MIDGARD HEROIC BATTLES... THE WARRIOR IN THE TERRACOTTA CLOAK.

When I pre-ordered my copy of Midgard Heroic Battles, my plan was to convert my Dux Britanniarum Arthurian and Scotti warbands into Midgard armies. The Scotti were pretty straightforward; I just didn't have enough infantry to make the five heavy infantry units I needed. I still had a few Wargames Atlantic Irish warriors tucked away and I bought a couple of extra sprues from Wargames Imporium and set about painting the required figures. With the Arthurians, I needed to perform a few head swaps, weapon swaps and shield swaps on a few figures, but I reached the point where I could only make thirteen of the sixteen figures needed for two units of Combrogi, the term I use for those socially superior to the Pagenses, who would be expected to turn up at the muster with sword, spear, large shield and a helmet of some kind. Wargames Imporium again supplied a sprue, this time Victrix Late Roman infantry and I set about building those final three figures. The last of the three was given a cloak, even though I'd intended to do the absolute minimum to get them equipped for the shield wall. Little did I know that that cloak would, quite literally, be my downfall! I was blocking out colour on the trousers, tunic and that cloak on all three figures (I normally paint individually), leaving the cloak until last. Vallejo Terracotta was the chosen colour for the cloak and when I tried to put a drop onto the palette, it came out far too runny to be useful. As I had other jobs to do, I tipped the Vallejo bottle upside down to get the pigment settling in the dropper, intending to return in ten minutes or so and try again. Before I could get back to complete the job, I stupidly managed to slip off the bottom step of our staircase and got whisked off to A&E in an ambulance! Knee surgery followed a week later and several months of rehabilitation lie ahead. My unfinished warrior was tidied away until, eighteen days later, we managed to set up an ad hoc painting station on my knee and cloak painting was able to resume!

This is how I left my terracotta cloaked warrior... the watery acrylic barely covering the black primer!

My son, Dan, who is by trade a sports therapist, told me that if I was one of the players in the football team he looks after, he'd be telling me that my season was over! It took me quite a long time to get it into my head that this ridiculous accident was going to take some considerable time to recover from, but once it sank in, I started to set myself little short term goals and this plastic warrior with his terracotta cloak embedded himself firmly into my brain almost to the point of obsession. You don't name non-heroic figures in Midgard, but this member of the Combrogi will always be known as Ailetglin, which, very crudely, translates from Brythonic as something like "Broken Knee" and, when the dice roll and the casualties need to be removed, I suspect that he will be the last to be hoisted from his movement tray and placed amongst the pile of battlefield victims.

Painting on a tray, where you can't rest your elbows, isn't ideal, but better that than not at all! On the left the base coat of terracotta, completed after an interval of just eighteen days! And, on the right, the cloak with highlights applied... I should have waited for the paint to dry before snapping really.

And the completed warrior in the terracotta cloak...

Once this warrior was completed, the other two just needed finishing off and that left me with the sixteen required to field two units of Combrogi...

MIDGARD HEROIC BATTLES... BROTHER BEDDWHETTAR AND THE COURT OF RHYDDERCH MOR.

 

In the Year of Our Lord, 499 AD, there came, unto the mighty fortress of Alt Clut, a wandering priest by the name of Brother Beddwhettar. From whence the good Brother arrived is shrouded in the very depths of mystery and vagueacity, but his serenity, intelligence and absolute Godliness immediately brought him to the attention of the fearsome and all powerful King of Alt Clut, Rhydderch Mor. Rhydderch Mor was a man who followed the ancient ways and beliefs and took advice from the venerable Druid, Cambion Kar, who had counselled the rulers of Alt Clut since before the dark days of the Calliginnerings. However, even the learned Cambion Kar recognised the cavernous sagacity of the priest and the two oracles quickly became companions in enlightenment, culture and knowledge. The great lord, Rhydderch Mor, of course, became the beneficiary of this union of the old and new religions and the land of Alt Clut became renowned throughout the known world as a centre of learning, philosophy and religious tolerance. In the months before the arrival of Brother Beddwhettar, it had come to pass that the Fortress of Alt Clut had, unexplainably, become inundated by a plague of vicious and most destructive and pernicious vermin, causing great consternation and, indeed, a great many deaths amongst the benighted population. Cambion Kar had cast a great many incantations and conjurations against the rats, but, in spite of his numerous endeavours, the beasts continued to range forth and multiply, so that the distressed populace did, in their simple ignorance, begin to bewail and riot in the streets.

