A miniature work of art.

I am slowly amassing the required forces to refight The Battle of the River Trimsos as in Donald Featherstones first book on wargaming using 2D flats . In fact the only thing I was really missing was one chariot for the Hyrkainian army , I had a look on the Berlin Zinnfiguren webshop and found the above model in their second hand section reasonably priced . It arrived today and upon examination I was struck how finely it was painted - usually painted flats are a "factory finish"  paint job and need a bit of work doing to them - this one is excellently painted - a work of art and far better than I could accomplish ! (click on the photo to enlarge) . It will need a gloss varnish and basing to ready it for the tabletop.

The only problem with ordering from Berlin Zinnfiguren is that there is a minimum order of 25 Euros so to top my order up I got the above set , it's titled "Vercingetorix" and I will use them for various character figures for Hyboria , painting them is going to be a challenge for the future. (click on the photo to enlarge)

 

Finally done !

About six months ago I started painting this unit of Cimmerian Warriors for my Hyborian collection and they have sat in the cupboard waiting patiently to get finished . However this week I felt like painting something different so I got them out and they are now completed . They came with a 'factory paint job' and I have added shading and highlights, spruced them up and painted various shield designs and given them a coat off gloss varnish to protect them . Now to get them in action on the tabletop .

 

On the painting tray .

As a change from painting 54mm figures I've started repainting these 25mm flats , these are for my Hyboria project . They will be Cimmerian mercenary tribesmen and so will be able to fight for both Hyborea and Hyrkanian armies . It has taken a while to get back into painting flats , but I'm getting into the swing of things .

Nearest the camera the basic figure as purchased and to the rear the 'tarted up' figure ready for basing and a gloss varnish .

 

Painting an escapee .

Searching in my 'wargaming draw of shame' for something the other day and at the bottom of the draw I found the above ancient flat figure . A few months ago I purchased some barbarian type figures from a Ebay seller in Germany for my Hyboria collection  and the box when it arrived was deposited into the draw of shame and he must have tumbled out into the chaos of the  draw . I  took this to be a sign from the Gods of Wargaming to get him painted , he had a basic paint job with no shading at all so I've repainted him from scratch and added some dramatic shading which I think you need to make flat figures look right . He will be an Officer/Standard Bearer for my next unit of Cimmerian's which he has inspired me to start painting up ready to be commanded by Conan (hopefully if you click on the photo it will enlarge)

Hyborian battle (part2)

I'm afraid my coverage of this battle is a big bitty as I forgot to take photos as the action heated up . Here we see the Cimmerian warband charge and ultimately rout the Thurn infantry . The cavalry clash at the ford ended up with both sides retiring but the Hykanian cavalry didn't rally and fled the table leaving the 1st Guard Cavalry to rally and return to the fight .

Gayomar 'First of all Men' leads the 3rd Imperial Foot Guards forward .

The Thurn Archers capture the ford (briefly) .

The situation about half way through the game , the Hykanian cavalry are fleeing the table nearest the camera (even though I spent 'Fate' points to try and rally them they kept rolling '1s' ) . In the centre the infantry clash at the road junction .

The 1st Gwalur move up to support their comrades . Unfortunately the Thurn infantry broke under pressure from the Cimmerians and fled , The 1st had to test for friends routing and failed their morale spectacularly ! and also ran off ! .

Towards the end of the battle the Hykanian infantry flee , their archers still hold the ford but are isolated and have cavalry bearing down on their left flank .

The 3rd Imperial Guards didn't even get to draw blood .

Some of the survivors of the 1st Thurn Infantry .

The 1st Guard Cavalry move up to capture the ford , with the rest of the army in rout the Hykanian archers had no choice but to retire as well so giving up the ford .

The looser - Count Valenso , the fates were against him from the start as his army made some abysmal dice throws that even the 'Fate' dice couldn't alter .

The victor- Gayomar 'First of all Men' attributes his victory to his brilliant strategy and not lucky dice rolls ! . A great game, a bit one sided but entertaining never the less .

Hyborian battle (part 1)

Whilst I'm in an Old School mood I thought I would set up and play a small Hyborian battle . On the left the Hyrkanian army, on the right the forces of Hyperborea . In the centre of the table is an important ford which has to be captured and held to win the game which will take 8 moves .

The Hyrkanian centre the 1st Thurn Infantry and behind the 1st Gwalur Infantry, they are flanked by half of the Thurn Archers . The army is commanded by Count Valenso .

Gayomar 'First of all Men' commands the Hyperboreans , in front a warband of Cimmerian warriors, backed up by the 3rd Imperial Foot Guards, in the distance a contingent of the 2nd Imperial Archers . Both sides also have a Cavalry regiment , the Fort Ghori Cavalry for Hyrkania and the 1st Guard Cavalry for Hyperborea .

The fate dice are thrown and Hyrkania gets 4 - these can be used to reroll saves and other important dice rolls .

Hyperborea also scored a 4 , so the Gods smile equally on both sides . Units were placed on the board by my usual dice throw method ., of course I will be using Featherstone's Ancients rules .

Hyborian goodness .

Been finishing off some more of the 30mm flats I've bought in , these were originally Etruscans and had a very basic 'factory' paint job. They have fought a couple of battles in their original paint  but now  I've retouched them given a bit of shading to the colours , added Officers and they are now the 2nd Gwalur Infantry .

