25 Dec 2009
Hannibal wishes you all Happy Christmas
22 Dec 2009
It's Nearly Over!
Lost Scrolls: Amazon US
21 Dec 2009
PBI Battle Reports / Photos
17 Dec 2009
Match Reports from Warfare
12 Dec 2009
Thanks for Visiting Madaxeman.com!
The Wiki is the most popular section, closely followed by the 15mm & 10mm Galleries and Match Reports - but the 15mm Suppliers Page has been accessed over 16,000 times in the last year !!
Wow!
Thanks for visiting....
11 Dec 2009
6mm auction listings added
Kennington added to the 15mm Suppliers Directory
(Armoured Hand-lanched Rocketeers)
10 Dec 2009
Mine and my opponents list from Warfare Posted
9 Dec 2009
Camelot Games figures now in the Photo Directory
Before:
8 Dec 2009
Christmas Shopping
6 Dec 2009
4 Dec 2009
Tillamook Air Museum
2 Dec 2009
RAF Museum Hendon
30 Nov 2009
28mm Plastic Frenzy !!
28 Nov 2009
Do You Breed Rabbits?
27 Nov 2009
New photos added to the photo directory
25 Nov 2009
Testudo Miniatures added to the Manufacturer listing
21 Nov 2009
Warfare Half Way Point
1 outright victory on the last roll of a Roman civil war, on losing draw to some resilient Gauls.
Posted with LifeCast
20 Nov 2009
Random Osprey Book Title Generator
18 Nov 2009
Warfare this weekend !
13 Nov 2009
My Opponents From Roll Call
5 Nov 2009
New Version of the Wiki in beta
26 Oct 2009
The Mountain Cheese Olympics
21 Oct 2009
Blood & Gold out now
16 Oct 2009
14 Oct 2009
Free delivery on everything sold by Amazon UK!
12 Oct 2009
Wiki under maintainance
7 Oct 2009
Imperial Armies of the Thirty Years War (Men-at-arms)
4 Oct 2009
28 Sept 2009
Match Reports from Britcon 2009
21 Sept 2009
More Fogipedia pages
14 Sept 2009
Quote of the Day
4 Sept 2009
Empires of the Dragon released imminently!
18 Aug 2009
30 Jul 2009
24 Jul 2009
10mm Parthian WMA Army for Sale
15 Jul 2009
Europe's best FoG Army List?
13 Jul 2009
Campiones!
10 Jul 2009
I'm In Roma!
For the IWF Euro's, and gentlemen, let me tell you, it's already hot hot hot! Birra in an ice cream parkour last night to set the tone nicely, and 2 games of FoG to look forward to today.
Posted with LifeCast
6 Jul 2009
WRG Armies & Enemies books available online
4 Jul 2009
Britcon - 14-16 August 2009
30 Jun 2009
FoG Oath of Fealty nearly here...!
29 Jun 2009
More Wiki Pages created
21 Jun 2009
D-Day by Anthony Beevor
The UK's best selling book right now is Anthony Beevor's new tome, D-Day: The Battle for Normandy (that was a link to Amazon if you want to check it out). It's also now published in the States here - D-Day: The Battle for Normandy (likewise a link). You can get it from both sites post-free. Should be a classic....
Unpainted lead
Evergreen Aerospace Museum
28 May 2009
FoG Resources Page
Now has a more comprehensive listing of the most recent updates to the Wiki - with details of each update. See the main menu link above.
Posted with LifeCast
26 May 2009
UK Games Expo in Birmingham 5-7 June
Madaxeman Invitational Battle Reports
25 May 2009
PC Games on Amazon
24 May 2009
Britcon 2009
Britcon 2009 - Trader News.
Britcon is not only the UKs largest gaming competition, it is also one of the North West’s best attended Trade events with around 700 competitors and visitors expected at UMIST in Manchester, over the weekend of the 15th and 16th August.
Britcon’s USP remains our many competition periods, which guarantee the presence of some 300+ gamers at the show throughout the entire weekend. In 2009 we will have competitions for all of the most popular 15mm & 25-28mm Historical and Fantasy/Sci-Fi rules, including Flames of War, Field of Glory and a full suite of Games Workshop events. All of these periods have seen a flurry of new rulesets and army supplements over the past 12 months, so if you are selling products which are compatible with any of these rulesets you can be sure that many of our visitors and competitors will be looking for new figures, terrain and gaming supplies to bring their armies up to scratch with the latest rules and lists this August.
