Assyrian Beachhead! 5 Video Battle Reports

Back at the start (or maybe even just before) of Lockdown I'd painted up a 28mm Assyrian army, and used it with some success at Roll Call as well - however for Beachhead 2023, in a Biblical & Early Classical period I had initially hoped to field a 15mm Hittite army rebuilt from some of the last knockings and scraps of Clive's Stash. 

Odd numbers in both 15mm and 25mm periods put paid to that idea, leaving the Hittites in the drawer and me floating across into 25mm to even up numbers using pretty much that same Assyrian army that had done quite well in 2022. 

The army list I used this time was however a little different to the one that I had used at Roll Call 2022, as I was expecting to have to deal with more shooting from my opponents as a consequence of the more biblical-orientated theme - but in essence it was still pretty much the same. 

I also wanted to use more of my Heavy Infantry units, or which only 2 of the 4 had made it onto the  table - these 25mm Newline Designs figures are great, but they are kinda wasted if they only ever get to go on parade in the Really Useful Box Barracks!

To find out how this revised force actually did you now have 5 consecutive video battle reports to watch either on YouTube, or on the Madaxeman Website followed by a video showing all of the Assyrian figures in my collection.

Oooh-err Missus! It's a B.I.G. Abona !

Way back in the mists of time in a far flung corner of this sceptred isle a band of well-muscled 25mm army-carrying wargamers gathered together to celebrate the Roman era of British history (and, more pertinently, how it was portrayed in Carry On films - of course).

The end result was the BIG Abona Festival, a 2-day, 4-game 25mm ADLG event with a theme of all armies valid at any date during the Roman presence in Britain.

To this esteemed gathering I elected to take the Vikings, who just about squeaked in with a dateline before the end of the Sub Roman British list. Just.

Many months later the four reports of the Viking's exploits are finally published for your delight and delectation, as the Norseen take on the Mongols, Ancient British and two very different sets of Roman soldiery in full widescreen technicolour.

Read on for the usual mix of poor puns, comedy captions and expert analysis - this time with added rubbish rhymes!
 

Building the Lancastrians in 25mm for ADLG

Following on from the battle reports of the surprisingly effective Lancastrian ADLG army, I thought it might be interesting to share how the army was put together in terms of figures and basing, and the thought behind the list design as well.

Most - but not all - of them are Perry plastics, making this a very cost-effective army to build. There is now a summary of the figures I used,  how the army was designed and was supposed to work (in theory and then in practice) and also some ideas as to how I painted them up on the main website now. If you wish you can buy yourself a set of the whole lot for under £100!

Full details of the figures are on madaxeman.com

There Be Gunnes!

As is always the case, despite having far too many figures I managed to pick a list for Roll Call last weekend which meant I needed to buy and paint up some more figures.

This time it was a 25mm artillery piece for my WOTR Lancastrian army, which with all my 25mm artillery being decidedly TYW was just too much of a stretch to morph across from stuff I already had.

A quick peruse of the various manufacturers threw up Front Rank Figurines, who I haven't actually bought anything from before (that I can remember...). They have a very nice set of 100YW and WOTR ranges, and a special-buy pack of gunners and crew with both a heavy and lighter gun included.

This ended up being what I bought, and I'm pleased to say both that it arrived quickly and the figures looked as good in the metal as they did in the professionally painted photos from their website.

This chap in the foreground has ended up with more of a casting line that I'd have ideally liked. It would have been easy enough to scrape off with the edge of a craft knife, but it appears that I missed it in my hurry to get them painted.

So, this team were ready in double-quick time to take to the table for the first time last weekend.

How did they do? You'll find out soon enough once the reports are posted I guess...!

They are a-gaggin' and a-drippin'....the Welsh get lush for some 25mm ADLG action

Almost 2 years after the majority of the figures were bought in a bring and buy, finally a full fat 25mm mostly Old Glory Dark Ages army from the Celtic fringes of Britain makes its way onto the table in the guise of the Welsh.

Inspired by tales of derring do and the discovery of some daffodil-simulating grass tufts on eBay, this mountain-dwelling army takes on all comers from the far ends of the earth to the naughty neighbours across Offa's Dyke and the Irish Sea in 5 spectacular full colour match reports with big, big, big soldiers on display throughout.

The man, the legend, the Knight of the Realm Sir Tom Jones gives the judgement for the home team and of course, Medieval Hannibal is there for the insight and analysis at the end as well.

