Author: lorenzoseventh

Wargaming in an erratic style

Normans in the South using 1/72 metallics

Post author By lorenzoseventh
Post date 10th May 2020
2 Comments on Normans in the South using 1/72 metallics

Without drifting too much into the issue of scale in wargaming, this post covers my solution regarding mixing metallics and plastics for my Normans in the South project.

So the lead in photo shows horsemen because this is where the most pronounced differences tend to show up.

left to right we have

Strelets 1/72 Norman cavalry

Tumbling Dice 1/72 Norman and Saxon cavalry (command figures!)

Citadel 25mm Mongol cavalry

Citadel 25mm Saracen cavalry

Lamming 25mm Norman Cavalry

Greenwood & Ball (Garrison) 25mm Viking Cavalry

Lancashire Games 25mm Malburian Cavalry

Typical BIG 28mm cavalry (ok he gets a base as well to make the point)

It is also worth noting the base thicknesses in these photos.

What I have found is that in the raw you notice height, bulk and head size. These then affect how you see the figures. Once painted and based the differences seem to be less pronounced.

The last shot shows – SHQ 20mm saracen; strelets 1/72 norman; Hatt 1/72 ElCid cavalry; Tumbling Dice 1/72 norman and lastly another Hatt 1/72 Hun.

Bases are similar thickness so no adjustment needed or to be exploited.

OK last point – my solution.

Using some maths – 12 inches or a foot being 304.8mm for my purposes. Now assuming someone 6 foot high you get the following in real height of 1828.8 mm; at 1:87 (HO) = 21mm; 1:76 (OO) = 24mm; 1:72=25mm; 1:65=28mm and 1:56=32mm (fractions ignored)

So marrying 20mm (1/87) and 25mm (1/72) figures should be tricky although apparently less than 25 to 28mm.

But here is the rub research by a top university shows that the average height of people living in england changed as follows.

167cm pre roman; 170cm roman; less during the dark ages (no figure given because it was dark!) 172cm circa 1066 and 173cm by the 1100’s. Then it drops until recovering to 173-174cm during the period 1400 to 1650. Heights then declined to less than 169cm by the 1800’s! by 1970 we were averaging 177cm.

So that means for a 1/72 warrior he could a 23mm celt; 23.6mm legionaire; 24 mm norman; or a 23mm british redcoat again in the 1800’s. In short averages throw up millimetre differences so actual variations in height will be even greater. So in 1/72 a 21mm (4foot 11inches) high figure next to a 24mm (5foot 11inches) high figure is possible. Add to that variations in helmet shape and size and freedom beckons.

Finally it really comes down to the figures you like, I like the SHQ Saracens, I like the tumbling dice norman and saxon commands and I like the strelets norman and saxons (yes with hands the size of heads!)

so my solution has to be : I will take some notice of scale, maybe more about bulk than height, and paint the figures I like. I can always squint at the jarring mismatches when they do happen.

Happy Painting & Wargaming.

postscript – scale creep was always with us and good enough in “charge or how to play wargames” anyway. Are those “half round lancers on ponies?”

Tags 1/72, 20-25mm, citadel figures, Garrison Figures, greenwood and ball figures, Lamming Miniatures, lancashire miniatures, normans in the south, scale miniatures, SHQ miniatures, strelets, strelets 1/72 normans, strelets normans, tumbling dice miniatures

anglo saxons

More Strelets 1/72 Anglo Saxons painted

Post author By lorenzoseventh
Post date 8th May 2020
No Comments on More Strelets 1/72 Anglo Saxons painted

So I have progressed my Saxons which will make two elements using my 80mm x 60mm IMPETUS style bases. I had used a colour theme from an article about the battle of Vlaardingen in Medieval Warfare (vol 8 issue 3). I then decided to add to the red/green/yellow mix by using a few shield transfers.

I used “Little Big Man Transfers” and followed the instructions about fitting to shields with large bosses. Because I am working in 1/72 or 20/25mm I had to choose to cut down 28mm transfers or use some 15mm ones. I think I got lucky because there are some small shield 28mm saxon transfers in the range that just about matched what I needed.

In the event some transfers were a great fit like the figure with axe and shield raised. Others like the soldier with the whirly black and white design at bottom left (above photo) needed the transfer extending as there was too much unused shield at the rim.

For some of the designs I ended up overcoating with the nearest colour I could match. Yes I lost some of the dirt and sword cut markings but compromise was required.

Overall I am pleased with the result.

I just need to add some vegetation and then its on with another batch of these saxons.

