good basing and their shields done up.  One thing about shields, is it is almost like painting up another miniature!  So much of the attention will be taken up by the shields!  

Therefore, I decided to start off phase II by doing the bases!  This is a simple coat of Territorial Beige of cheap big, box acrylics.  Then, when the paint is still wet, I sprinkle in some lichen for some ground cover.  Nothing fancy and all easily sourced at your local Big Box retailer.  With bases these little plastic dudes look like this.  

That led me to the shields.  The bloody shields.  I paint all my shields on the sprue to start with.  I find them much easier to manipulate this way.  I undercoated them with a cheap acrylic white.  Then, I start by batch painting them with some sort of wooden color like Fur Brown, Bestial Brown, Oaken wood, Desert Yellow, and Skeleton Bone.  This gives them their wooden base and frames.  From there, I give them an initial coat of white, green, blue or red.  This often takes two coats for good coverage.  Then, I paint their metal boss a metallic color.

Now comes the hard part.  Vikings shields, and Anglo-Saxon shields, tend to have quartered or other similar designs.  Those are not easy to free hand, but I am going to give it a shot.  I have done it before, and I will do it again.  Here is a quick tutorial on how to do basic Dark Age shield designs.  

First, you paint 4 to 8 lines on the face of the shield in the alternate color.  It reminds me of slicing a pie or pizza.  Yum.  Shields from the period tended to be whole colors, halved, quartered, and in eighths.  

Second, you fill in the tops and bottoms of the wedges in alternating pieces of the pie.  This informs which wedges you are going to fill in. 

Lastly, you just put paint in the wedge where it belongs.  Ta-da!  Now it is time to go eat some pie!  Only 39 more to go! 

Once you have painted all the designs, the bosses are done, and the frames are all blocked you take the final and most important step.  You slather in a Strong Tone wash to help cover up all your sins and lack of coverage!

Finally, you remove them from the sprue and attach them to the models.  Fun fact about Viking and round shields from this period is that they were carried in one-hand and had no supporting straps.  That means they were not worn on the forearm like the Kite shield.  They were held out in front in a single fist along the center axis of the shield.  They were also rather light weight and mostly protection against missile weapons unless they were overlapped for extra strength.  This allowed for a variety of tactics for individual shield usage but also shields overlapped with others reinforced and strengthen each shield for a shield wall, while keep each individual shield light and easy to carry.  They were also often slung on the back when two hands needed to be free.  

The Fyrd all ready to fight! 

 

The Earl Eirkir and his noble Thegns

On the models you can see how the shields were held-out in the fist, as opposed to strapped on the arm.  If you try the arm mounting, no one would have their shield in the proper position for fighting!  

That finishes up the shield wall infantry for my Anglo-saxon force.  40 guys batch painted.  The shields are almost like painting another half dude!  The Fyrd were all from Victrix's Early Saxon box, while the Thegns were from the late Anglo-Saxon kit.  I figured the bosses would have the best, most modern gear while the Fyrd maybe not so much. 

This army still needs 20 skirmishers and 30 archers before I call it done.  This will give me more than enough units to mix and match a bit to take on Erik Greybeard and his Viking raiders or King Errc and his Dark Age Irish using Fury of the Northman.  

Here is the infantry out on the table, formed up for battle.  

   Until next time! 

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On The Painting Desk: Anglo-Saxon Shieldwall for Fury of the Northman

 

The first big painting project of 2025.  I am working on an Anglo-Saxon army for Fury of the Northman.  I picked up the miniatures for it in 2024 but did not get the time to work on it back then.  However, it is winter time and there is no better time to paint a big project than now.  I am using a combination of Victrix kits, the Late Anglo-Saxons, the Early Anglo-Saxons, and the Dark Age Archers kit for this army.  The army will look like this: 

• 1 Unit of Shieldwall Nobles as Thegns from the Late Anglo-Saxon kits
• 3 Units of Shieldwall Militia as Fyrd from the Early Anglo-Saxon kits
• 2 Units of skirmishers/irregulars from a mix of Early and Late Anglo-Saxon kits
• 3 Units of Archers from the Dark Age Archer kits

That is enough for an army plus some swappable extras to play against my Dark Age Irish and my Viking force.  That will allow a pretty decent campaign mix.  Still thinking about a Muslim army for this period too. 

I decided to get started on the Shieldwall infantry first.  That is the heart of most armies in the Viking Age isn't it?  Well...... no..... but it is for this one!  I have been spoiled by all those Heroquest models because I forgot what a pain it is to actually assemble your models!  That really slowed me down.  However, I soon had the 40 shieldwall models all assembled and put on washers.  Then, before painting I of course gave them an undercoat of Grey Seer.  