"Fear not the Vermin," cried Brother Beddwhettar, "For they are but God's simple creatures and, with the Word of the Lord, I shall banish them hence and send them into the lands of the detestable Scotti, there to cause measureless harm to the empty-headed enemies of The Lord our God." Many of the nobility and the base born alike did snicker in incredulity and scepticism, but, much to their great astonishment, Brother Beddwhettar did call upon the leader of the vermin, who did creep forward from amongst the mighty throng of crawling, slithering creatures and allow itself to be taken up onto the left hand of the venerated holy man. The assembled masses of Alt Clut did gasp and exclaim in wonderment as the Priest did smile down upon the beast and appear to engage in conversation with it, imploring the rat to leave the noble fortress. The throng did then let out a deafening cheer, proclaiming the Priest to be a worker of prodigious miracles as he raised the great holy tome he carried and did smite the rat with an almighty blow to the head, dashing its brains to smithereens. Upon witnessing the fate of their leader, the great verminous plague did, instantaneously, scarper from the citadel and, true to the word of the holy man, did make their way to the necessitous and destitute lands of the Scotti, whence they were eagerly consumed as savoury titbits by the pagan idolaters of Dal Riata.

With this act of miraculous magnitude, Brother Beddwhettar, at a stroke, did find himself adopted, in a most familial manner, into the Royal Household of Alt Clut, becoming the boon companion of Cambion Kar and fellow advisor to King Rhydderch Mor. Thus it was said that Rhydderch Mor did become the most ably advised monarch in the entirety of Hen Ogledd. Not only this, but, in Brother Beddwhettar, Rhydderch Mor acquired a chronicler of colossal intellect, who would gift the future world with an unapparelled record of the achievements of the King and the noble house of Alt Clut.

Rhydderch Mor, High King of Alt Clut and his ever faithful standard bearer, Escanor. For fifteen years Rhydderch Mor has relentlessly and tirelessly defended the land of Alt Clut against the pernicious Scotti raiders, lead by his arch enemy, Donnchadh Luthmhor. The King spends more time in the saddle than he does not, leading his Teulu from the front, setting an heroic example to his battle host, which, most frequently, is made up of the landless and poorly equipped Pegenses who leave their fields to follow their Lord in defence of the land upon which they toil to survive.

The noble, Lord Pellinore, younger brother of the King, steadfast and loyal and Leader of Battles. Pellinore usually stands with the men of the Combrogi who form the front rank in battle, providing a dependable screen to the Pegenses who form up behind them.

Lord Sagramore, veteran warrior, who fought in the battle line back in the days of Rhydderch Mor's father and, like young Pellinore, leads the men of the Combrogi, who benefit from this grizzled and experienced warrior's knowledge and calm demeanour.

The Druid, Cambion Kar, known to the illiterate peasant folk of Alt Clut as Marlin, has been providing sound and considered wisdom to the rulers of the land for longer than any man alive recollects. There are those, including one miserable villein who claimed that he had been turned into a newt, who believe that he possesses mystic powers, but Cambion Kar is far too astute not to recognise which way the theological winds are blowing to be seen to be too deeply involved in the practices of the old ways.

A long serving member of Rhydderch Mor's court is Ectorius Hir, a warrior who has spent almost his entire life fighting against the Scotti raiding hordes and has risen to the exalted rank of "King's Champion". Ectorius is often found using the flat of his war axe to encourage the men of the Pagenses should they ever feel reluctant to continue facing the enemy.