Tags anglo saxon strelets, anglo saxons, little big man transfers, medieval warfare, medieval warfare magazine, shield transfers, strelets 1/72, Vlaardingen 1018

world war two

VE Day

Today marks the 75th anniversary of the end of war in Europe.

The generations of the early 20th century had fought two world wars in quick succession.

They lived, worked, fought, suffered and died to give us 75 years without another world war. At the time I suspect they would have simply dreamt of survival. They enabled most of us to live life largely free of war and able to make choices about our lives.

So it is all the more relevant that the 75th anniversary falls during a period of restricted movement and activity across society in ways not even seen during World War 2.

We should remember all those who made sacrifices so we could choose to live freely and in peace.

I am grateful for the freedoms I enjoy – thank you.

Tags VE Day

normans in the south

Normans in the South Army Lists

Post author By lorenzoseventh
Post date 7th May 2020
No Comments on Normans in the South Army Lists

Neil Thomas has published quite a few books and initially I ignored them. Some of the reviews objected to their simplicity. And then I read a review in Slingshot, magazine of the Society of Ancients (SOA), which was very positive, extolling the virtues of his simplicity which still provided interesting games.

I have enjoyed his One Hour Wargames book complete with very simple rules for armies of no more than 6 elements. For my current plans I have chosen to take some of his ideas in his 2007 book published by Sutton publishing. It goes by the unoriginal title – Ancient & Medieval Wargaming.

The section that interests me is Dark Age Warfare and specifically Dark Age Armies. His rules limit troop types – in this era just 4 types of infantry and 3 types of cavalry. Some armies fielded Elephants so they are permitted.

The Infantry types are Dark Age Infantry to contrast them with classical Heavy Infantry of say Rome or Greece; Warband; Heavy Archers and Light Infantry.

The Cavalry are the usual Heavy and Light plus Cataphracts.

The period covered is 300-1100 which for some people may stretch the limits of what the Dark Ages means but in terms of fighting styles is fine with me.

His basing assumption is for 28mm – 120mm x 80mm or 4 number 60x40DBX bases grouped together. I am using Impetus 80mm wide bases for 1/72 plastics which vary between 20 and 25 mm high so fit well. I use 60 mm deep bases to allow some diorama type basing – this suits the plastic sets which you buy in bulk in lots of different poses. Typically a Dark Infantry base might have 8 figures on it rising to 10 or 11 if they are the professional guard of the rule or his “hearth” guard or household troops. I like to see some variety and my wargaming approach is that “what you see is sort of what you might get” rather than “WYSIWYG” or what you see is what you get.

A saxon dark age infantry element for IMPETUS. at 80mm wide with here 10 figures it works out a lot cheaper than 4 DBX bases of say 16 number 28mm figures packed together. I like the fact that you don’t get repetition in the figures although if you buy enough boxes you can achieve that look.

The Frankish Armies list comprises

Nobles (Heavy Cavalry) 3 to 6 elements

Retainers (Light Cavalry) 1 to 3 elements

Spearmen (Dark Age Infantry) 1 to 4 elements

Archers (Light Infantry – bow) 0 to 2 elements

His description says this list works for Carolingian, Ottonian and Norman forces. So thats ideal.

Right now I have

4 Heavy Cavalry (need ideally 12)

1 Light Cavalry (need ideally 6)

6 Dark Age Infantry (need ideally 8)

3 Light Infantry (need ideally 4)

Actually to start with I want to use two similar armies for local feuding – hence the numbers shown in brackets above.

I have some more saxons on the go who can at a stretch cover for ottonians and maybe southern normans/lombards? I can soon rustle up some light infantry bow.

So to get this little project to it’s first stage of having two flexible armies, of 8 elements each, i need to get some more cavalry painted.

Tags ancient and medieval wargaming, army lists, dark age warfare, frankish armies, Neil Thomas, normans in the south, one hour wargames, Ottonians, slingshot, SOA, society of ancients

natural world

Intermission

In the old days at cinemas they used to have an intermission between the films – the short low budget one before the main film as I recall.

Today the intermission is about Spring and nature getting its act together.

https://videopress.com/v/9ASGYa2V?controls=false&preloadContent=metadata

tadpole chasing flower petal

Tags tadpoles, tree fungi

wargame rules

More Rulebook purchasing and a nice surprise

Post author By lorenzoseventh
Post date 7th May 2020
No Comments on More Rulebook purchasing and a nice surprise

One of my lockdown deliveries has been War & Conquest. Now this bit is convoluted – I started painting figures to my music collection after radio became too distracting, then moved to classic fm to avoid more distractions of just listening! then encountered Meeples and Miniatures and Neil Shuck (by then 200 plus epsiodes under his belt). I am very late to a lot of parties – sometimes getting there long after they have finished so to speak. Gradually not getting too distracted until this guy emails Neil Shuck to say he’s gone back and listened from the start to M&M podcasts.

