Tuesday, 29 April 2025

Dice & Lead Magazine #2 is out now!

Dice & Lead 2 is out now!

What’s in it for Impetus players?

  • The Battle of Pavia – includes a link to download the full Pavia campaign game (originally in Extra Impetus 1) for free, in case you missed that supplement.
  • The Mithridatic Wars – featuring brand-new army lists for both Impetus and Basic Impetus.

Dice&Lead is a non-regular publication (1 or 2 issues per year) featuring a curated selection of the best articles from the Italian edition. It is available in both print (via Amazon) and digital format (via Wargame Vault).


Sunday, 27 April 2025

Who Makes These Archers (Please)?

Panic Over- they are West Wind Productions, Romano British/Sub Roman range from pack, RB04 - Roman British Archers (SHS)


Hi all, Does anyone happen to know who makes these archers please? They're quite barrel chested and look like they're drawing Yewbows but I cannot place them. They would make brilliant Goth archers!!! As they have done in this image from The Emperors Little Soldiers Facebook Page

They are lovely miniatures and the question of who makes them is doing my head in as I type! I'm sure I've seen them before! 

Thank you to all who answered here, and on Social Media- no prizes for guessing where I got the flux of guesses, many correct! 

Friday, 25 April 2025

Late Byzantine vs Early Crusader WAB Game- 5500pts A SIDE!

Just a few photo's to show as far as this week's game went. We decided on 550pts the week before for a WAB game at the club. My aim was to write a full AAR/Bat. Rep. but for a couple of reasons I couldn't manage that this week- juggling the AAR with playing the actual game, being present tactically and the simple fact that with all of us crowded around the table it's hard to flit about taking pictures due to lack of wriggle room! 

In the game the week prior to this, it took much longer to deploy so we decided to get to the club a little earlier than normal and draw up "Hidden Deployment" maps. We must have saved us about at least an hour and a half and resulted in much more realistic and challenging deployments for both armies. The result of our efforts was thnat we more or less completed the game. A few more turns each would have yielded a more decisive outcome but the seven turns each we managed, at 5500pts, was very good going. 

Deployment? The Crusaders refusing one flank whilst the Byzantines did the same as last week where units were almost matching their opposite numbers! Extremely "unrealistic" but perhaps worse; they take the guesswork out of the game which I find enjoyable with the "Hidden Deployment" method. 

Here's a few snaps of the game. There really isn't any point in attempting to write anything up as the photo's are quite disjointed ergo the tale they might tell would be amorphic. I'll do my very best to get the right pictures together for next week's game (probably a change of rules over to Rapid Fire). AAR's/Bat. Reps. are one thing i need to start to do a lot better as they are usually a lot of fun to write up.

It was a close game with the fortunes of both sides ebbing and flowing. In the end, thanks to some excellent dice rolling, the Byzantines probably just tipped it past the post. Just. 

As per. All the photo's are "clickable" if you want to see more detail. 










Cheers

Elite Tagmata Thematic Byzantine Kavallarioi Single Base Close ups

This post is just a follow up from the last post so's the single bases are more visible (from three angles) to give people who might be interested a better view on my brushwork and the sculpts. 

So, why single bases after so long with multi bases and vignette style basing? Basically the multi-based vignette bases have my preferred style since the Perry's released their fist packs of the Agincourt to Orleans Hundred Years War range? Well, it's really down to one thing, playability. It definitely lacks the storyline of the multi base but it does allow for much more flexibility in terms of what games you are able to play. I'll leave it at that as I know I can go on and on about such matters.

Without further ado.....

"Leader"




Unit Standard:





Unit Horn Blower!




Trooper:




Trooper:




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Cheers

Thursday, 24 April 2025

Elite Tagmata Thematic Byzantine Kavallarioi


 This unit of Tagmata Byzantine Kavallarioi was finished a couple of weeks ago, just prior to Tim Haslam's "Mongol Mania" WAB event. An event in which my Thematic Byzantines managed fourth from the bottom of the table( out of 20 I believe?). Now, some may think this a mini disaster, but far from it, this is probably my highest ranking thus far out of any tournament/event! 😀

This unit, painted very much along the lines of the barded unit below but obviously in a green theme (forgive the arduous pun). 


The unit of which you are about to see pictures of was painted half at a good patient pace and half at a gallop as I had to paint twelve horses to fit the standard of the Thematic Army thus far. This I singularly failed to do; I apologise in advance, I am a little embarrassed as I could have done a much tighter job on the horses. A small visual hiccup but a hiccup nevertheless.

The soldiers of the Tagmata, probably originally formed restructuring a military organization of the whole army (and possibly to prevent the constant series of assassinations generally lead by the many Strategoi of the Themes). The Tagmata troops were expertly trained to very meticulous, and exacting standards were the cream of the army.






The Tagmatic Kavallaroi would have been armed in very much the same manner as the Tagmatic Kataphractoi first with a peristhethidion (padded armour). Next would come the kremasmata (padded skits faced with mail or lamellar/scale armour). A klivanion (lamellar/scale armour "vest" over the peristhethidion (padded armour) followed by manikella (upper arms splints of mail). Splints would be added to the lower arms and finally a padded helmet with a 360 degree aventail was placed over the head. Truly an exceptional armour for the time. My army is based mainly in the 9thCE but there is always the story sketched out by Anna Komnenos regarding her father Emperor Alexios I Komnenos escaping the Normans in the Byzantine rout at the Battle of Dyrrachium 1081.


More picture below and the resurrected Red Regiment Elite Tagmata Thematic Byzantine Kavallarioi very soon.


In game terms, I have stuck to just four archers in the back rank, though they could be played as a whole back rank or no archers at all. so, a reasonably flexible unit and one in which the pedant in me was tamed! 





The next post will probably be single bases, against my better judgement as I really am not happy with the horseflesh!