Recycling those Airfix Romans Romans.. who'd have thought

 This wee project has been sitting there for a while. What you see below are some of the figures from my very first ancients army, painted etc in 1975 and 1976. Yep, Airfix Roman legionaries, and cavalry. The 'light cavalry' (as thy were classified at that time) were a conversion from the old Airfix American Civil War cavalry, with Roman head swaps. The heavier cavalry were a home conversion  done either by Russell or Kevin (can't remember which of you, sorry guys). 

Anyone reading this who played ancients WRG 3rd and 4th edition with us in Ōtautahi Christchurch in the mid 70s will remember my Romans (I wasn't a very adept player).

So, these figures, now 47 years old at the time of writing (and so older than possibly many of the 'gamers reading this) have sat around in boxes all that time, having been unceremoniously pushed into retirement by their replacements from the 80s (Minifigs) and the 90s (Foundry). I couldn't bare to part with them, but what to do with them?

The answer is simple ...  a mythical Roman HotT army,  after all, the Airfix figures themselves were historically discredited decades ago (although I'm less sure about the cavalry). The heavier cavalry are very 'Greek' in appearance too, so not really correct. Anyway all of our HotT armies are 20mm, so a perfect fit.

Being in the recovery phase of Covid, I found a little bit of energy to finish a small refurb and basing for the figures, and here they are, the first of the basic 2 point fighting stands. 

The first batch

Legionaries.. some of you will remember these well from your own armies

More legionaries - these will be Blades in the HotT army

The Roman light cavalry which will count as riders. Airfix ACW cavalry, with Airfix legionary head swaps, and shields made from plasticard 

Ahh .. love those boys ..

And the Roman heavy cavalry, most probably to be knights (although arguably this could be a hero base, we'll see).

I have left them all in their 1970s garb, some with the gloss varnish thing that we did at that time.. they might be the equivalent of what the art world classifies as 'primitives'?

There will be more, including beasts, a God, and. a few other bits and pieces.. I'll keep you posted, eh

A few photos of the start of a GWSH Trench assault game

Jon and I have been coming to grips with the trench warfare variations of Great War Spearhead. Just a few random photos of the preliminary bombardment phase of our trial.. There were to be 3 allied divisions attacking a German division, but several things we got wrong meant that the preliminary bombardment was so devastating, that there was no post bombardment play. We;'ll et that right next time. Our queries are also building a pool of clarifications for Shawn as he works on GWSH 3. 

Anyway, just a few photos of what we did do, using Jon's 10mm armies. The trench sections are my Timecast ones, the rivers and roads are Jon's Timecast scenery. The bared wire sections were scratch built by Jon.. awesome stuff!!

 

More Big Battle HotT action: napoleonic British vs VSF Turkish

 I'm not getting too many games at the moment.. Omicron has a lot to answer for,. However Andy. came across with his fantastical British napoleonic army, and I pitched my VSF Turkish army against them in a Big Battle HotT game. In case you are not familiar with BBHotT, the game is played with 72 army points, which has to be composed of three valid 24 point armies, which can then be reconfigured on the table into three commands in any way the player chooses.

The game was fought using our 20mm HotT armies.

The armies arrayed .. British on the left, Turks on the right

The Turks are defending.. this is their stronghold

Turkish aerial hero

British shooters

Andy's British napoleonic flyers.. truly inspired.. a mix of 95th rifles, and British lights

Andy used his flyers to screen his cavalry and knights (Scots Greys, of course). The Turkish aerial hero, supported by a flyer (on a magic carpet, of course), and the main hero general, attacked the flyer screen.

Things are a bit quiet on the Turkish left

British artillery facing the Turkish right

The Turkish Djin (a God) appears on the Turkish left

The Turkish aerial hero et al make progress, causing casualties on the British screen of flyers

The nTurkish left had been cautious.. the British shooters advanced and promptly eliminated the Turkish  lancers/knights

Things are pretty muddled in the centre .. that's a Turkish behemoth lower right

The Turkish airboat, supported by two flyers has overflown the British left, in preparation of an attack

They pivot and attack the British artillery in the rear

Both sides are starved of pips at this stage in the game, but casualties are mounting on the British centre

Andy pushes his right forward, sensing the opportunity presented to his shooters who now face mostly riders, although that Turkish God has launched at attack onto their rear, which they manage to repulse

The Turkish left has taken casualties from the British shooters that Andy has advanced quite aggressively

The remaining Turkish riders have withdrawn, but the Turkish God (top right) has caused some damage, attacking and eliminating a British artillery unit

The Turkish magician at the bottom of the photo has not been very active, nor very successful

The Turkish airboat and aerial hero finally get some pips and start to do some damage

On the Turkish left the riders manage to take the line of shooters in the flank, causing casualties

'Get in'!!! Mayhem in the centre

The game had seen several 'points if inflexion' where the balance had shifted. However in the last two turns things shifted quite profoundly, and British casualties caused two of the three commands to become demoralised, and battlefield honours went to the Turkish army.

This was a really great Big Battle HotT game with many twists and turns. These larger games play very differently to the smaller 24 point version of the game.

Romans bested by Stargate inspired Egyptians.. HotT action

 Andy and I managed a Big Battle HotT (72 army points) this week.  Andy used his 'Stargate' inspired Egyptians. while I took the Romans, with a nod to fantasy with some behemoths, and some hero generals. The behemoths were variously strange creatures (trolls no less) recruited form the fringes of the Empires, and some robust 'columns' of legionaries.

Behemoths and hero general on the left

Andy's matching hero general and behemoth

UFO flyers (I said this was Stargate inspired) overfly the main Roman line and are confronted by a small reserve line

I rather foolishly threw two bases of knights against Andy's behemoth and Hero General on his left my right. Completely forgot that behemoths are 'knight killing machines'.. doh!! Rush of blood to the head

I managed to remove the flyer threat

On the Roman left were some Gallic warband mercenaries

The Roman left flank behemoths

The Roman centre was based around the ballistae artillery, with blades and shooters

The bulk of the Roman centre didn't last too long, actually!!

And the right flank was quickly demoralised, threw a low PIP die next turn and simply disappeared

The left flank similarly was demoralised, and disappeared.. a relatively short game, with the Egyptians pretty much clearing the battlefield.. ouch, but a great game. Andy played well...