There is a blog called “The Waving Flag” blog.vexillia.me.uk. It is run by Martin and from the Vexillia Miniatures stable.
Casting my eye over the blog entries in the 1500 plus wargames blogs site blogs.blogspot.co.uk, I encountered Martins article on super armies for ADLG. Now thats another ruleset I have, like the look of and even played a bit.
Anyhow I noticed his site had some tips and I had a quick browse. And in there was his item on wet pallettes. So it was made in 2016! but so what – the Romans invented pretty much everything we reinvent today including mobile phones of course, not to mention some central american ancient civilisations who had mastered space travel before europe was even dreamt of. Some jesting in there I think.
The point is I have never tried a wet palette – the concept passed me by. I gave it a go and hey presto I got several days out of some acrylic paint I would normal have discarded.
So thank you to Martin at The Waving Flag
The first beneficiaries are my Hatt 1/72 plastics “El Cid” cavalry. More of which in a future post.
Oh and statistically according to Martin there are no super armies in ADLG. So all is well.
Many years ago, although it seems only recently to me, I bought several titles from the Warhammer Ancient Battles booklist – they included Siege & Conquest – all about the siege; Chariot Wars; the WAB basic rule set itself; The Chinese Warring States and all that plus Shieldwall. A fairly random mix you might say which is correct.
I never really bought into Warhammer or Games Workshop after I returned to wargaming in the late 1990’s. I dropped neatly into 15mm and DBA. The 600mm square tabletop battlefield, relatively small metal mountains that could be painted and a simple ruleset that was popular all fitted my constrained interests and time.
And yet despite plenty of enjoyment 15mm became a compromise and once the restrictions on table size were removed I returned to the idea of 25mm (old style) which I suppose is my roots. Despite buying some 28mm figures that size has failed to ignite my interest.
I have discovered that 20mm/25mm or 1/72 is the figure size that appeals to me: Sufficient in size for each individual warrior, painting repays in the visual look while the table top is of the order 6′ x 4′ or 1.8m x 1.2m which is my limit.
And my 25mm wargaming odyssey has taken me back to the past with 1/72 plastics displacing metals but in the modern style from prolific manufacturers such as Zvezda, Strelets, Hat, Ceasar and the occasional Orion, Mars, Emhar and ok even vintage Revell. But it is not all plastic – tumbling dice miniatures have offered up some really nice figures to compliment the plastics. And so to have SHQ, Newline and Irregular Miniatures.
One thing I have done since returning to the hobby is read and that includes reading rulesets. In fact reading them more than I play them!
You need only one ruleset to play wargames for any one period. So I can’t explain why I have dozens. Yet rulesets are personal statements. In their way they seem to me someones interpretation of history albeit through their take on gaming mechanisms. So they are still history books in a way and thats how I consume them.
I only have historic wargames rulesets – fantasy wargaming is something I left behind in the 1970’s – Sci-Fi I could never get my head round.
And fantasy was for me doing dungeons and dragons in the 1970’s before it all took off. And yet my historical interests have always been tempered by an interest in historical fiction. Not the Sharp novels ilk. More a case of a parallel universe where so much is instantly recognisable yet the story lines, characters, countries have different names.
Each to their own as they say.
Well being inclined to Anglo-Saxons at the moment I dug out the Shieldwall book which I kept because like Chariot Wars it felt like a well researched and back then a well designed package. I never played the WAB ruleset with Shieldwall. Just maybe I might give it a go now.
Of course it is approaching vintage (25 years plus) and oldhammer is probably in the Oxford dictionary as a particular type of old wargamer already.
The constant theme though is to enjoy reading history, enjoy imaginative history and paint miniatures and if with a fair wind play some games. In short it is escapism – taking pleasure in playing with imagination.
Yesterday was the 30 year anniversary of the world cup final now remembered more for the three tenors concert?
Back in 1990 being a keen football fan I watched England fail again – the gascoigne era with missed penalties skyed over the bar as I recall.
I don’t seem to remember the three tenors although as I paint my wargames figures to classic fm they are now heard quite often and are easy on the ear.
Yet all was not wasted back in 1990 as during the matches I decided to map my imaginary world. At the time I had just acquired Tony Baths “setting up a wargames campaign” published by wargames research group (wrg). I had run a solo campaign and enjoyed it so much that I decided to expand the small A4 map of hexes.
The end result was lots of football viewing and a very large map of the imaginary world mapped in hexes.
Each hex was colour coded to reflect the categories suggested in Tony Baths book. And I since then it has had quite a few uses although never of itself. I always just made a copy of the part that was being campaigned. So I guess it was my master map.
