Biblical Hordes of the Things and DBA

Reviving an old project that had stalled long ago - 20mm Biblical warfare with the Hebrews and the Philistines. This is based on using mainly a few packs of Caesar Miniatures 20mm figures though to add chariots to the Philistines I'll use some horses from old Atlantic miniatures though the chariot bodies will need to be scratch built and probably the wheels.

I used the Hebrew and Philistine packs together with the Trojan army pack to provide more heavy warriors for the Hebrews and missile troops for the Philistines. 

Army lists for Hordes of the Things

Hebrews 

Already prepared

Hero @4 points - Samson 

Spear general @2 points - not given this one a name, though it could be Solomon who reigned in the correct era.

2 Warband @2 points - Simeonite and Ephiraimites "mighty men of valour" with a bit of repair needed on the central figure on the left hand unit.

2 Shooters @2 points -Benjaminite archers and slingers

3 Spears  @2 points - other tribes, though I have considered making these hordes for HotT

To do 

Cleric @3 points - Moses with the tablets

Sneaker @3 points - Judith outside Holofernes tent

2 Spears @ 2 points - tribesmen

1 Shooter - Benjaminite archers

An actual army list would be 

Spear General - 2 ap
Hero (Samson) - 4 ap
Cleric (Moses) - 3 ap
Sneaker (Judith) - 3 ap
2 Warband (Simeonites and Ephiraimites) - 4 ap
2 Spears (other tribes) - 4 ap
2 Shooters (Benjaminites) -  4 ap
Total - 24 points

For DBA the Early Hebrew list (I/27) is largely 3Aux with a few Psiloi and Warband. To get into later periods Chariots start to be an element. Given the Hilly terrain type this is definitely an army that will need to use terrain to be effective. 

Philistines

Already prepared

Hero @4 points - Goliath 

Blade general @2 points

6 Blades @2 points 

2 Shooters @2 points - javelinmen

To do 

Knight general @2 points - generals chariot

Knights @ 2 points - chariot

2 Shooters @2 points - subject slingers and archers

other possibility is a god @4 points such as Dagon or Baal, but the first of those tends to be confused by H.P. Lovecraft's appropriation of the name. Not sure how I would represent either of them on table. 

Army list

Blade general @2 ap

Hero (Goliath) @4ap 

6 Blades @12 ap 

3 Shooters (javelins and bows) @6ap

Knights (chariots) @2ap

Total 24ap 

 

DBA Early Philistine (I/29a) list is largely a Blade army with only a few 3 Auxilia, light Chariots and Psiloi for variation. One thing that I find a little odd with the DBA lists for the Philistines is the sudden change from a largely blade army to a chariot and spear army with the list I/29b.The army becoming more similar to the Cannanite types in the area they colonised seems logical, but I would have expected transitional states with subject spearmen and still some of the Philistines fighting in their previous agressive manner. 

Silver 'loque - Flintloque and Silver Bayonet combined

Looking at Osprey's new Silver Bayonet game I immediately spotted how it would be a good use for my Flintloque miniatures. My Witchlands undead give me vampires and revenants that I can use and I have a range of nations including civilian types that can allow plenty of variations. 

I've started planning a section based on my Catalucian Dark Elves as I think I've got a nice range of options from my collection.

Left to right Veteran Hunter: Ramon Tambor, Capitane Primo del Porque, Grenadier Carne de Vaca and Irregular Javier Castanette

Privates: Jamon, Croquette, Burghua, and Patatas

Cardinal Ximenez (Priest) and King Fernando of Catalucia

Commander

Capitan Antonio Primo de la Porque
Speed	Melee	Accuracy	Defence	Courage	Health	Recruitment
7	+2	+1	14	+3	12	100
Attributes: Inspiring, Unflappable
Equipment: Silver Sword, 2 Pistols, Salt Bag.

Veteran Hunter:  (30 points)

Hunter: Ramon Tambor
Speed	Melee	Accuracy	Defence	Courage	Health
6	+2	+2	14	+0	12
Attributes: Great Faith
Equipment: Cold Iron Sword, Musket, Cartridge Box.

The rest of the section use the standard profiles and I've just noted which ones I've given special armoury equipment. 

Grenadier Carne de Vaca (15 points)

Equipment: Musket, Cartridge Box, Cold Iron shot.

Irregular: Javier Castanette (15 points)

Equipment: Musket, Cartridge Box, Oil and Torches.

Infantrymen: Privates Jamon, Croquette, Burghua, Patatas (40 points)

Options

As options I can use my Catatonic Inquisitor as a priest, Cardinal Ximinez, who would cost 20 points and could replace a couple of the Infantrymen, though the recommendation is to have the maximum 7 characters in the unit. I'd give him a holy signal from the suiting his role.

