Weekend paintin'

Had to take a break for big unit painting a do a few one offs. So:
For my already large GASLIGHT collection L'Arachne Petit (my french is rusty, do you put the adjective after the noun?). A smaller, faster version of his big brother, the Spider. This was scratch built from many parts but mostly Atlantis toys and Wild Wild West. I would like to personally thank the makers of those two flops with giving me many cheapo toys to dissect.

And some 15mm Dwarf heroes for Hail Sauron!

Alakabazm the wizard and Bjorik the Breaker

the Campaign Continues

Oswald, Baron of Ock, could smell victory. Three battles fought, three battles won. Now he was mere miles from the capital and the crown. Beside rode Rutiger the Younger, true claimant to the throne, loyal despite Oswald lopping his father the king's head off. Also with him was Roderick, Duke of Greendale. It bit in his cups today, but loyal commander none the less. Yes, victory was assuredly his, for only rabble stood in his way. But we all now what kind of lady Fate is...

The "rabble" blocking Oswald's way was led by Edwin, Baron of Fennwyk. He has been a staunch supporter of Rutiger the Usurper but found the betrayal of the king's son too much. He led Lords Horace and Ulric in the rebellion.

Oswald to the north, Edwin to the south

They met on the small but swift River Tink. Oswald leading the vanguard charged his men forward hoping for a swift victory. Apparently Rutiger and Roderick didn't get the missive it seems. They stayed rooted atop their hills.
Across the river, the "rabble" surged forward in an orderly line. Ulric led his men of Kragg in a flanking maneuver, but they were heavy infantry and slow.
The rebels were first to the river but halted. Their earlier determination seemed to have deserted them. They seemed unwilling to budge from their side of the river. A few arrows from Oswald's troops sent some of Horace's men running.
It was then that the troops of Rutiger and the Roderick finally moved. Oswald's men crashed across the river and slammed into Edwin's men. The Baron of Fennwyck watched in dismay as his men fled from the river. All seemed lost for the rebellion. Ulric was nowhere in sight on his flanking move. Horace's men were being picked off, only his Marsh sloggers and a unit of knights were across the river dealing death to Rutiger's men.

Edwin decided to pull back and regroup. An almost impossible task for these troops. But they did it. Reformed into a steady line they again held the center. As Oswald moved forward to meet him, his troops became strung out and disordered. It was then that Ulric's march payed off. The northmen came screaming form the trees into Oswald and Roderick's flank. Those they didn't kill, ran. Edwin sent his men into the fray, but it was a bloodbath in the center.
The River Tink was turning red.

Ulric Arrives!

It was close. Each side was close to breaking. Then it did. Oswald the Claimant was the first to flinch. His men broke. Caught in the mud of the riverbank, his was dragged from his horse and killed by Edwin's men.

PIKES forward!

Afterwards, Edwin gave much of the credit for victory to Ulric and his Kraggmen. This left a bitter taste in Horace's mouth. It was he who had held the line when no one else did. His men had dealt the most death that day. If Edwin thought himself king, he had another thing coming...

LIttle Dwarves

By little I mean 15mm. I've had these guys for a looooong time. Thanks to Hail Sauron, they may get a fight, finally. All are from the now defunct Demonworld line. Yes Ral-Partha UK has the molds now, but not to everything, and not the really nice lead and really nice new molds the Germans had.

Cavalry. Have enough for 3 more units

Veterans

I must of had more time 15 years ago, because these guys all have different, distinct heraldry.

Another great thing about 15mm?

This 28mm Manticore, finally has the scale to be scary.

Basement Generals at RECRUITS

September 14th-16th will be the 20th show and 10th year for our local wargames convention, RECRUITS.
As mentioned before, I can't say a enough good things about this con. Plenty of games, a friendly atmosphere especially to newcomers and kids, which is unusual unfortunately for our graying hobby. We get some great games and vendors. For whatever reason, we have a rather large collection of wargamers in the greater Kansas City area.
Our special guest this year is Rob Adams, he's the writer of "When The Navy Walked" and "It Came From Beyond the Still."
On top of that, many of the Game Masters from the original show will be returning to put on the game they ran the first show.
I will be running my "Fistful of Lead" game while Lead Addict runs his Post Apocalyptic version of it.
We'll also have honorary General, Cluck Amok running his gorgeous 54mm Battle of Quebec game.
MIdwestern hospitality, hotel rooms are cheap and I promise its worth the trip. Come see KC's truly wonderful National World War 1 museum while you'll here, too. Best and only in the country.

Hail Sauorn! Second try.

In somewhat of a first for the Basement Generals, we played the same game in back-to-back weeks. Everyone seemed to have a good time last week with Hail Sauron! (the Fantasy adaptation of Hail Caesar!), so we gave it another go.

We adjusted the armies slightly since last week. Orcs are more a mix of Gauls and Huns and Elves closer to medieval English mixed with some heavy cavalry. We must have done good because in the end, it was tie.
The opening of the battle saw the elve's centaur allies charge pell mell at the beastmen horde and giant. The giant smashed the pretty ponies, only to go down to a hail of elven bowfire later.
The orcs had trouble getting the center moving while on the right flank wolf and spider riders sparred with the elven flyers and cavalry.
After much pushing and shoving, the center broke for both sides and it was decided both sides limped off the field in a draw.
Many troops types and units, and it still played to conclusion in 2 1/2 hours. We didn't use magic rules but they seem pretty simple and best all, I think everyone is excited. I get to dust off all the 15mm fantasy I bought 20 years ago, and people are actually buying new lead for a group type project. Ral Partha Europe might be getting a large Demonworld order from Kansas City.
Please excuse the lack of proper finished stands. As a general rule we don't usually field unfinished armies, but this was a playtest. Now that we are settled on a size (which will double as units for Commands and Colors) we can finish them off properly.

No Pay, No Landsknecht

I've been cranking away on the Italians Wars. With basing finally decided (thanks for everyone's 2 cents), I was able to hammer out these guys:

Realistically, the flags should be in the center of the formation, but the wargamer in me had to put them up front.

These are all from Old Glory. One of their better lines IMHO. One of 3 units. The Swiss also have three units done.

Here's a Landsknecht Commander and Herald. These boys are old Foundry. They could also fill in nicely for Emperor Max, too.
Next, after playing some "Hail Sauron" I dug out some 15mm dwarves I had done. They are quickly being rebased for this. The group had a swell time playing last week, so we'll give them another go this week. Here's a slightly blurry shot of my Demonworld General.

Finally, for those who follow my D&D blog, just posted the beginning of another adventure yesterday.

Thanks for stoppin' by...

At some point over the weekend we crawled over the 140 Follower mark. As we creep ever closer to the 150 mark, wanted to take time to thank everybody who stops by for a peek.
I've been doing this blogging thing since January of 2008, and 400+ posts later, I'm still aimlessly plugging away.
The wars in Unkerlant, my tiny, angry little Imagi-Nation still rage. There's still "a Quality Game Every Thursday Night". Just glad there's a place I can share them.
-J (a.k.a. zee Baron)