The important thing was it anchored one view of my imaginary world and it still forms a key part of it 30 years on.
In this world of perfect computer generated images there is something reassuring about its roughness.
As much as I like too fat laddies productions and no doubt infamy will get the thumbs up, other manufacturers and scales are doing business.
Minairons have just dipped their toe in the 1/72 scale market. It is a test of the customer base and unlike kick starters you could say this is a rolling start production even if the roll is barely perceptible to start with.
They have opted for the back end of the baroque, or great northern wars or malburian or as they have called it – the war of the Spanish succession.
Starting with some skirmish troops their low key announcement showed the figures contrasted with the splendid zvezda great northern war swedes.
Yet more reading matter has arrived for my current flavour – the Anglo Saxons. I should say Anglo-Saxons here is deemed to cover Northumbrians, Mercians, East Anglians, West, East, South Saxons and the men of Kent. And of course their top adversaries – the vikings.
Tom Holland authored Athelstan in penguins monarchs series; Harriet Harvey Wood has chosen Edward the Elder as the focus of “the making of England”; “The age of Athelstan” by Paul Hill is one of his 4 books that look at the world of the anglo saxons; “Cometh the Hour” by Annie Whitehead is a novel about the Mercians.
So currently I have just finished Paul Hills “The Anglo Saxons at War 800 – 1066” and Gareth Willams Osprey No27 Combat series book – “Viking Warrior versus Anglo-Saxon Warrior”.
And there are yet more books for me to read
On impulse I bought this book having read about anglo saxon fortifications in Paul Harris’ anglo saxon warfare 800-1066 – one thing leads to another……I already had part 1 and my currently parked Normans in the South project must include some stone castles surely?stretching the boundaries of my self imposed dark age end date of 1100 but again there are some books that I find I cant resist – Medieval Italian warfare being one theme.At the other end of the period we have the romans. I have enjoyed both authors through their other publications. They seem happy to go out on a limb and it does not hurt to read about contrary thinking when it comes to history or archeaology for that matter.I like Francis Pryor and this is a book that I have meant to read many times – now I have no excuse.And wargames rules – well I can’t resist. Another Neil Shuck recommendation. I have read through it and will hopefully give it a go maybe using my dark age armies when they are ready.strelets 1/72 anglo saxons gathering…..
Paul Hill’s The Anglo-Saxons at War is a good source book. He covers the period of 800 – 1066 in themes.
Campaigns describes how the anglo saxons conducted their warfare and while often a reaction to viking raids they had a method and of course fought amongst themselves.
He discusses the use of fortified places – again I thought this was a good chapter.
Strategy and tactics left me less happy – somehow this part was too bitty although I liked the ruses discussion which included how they used the land to their advantage.
Military Organisation covered quite a few aspects and I welcome the coverage he has given on naval capability and activity. Mercenaries are dealt with as is the issue of tribute and how that impacted on military organisation. Tribute giving and taking plus exchanging hostages were all part of the fabric of warfare and should be seen as such and not detached.
He inevitably deals with cavalry and is clear they rode to war and fought “battles” on fought yet fought on horseback when pursuing for example. Similarly the bow is discussed although he is muted on its use acknowledging that before contact shieldwalls exchanged a whole array of throwable missiles. The argument for some bowmen behind these shieldwalls seems obvious – you could also I think draw parallels with late roman armies of spearmen who threw darts. Why would spear armed infantry not use a few missile men? That is a world away from massed units of bowmen which seems sometimes to be the only option in these discussions.
Paul includes the size of armies as well as recruitment – this last part feeds on another chapter (below) very well. Logistics and communciation are also discussed – I felt the logistics was of value but I did not like his approach or the content of the communciations section. I thought he could have made a better argument for more organised communciations even on the battlefield. And he could have made parallels with warfare of the time going on elsewhere. He does this to good effect in other parts of the book yet not here.
The chapter on warfare and society includes obligations and why go to war in the first place looking at the individual perspective as much as the hierarchy. This was good material. Not so good was the part on where battles were fought although some parts were interesting such as the occurence of “ford” battles. Again it felt as though there was more to be offered but either he lacked of room or the author had no desire to go beyond those limited areas that he wanted to cover.
This book is not about battles themselves and probably reads better if unlike me you have read a narrative history of the period first.
In some respects this book felt like a series of articles written maybe over time and now stitched together to form a book. This may even explain the degree of repetition. If so it was not a problem for me.
Overall this is a book I am pleased to have bought and I am not sure there is a book quite like it despite my reservations of the way some areas have been covered.
