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...