Our Trader rates have also been frozen at their 2008 level, with a 6’ stand starting at just £75 however in response to feedback from our current Traders we have made a number of changes to the show to help you achieve better sales from this year’s events. These include:
- A new partnership Miniature Wargames which will see the 2009 Britcon Show Guide appear in full in the August edition of Miniature Wargames, so all their regular readers will receive it in addition to our usual distribution of free copies being handed to each and every one of the expected 700+ competition and expo attendees at Britcon 2009.
- Miniature Wargames will also be offering specially discounted "Britcon 2009" advertising rates to all of our traders the August edition of the magazine, giving you a saving of 1/3 on their standard rates. If you want to make sure that every competition gamer, day visitor and a further 7,000 active wargamers across the country know you are at this year's biggest UK wargames competition, you can now do so at an even more cost effective manner than ever before.
- The 2009 Show guide will now also include editorial space for a 50-word catalogue entry for all of our exhibitors, allowing you to highlight the ranges you will be bringing to the show, as well as announcing any new product launches and special offers you may be running at the show.
- To increase the volume of day visitors, we will be undertaking more expo-only promotion than ever before, with advertising in all of the main journals and an online campaign where we will be posting regular announcements about our exhibitors to all the major online portals and forums used by UK gamers.
- To help you make sales to our expected 300+ competition gamers, we will be sending out a series of regular email shots throughout July & August to all the registered players specifically to promote our traders, so if you have any exciting announcements or news to share, or if you simply want to encourage our gamers to "order in advance - collect at show", we want to hear from you!
In order to take advantage of the extra promotion available via the August edition of Miniature Wargames you will need to confirm your participation as a Britcon Trader by Friday June 26th, and provide artwork by Friday July 3rd. Traders booking after this date will still enjoy all of our on-site and web-based promotion, but will miss out on the extra benefits of inclusion in the August edition of Miniature Wargames.
To find out more about our new enhanced 2009 Trader Packages you can download and complete the Britcon Trader Form from the BHGS website, or contact me at tim@madaxeman.com
To book space in Miniature Wargames show issue please contact Gareth MacFarlane at Miniature Wargames on 01354 695559.
On behalf of the BHGS
18 May 2009
Madaxeman Invitational - The Results
Final Placings (and armies) are
16 May 2009
Madaxeman Invitational
Early Vandal vs Western Hunnic
Late Republican Roman vs Illyrian
Dominate Roman vs Palmyran
Sassanid Persian vs Parthian
Hepthalite Hun vs Classical Indian
If you are in London and fancy a pint tomorrow, please feel free to drop in.
Rebel Mini's Roman - Pics & Review
Overall they are nice looking little figures, although it does need you to stick on their (separate) shields at a variety of jaunty angles to give them any real attempt at animation. The shields all come with well thought out "plugs" on the back, into which each figure's left hand fits snugly, allowing you a very decent chance of glueing the shields on in a secure manner - although I always try and glue separate shields to a 2nd anchor point elsewhere on the figure just to be on the safe side. Castings are clean, and the blokes themselves are normally-proportioned, not cartoonish - which makes them appear quite slight compared to some of the chunkier ranges out there. Size-wise they look to be a mite smaller than Old Glory, and almost exactly bang on the same as Corvus Belli's Romans.
Overall however its still a limited range of figures, only 2 varieties in each pack, and expensive compared to many other ranges means this feels to me like a range that might not quite make the cut despite being pretty good.
15 May 2009
Rebel Minis Romans
Just got some 15mm Romans thru the post from America - so they are being sped thru the painting table and there will maybe be photos as soon as tomorrow!
Posted with LifeCast
8 May 2009
Hedges & Trees for terrain
3 May 2009
Loads of photos
Just added some US Paratroops with Mohicans from Pendraken to the 10mm Directory - first new 10mm WW2 in ages!