Unlike even some books I have really enjoyed this book does lend itself to being a reference book. And I aim to revisit it.
937 AD : The battle of Brunanburh – so the Anglo Saxons defeat an alliance including the Scots starting an island supremacy conflict that is arguably still going on!
Karwansaray Publications run a title called Medieval Warfare (MW) and its sister publication Ancient Warfare. They produce excellent image content along with detailed current views on historic subjects written by experts in their field. What more could one want?
In edition MW X.3 they will cover the Battle of Brunanburh fought in 937AD where King Constantine of Scotland was on the losing side but is maybe better known than the victor, King Athelstan – King Alfred the Great’s grandson.
King Alfred was King of Wessex although I suspect many simply view him as a King of the English (or even more incorrectly British, who in his day were really the Welsh). His son Edward the Elder became King of the Anglo Saxons, an upmarket move geographically speaking. It was Edwards’ son Athelstan who as King defeated King Constantine of Scotland at the unknown location of Brunanburh.
For the first time since the Roman occupation a single person could claim to rule the largest island (of the archipelago) called Albion by the ancient Greeks. And he was termed an English and not an Anglo Saxon or Wessex Ruler.
It will be interesting to see if MW X.3 puts Athelstan at the centre of the story. If they don’t and you want Athelstan’s full story then you can get a copy of Paul Hill’s “The Age of Athelstan”. Paul in 208 engaging pages with few photos seeks to correct the classic “english/british” teaching that between the Romans (dressed in classical uniforms of course) climbing on board their boat to sail back to Rome and William gazing down at Harold with an arrow in his eye, there was just Alfred (the only Great English/British king).
I am just pleased that Karwansaray have decided to run an edition covering such an obscure battle.
Better still get both the magazine and the book and really immerse yourself in a period usually dominated by the Vikings!
I have been reading up on the world of anglo saxons which strangely I have never read about in depth before. I have been drawn in by reading about the Normans. The fact is that the Normans are far more successful at having history written about them. I guess this is not surprising – Anglo Saxons were losers. Unless of course we are talking about King Alfred, who was singled out as a hero in the Viking Wars. The more I read, the more this is all feels quite unbalanced. History is all about being unbalanced despite the efforts of many historians and simply because of the efforts of others. Historians have their preferences like most people, so you can get a period neglected simply because no one takes that much interest in it.
Every day though, history is being rewritten, not least through the ever burgeoning efforts of archaelogists. So discoveries like the staffordshire hoard help the cause of “dark age” Britain.
So what about the two curators. Well in successive books I have enjoyed learning more about the “anglo-saxons” from Paul Hill and then Gareth Williams.
Paul Hill takes us on a journey through anglo-saxon warfare discussing their horsemanship, use of the bow, defence in depth “burhs”, use of the shieldwall as well as their seamanship but above all their ability to hold ground over centuries despite the viking onslaughts.Gareth Williams authors a popular format osprey comparing the fighting abilities of viking and anglo-saxon. Needless to say the softcover booklet explores more than just their combat face to face.
Paul Hill was Curator at Kingston Museum. Kingston upon Thames saw many Anglo-Saxon kings crowned so has a close relationship with the period. It is not surprising that a former curator should be pro Anglo-Saxon to the extent of writing a trilogy on their histroy and how it has been handled over the centuries. His writing style is what I would describe as traditional and he explores the subject in depth with balanced arguments and overall I enjoy his style.
I actually discovered Paul through his Norman Commanders book. I enjoyed that book enough to read his Anglo-Saxon warfare book. Now firstly it should be said he starts in 800 AD so for some that might be a bit frustrating because he does not start way back in 500AD to set the scene. He has much to discuss in the 200 year slot he set himself, so I think he was right to draw a line.
One reviewer complained about repetition. I think this is because Paul adopts a thematic approach yet still tries to develop the story over time. Inevitably he returns you to specific moments to expand on a different theme each time.
I had no problem with this yet for some people I think this would prove hard work esepecially if they just want a narrative approach.
I especially liked one section when the Anglo-Saxons caught a Viking force in an estuary, the story showing excellent viking seamanship and perhaps overly keen but equally expert Anglo-Saxon sailors caught by the tidal flows.
Paul Hill brings to life warfare in the Anglo-Saxon period and poses and answers questions, he rightly remains uncommitted where the evidence is just simply not sufficient.
Paul ends his story in 1066. In many respects this is the only thing in common with Osprey’s “Combat : Viking Warrior versus Anglo-Saxon Warrior”.
