- UK Version of Shadows in the Desert: Ancient Persia at War
- Us Amazon Version of Shadows in the Desert
30 Apr 2009
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.
28 Feb 2009
Total War : Empire - Out Very Soon!
27 Feb 2009
23 Feb 2009
Wargamers Calendar
16 Feb 2009
Madaxeman.com has a Blog!
The Blog is a technical fix to help me feed news onto this site, and everything that appears on the Blog also appears here as well so no need to bookmark anything twice - but it does have an archive of "news" items, some other sorting options, the chance for you to leave comments and some more toys as well.
If Blogger is your thing, it's worth a look...
13 Feb 2009
Complete Painted Armies on Sale
12 Feb 2009
Baueda's range now added to the Photo Directory
11 Feb 2009
Match Reports from Burton 2009
Meet The Spartans as they meet Persians, Dominate Romans, Selukids and Graeco Bactrians in 4 full action match reports - with added Hannibal and Leonidas as well!