Before I got started, I decided I was NOT going to be using Speedpaints on these guys.  All of my other Historical models I use the base coat and a wash method.  So these fit in, I decided I wanted to do the same with this army.  Therefore, after spray undercoating it was time to start batch painting.  

Here is a quick look at my batch painting technique.  I have obviously batch painted a few armies in my time, so I think I have a decent technique down for it.  First thing I do, is paint all of their flesh and all of their shoes/boots.  I typically use three different colors for their footwear.  

From there, I start painting from the lowest layer up.  Typically, that is the pants!  I decide on the various colors of pants I want, then I start to break them up into smaller groups, so that each unit will only have one or two guys with the same color pants.  

I then, do the same thing with the next layer.  In this case, it was going to be the leggings.  I typically use the same colors I just make sure a guy with that color pants doesn't get the same color leggings.  I then make one last mix up for their tunics.  I tend to do the same thing but with fewer colors and larger batches for all the colors as I move up the model, so belts, hafts, armor/helms, etc.  You may have also noticed that I keep all the shields off, I paint those on the sprue separately and add them just before basing.  

Of course, I got a bit impatient and spent some time away from the Fyrd, and focused on the Thegns and got them done the fastest of all the Shieldwall infantry..... woops......

All that chainmail was just begging for me to finish it off.  Afterall, they look so... unfinished... in all that gun metal and polished silver.  I couldn't let that stand!  I finished the base colors with a nice coat of Strong Tone wash. The guy in the purple cloak is supposed to be my Earl.  I like to give my officers purple..... it is a hang-over from my ancients painting.  Any excuse to use purple am I right!  Like the Fyrd, I will be painting the shields and adding them last.  

With a small hit of Dopamine to help me get to the end, I went back to working on batch painting the Fyrd with my tried and true method.  I mean, it is only 30 of them right!  The biggest "batch" to batch painting with these guys will be their tunics.  I mean, these look super comfy and I am hoping one day they come back in style!  It is basically a really long and flowing shirt belted around the hips?  I would wear that.  

Look, it's the Power Rangers: Dark Ages!  Go, go Power Rangers!  Here the Fyrd are about half finished.  From here, it is about painting up the belts, pouches and gear that they are all wearing.  This is mostly Skeleton Bone, Dessert Yellow, Leather Brown, and Fur Brown.  Again, each model typically uses two different gear colors to mix it up.  Since I use those colors on their tunics (or are they tabards?) you have to make sure you don't make the belt and gear the same color as the clothing.  Easy to do when batch painting.  

It is always amazing to me how "finished" a model becomes when you paint their weapons.  I could have a full unit painted, but not their weapons and it would look like I still had a ton left to do!  Since they are spears, I mixed it up with different colors on the hafts using the same colors as their belts.  Then, I painted up all the metal, including helmets, buckles, spear points with a variety of Plate Mail, Gun Metal, Bronze, and a few Metallic Speedpaints for variety.  Once again, hair color was one of my favorite parts using a some yellow, and orange, but mostly ash grey, dark stone, fur brown, and monster brown.  The base colors were all in place! 

The last step to finishing the basics on these guys was a nice Strong Tone wash using my Armypainter washes.  The Strong Tone is black based and it works well with Chain Mail and armored minis.  These guys are not wearing chain, but I used it on the Nobles.  I felt like if I switched to a Light or Soft Tone they would not blend in as well.  Those tones are sepia based.  So, with some trepidation I hit them with the Strong Tone......

Oh yeah, that darkened them up.  However the blend in pretty good with the leader squad.  The only left to do is to base them and get their shields painted.  Man, I hate painting shields, but especially Dark Age shields.  You can see how it went last time with my Vikings, but you will have to see how these turn out.  

Painting these 40 guys to this level took me about 4 days of work, spread over a couple weeks of time, a few colors here and there.  I rarely get to just sit down and paint for 3 days straight!  Most of my painting projects I pack up in between sessions, but these guys just sat on the desk and waited pateintly.  I do not think I would enjoy just sitting down and painting all day!  I tend to do a color or two, get up, do something else for a bit, and then come back to it.  

Next up, I will go over the shields and start in on the Skirmishers and Archers.  Probably another batch of 30-50 guys.  Until next time! 

Bonus Content! 

I managed to go down and play some of the new edition of Kill Team with the True Crit Gaming Guild.  I took the Hand of the Archon out to play since it had an actual Kill Team box and I hoped the rules were still current.  No idea still, but my opponent was nice enough to let me use what I had.  