The Ancients directory has also seen some additions, and now has close to having 2000 photos. Latest additions include two brand new elephants just released by Donnington including an armoured Seleucid elephant HEL03 and a re-sculpted Sassanid elephant SDEL01. I've also added some more infantry (painted) from their New Era range of medievals
They've also sent me some photos of
Baggage horses due for release later this month. There are two basic horses, one with a frame and basic baggage bundle over the saddle and the other with a pair of large wicker panniers over the saddle. Each horse comes with a set of equipment/stowage to enable gamers to build the horse to whatever configuration is required. There are different tops for the pannier baskets which can be stuck on to represent different stowage, and all sorts of other bits and pieces such as kit/blanket rolls, bunches of salamis (yes sausages!), wine skins, tools (spade, pick and mattock), panniers full of bread, spears, shields, amphorae and cheese, lances, pole arms, medieval shields, small barrels, jugs and flagons.
The pictures also show the two different figures to lead the horses, one in medieval dress and the other is more generic being dressed in a tunic, trousers and cap.
If you are a manufacturer and woud llike to send me photos of your new stuff so I can mention it, please drop me a line !
30 Apr 2009
Shadows in The Desert
- UK Version of Shadows in the Desert: Ancient Persia at War
- Us Amazon Version of Shadows in the Desert
Madaxeman Invitational FoG Tourney
20 Apr 2009
New Era Donnington Miniatures
They are pretty much all either in the Men at Arms or Barded Knights directories.
4 Apr 2009
New 15mm Supplier Added
3 Apr 2009
Chalons sur Marne
2 Apr 2009
Samurai Armies 1467-1694
The book itself is a weighty tome - no "8 pages of colour plates with some sketchy and largely irrelevant bonus text wrapped round it " Osprey this one!
This volume's 96 text-heavy pages do go into detail on Samurai history & politics of the period, giving an overview of how Japan changed and developed and highlighting the origins of the key players and clans. however - and most importantly for the likes of us gamers - there is absolutely stacks about warfare, battle tactics, uniforms, heraldry, with detailed maps and tactically astute accounts of battles and campaigns - in fact, everything from page 21 onwards is pretty much about the nitty gritty of warfare.
The book covers a number of key wargame-related topics in great detail, devoting many pages to each. The 17-page "Campaigns" section covers battlefield formations, communications, weaponry and how evolutions in weaponry (ie the arquebus) affected samurai tactics throughout this period.
20 Pages of "Strategic Engagement and Battlefield Movement" follows several key campaigns and uses them to highlight the classic array of formalized - and formula-busting - tactics used by key generals of the era.
A further 18 page section addresses in yet more detail the great battles of the Tokugawa Shoguns, from the unification of Japan through to the formation of the first real "Japanese" army and its abortive mission to subjugate Korea.
Summary:
For someone like myself for whom Samurai armies are not a passion, but something which fits into the "I'd like one one day just for the painting" the book is initially a somewhat challenging read, with a host of names of Japanese leaders and the rather confusing histories of various warring dynasties crammed into the first few pages.
However once this is out of the way (which it is quite soon) the book quickly kicks into a new life as something that almost seems to have been designed as a wargamers companion, and the speed at which I was able to take it all in increased dramatically.
By the time I'd finished I felt confident that the book had given me just enough history and background to put a context around what must be on many peoples "to do" lists, and shared enough pictures and uniform guides to inspire me to have a go at the uniforms, banners and flags as well. For a wargamer thinking of dipping their toe in Japanese waters then, it'd be hard to see how a one-volume guide to the period could be better put together.
Buy this book now from Amazon
27 Mar 2009
Xystons Monsters!
Just added some new photos of the Xyston Theurophoroi to the 15mm photo gallery, as the size of these chaps seems to be a regular subject on many discussion boards. I've put up comparison shots with Essex, Old Glory, Corvus Belli and also some other Xyston ranges as well.
26 Mar 2009
FoG Surveys
- Great all round army
- Good, but only in its own theme/book
- Not great, but still a solid choice
- A near-duplicate of a better list
- Eccentric - Terrain or matchup dependant
- A real dog I'm afraid
- None of the above
There's also a new Survey you can take on how you'd like FoG tournaments to be set up.