It's massive. It's Lush. Its Welsh through to the bone. And there are plenty of "double-L's" in there too for good measure.

Pour yourself a pint of Brains, settle in for the evening (because as Sir Tom would say, "it's cold outside") and enjoy the spectacle in these 5 widescreen brand new reports.

28mm Late Roman Casualty Markers

In a sporadic burst of painting, I've finally gotten round to adding some colours to a pack of resin Late Roman casualties from 1st Corps that I picked up at "Derby" last year.

They are still needing a coat of Army Painter to tone them down a little, but anyways, here they are, all ready to sit behind the near-identical Gripping Beast Late Roman infantry that I finished some time ago.

It's a rather extravagant use of LBMS shield transfers I admit, but lets face it you always buy too many of them and it's and even bigger shame to let them go to waste.

I'll use the varnish rather than the wash version of Army Painter on these, as it will harden them up for being chucked in a box with the other casualty markers I have.

I've colour coded these chaps, into "Green", "Yellow" and "Red", mostly based on their shields. This makes them compatible with my usual ADLG hit marker scheme, with Red as 3 hits, Yellow as 2 hits and anything else as the first hit.

Three dead guys all in red - 3 hits!

28mm Lombards in action

The much-trailed Gothic/Germanic/Viking/Barbarian army that has been on the painting table for the last year got a near-full outing tonight against some old-school Hinchcliffe Byzantines.

Playing 25mm L'Art de la Guerre, my 200AP Lombard list was:

• 5 Elite & 1 Ordinary Impetuous HC, Competent General 
• 6 Saxon Impetuous HF Swordsmen, 4 LF Bw, 1 Slavic MF Swordsman, Brilliant General
• 4 Bowmen & 4 Slav MF Swordsmen, Ordinary General

25 Units

Here are the guys in action...

 Heavy Foot advance in the centre (a part-unfinished general with no flag urging them on...)

Bowmen and Swordsmen in action

The Shieldwall advances

Spare bowmen slide into the centre - semi-fictional Pictish crossbowman figure on one of the bases

Slave hiding in a Plantation

It's a casualty!

The Heavy Foot struggle to hold back the enemy mounted force - red markers = 3 hits

But while they do, the rest of the Saxons close in on the exposed Skoutatoi

The Slavs look set to overrun the Byzantine bowmen too

Old School Hinchliffe Kavalllaroi with impressive banner skills

Everything is engaged on a broad front - the Lombard cavalry are being eroded, but the Lombard foot is deep into the soft infantry underbelly of the smaller Byzantine force

Not much shooting taking place now - everyone is in combat!

The last Byzantine archer unit falls - an inaugural victory for the Lombards!

25mm Late Romans still underway...

With Christmas just around the corner, here's some not particularly festive WIP shots of my Patrician Romans for ADLG in 25 (8?) mm.

They are a mix of the Gripping Beast plastics, some Old Glory mixed barbarians (that I think might be mostly Scots from a slightly later era, but seem to do OK as generic Gothic foot types) with a few Foundry and Footsore figures sprinkled in to make the variety greater.

 Romans prepare to take on the (as yet un-Army-Paintered) barbarian hordes

12 units of barbarians.... let;s hope the Romans are Elite!

Auxilia, with obligatory LBMS shield transfers

The man holding up the shield is one of the "far too many in the pack" Gripping Beast archers, but converted to hold his shield up to cover his colleague from archery

Some of the "far too many" archers acting as, well, archers. I went away from the textbook red colour scheme to make them more exotic.

Still awaiting Testors Dullcote varnish on this lot

A Degenerate Legionary unit with an old-school standard

I think the officer may be a Footsore Miniatures Romano-British figure

Cloaks at the ready...

Foundry armoured cavalry. Probably able to play as Cataphracts as well at a pinch. I used some spare GB plastic spears as their lances, as they are pretty robust and the Foundry metal ones are far too bendy. They don't yet have Army Painter on them

More LBMS shield transfers....

Warlord Games 'Unleash Hell' General and Dog

Again, needing a coat of Dullcote. His skintone is just a wash with Peat Brown ink.

Hopefully I will find time to put a big dent in getting them all table-ready over the festive break...

28mm Perry Medievals painted and based for ADLG

A rash yet planned purchase of Medieval stuff at Warfare last year finally makes it onto this site in its  painted glory, ready for a 25mm ADLG competition that hasn't even been scheduled to take place yet.

See how the plastic figures shape up in a line of longbows and a crescent of crossbows...