I honestly only picked up on a few differences compared to the last edition.  Of course, the missions changed, some of the keyword rules changes a bit, assets changed, and the way Conceal/Engage worked changed a bit.  They also ditched the stupid shapes instead of numbers thing.  However, it seemed to play pretty much the same after that.  However, it is also possible that I never knew the old rules well enough to notice the differences!  

This was a classic battle of dwarves vs. elves, as my friend took the new League of Votann Scavengers for their list.  I couldn't tell you too much about them, except they seemed to be a close ranged team.  They had shotguns and a lot of pistols and CC dudes.  I had them pretty well shot up, and managed to out flank them.  We scored points by being in the enemy control zones and deployment zones.  They had some resourceful tricks, but ultimately the Dark Eldar were nastier this time.  

I saw the Hivestorm box at the store, but ultimately I doubt I will pick it up unless I come into some sort of windfall.  I really do not need two new Kill Teams when I all ready have more than I will probably use!  Plus, I am not sure the rules changes are enough where I feel like I need the update to the newest edition in order to keep engaging with it on a casual level.  

Until next time!  

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Wargame Design: The Corinthian War - Men of Bronze Supplement

 

Find the new supplement here!

Honestly, this was really unexpected.  One day, I was thinking about the trouble I was having moving some games forward.  I was having challenges getting words on the page.  I kept hitting internal road blocks, despite working my usual system.  I was getting frustrated, and my output was suffering.  

I am not even sure what happened, but I decided I needed to pivot.  What I was doing was not working.  I don't even recall the conscious thoughts that led to this supplement for Men of Bronze/Wars of the Republic to happen, but once I pivoted and started working on it..... well..... it poured itself onto the page in a matter of days.  This was not on my "To Do" list at the end of last year, so to see it now is a surprise to me as it is to anyone else.  Writing can be weird sometimes.

 

What is it?

The Corinthian War is a supplement for use with Men of Bronze/Wars of the Republic that were published as part of the Osprey Wargaming Series of games.  This is the 4th supplement I have done for those rules the others being: 

• Hercules Abroad 
• Revolt! The Third Servile War
• The Ionian Revolt

This one focuses on the historical Greek campaign known as The Corinthian War.  This took place about 10 years after the end of the Peloponnesian War, and after the famous March of the Ten Thousand.  The details of the Corinthian War are documents by Xenophon in his work Hellenica.  There is also additional material in Plutarch's Lives and the works of Diodorus Siculus.  

The supplement focuses on re-creating the historical battles of The Corinthian War on the tabletop.  In this way, it is similar to The Ionian Revolt supplement.  Like  The Ionian Revolt this campaign was a combined arms, Land and Sea affair.  It involved a variety of Greek City-States backed by Persia in overthrowing the military power of Sparta.  Therefore, it had a wide cast of interesting characters, unit types, and miniatures that I could use from my collection.  The campaign also had traditional big hoplite battles, ambush actions, raids, and a variety of scenarios to make wargaming it a blast!   

What is in it?    

This supplement is a condensed work of about 25 pages.  This includes the following: 

• A Brief History
• Some Line of Battle modifications
• The main Campaign
• Optional campaign scenarios

Total there are about 10 scenarios and a very brief way to score the campaign for a result.  This includes a Naval battle scenario, a Coastal Raid scenario, a Strong Point scenario, and some more traditional scenarios.  The Line of Battle modifications add Freed Helots and Athenian Marines as unit types that did not really exist before.  Spartan King Agesilaus II gets his own Line of Battle as well.  

Artwork has a few miniatures that I have painted from Victrix, some cool artifacts from the period, and a snazzy map!  

Where do I get it? 

Of course, you will want a copy of Men of Bronze/Wars of the Republic first.  You can get those wherever Osprey Books are sold.  

If you happen to be one of my Patrons on Patreon, you all ready have it!  I provided it to all my paying Patrons back in December as an early Christmas gift.

If you aren't a Patron (Tsk, tsk!) then you can get it now on my Blood and Spectacles Wargame Vault page.  

Thank you for your support!  I put all the profits I make back into the business of wargaming!  That means more wargames, more RPGs, and more content for you to enjoy on my blog, Social Media feeds, and my Patreon.      

Find the new supplement here!    

Until next time! 

Become a Patron and get access to all the cool stuff, a peak behind the curtain of Blood and Spectacles, and early-access to playtest games!  

Blood and Spectacles Patreon! 

You can follow Blood and Spectacles Facebook page or Instagram for more fun! 

Check out the latest publications and contact me at our Blood and Spectacles website

Or purchase all out games at the Blood and Spectacles Publishing Wargames Vault Page!