Happy New Year!

I hope that everyone is enjoying the New Year.  I haven't blogged in months, but I have recently made progress on several projects.  I'll be posting several articles soon on Warmachine and Bolt Action figures.

Ryan and I did get in a quick DBA game last week - Thessalians versus Ptolemaic.  Unusually, I actually won - 4 to 1.  The Thessalians were bunched up, and my Knights finally took a toll on the units. We played about four rounds of Knights pursuing deeper into enemy territory, and fortunately none of them were schwacked.

Ryan killed off my Elephant in the first turn with his Psiloi - rolled a six for his PIPs and did well on the attack.  After that, he had a rough time of it.

Halfway Hill

Distractions

I have not blogged in awhile, but I have been making progress on several projects.  I have also been significantly distracted by World of Tanks, an online game that I play with my son.  I'm not a video game fan normally, but the game is quite fun.  The historical aspect has also pulled me in.

Halfway Hill

I have several ongoing modeling efforts at the "halfway point"

Warmachine

Ryan and I are halfway done with painting up two Warmachine Armies from the starter box. 

Painting is also complete on a Convergence of Cyriss battlegroup, but the basing work is only halfway done.

This hasn't stopped us from playing.  

Ryan once again quickly defeated me this morning - taking out my Warcaster early in the game.

Bolt Action

I have my US infantry primed up.  I also have started work on the bases for the HMG and 60mm Mortar.  I'm planning a separate post on this project once it is complete.

I scored a good deal on a Squadron sale of 1/48 Hobby Boss Shermans.  I couldn't resist starting the model build.  

A warning for anyone building Hobby Boss tanks - watch out for needless steps.  The mid-production 75mm Sherman has several options for road wheels, but the instructions are not clear.  I almost built extra road wheels....a tedious effort.

As a secondary distraction, I discovered that the Tamiya 1/48 models can be bought significantly cheaper here in Korea than from US websites.  I'm tempted to shift my BA plans from the Japanese to a  German opponent to keep costs down.

DBA

I have MDF-based road and river pieces ready for finishing.  This project has been on hold since the BA and Warmachine bugs bit.

Napoleonics

I haven't touched my 15mm Napoleonic project in almost a year.  This isn't a priority since I don't really  have an opponent. Ryan likes DBA and skirmish games.

Lots of fun ahead!

Jeff's Farewell Game Day

Jeff and Ryan at Battle

Jeff Franz has been the orchestrator of our DBA games in Seoul, and he gathered the largest group yet for one more game day.  We had six experienced players, and Tony's daughter Erin also gave DBA a try with a few games, using my Galatians.

The seven armies:

• Warring Chin Chinese (II/4A) (See the Army on Jeff's Blog) --Jeff
• Late Ottomans (IV/55b) --Ian
• Kommenan Byzantines (IV/1)--Tony
• Late Imperial Romans (II/78)--Ryan
• Late Persians (II/7)--me
• Kappadokians (II/14)--Rob
• Galatians (II/30b)--Erin

A few snapshots follow.

I didn't manage to track all of the results, but Jeff once again dominated his games.  He also helped teach Erin, playing his Chin Chinese against the Galatians.

Chin Army engages Galatians

Ian and Tony's game resulted in a major engagement on the Kappadokian's flank. The Kappadokian camp is the yellow square.

Kappadokians battle Ottomans

Ryan lost three games against Jeff, Tony, and Ian, but he beat me. Roman Blades chopped up the Persians rather quickly. 

Persians and Romans advance

Ryan eventually lost to Ian's Ottomans; however, his Light Horse managed to impel a flank attack during the bout.

Ottoman Horse Recoil from Roman Light Cavalry

My Persians lost against the Romans and Byzantines, but I managed to beat Rob in a difficult match, thanks to great dice rolls. Rob places a river down the center of the board, rated as ordinary.  It really complicated maneuver. 

Kappadokians Cross the River

Ian aggressively engaged Tony's Byzantines, but I didn't catch the final result.

Byzantines Vs. Ottomans

Jeff, we will all miss your extensive DBA knowledge, organizational skills, inspirational painting, and sportmanship.  Best of luck in San Antonio!

Later Achaemenid Persians (II/7)

I have finished a DBA Later Persian army in time for a final game day with Jeff before he returns to the States.  We are meeting today, and we should have six players in total.  It will be the first time in awhile that I haven't used a Macedonian army.

Later Persian Army (II/7)

I tried a few new techniques and materials for this army.  Jeff uses wood filler for his bases instead of the glue and sand method that I have been using.  I gave that a shot, and I do like the results.  I also used Gale Force 9 static grass for the ground cover.   My painting approach remains the same - basic block painting with a wash for shading purposes.  I didn't get the wash on as well as I would have liked in some areas.

