Punic Wars Project - Adrift?

At the beginning of June I posted my painting schedule for my Punic Wars project. The plan was to paint 720 figures by the end of November. It is now the beginning of January and I've only managed 464. Why?

I could claim excuse for several reasons, but most would be dismissed by a right minded boss without hesitation (work load, family, etc.). The real reasons are three fold:

• I committed the cardinal sin. I got side tracked by things new and shiny (see WWII stuff).
• I committed to several other wargames related activities (articles, etc.) and found my spare time too thinly spread.
• Thirdly, I got bored with things Punic.

The last thing is not something new, I often get bored half way through a project and it is a 'lull' I build into my overall deadlines. But, the new shiny stuff and the articles gave me an excuse to escape the project for longer than usual. Big mistake!

I can't change the overall completion date for the whole Punic Wars project (or, why have one?) so I finished the WWII stuff to a good break point (22nd Armoured Brigade Group) and then put it all away. I got back into the Punic Wars saddle and took out a batch of Gauls. As self punishment I made it a big batch. I finished it on my Birthday (New Years eve). It has done me good - I've already started the projected cavalry and aim to finish them quickly. The project is still do-able, but I can't take another break now.

Anyway, the new painted stuff.



176 Gallic warband - 8 units of 22 (these took 3 weeks). I think they have just the right amount of 'tartan'.

48 velites - 4 units of 12, for the allies in the Roman army (these took 2 months!).

Parable of the Holy Turnip - part 2.

Some images of the battle with selected extracts from the Chronicles of Kermit the Hermit.

"......At first the attacks by the wild Saracen were beaten off, but maddened by the reverse they did attack again with renewed and bloody vigour. The turnip fields fell but were then retaken, the Holy Turnip held aloft in triumph........."

"....whilst the pilgrims battled for their very lives in the ditches of Blakadah, Lord Flashart did charge on those Saracens holding high ground above the enemy camp and there, heavy loss not withstanding, did great massacre....."

".........As the light of day waned there did arrive more Saracens above the valley. But their arrival availed him little........."

"..........As darkness fell, the Saracen retreated to his camp and the Christians back to Blakadah. In the morning the Saracen was gone........."

This game was a belter, with both sides fighting each other to a bloody standstill. The Christians were at zero morale for much of the latter part of the game but passed every army morale test they took - five from memory - and rolling D10 Vs D10 this was outstanding. A draw was decided at 11pm, though the Christians might with some justification claim a marginal victory.

I will revisit the scenario notes later this week and make some adjustments to it. The Christian's objectives and some Saracen deployments will be changed to make the scenario flow better - the original was written in an afternoon. I'll do this by edit so it will not appear as a new posting.

22nd Armoured Brigade Group Nov 41 - finished.

22nd Armoured Brigade Group for Operation Crusader,

Western Desert, November to December 1941

As a change from the Punic Wars stuff that I'm ploughing through (I'm currently finishing a batch of 176 28mm Gallic infantry) I'm doing the odd bit for my WWII collection. I've just finished the first of the four brigade groups for 7th Armoured Division. Scale is 1:5 ish. Here it is:

The whole group and its overall command stand.



22nd Armoured Brigade - comprising 2nd Royal Gloucestershire Hussars, 3rd County of London Yeomanry and 4th County of London Yeomanry.

11th Hussars.

B Company 1st Battalion King's Royal Rifle Corps and a troop from 102nd AT Regiment.

C Battery 4th Royal Horse Artillery and 3 Battery 1st Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment.

All figures and models are FOW. All are painted in enamels and the liberal use of burnt umber acrylic ink.

All are based on 2mm MDF - frontages are 60mm. Command stands and FOO stands are circular. All are sand, grit and cat litter on PVA glue, ink washed and dry brushed with artists acrylic and household emulsion paint; grass tufts are Mininatur, spongy flock is Woodland Scenics products.

Parable of the Holy Turnip - battle report

A short pictorial battle report of last nights action.

From the Chronicles of Kermit the Hermit:

"Whilst the pilgrims and soldiers in Blakadah did suffer the attention of the Saracen archers......

......the two aforesaid Lords, arriving from the lines of Antioch, did push their men hard and came to the countryside around the Holy Turnip Fields before ever a Saracen had word of their coming. They skirmished with the heathen in running battles.......

......until the Lords, having sent many of the enemy scurrying back to their tents, arrayed their forces so as to come to handstrokes..........

.......It was now that the Saracen did emerge from his camp in force, wishing to overthrow the Christians in Blakadah...........

......sending wild Ghazis in furious charges against their hasty defences.......

To be continued next week.