These are the heroes of the warband of Alt Clut and it falls to them to lead the fighting men of the land against the relentless destructive raids of the Scotti and, who knows, there may yet be new foes to vanquish, as word has reached the mighty fortress of a new and even more deadly adversary reported to be advancing slowly but inexorably from the east!

MESBG... THIS IS THE ONLY WAY TO SPEND A MONDAY MORNING!

Dan and I continue to work on our latest Middle Earth projects; Easterlings for Dan and Dwarves for me! We try to get our completed miniatures on the table top on a regular basis, as we both find, that spending a day rolling dice gives our painting campaigns a shot of much needed impetus. This Monday gathering was to include part of a massive Dwarven Gate that Dan has been painting. There is a lot more to add to these two pieces to complete the final model, but we thought it would be good to get these two colossal dwarves(!) on the table.

The game itself didn't have our usual complex storyline, but was simply a take and hold two victory markers affair, one marker either side of the stream running across the centre of the table.

I should apologise to Dan as most of my shots of the game tend to focus a bit more on the Dwarves, but his Easterlings are superbly modelled and painted and deserve to feature much more spotlight than they get here!

The Dwarf Captain and his warband set off to cross the stream with the intention of capturing the victory marker on the far side of the water.

The other half of the Dwarf force... King Groin and his Guardsmen make straight for the victory marker on the right bank of the stream.

The two main Easterling forces... Rutabi with her pike block on the left and Brorgir with an escort to the right. Dan was to confound the Dwarves by suddenly switching Brorgir to the opposite flank as the game made its way through its early stages!

I have a respect for the Easterling Acolytes based on previous experience; they seem to have the capacity to do damage beyond what you would expect from blokes hurling daggers at you!

The Dwarf Captain mirrors the Brorgir's stratagem by abruptly switching his warband's advance away from the stream in closer support of King Groin...

who finds himself approached by Rutabi and her menacing pike block.

Meanwhile, Brorgir has captured the victory marker on the far side of the stream and is leading his escort across the water to outflank the Dwarves. Thankfully, the Dwarf Captain has detached a small group to attempt to hold up the wielder of dark magic. 

Brorgir casts a Tremor spell and successfully flattens a column of dwarves, knocking them prone and vulnerable should they be attacked.

Yet more brave Dwarves nobly place themselves between the Easterling magician and their fallen comrades.

The King's leading Dwarves hurl themselves selflessly into Rutabi's phalanx in a desperate attempt to hold them up while Groin organises his forces ready for an all out attack.

The Easterlings push the Dwarves back, but the Khazad Guardsmen are already rushing around the phalanx to launch an attack upon their vulnerable flank.

The Khazad Guards complete their manoeuvre and surround Rutabi and her warband. The Dwarf Captain dispatches two of his warband to cross the stream and capture the second victory token. Both sides use their banners to re-roll those dice but it is the Dwarves who begin to get the upper hand.

After a desperate struggle, Rutabi and her warband are defeated and the Dwarves begin to swarm across the stream in search of that second victory token.

Brorgir hastens back from the stream to assist the lone defender of the victory token and the two Dwarves find themselves in severe difficulties.

The Dwarves form up and launch an all out attack on the remaining Easterlings, unaware of the danger that is fast approaching!

Khamul the Easterling swoops majestically over the stream on his fell beast... the battle could yet take one more dramatic swing in favour of the Evil hordes.

Once again, a line of prone Dwarves litter the field of battle as the fell beast uses his beastly powers to hurl the diminutive warriors to the ground. Crucially, the Dwarf banner finds itself scattered in the dirt.

Cinematically, the dining room door somewhat spoils the drama of the shot, but worse, the fell beast's attempted Rend on King Groin fails to have any effect and the Dwarves swarm in to attack the monstrous creature.

Driven back by the King and his host, the fell beast succumbs to overwhelming numbers and some decent dice rolling and the day belongs to the Dwarves of Khazad-Dum.

Our impromptu Monday wargame lead to a gripping little encounter which swung one way and then the other. After their initial success, the Easterling pike phalanx suffered when the Khazad Guard were able to work their way around the flank of the formation, negating the advantages the pikes have when fighting to their front. Both of us went away inspired to work on more troops for our future games... Dan is looking to add some allies to his Easterlings and I have some more Dwarf warriors, including some archers, to work on. 