Darius - LCh General and Scythed Chariot

Two Cavalry and two Light Horse

Two Psiloi and Extra Bow

Kardakes Spear

The Later Persian list includes two Light Chariots, two Cavalry, two Light Horse, two Psiloi, and the option of either Spear or Auxilia for the remaining elements.  I had leftover archers, so I created a Bow stand as well.  I'll use it later for an Early Persian list, which is chock full of Bows.

Two of four Auxilia

Phoenician Marines (Spear)

DBA Game Day

Our DBA group played a few games last weekend.  The following armies battled:

• Seleucid (Jeff)
• New Kingdom Egyptians (Rob)
• Ptolemaic (II/20d) (me)
• Kappadokian and Arab Conquest (Ryan)

Ryan and I played first. He used the Kappadokians for his first two matches, playing Arab Conquest once against Jeff's newly painted Seleucids.  Ryan had a pretty good winning streak, but he lost all his games today.  He ended up playing the attacker all three times when defense would have suited his force more.  

Ptolemaic vs. Kappadokian

I didn't take too many photos this time, but I did manage a shot of the final fight of our first match.  The Kappadokians had no rough to use to their advantage, and the battle turned into a slugging match.

Elephants force Kappadokian General to Recoil with no room

 My Ptolemaic force is littoral, but I ended up with the water to my back on two occasions.  My bout with the New Kingdom Egyptians featured two amphibious landings, with two Egyptian elements going after my camp.  I finally killed them both, beating the Egyptians 5 to 1.

The fight against Seleucids was very intense, with fights on both flanks and a Scythed Chariot that refused to die for many turns.  Jeff showed his tactical skill again, winning 5 to 1. You can see more photos of the army on his blog: http://littlehordes.blogspot.kr

Final Fight - Seleucids vs Ptolemaic

Of the numerous Successor states, I must say that I like the way the Ptolemaic list plays.  The combination of four Pikes and two Blades, plus an Elephant and some mounted, works pretty well.

Final Tally:

Army	Wins	Losses
New Kingdom Egyptians	1	2
Ptolemaic	2	1
Kappadokian	0	2
Seleucids	3	0
Arab Conquest	0	1

Thessalians Vs. Aitolians

Looking for a historical match-up, Ryan and I tried out Thessalians vs. Aitolians (DBA Army II/5e) again.  The Later Hoplite Greek Aitolian army in DBA 2.2 is very light - seven Psilois, four Spear, and one Light Horse. The army defends in Hilly terrain, which would prove challenging for the Thessalian horse.  Unfortunately, the Aitolians ended up attacking, and Ryan placed minimum terrain...

The Aitolians deployed in two groups. One group of four Psiloi on the left flank, near or on a hill.  The main force was on the right.  Ryan swiftly engaged the main force with his Cavalry.  He quick killed a Psiloi and pushed back my Light Horse.  I later flanked and killed one Cavalry unit in this fight.

When he advanced other Cavalry, including his General, to the center, I pulled the left flank back on the hill and used my Spear to ZOC his mounted elements.

Although supported by Psiloi, the hoplites eventually lost to the mounted forces.

Final Result was Thessalians: 4 (defeated two Spear and two Psiloi) and Aitolians: 1 (defeated one Cav). Rough but fun game.  I didn't have many good choices in this match...

Seleucids Vs. Thessalians

Set-up - Seleucids defending

Ryan and I played a few games of DBA last weekend, having missed Jeff's gaming session.  I'm still trying to learn how to handle Seleucids.  Ryan mocked up Later Greek Thessalians, using his painted elements and substitutes from my Spartan and Macedonian armies.

Ryan advanced his cavalry forward early, while I tried to patiently move my line forward.  I supported the scythed chariot with my light horse and a psiloi, moving the light force on the right flank

Macedonian Knight on Left/Stand-in Thessalian Cav (Gen) on right

Ryan's calvary General advance managed to pull one Knight out of the line, in an attempt to push the mounted back and protect a psiloi from a quick kill.  The elements locked, and the other Thessalian cavalry still managed a kill on the Psiloi.

The Knight was eventually flanked and killed by other cavalry that advanced across the front.  Meanwhile, my main line was essentially squeezed out of play.

The Seleucid scythed chariot finally managed a kill - a spear element - after five or six games.  The light house provided an overlap, helping with the odds. A turn later, the light horse hooked behind the spear.  Unfortunately, I learned an important lesson the hard way: never place your light horse in a position that could cause it to flee off the board.  It did.

Ryan continued to use his cavalry to good effect, but I was able to flank and kill one cavalry element with Pike.  Of course, this broke up my main effort even more. 

I was able to clean up the ranks and advance.  My Knight General pushed back a cavalry, and I was hoping to pin it against the Thessalian spear line.  I also resumed my forward march, hoping to get the Elephants into play against the horse

BUT, the Thessalian cavalry attacked my unprotected pike flank, ending the game.