King Fernando will probably only turn up as a civilian in my scenarios, probably requiring rescue from nefarious dark forces.

Todoroni Section for Flintloque

My BelloLugosi Militia section.

I like to try and have a theme for my Flintloque sections with giving the figures individual names, so inspired by BellaLugosi, I've gone with classic Hollywood movie stars from the 1930s. I've not been totally rigid in making these fit to the characters as I just really wanted to have some inspiration for the names and to get away from just calling them Luigi, Sandro, etc.

Command - Singer Pavarotto, Standard bearer Lautoni,  Marquis du Grande Frappechino (not part of the section), Teniente Errolflynni

Line in order -Privates Fairbanko and Karloffi, Corporal Hardi, Privates Laurello and Garycoopa.

Stats for the section:

Teniente Errolflynni (Section Leader), Experienced, Militia	Points 34
Skills/Traits: Duellist, Jamminess
Melee +0, Discipline -1, Accuracy +5%, Steady 2
Standard Pistol, Sword Even for a Toadoroni, the Teniente is fond of boasting, but his skill with a sword and sheer luck make it easy for him to get away with his outrageous claims.
Corporal Hardi(Second Second) Average, Militia	Points 23
Skills/Traits: Tap Loading, Grenade Tongue, Dazzling Uniform
Melee -1, Discipline -2, Accuracy +0%, Steady 1
Musket, Bayonet Private Laurello's best friend, but prone to misadventures leading to his catchphrase "this is another nice mess you've gotten me into".
Sergento Carlo Lautoni Average, Militia	Points 20
Skills/Traits: Brawler, Foul Temper
Melee -1, Discipline -2, Accuracy +0%, Steady 1
Standard Pole, Knife
Singer Pavarotto Raw, Militia	Points 11
Skills/Traits: Water Mess, Valon's Worst Coward
Melee -2, Discipline -3, Accuracy -10%, Steady 0
Singer(Musician), Knife
Private Laurello Average, Militia	Points 23
Skills/Traits: Frighten, Rapport(Hardi)
Melee -1, Discipline -2, Accuracy +0%, Steady 1
Musket, bayonet Best friend of Corporal Hardi
Private Garicoopa Raw, Militia	Points 14
Skills/Traits: None
Melee -2, Discipline -2, Accuracy -10%, Steady 0
Musket, Bayonet
Private Fairbanko Raw, Militia	Points 17
Skills/Traits: Glimmer, Hop Atop
Melee -2, Discipline -2, Accuracy -10%, Steady 0
Musket, Bayonet
Private Karloffi  Raw, Militia Skills/Traits: none	Points 14
Melee -2, Discipline -2, Accuracy -10%, Steady 0
Musket, Bayonet

And some reinforcements in the painting queue, strictly speaking neither is from the Bellalugosi militia set, but it will add some variety to have a big todoroni in there. 

Privates Johnwayno and Rathboni awaiting painting. 

Private Rathboni, Average, Militia, Small Todoroni	Points 25
Skills/Traits: Improved Discipline(1), Nerves of Steel
Melee -1, Discipline -1, Accuracy -10%, Steady 1
Musket, Bayonet Unusually brave for a tororoni, Rathboni is able to keep his calm in most situations unlike the rest of his section.
Private Johnwayno  Raw, Militia, Big Todoroni	Points 20
Skills/Traits: None
Melee +2, Discipline -1, Accuracy -10%, Steady 2
Musket, Bayonet.

Microgaming part I

Recently I've dug up my collection of old Metagaming Microgames, which started with Ogre in the early days of my gaming hobby in the end of the 1970s. I've got quite a lot of these games, so I will not try and list everything in this one post and some of the less played games I need to spend time studying and replayging to remember what they were like.

Ogre is the most played as it is easy to play to a conclusion in 30 minutes for experienced players. This means my copy must have been played with probably several thousand times over the 30 odd years that I have owned it. Of course Steve Jackson has kept it in print and produced large numbers of variations upon it, but ultimately it still goes back to that simple little game that it all started with. This is the reprint copy I bought a few years ago as I still need to find my original one. 

I even picked up this book with articles from the Space Gamer and other magazines included in it, showing I really was keen on this. 

GEV is a stand alone game in the Ogre setting, but has both sides usually with a mixture of armour and infantry and a wider range of scenarios playable. This means that it does stand up to repeated frequent play better than Ogre, particularly if additional scenarios from the various places are used as well as the basic ones included in the game. 

Another game I really liked was Sticks and Stones - a game about the dawn of warfare in the Stone Age with a solo mammoth hunt scenario I played quite a few times.