MIDGARD HEROIC BATTLES... YET ANOTHER RE-BRANDING FOR MY DARK AGE WARRIORS!

With the upcoming release of Midgard Heroic Battles, I find myself re-structuring my Arthurian and Scotti warbands once again. Originally put together for Dux Britanniarum, then Dux Bellorum, then Lion Rampant and, finally, Dux Britanniarum again, it looks as though Midgard may just be the place where my Dark Age warriors ultimately put down some roots. There is already so much more support for the rules then there ever was for Dux Britanniarum or Dux Bellorum and, watching the videos put up on You Tube has got me excitedly preparing for the release date, which is just a couple of weeks away from the time of posting this.

I have always loved this period of our wonderful history, with its epic stories of heroism and betrayal and the ultimate and inevitable triumph of the Saxon raiders over the those who strived to defend the land against them. Having created a host of characters for battles with Dux Britanniarum, I have decided to revive them and place them into a new chronicle driven by battles using Midgard.

The Alt Clut Chronicle will bring the Midgard battles together and tell the story of epic clashes of arms, initially between the forces of Rhydderch Mor, Warlord of Alt Clut and the vicious and rapacious Scotti raiding parties, led by Donnchadh Luthmhor, High King of Dal Riatta. I've had all the figures I need for a Saxon host for years and have made umpteen attempts to get them painted ready for battle, so, hopefully, the arrival of Midgard will be the spur I need to finally get them onto the table top.

Most of these characters have appeared before when I have been using the rule sets mentioned above, but here they are, in all their dark age glory, as they will appear using Midgard on the table top... Scotti characters first:

Donnchadh Luthmhor, High King of Dal Riata, Serpent Lord of the Western Isles, slayer of the Pictish mountain giant, Feargal mac Hooie, whom he slew with a deadly spear thrust in the Trossachs, famed and adored throughout his kingdom and feared throughout the vast wildernesses of Hen Ogledd.

Donlad ne Breeks, mighty and fearsome champion of the High Kings of Dal Riatta. Worshipped by the warriors of the Scotti raiding parties, who enthusiastically sing the champion’s battle hymn as they sweep into combat:

Let the wind blow high, Let the wind blow low, With my mighty weapon I will go, All the lassies say, “Hello, Donlad where’s yer troosers.”

Amhlaigh, the breaker and taker of heads. Nobody knows how he manages to decapitate his defeated foes armed with only a wooden club but this is why he is so feared by the enemies of Dal Riatta.

The noble Cailean, commander of the mounted raiders of Dal Riatta... fearsome in battle, unparalleled in horsemanship and a bit of a favourite with the ladies.

Cailleach Fitheach Dub, the Raven Sorceress, destroyer of souls, a harridan of fearsome power and bed warmer to a thousand warriors. Her raven, Maru, is the eyes of the warband, flying far ahead and returning with reports on the activity of the enemy. Squark!

Next time... the heroes of Alt Clut prepare for another season of Scotti raids... 

HOBBY UPDATE... LIFE!

It's been a bit of an odd month! Since my last post, I've been reminded that you can never take life for granted and you never really know what fate has in store for you. To say I've been a bit distracted would be an understatement and I have felt like the hobbying side of life had ground to a halt. However, I set up a practise game of Blood and Crowns by Firelock Games today and, suddenly it dawned on me that, even though I've been drifting in and out of things for a while, that I had actually done quite a lot of hobby based stuff! Just not necessarily the stuff I'd been planning to do a month ago!

I added to my 1487 Yorkists with a six figure unit of Irish Galloglaigh, using figures from Perry Miniatures (and, I think, one from Footsore that sneaked in somehow!). The Perry figures are lovely but very hard work to prep ready for painting. Their first outing was a bit of a disaster, when they heroically sacrificed themselves to prevent Mi Lord Clifford and his grisly bunch of henchmen from descending upon the Yorkist retinue archers... all six of them ended up on the window sill for the cost of only one Lancastrian! A morning rolling ten sided dice has inspired the launch of two new units; some armoured cavalry for Lord Clifford and some mercenary crossbowmen for the Earl of Lincoln.