Gareth Williams a curator at the British Museum specialises in Anglo-Saxon and Viking periods so is an ideal author for the Osprey “Combat Series” booklet. He adopts an episodic approach to the timeline starting in 865 and again ending in 1066.
Even in the title the Anglo-Saxons play second fiddle, so you might be worried that such a populist series might play to the viking storyline. It does not and is a refreshing and in my view balanced narrative of the 200 years during which the Vikings made their biggest mark on Britain, ruled it, eventually being defeated comprehensively in 1066.
Unlike an earlier Osprey which bundled the Normans into the same title this author sticks to the two main participants. The book does have a postscript which briefly describes the subsequent events of 1066.
I enjoyed Gareths approach and as you would expect the content is not short of stunning artefacts from museums. It is this – the production and layout of a more “image” oriented approach that marks it out from Paul Hills text heavy book.
Both the books though make common cause to show the Anglo-Saxons have been too often “under” written while the Vikings have been “over” written.
Because Gareth wrote around 3 key battles – Ashdown 871AD, Maldon 991AD and Stamford Bridge 1066AD he compliments Paul Hills book where battles are discussed but always in the context of a theme – say seamanship, hostages or fortifications.
I liked the scene setting for each battle which briefly described the events that led to the battle, then tactics of the time and then the outcome. In each case Gareth uses the appropriate battle to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the warriors as individuals, within their warbands and as parts of an army or more usually a raiding force.
Overall then, two books which have increased my interest in this period significantly.
If you want a quick and accessible book on the subject then the osprey is spot on even to the extent of allowing you to read up on just one of the three battles in isolation.
If you want a more considered approach to aspects of warfare in the anglo saxon period then I recommend Paul Hill’s book.
I am now reading Paul Hill’s trilogy of the Anglo Saxons and their place in this island history.
The feature photograph shows my recently completed anglo saxons from strelets. More on them in a future post.
After what seems like an age my latest painting efforts are nearing completion. This dark age group is the largest I have painted in one round and that has taught me a lesson. Small is beautiful as in 40 odd figures take a while to get completed. Volume means quicker painting but overall completion is longer. I like the idea of completing one or two bases and then starting over again. That feels like a better painting cycle.
40 figures will yield either 5 medium bases of 8 figures each or I could stick with loading up 10 figures and get 4 bases of heavy infantry although these sculpts dont lend themselves to a shieldwallSome of the figures are a bit awkward like the grey clothed spearman with his back to the camera – it feels like his spear is upside down but you might think he is just lifting it to his shoulder for forming a shield wall – then his pose makes more sense. Sometimes I think the strelets sculpters are underrated.I like the three figures standing ready. The man with his axe to his shoulder is particularly good as is his detailing. Again the cloaked axeman to his left is a nice sculpt of a standing figure. The other figure in this trio holds his left hand high while resting on his axe. All in all three nice figures.Overall I am very happy with these figures. Some of the white shields will receive transfers otherwise they just need varnishing and then basing.
Carole Raddato from FRANKFURT, Germany / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)
Dover Lighthouse by the Romans is featured in the latest set of Royal Mail stamps
The Royal Mail have just issued some new stamps showing aspects of Roman Britain. Dover Lighthouse is one while the Roman Cavalry helmet in the feature image is another.
It set me thinking and a quick check confirms it I suggest. No Angles, Northumbrians, Mercians or Saxons have been commemorated by the Royal Mail.
OK so the Anglo Danish army feature in the 900th anniversary Hastings stamps of the last century. But that is a Norman story really.
And Bretwalda Raedwald (an East Anglian king) who was maybe Sutton Hoo man made a bit part in the 2003 British Museum set.
But surprisingly King Alfred – the Great of course – has yet to get on an envelope as far as I can see. So maybe the Royal Mail should do a set of “English” (whatever that term really means in a dark age discussion) Kings from the dark ages – Offa (except he was a Mercian), Athelstan, Edward the Elder, Edgar (all West Saxons though) and maybe even Cnut. Cnut was admittedly Danish but we tended to call him Canute so he can be an angle or saxon englishman if we squint a bit!
And what about the Kings of Wales, Ireland and Scotland during the 500 odd years between Roman Britains’ demise and the Norman Conquest? Surely the Royal Mail could have made something of characters like High King Brian Boru, King Malcolm II or Rhodri the Great to highlight the diverse history of all these islands off the european coast.
Actually Alderney island published some stamps with interesting artwork showing the battle of hastings; note artwork not blocks of stone or metal artefacts.
The Romans look a bit boring set against these more mysterious Dark Ages characters.
The Wargaming Erratic 
