The TYW in the Kings Country

After a long hiatus, the 28mm mostly Warlord Games plastic and metal figures have crawled blinking into the light again for a 3-game 1-day competition held in glorious rural Oxfordshire, on the edges of the King's Civil War Capital.

The TYW Germans - chosen because they have the nicest flags, as well as some little gunnes - take on the Swedes, the New Model Army and the French in three large format, widescreen big battle reports under FoG:R rules.

Be amazed how efficiently they progress through good planning and superior technology, and puzzle as to how Wallenstein and Tilly both end up on the same side in the same army as I deploy simply the nicest figures I can find and try and pretend there is a plan behind it.

There are three reports, complete with the full gamut of Germanic expressions of amazement and horror, lots of photos, ridiculous captions and a full set of post-game analyses from Renaissance Hannibal himself.

Get back to the 16th Century today with these 3 FoGR reports!

Derby 2016 - The Kalmar Union in FoGR Action

A frantic effort not to retain a trophy that needs engraving comes to a cattle shed near an airport next to a busy motorway near a town with a great ring road!

It's almost as glamorous as Charleroi, but it's in England and it's Derby again!

The Mighty Kalmar Union are pretty medieval, but despite the clue being in the name, they are from Scandinavia, not Greece. Either way, will the army be pitted like olives or enjoy a smorgasbord of success in these 4 FoGR reports against a range of in-theme opponents.

Save the Wales! Battle reports from Godendag 2016

All the way from Godendag 2016 comes 4 brand new L'Art de la Guerre in-depth reports, with the usual photos, the slightly less usual battle maps and the unfortunately verbose many thousands of words.

This is the first ever ADLG Doubles competition in history, and sees a combined Condotta and French heavy metal army go toe to toe against a range of proper medieval opponents.

Will it be a wonderful fusion of French & Italian cooking? ...or will it leave a bad taste in your mouth..?  Read on to find out more....!

Roll Call 2013

Yes, it may have been almost 3 months ago, but sometimes even for me the real world gets in the way of writing up match reports!

See how the Earlier Danish army did in 4 themed battles, as lots more Gendarmes than have ever been seen before take to the field, complete with some supporting Reiters !  (Apologies if the lists aren't in the Wiki - I may well have lost them in the last 3 months)

Final Oxford FoG:R Report

See what happens when Sir Henry Hannibal meets Swiss Tony !

"Playing FoG:Renaissance is like making love to a beautiful woman...."

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!