This was a close game. Thessalians killed four elements, and Seleucids killed two.  I'm slowly getting the hang of this heavy army.  For a change, we matched up Ryan's Thessalians against Later Hoplite Aitolians for the second game.  More on that wacky game in a later posting.

Persian Progress

Despite reality interfering all week, I managed to make good progress on the Later Achaemenid  Persian (II/7) DBA army figures.  The decision to prewash the white primed figures was a success.  It definitely reduced the nooks and crannies painted white that were difficult to share.

The Later Persians in DBA 2.2 have an option to field four spears or four auxilia.  Even though I have enough figures for both choices, I am focused on fielding the Army with spears first.  I'm hopeful that I can finish up this army by next weekend, in time for some DBA games on 6 April.

Three of the spear elements will feature Medians or Persian figures.  I hand-painted the shields.

I decided to use Phoenician Marines for one spear element, using decals on these figures.

I also repainted one scythed chariot, from my Macedonian Morph collection, with a Persian motif.

I'm tackling the mounted elements and Darius' chariot next.

Ryan is also making good progress on his Thessalian army.  Four spear elements are completed, except for the terrain on the bases.  He placed shield decals tonight, and they look pretty cool.  He decided to use blue as the dominant color on hoplite shields and cavalry cloaks.

Persian Paint Test

Darius in the replica mosaic at Pompeii, Italy, March 2012

Inspired by our recent game day, I have decided to paint up a Late Persian army that has been in the queue.  I tried to delay the project until DBA 3.0 was published, but I have given up.  I'll base it for 2.2 which is what our group plays.  I have too many figures really, so I need to decide what figures I will actually use for this army.  I will eventually buy archers, so I can field the Early army, too.

Pre-washing

I primed this figures white.  I like how the white undercoat works for bright colors, but there are always little crevices that remain tough to hit.  With a black undercoat, the spots look naturally like shading, but  white stands out.

Persian Javelinmen

With a black undercoat, I drybrush white to help see the details.  I decided to try the opposite on these figures.  Using a Citadel Paints Wash (Agrax Earthshade), I liberally splashed the wash onto the figures, ensuring I covered areas that will be shaded later.  I'm not sure if this will help or not, but the painting step went very quick.

Persian General figures in front of the Army

Now I need to research the clothing colors and shields for this force.

DBA Game Day

Jeff assembled a group of five for DBA this weekend; Ryan, Rob, Ian, and me joined Jeff who graciously arranged the location and provided terrain and game mats.  We rotated turns, with the winner continuing to play.  Jeff sat out the first round.  This was Rob's first time playing DBA in five years, but he fared well.

 The Armies 

• Kappadokians (Ryan)
• Phokians (Jeff)
• Serbian Empire (Rob)
• Palmyrans (Jeff)
• Seleucids (a) list (Dave)
• Alexandrian Imperial (Dave)
• Patrician Romans (Ian)

Game Results

The number represents the elements killed by the army.  Green shading marks the victor.

Game Results	Patrician Romans	Serbian Empire	Alexandrian Imperial	Palmyrans	Seleucids	Kappadokians	Phokians	Comments
Game 1					0	3		Seleucid Gen killed
Game 2	1	4						Serbs captured camp
Game 3						2	4	Kap Gen killed
Game 4		4	3					Nail-biter
Game 5	2			5				Palmyran Gen killed
Game 6		5				2		Close until the end
Game 7			2	4				Pikes need patience

Eye Candy

My photo coverage was uneven, but here are a few highlights.

Kappadokians vs. Seleucids

Initial deployment

Psiloi ZOCs Elephant, forcing retreat

Scythed Chariot surrounded

Serbians vs. Patrician Romans

Serbian Knights advance while Bow move into woods

Mayhem

Phokians vs. Kappadokians

Kappadokian horse fighting alone

Hand of God assists Phokians in trapping Kappadokian General

Palmyrans vs. Patrician Romans

Palmyran General fights Blades 

Kappadokians vs. Serbians

Kappadokians await Serb Attack: LH withdraws after successful raid

Palmyrans vs. Alexandrian Imperial Army

Companion Cavalry surrounded by Palmyran Bow

Final Results

In the end, all of us had a fun day of gaming in these friendly matches.  Jeff displayed his usual strong skills, and Rob played very well despite his long furlough.  Ryan is continuing to improve, and he handled this light army quite well.  Ian and I tried hard...I must be more patient with the Macedonians (or maybe it is time to play some other army that fits my desire to attack quickly better).

Player	Armies	Wins	Losses
Jeff	Phokians (1), Palmyrans (2)	3	0
Ryan	Kappadokians	1	2
Ian	Patrician Romans	0	3
Rob	Serbian Empire	3	0
Dave	Seleucids (1), Alex Imperial (2)	0	3