At the beginning of my month long reverie, I was due to go to Britcon at Nottingham but had to cancel at the last minute. My intended chauffeur for the day, my nephew Richard sent me a photo of a game using the gladiatorial combat rules, Jugular! We used to play the absolutely brilliant TTG rules, "Rudis... The Wooden Sword" back in the 1980s and Richard had obviously been inspired to pick up where we left off forty years ago! As a youngster who understands the unfathomable mysteries of something called "3D Printing", he has been doing whatever it is you have to do to make something which, very cleverly, resembles a Gladiatorial Arena, and so, of course, the postman bafflingly turned up one day with a parcel which, according to the label, was from those deftly talented people at Gripping Beast!

In that strangely mercurial way, that only wargamers understand, having never once in the last forty years even considered painting gladiators, without any warning whatsoever, there was the first 35mm gladiator painted, based and ready for action!

Then... there were two!

Then three...

Then a Murmillo, my favourite of all the gladiator types.

I've been tinkering with sets of rules which we could use in our gladiatorial renaissance and quickly decided that "Jugular!" probably wasn't one that I would personally choose to use; just not keen on the four gladiator a side in the arena at the same time! "Sons of Mars" came and went, quickly followed by "Arena of Blood" which, surprisingly, I actually quite like and have had a couple of dry runs at, using the dining room table as my sandy arena. Admittedly, I have taken the rules as written and added "House Rules" for movement (there aren't any at all in the rules!), letting Retiarius attempt to use his net to trip his opponent, giving gladiators the option to dodge and give their opponent a good old fashioned shove in order to gain a bit of manoeuvre room! But, apart from that, they give an enjoyable and sometimes tense and jittery combat that can leave you hanging on tenterhooks as you roll your combat dice. "Rudis", however, remains unchallenged as the ultimate gladiator combat game but, with the tactical decisions you have to make, it can not work as a solo play experience.

My final "Unexpected Journey" for this Summer arrived in the form of son Daniel, who visited us recently to announce that he wanted a change from playing the Good Guys in Middle Earth and was going to start painting Easterlings! Naturally, we couldn't really play games where his Easterlings would come up against my Uruks, so the only obvious answer to this predicament was for me to embark on a new Lord of the Rings army which could provide some opposition to the Easterlings! 

For a person in his 60s, who needs to wear a 5x magnifying headset to see any detail whatsoever on 28mm wargame figures, Dwarves were probably not the best choice from a painting point of view, but, so far, they have proved to be an enjoyable and rewarding little project to get involved in. Still a long way to go, and, with twelve whole months before my next scheduled visit to SpecSavers, I can only hope that my eye sight holds out long enough to get my planned three warbands completed without making Dan hang about, impatiently waiting for some opposition for his Easterling horde. My Early Saxons for Dux Britanniarum have, not only had to take a back seat, but have been firmly consigned to the boot for the time being, but I am hoping that they make a comeback to the painting table during the long dark Winter nights which, alarmingly, are already looming large and will soon be upon us.

MESBG... WARG ATTACK!

With the coming of the dark times, Theodan, King of Rohan, rescued from the malevolent  grip of Saruman the White by the wizard Gandalf, leads his people from the wooden city of Edoras to the mighty fortress of Helm's Deep. Seeing an opportunity to inflict a grievous defeat upon the enemy, Saruman orders Sharku to lead out his Warg Riders to intercept the rustic country-folk of Rohan and spread unimaginable terror across the land! 

The camp of the refugees... an idyllic country scene about to be rudely interrupted!

Sharku and his warband of repugnant Warg Riders smell human flesh and hasten into battle.

Sensing an easy victory and an opportunity to slaughter defenceless peasants, a group of Wildmen of Dunland, Lurtz, a plethora of Uruk-Hai scouts and a passing Troll, decide to join in the attack!

