Tuesday, September 13, 2016

Fireforge Russian Foot

      I bought these a while ago and I am only now getting around to writing this review. Fireforge has brought out something that I've been waiting on for ages; Dark Ages Russian foot. I have a Byzantine army and have been cheating for years using Vikings as Rus. Now I can finally do the right thing and field a real unit of Rus warriors to assist the Emperor in defending Byzantium from the barbarians.Doubtless they will be striving to get promoted to the Varangian Guard!

      These figures show their Viking heritage but have a decidedly Eastern/Slavic look. They are molded in a medium soft gray plastic with very crisp details. A good selection of shields and weapons is provided, a bit heavy on the archers to my taste but that is just one man's opinion.You could easily back-date these by swapping in more round shields and hairy faces from other sets of minis.I can barely wait to start converting these models.


once again the back of the box shows a photo of the very pretty painted minis, 
one of these days the guys in marketing will realize that this would sell more boxes

not that there is anything wrong with the cover-art, very atmospheric
not at all like the tragic Wargames Factory cover art

Tuesday, September 6, 2016

Looking forward, Game Schedule for September and October

     The rest of this month looks good for our normal schedule of 7pm Saturday games. October, on the other hand, is a complete train wreck; between family commitments and work I will not be able to host a game all month. Others are welcome to host a game at my place, just contact me in advance so I can set things up.

     Of course you all are welcome to host games of your own, I make no claim to be the only venue in town. Suggestions for games or offers to run one can be posted in comments or emailed to me.

Sunday, September 4, 2016

Lace Wars Part VII, Into action at last!

     The point of owning and painting wargames minis is to actually play games with them, at that is what I have been told! The growing pile of Lace Wars figures had me thinking that I would like to see them in action on the table top, not just a staged photo-op, but a real game. So I concocted the following scenario.

    On the Island of Santa Margarita the Spanish have begun to construct a gun battery on a bit of high ground that overlooks the Straits. They have been concerned over the increasing tensions with Britain and want to secure the passage against interference by the Anglos. Right near the proposed battery is the homer od Senor Fernandez, the leader of the local militia. He has called them to his home to assist with the construction work and to guard the area while the battery is built.

     Having better and faster ships the British have found out that war has broken out against Spain. The salient problem is that while word has arrived, reinforcements have not. Lord Feversham understands the need to capture the battery position and spike or carry away the guns but he lacks the manpower for the job. To make up numbers he has struck a bargain with the devil and signed on a large number of Buccaneers to at as shock troops. They have been promised a free hand in looting the island as long as the battery is wiped out first.

     The British player was given the choice of flanking attacks from the north or the south, or an attempt to land directly onto the dock with the one schooner light enough to handle the shallow water. He chose to launch all of his units into a flank attack from the south with the schooner sailing toward the dock as a distraction and a signal to his own men to begin the assault. Below we have a map to the table