Partizan I Game Cancelled- Game will be at Partizan II :>(

It is with some regret that I have had to cancel the game for Partizan on May 16th this year. Time that must be spent increasingly with the health issues of some the older members of my family which inevitably has encroached on the amount of time I could dedicate to producing the game. Family first.

As you might have noticed on social media I toyed for a few weeks with setting up a different skirmish based game, Aedric the Wild, Battle of Shrewsbury 1069, but in the end it felt like I was going to be putting on a second rate game and just did not sit right with me. I think the right decision has been made at the end of the day.

Apologies to all who wanted to see the game (I am making the assumption that there are a few of you out there?) and to the organisers especially Richard Tyndall who has offered to send me an invitation for Partizan II.

The good news is that the Reconquista game will continue to be worked on and will be on show as a display game in October the 11th and Partizan II.

Reconquista at Partizan 2020, Shield Tassels and Remodelling Spears

Just a quickie today.....

As well as getting on with the brushwork on the Mounted Hasham Guard I've been doing a little work every day on adding shield tassels made easily from Greenstuff and repositioning the hands of the Artizan models that will be making up the Sudanese Guard unit. As I've explained before the natural angle of most of hands on the Artizan Designs 'Moors'  are angles in such a way as to make it look very unnatural once the spear is placed in the hand. So, I have gently cut the hands off the models with a razor saw and then pinned them back into position at a more natural angle.

These miniatures are ready for priming. I use Vallejo black spray primer for a couple of reasons. Firstly even if it begins to pool this soon evaporates leaving all but a solid thin layer that acts as a key for further paint. Second, I have in the past experimented with using grey primer and even white but I'm so used to working with a black 'undercoat' that it is really just the habit of being able to leave a little black showing through the base layers that makes a model 'pop'.

Reconquista at Partizan 2020, Yusuf ibn Tashfin Command Base

Yusef ibn Tashfin victor against Alfonso Vi of Leon and Castile was a very remarkable man. As leader of the Moroccan Almoravid dynasty and was one of the founders of the city of Marrakesh. On heading the call of the Taifa Kingdoms, the once mighty kingdom of Al Andalus in Southern Spain; pleading for military aid and intervention in order to block the encroachment of the resurgent Christian Kingdoms. Tashfin managed to unite the Taifa Kingdoms with his Almoravid invasion force and lead a very successful campaign, putting the Christian forces under immense pressure and devastating the ambitions of Alfoso.

He faced Alfonso VI of Leon and Castile twice in open battle winning spectacular victories on both occasions at the Battle of Sagrajas 1086 and the Battle of Consuegra 1097 respectively.

This piece is the command base that will be attached to the Yusef ibn Tashfin's Black Guard. His personal guard and chosen mostly from Slav and Sudanese slaves.

Spanish Reconquista Game, Partizan 2020- 191 Days and Counting!

So, with Partizan 2020 and my Spanish Reconquista game not so far away I'm going to be taking stock of what I have accomplished to get the game ready from day to day.

This may make for quite boring reading but I've decided just to include the number of days left in the title of my posts so as to not leave you all with a bemused look and possibly a well deserved gaping yawn to boot!

So, thus far:

1/40 Black Guard Infantry, cleaned, filed and undercoated- 20 of which are being painted- pics posted ASAP.

2/12 Hasham Black Guard Cavalry, cleaned, primed and undercoated.

3/1 Vignette (all hush hush until completion)

I have left you with a picture of a statue of Alfonso I of Aragon. It is very tempting to try to do some sort of conversion to try to achieve the same level of poise and drama as in the statue that stands in the Parade Grande Jose Antonio Labordeta, Zaragoza. We shall see!

Alfonso I of Aragon, "The Battler"

Free Advice! Don't Ask for Historical Information on Facebook!

Yesterday I dropped a huge clanger when I decided to ask about book recommendations for the Spanish Reconquista, Late 11th to Mid 12th Century.

Why? OK. I must have got several hundred likes by people who, going on some of the inane replies, I have to assume did not read the question at all. With the exception of a few they kept giving me advice on El Cid. anyone with a rudimentary knowledge of the Reconquista will know that Roderigo Diaz de Vivar was not present at Fraga and having been dead for 113 years didn't manage to make it to Las Navas de Tolosa either! :>)

Maybe by adding a few pics of books received in the mail recently the question might have led to the 'appearance' I was asking a different question

Three of the commentators were really good and offered quite legitimate advice which I have taken on board so a huge thank you to those who were willing to give up some of their time and offer guidance.

In general though, I think it goes without saying that I will be avoiding asking similar questions on Facebook again!

 

Perhaps more disturbingly is the move away from what was a thriving fora community to that of the more fleeting dividend that people get, the endorphin 'rush' that we as a species are prone to seeking with a simple "like"! With the possible exception of The Lead Adventure Forum and The Miniatures Page the heady days of getting a detailed answers to ones queries seem to be well and truly gone. This is a loss to us all. Social media culture has truly permeated out hobby to the point that it seems meaningless to ask for advice on the popular Social Media platforms.

Please do not get the impression that I'm some sort of grumpy old man. This is just an observation, made several times over the past few year, but never articulated (by me).

Book recommendations for the Spanish Reconquista Late 11th to mid 12th Century?

I have two battle in mind really; that of Fraga 1134 and Las Navas de Telosa 1212.

I do have a few books on the subject (other than Ospreys) but only one of which is in English, the others being in Spanish of course.

There are some great plates in the books that I've included pics of, especially in the Comic book, 1212 Las Navas de Tolosa

Having said that I'm really looking for something written in English that I can get my teeth into.

Has anyone got any recommendations with the Battle of Fraga and Las Navas de Tolosa particularly in mind?

The El Cid book is great and actually quite informative but unfortunately does not fit my time frame.

And for later on in the year

Black Guard Bonus Picture!

Just found this on an old laptop while looking for a paper on regarding the Scots at the Battle of Verneuil. These were painted a long time ago but again, they allude to how how I plan to paint the forces of Ibn 'Iyad.

Bonus pic lol