These are a warband of fierce Cimmerian warriors , mercenaries who will fight for the highest bidder, they were rather plainly painted so I've added stripes and cheques and given a bit of variety to their shields . .

Here is their Commander , rather an odd figure armed with a bow (?). 

Finally got the remaining figures done for the Fort Ghori Horse , here we see a patrol charging past a couple of senior Officers . Again this unit has fought in it's basic paint job , but now I've added shading to the horses and flowing cloaks .

The figure on the left I've painted from scratch , the one on the right has been revamped adding small details to the horse trappings and helmet and armour . I enjoy painting these flats , very therapeutic and different from the normal round figures I usually paint .

Border Clash (part1)

I've been on holiday in N. Wales last week with nice weather and at home doing day trips in not so nice weather this week so I've not had much chance for any tabletop action or painting . Today being especially damp I decided to set up a small game using my 30mm Ancient flats and Don Featherstone's rules . I gave each unit a playing card then shuffled them and dealt 3 cards per side to determine the forces  , the game will last for 8 moves .

The Hyperborian force under Count Belissarius consisted of the 1st Thurn infantry , the 1st Gwalur infantry .

And the newly renovated Hyperborian Mounted Archers .

The Hyrkanian force commanded by General Thalis is lead onto the table by the newly re-based Fort Ghori Horse , the 3rd Imperial Guards and the 1st Imperial Archers have yet to move onto the table . Let battle commence ......

War Pachyderm .

I have had this figure sat on my painting tray for about two weeks and I kept putting off painting it somewhat intimidated by the complexity of the task . However I buckled down and although it took me two days I've got it done . The correct way to paint flats is to imagine the light is coming from one direction and adjust the shading for this , however this is for mounting the figures for dioramas and displays and I just did a sort of wargaming table job . I've just given it a coat of gloss varnish to protect it and when dry I'll do the base , the mug is for scale . 

The other side of the model , getting the shading just right was a task , but I'm happy with it . It will be joining the Hyperborian army soon 

P.S. fear not I have not forgotten H.G. Wells and his cunning plan , coming soon …...

First go at painting flat cavalry figures.

Having finished painting a load of figures for a wargaming colleague I thought I should have a go at painting some of the 'lead mountain' of flat figures I have waiting to get done . Here are a couple of cavalrymen who I think will be members of the Fort Ghori Horse . They need a coat of varnish to bring the colours out , I painted them a basic dark shade then used a couple of highlights to pick up the raised areas . I'm enjoying the challenge as I've not done anything like this before and hope to post more pictures soon .

The Battle of the Akrim Valley (part 2)

The third move finds the Hyperborian Guard Cavalry crash into the rear of the retreating archers who are all cut down .

In the centre the infantry clash in melee and the Hyrkanian light horse try to get on the flank of the Hyperborean cavalry

The victorious Guard cavalry continue their rampage in the rear of the Hyrkanian army by destroying the War Engine .

The 1st Imperial Infantry clash with the 2nd Gwalur infantry and force them to retire again .

The Hyrkania Light Horse attack the flank of the Guard Cavalry but being fewer in number are driven off .

The battle was to last for 6 moves and here is the situation at the end. The Hyrkanian infantry hold the centre in some disarray with the Hyperborian infantry facing them in even greater disarray . The Hyperborian Archers and Cavalry threaten the Hyrkanian left and rear . 

The 2nd Gwalur Infantry rout and refuse to be rallied by the mounted Staff Officer .

The Thurn Infantry rallied by General Myopia .

The 2nd Imperial Infantry are rallied by General Paxo who decided it was time to retire from the field as darkness fell having lost his Regiment of Archers and the War Engine . A great game! - am busy 'tweaking' the rules slightly and the forces of Hyperborea and Hrykania will meet of the table again soon . 

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The Battle of the Akrim Valley (part 1)

This is move one, the Hyperborean army on the left , the Hyrkanian on the right . The Hykanians move first pushing their archers forward and trying to bring up their heavy infantry to support them . The Hyperborians march forward (double move) and their heavy cavalry are in the distance attempting a flank march .

The green markers show if a unit marches (this can been done every other turn) The Hyrkanian Archers shoot at the heavy infantry in front of them .

The 2nd Gwalur infantry take enough casualties to test their morale and fail their test and retire 2 moves - not a good start ! .

On the other flank the Imperial Horse make a split move to attack with javelins the Hyperborian archers then retire . The War Engine moves onto the table from reserve into the centre of the table .

On the second move Hykrania moved first , the archers having routed their opponent quickly swing around to meet the Hyperborian Heavy cavalry who are  bearing down on the right flank . The 1st and 2nd Imperial Infantry move forward to engage the remaining Hyperborian Thurn Infantry who had had to halt due to failing their morale test because the flanking unit had run .

The Hyperborian Guard Cavalry crash into the Hyrkanian Archers who because they marched to get into position can't shoot - The are cut to pieces by the cavalry and flee 2 moves .

The end of the second move the fleeing archers are hopefully being rallied by a staff officer, whilst the Hyperborian Guard Cavalry is poised ominously to the rear of the Hyrkanian army .

The battle as it would have been seen in the 1960's as in the Featherstone book . Part two to follow …..