Parable of the Holy Turnip Scenario

This scenario is based on the writings of Kermit the Hermit. Specifically, that section which has become known as the 'Parable of the Holy Turnip' (the lesson being - don't rub another mans turnip, it costs lives - apparently. The action took place sometime during the siege of Antioch but the exact date and location of the battle are unclear.

From the Chronicle of Kermit the Hermit:

"....with want coming upon the soldiers and pilgrims in the lines of Antioch, foraging parties were sent ever farther abroad into enemy country. One such party, led by a certain English captain named Baldrik, did raid the distant village of Blakadah, wherein the captain's men found fields in bounty of turnips. On the second day of the harvesting a piece of ground was dug, which since has been called Holy, where a large turnip, some say as big as a goose, in the shape of a Cross was discovered. It was thought to be a sign of God's Blessing.

News of the discovery reached the lines of Antioch and caused a great disturbance among the devout who dwelt there. Many hundreds deserted the place and did pilgrimage to Blakadah in the hope of feasting on Gods Holy Turnips rather than await the assured arrival of the Holy Vegetable. Soon the place was athrong and the Turnips all eaten. That night the multitude slept happy and sated. But on the morrow the Saracen was discovered encamped nearby and their heathen cavalry all about, cutting off their route back to Antioch.

Baldrik, immediately fortified Blakadah and deployed what forces, including the hapless pilgrims, as best he could. All prepared to defend themselves and many swore oaths to save the Holy Turnip from the clutches of the Hoards of Satan surrounding them.

News of the Saracen reached Antioch within hours. It was decided, at council, that so great a number could not be sacrificed. Succour was dispatched under the command of Lord Melchitte and Lord Flashart...................."

So much for the chronicle, but it gives just enough information to obtain an Ager Sanguinis scenario. The Map below shows my initial deployments.

The forces:

The Franks, army die D10.

Baldrik:

Baldrik command stand, leadership D10.

Holy Relic stand, applies only to the pilgrims under Baldrik (the rest of the Franks think it mad).
1 unit of mercenary English seamen.

1 unit of mercenary Italian seamen.

1 unit of fanatic levy (pilgrims) with simple bows.

1 unit of fanatic levy (pilgrims) with light spears.

2 units of fanatic civilians (pilgrims).

Lord Melchitte:

Melchitte command stand, leadership D10.

1 unit of knights.

1 unit of turcopoles.

3 small units of mercenary sergeants.

Lord Flashart:

Flashart command stand, leadership D12.

Otherwise as per Melchitte above.

The Saracens, Army die D10:

Three commands of Turcoman horse archers deployed around Blakadah (see map) each:

Command stand, leadership D10.

2 units of Turcoman horse archers.

Undeployed commands:

Command stand '1', leadership D10.

2 units of Turcoman horse archers.

2 units of Ghazis.

Command stand '2', leadership D10.

1 unit of Ghulams.

2 units of Seljuk horse archers.

4 units of Ghazis.

Special Rules:

The Saracen player adds a 'Special 1' and a 'Special 2' card to his sequence deck. On the appearance of the cards the player can elect to pass or deploy the command with the same number (command 1 or 2). If the card is passed on, the player can add or subtract 1 from the roll of a D10 the next time it is turned (passes are cumulative). If the player elects to deploy he rolls D10 adjusted by any 'passes'. The command must deploy on the command in the map square corresponding to the result (the relevant squares are numbered 1 - 10 on the deployment map above).

I'll post a report with pics ASAP. We play the 'Parable of the Holy Turnip Scenario' tonight.

Blog passes 100,000 hits

I've had google analytics running on this blog since quite early on. It provided considerable encouragement and I still, if a little vaguely, remember the first time it passed 1000 hits in a single month - I was amazed. These days it averages over 3,500 a month; it once touched 7000.

Recently, I've been watching it creep up to the 100,000 total hits count. This morning it heaved itself over. I thought you might like to see the breakdown.

Total hits: 100,039
Page views: 297,070
Average time on site: 00:01:59
New visits: 39.32%

Referring sites: 70.29%
Direct traffic: 23.22%
Search engines: 6.22%
Other traffic: 0.27%

Countries: 123
Top 20 countries (in high to low order): UK, USA, France, Canada, Australia, Germany, Spain, Italy, New Zealand, Russia, Poland, Belgium, Netherlands, Sweden, Ireland, Czech Republic, Denmark, Japan, Greece, Finland.
Obscurer countries: Azerbaijan and the Dutch Antilles make a good showing with 3 hits each, whilst it seems only one gamer in Mongolia has had broadband in his yurt.

Thanks to everyone who has visited this blog since 28th April 2008.

Best Regards to you all,

James Roach