Theodan, gallant King of Rohan, Aragorn and the Royal Guard heroically leap into the saddle and prepare to repel Saruman's vile marauders...

while the courageous Eowyn assembles the peasant masses and prepares to lead them to safety.

From his lofty perch, atop the great flat topped hill, gallant Legolas sends forth a barrage of Eleven arrows and the leader of the Wildmen, The Headtaker, having injudiciously placed himself at the head of his forces, takes a nasty wound, but forges ahead, with his warband swarming around him to protect their much beloved and feared leader.

Theodan the King, leads his Royal Guard around the hill to intercept the approaching hordes of Saruman and Gimli makes a prodigious leap from the hill to join the coming fray.

With Saruman's forces advancing across the entire front, the Rohirrim are forced to divide their warband to meet the disparate threats and one of the valiant Royal Guard is unhorsed and overwhelmed by The Headtaker and his Wildmen.

Sharku's plan to outflank the enemy and strike the fleeing peasants is thwarted by Aragorn and a party of the mounted men of Rohan who bravely hurl themselves between the Warg Riders and their prey. Eowyn refuses to be intimidated by the vicious Wargs and continues to encourage the peasants to press onwards towards safety.

However, some of the Wargs do manage to break through to attack the peasants, who bravely engage the beasts, encouraged by the indomitable Eowyn.

As the battle rages, Aragorn makes a heroic move against Sharku and the two become locked in a mortal struggle. Sharku fights with demonic determination, matching his enemy blow for blow but, with his superior strength and skill, Aragorn overwhelms his opponent and Saruman's Warg Riders lose their leader, slain by a mighty torrent of blows.

Aragorn's victory gives Eowyn and the peasants a brief respite and once again gives them the opportunity to make their escape to the safety of Helm's Deep.

Over by the hill, the Wildmen are in danger of being wiped out, as the Rohan cavalry, lead by Theodan and Legolas, with his unerring bow fire, but large numbers of Uruk scouts begin to advance towards Gimli, who suddenly finds himself alone and at risk of being overwhelmed.

The advantage begins to swing further in favour of Saruman's horde, as Lurtz and the Troll advance menacingly towards Theodan and his few remaining warriors. The Uruk bowmen launch volley after volley of their deadly arrows towards the hill and Legolas is soon brought down under the deluge of the arrow storm.

Too late, King Theodan realises the peril about to befall him and the remaining Riders of Rohan. Beset on all sides by Wildmen, Uruks and the mighty troll, the riders fight desperately to force back the enemy.

Under the unyielding onslaught, King Theodan is laid low and the remaining men of Rohan are left to face the enemy without their beloved and heroic leader. With the tragic death of their king, the peasants lose heart and begin a desperate flight away from the field of battle. Eowyn, however, has only vengeance upon her mind and launches into a despairing charge across the battlefield, intent upon bringing down those responsible for the death of the king.

Can the gallant lady wreak her vengeance before she is ploughed down by passing carts or intercepted by yet more reinforcement Wargs hastily arriving on the battlefield?

Long before Eowyn can arrive, Aragorn thunders into the troll, Gimli blusters into Lurtz with Dwarf Axes flailing and the two remaining mounted Rohan desperately engage Wildmen and Uruk Scouts.

The situation now turns desperate for the enemies of Saruman as Gimli and Aragorn are surrounded, and even their extraordinary powers can no longer save them from the inevitable conclusion. Both heroes are hacked down by their vile foes, leaving only the valiant Lady Eowyn to stand against the forces of darkness.

And even she fell under the vicious onslaught of Uruk-hai scouts, leaving just a single Rohan Royal Guardsman to face Saruman's horde.

With their enemies slain, Lurtz, the troll, Uruk Scouts, Warg Riders and Wildmen were left to celebrate their victory in their own inevitable style. The forces of Goodness had paid a heavy price in their attempt to escort the peasants of Rohan to the relative safety of Helm's Deep and the virtuous of Middle Earth could only wait to see if new heroes would arise to lead them in their fight against the forces of darkness!