Aventine Pike

Well, havent posted for  about six or so months so I though I'd drop in a small one. No excuses really, summer was here and so wargaming was pretty much forgotten as I was just being a lazy B.

Although I havent been totally idle.

Finally finished a unit of Tarentine pikemen from Aventine, and bloodied them in a game. But thats another story.

I've also tried my hand at of bit of terrain making for either 40K or WW2.

A compound and bunker. Made a large purchase from AMERA plastic mouldings as well, so I'll post my ongoing attempts to complete these in the near future, I hope.
Cheers.

What have I done!!

Oops, seemed to have gone a bit overboard..................and made a small purchase from a nice chap on E-bay.  I havent really been into warhammer 40k and to tell the truth I probably never would have gotten around to painting any figures I purchased.

 This is all the result of a gaming friend of mine, I wont mention any names but, thanks Scullmiester http://scullmeister.blogspot.com.au/ 

 Anyway, I believe my young bloke is slightly interested, so there are a few other 40k figures in the post, Eldar, I hope. Sometimes its hard enough explaining historical figures to none wargames, let alone space monsters.

 By the way Sculls, I think I've overshot the 500 point mark a wee bit.

 Back in the real world I'm still trying to finish some Aventine pike, but as mentioned in a previous blog, summer is here at present so all painting is in slow motion. (and just returned from a 4 day trip to Rottnest Island, annual boys trip, so didnt see much of the island except the pub and the bays where we anchored the boat) Still recovering, this age thing is a killer! 

 I'm mixing and matching a couple of painting methods with this lot, (dipping and straight 3 layer method) depending on the colour of the tunics.

So hopefully I'll complete them soon................................................that could mean in a month or so.
Cheers.

Medieval Clash of Empires

Finally managed to get my arse into gear and make a post on this blog. Nothing really to show from the painting table, BUT...............did have a wee game in the loft using the new Clash of Empires rules. A good excuse as any to have a few beers and catch up with the lads.

 We laid out a 10' x 6' board and arranged for a head to head slogging match between a couple of late medieval armies, predominately WotR  v's a mix of Swiss, French and others.
The figures were provided by Paul and Andrew, as I only have a bucket of UNPAINTED late medieval figures. (maybe one day!!) So thanks a million boys for supplying the troops.

 The other players were Steve, Claude, my son Jake & his mate Glenn and myself. Although I think the young blokes got a bit bored during the afternoon as it didn't quite play as quick as online "Call of Duty".

 The guys arrived from 8.30am and the figures were set up and ready to advance by 10ish. We wrapped up at about 6pm, so a few hours of gaming minus a hour or so for a lunch break.
I don't know the amount of points used as this was a "throw the figures on the board and have a go" game to see how the rules handle a large game. All in all I believed  the game flowed very well.

 If you have played Warhammer Ancient Battles before then you will pick these rules up very quickly. (I look at them as WAB.3) with support.  

 I wont go into the battle itself as you can follow the photographs easily enough. At the end of the day both side had a bloody nose.......................all those longbow!!!...............I wasn't allowed to command any artillery on the day as in a previous game I managed to blow up my own gun and slaughter its crew....oops.

" The enemy have the hill"

 "I have the hill"

 The Swiss were very brave and marched through a storm of arrows, only to be crunched but heavily armoured men-at-arms.

 

Thanks for a great day boys, and next on the agenda.............Dark Ages.

Merry Christmas

Received this the other day.....................Had a laugh.

Hope you all have a very merry and safe Christmas,

Cheers,

Guido.

Aventine Tarentine cavalry

Finally finished the Tarentine cavalry I've had for nearly a year. Figures are from Aventine Miniatures and shield designs are from LBM.
The figure with no shield will be used as a command figure.

The name Tarentine clearly derives from Tarantum, the large and powerful Greek city on the west coast of Italy formerly named Taras (modern Taranto),  whose conflicts with the native Italian peoples were to prove an alluring attaction to military adventurers from the Greek peninsula in the late Classical and early Hellenistic eras. By Polybios' day however, such "Tarantines" did not come from Tarantum; rather any cavalry that fought in the manner of Tarantine cavalry were described as such.¹

1. See Duncan Head's discussion of Tarantines in his Armies of the Macedonian and Macedonian Punic Wars, WRG (1982)

Painting desk

Thought I'd drop in a quick post, was going to do it once I completed the unit I'm working on, (Tarentine cav), but that could be a little while yet.
Anyway heres a shot of my messy painting area, a few different items scattered around, even a few orks if you look close enough. The tarentines are there nearing completion, only took about 12months to get started.

Next is a few items some recently purchased from e-bay, I knew I should have kept away I hate that site, and a few others Ive had for a while which I intended to start on................................sometime.

The book "Victoria's Wars" I picked up from my local club. Not a bad read if your into that period. The figures are mainly ancients including Romans, Germans, Celts and Greeks. I'm sure you all know how it goes, paint 10 and purchase 100.
Happy painting!!

Old Glory Greek peltasts

I was only recently boasting the other day how I havent been sick much this year........................famous last words, caught a cold/flu last week, so painting pretty much came to a halt.
But, I did manage to finish the below peltasts beforehand though. I believe they are Old Glory miniatures, chunkie arms but they should fit in fine. Shields are again LBM with some highlites added.

 
The next project will be completing the Aventine cavalry, before tackling the pike units I received from Keith at Aventine last week. I managed to make a start over the weekend.