20 Mar 2009
Become a Fan of Madaxeman.com on Facebook
10mm Medievals on eBay
18 Mar 2009
New Medieval Figures from Donnington
I've just gotten my hands on some of the new Medieval figures from Donnington (due to be released at Salute 2009) - and very nice they are too.
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Having chatted to Damian at last weeks Doubles in Oxford, it seems these figures have been designed by a totally new sculptor for Donnington, so are a big step forwards from some of their other ranges. The figures themselves are compatible in size and bulk with the popular medieval ranges from Essex & Corvus Belli, but have more innovation and animation in poses than the Essex ranges. They even stand up very favourably when set against figures from my personal favourites, Mirliton and could be mixed IMO with any of these three manufacturers with no problems at all. The first 3 ranges on offer are 100YW, Swiss and Low Countries - so plenty of Men at Arms and halberdiers all round, as well as some longbowmen who will give the well-regarded 100YW Corvus Belli range a stiff challenge in the popularity stakes - especially as Donnington have nicked an idea from Peter Pig and slipped in a longbowman giving the Frenchies the finger!
Donnington intend to sell these new figures under a slightly different brand to the rest of their ranges (maybe "New Donnington" - which I suppose is better than renaming the old lot "Classic Donnington"!), and at a higher unit price. They still intend to offer the option to buy figures individually, but probably will offer unit-sized packs as well. There is a good variety in each range with at least 4 variations for most types of troops, and if they continue to allow you to mix and match their horses (of which there are 12 on offer in the 100YW range) when you buy the variety you can achieve could be very impressive.
The figures generally come with open hands, or at least hands that need to be drilled to accommodate spears or pikes, although some of the halberdiers come with cast-in weapons. Donnington intend to offer a range of weapons with the figures, maximising variety within each unit. The clever innovation with the range is visible in the above photos of the horse-less Men at Arms - the guys have been cast with a "Vamplate" (no, I didn't know what it was either) on their hands, which creates the hand guard part of a proper lance when its drilled through to take a metal wire spear - very cute!
Overall these look to be a really good range, and continue the recent trend of ever-improving 15mm figures with more "human" proportions, lots of variety and some genuine thought going into the poses to create more interesting units. There are plenty more pictures of these in the 15mm Photo Gallery (search for "New Donnington" in the "manufacturer" field) - and I'll be adding more as I get to take some photos of them. Details of procing etc haven't been released yet, but if you contact Donnington or go along to see them at Salute I'm sure you will be able to get hold of some soon!
16 Mar 2009
Warmaster Medieval Eye Candy
13 Mar 2009
Fully Updated Tactical Tips
12 Mar 2009
Another 10mm WMM Army on sale
Stronghold / Jacobite added to Supplier Directory
Don;t forget that if you have pictures of figures from any of the ranges in the 15mm Ancients Suppliers Directory please drop me a line as I'd love to add them to the Directory and Photo Gallery.
11 Mar 2009
New "News" Page added
9 Mar 2009
Xyston Gallic Nobles reviewed
This is a picture of the figures as they arrived, so a little flash needs to be cut off the swords and some other parts of the figures, but nothing too technical. Having picked up some Xyston Gaeasati recently, these figures are noticably more well-fed, even allowing for the fact they are wearing both clothes and armour, making it easier to see them fitting in alongside other ranges. The armour (in fact, all of the figure) is well cast with good detail to pick up drybrushing, and the poses are well animated although anatomically a touch suspect in cases (see this review elsewhere for comments).
The first figure is waving a sword (which is cast with the figure avoiding risk of it falling off with use). The second, with the seagull-attachment to his helmet stands on a rock, looking forwards, and the third lunges forward again with a sword cast in hand.
Overall another nice set of figures from Xyston, not as stylized as their Gaeasati warriors, but yet again it would still be difficultto mix these chaps with anyone else's figures as they are rather large. I have managed to combine them on the same base as the Fantassin/Warmodelling Gauls, but they tower head and shoulders (literally) over my Essex, Old Glory and Corvus Belli troops.
5 Mar 2009
10m Medieval Army Photos !!
I'm selling a 10mm Warmaster Medieval army on eBay right now. for lots of photos follow this link. For the listing on eBay click here.