What? so there is a completely accessible archive?

So I started listening to them instead – the early ones. The problem was that back then Neil was more on about historic wargames and being a solo presenter devoted more minutes to pure reviews.

As a result I am buying bits and pieces – all of which were last in fashion in the Noughties! And spending more time listening than painting – uugh.

Since then I have acquired Memoir 44 (boardgame), Snowdogs (boardgame) and recently War and Conquest wargame rules based on Neil’s decade old review. Ok some review content is dated but I reckon a good game stays a good game. Neil has already moved on to Sword and Spear as his circa 2014 “go to” wargames rules for ancients but there was something about his review of War and Conquest.

I took a chance and bought them. I have read them and not been dissappointed. Quite simply I have not read a set of rules like these since “Charge or How to Play Wargames” by Lawford and Young.

It is the way they (both books) are written and presented that makes the connection for me plus the sheer enthusiasm of the authors for gaming with model figures across a table top.

In all other respects the two rulesets are strange bedfellows and this is not surprising being authored 44 years apart.

Hopefully I will play them and not be put off.

War & Conquest – epic battles in the ancient and medieval world – are written by Rob Broom and published by Scarab Minaitures. A 2011 publication that is exactly what Neil said back then – a book worth owning and reading in its own right – even if you don’t use the rules!

Tags Charge! or how to play wargames, meeples & miniatures, Neil Shuck, Rob Broom, Scarab Miniatures, war and conquest wargame rules

anglo saxons

Strelets 1/72 Anglo Saxons on IMPETUS Bases

Post author By lorenzoseventh
Post date 6th May 2020
No Comments on Strelets 1/72 Anglo Saxons on IMPETUS Bases

So these figures will make me just 2 impetus style bases. I opted to switch to 80mm bases after finding an old solo wargamer article that gave some ideas for budget gaming say in a period that was not your main interest. Typically you ignored the traditional DBX rules of figures per base but still kept the frontages.

And then I discovered IMPETUS wargames rules – a great set that liberated my attitudes to basing. Essentially the rules offered a compromise between 15mm on 80mm and 28 mm on 120mm wide bases. They showed plastic 1/72 figures on the 80mm or 120 mm base widths. Either way the basing in Impetus was aimed at making the showing of your figures an important part of the game. It also promoted a diversity of figures showing more a mini diorama than rank upon rank of identical soldiers.

I like the strelets anglo saxons as they offer a range of armoured and unarmoured figures with perhaps a greater emphasis on swords and axes than some would like. As usual Plastic Soldier Review did have some complaints like the spearman above holding his spear awkwardly at shoulder/chin level and being a bit two dimensional. I rather liked him and kept him in even though he is one of the few in these two element groups not wearing mail.

I have moved to plastics because my butterfly interests have caused me to pursue so many different periods and armies usually to dead ends.

So at least my budgets are low! Still perhaps that makes it easier to abandon the plan or project? Sadly I think it would be the case with metals – actually it is, as I possess plenty of 1970’s unpainted metals!

I do feel that strelets anglo saxons have a certain animation which is not always present from their sculptors. They are a bit chunky and a bit inconsistent. I can live with the chunky well fed chaps and I like height, shape and size irregularities in my figures.

Medieval Warfare published by Karwansaray of Zutphen, Netherlands ran an article that caught my “Normans in the South” eye simply because of the date 1018. Just two years earlier a Norman pilgrimage to Mont Saint’ Angelo in Rome kick started the Norman adventure in Italy. So I was after some context and this innocent article led me David Bachrach, Count Dirk III and the Ottonians. I digress, the battle of Vlaardingen was fought between Count Dirks men and the Ottonian forces which included men from from Cologne, Liege and Utrecht as well as Lotharingians. The Ottonian or Frankish soldiers are shown in an interesting mix of red, green and yellow shield markings. I decided my saxons would look a bit like some of these men of the Empire.

Go buy the magazine MW VIII-3. Since I started taking these magazines I found numerous interesting articles and I like the mix of content – good photos, artwork and book references to expnad your reading round the subject.

So I get two options – saxons for any anglo saxon army plus these guys can be frankish troops who may even head south under the Emperor Henry II into the early years of “Normans in the South”.