A Day on Barsoom

This is a quick skirmish near Helium.  The actual game took about 10 minutes playtime, so I will let the comic pages do the talking.  Also, I only had 9 pictures, which leaves a blank on the template I was using.  Rules are Swordplay 2018 with the Barsoom mod supplied by Ed. As always, click on the pic for a larger one.

The first post of the New Year, comparing old and new Bronze Age Miniatures Barsoomians.

Of course I caved and bought some new Bronze Age Miniatures Barsoom http://bronzeagemin.com/ figures.  I discovered the Edgar Rice Burroughs series at my local library when I was 14.  Knowing nothing of series, I first read "A Fighting Man Of  Mars", and wondered who the hell John Carter was. To this day Tan Hadron of Hastor is my favorite Martian.

I have a goodly number of the older Bronze Age Miniatures figures and really like them. I'm going to compare the old and the new with my biased opinions.  I've tried to find equivalents.

First, we have the lunger. The accouterments are simpler on the slotta figure. The lunge is more dynamic on the older figure, and the harness is more complex. The boots are simpler on the newer figure. The musculature is about even.

 Second, the parrying figures. The poses are quite close. I like the extra belt on the newer figure holding a rapier type sword carrier.  On all the new figures, the weapons are attached to the hands, better for convention games.  The guard in very saber-like.

 Third, the sneakily advancing figure. I couldn't find an equivalent in my older figures.  This is an excellent pose. Very dynamic. The right arm holding the sword is a separate piece but is quite well keyed into the torso.  Only a minimum of filling was needed, so little that it was provided by super glue gel with nothing added.

Fourth, we come to our first damsel of Barsoom.  I am much fonder of the lack of upper harness. It better fits the Burroughs idea of women only fighting in extremus. Her face, and all the new faces, are better, in my opinion. These two poses are almost identical.  I like the look that the new damsel has quickly buckled on a swordbelt to defend herself.

And, finally, the fifth figure, another damsel, quite angry! She, like the older figure, has no scabbard. The ire is plain to see on her face.  I imagine her finally being able to put paid to the jed who kidnapped her, and subjected her to indignities!!

It's pretty obvious that I'm quite happy with the change in style and basing. The harness is simpler, the weapons attached, the poses pretty much as dynamic, the ladies less prepared for battle. I've ordered the 2 banths Bronze Age Miniatures supplies, the ulsio pack, and another male and female figure.

I have all the white apes offered by 3 manufacturers, and that is a surfeit, so I won't be ordering any more of those.  

A Barbarian Army, not quite so NSFW as the Amazons.

This is my barbarian army who will contest the field with the Amazons in the previous post at Hubcon.  I realize that they are on many different bases, but that won't make any difference.

We will be playing this with Warrior Heroes-Warbands by THW, now available from Rebel Minis.  This is a unit-based ruleset, in which a single figure touching an opposing figure means the entire units are in melee.  In these rules, a figure will equal 3 - 5 men.  I will be going with 5, to give the players a larger army.

Miniatures are from every manufacturer I could lay my hands on: Reaper, Grenadier, Copplestone, Hasselfree, Scotia-Grendel, Black Tree Design, Battlemasters, GW, Frostgrave, Warlord Games. They look like a haphazard barbarian army.

The elite unit I am calling the Jung.  They are the Barbarian Regiment from Scotia-Grendel.

And...trolls, from Black Tree Design.  Small in number, large in fighting ability.  They do not regenerate in this game system.

Who can think of a barbarian army without beastmen, from Battlemaster and GW?

The rest of the foot is warbands, powerful in their first round of melee.  The first unit is Northern Barbarians from Frostgrave.  Since they have enough shields in their twelve-man unit, they can form shieldwall.

There are two more twelve-figure warbands, without the ability to form shieldwall.

The Amazons will face four ten-figure warbands.

Then there are the Cimmerians, a small but very powerful group.

And a small group of mostly naked hoi-polloi, a weak warband.

Heavy, shock cavalry, a small unit.

Light cavalry, a strong unit in numbers. Unfortunately, the depth of the horse bases would not allow my camera to focus the rear rank.

And lastly, a twelve-figure and a ten-figure unit of archers.

Will the less numerous, but better-organized Amazons prevail against the more numerous barbarians, or will civilization fall beneath the darkness of the illiterati?

Depending upon a friend, there will be either the Grenadier War Rhino or a unit of ogres to add to the army.

Amazons, Valkae NSFW, of course!

I had about 45 Amazon (Valkae, the THW followers) miniatures already painted when a large painted army showed up on eBay. I bid a large amount of $$ on it and won the auction.  I don't normally buy painted figures since one of my great pleasures is bringing the little metal people to life with paint, but I just couldn't resist.

So, without further ado, here are my units, set up for THW's Warrior Heroes - Warbands.  The units are supposed to start with 6 figures for foot and 5 figures for mounted, plus 1d6 more figures.  Since these are intended for convention play, mine are based on the figures I have.

Let's start with the archers in their most useful formation, since each figure must have line-of-sight to its target.  The figures are Eureka, except for the girl with the different hairdo, who I believe is Hasselfree. These are all my painting. The figures I have painted are mostly on round bases, and the purchased army, on 20mm square.  The difference in basing makes no difference in game play.

Next we have the slingers, all Shadowforge.  These came painted, but I couldn't resist a bit of touch-up.

Unit number 1 of peltasts, who were received painted.  Shadowforge, who have been touched up. I should point out that all units from this point will be deployed in 2 ranks in gameplay, except perhaps the cavalry.

Peltast unit 2, Eureka, except the Brother Vinnie captive on the right, with an added sword and shield.  Think she might command that unit? After all, she has a loincloth! My painting.

Peltast unit 3, unknown manufacturer, and long OOP. Note that they are on even larger bases.  They would not stand up without the larger bases, and are quite weak at the ankles.  My painting.

Sword Maiden units 1 & 2.  Though these are still nominally available from the people who make Flintloque, my last 2 orders did not contain the figure, even though she was shown on the picture of the unit.  It has taken quite a while to accumulate the 20 figures I have.  As a side note, at a game where the leader is important, and the figure is indistinguishable, I always tell the players it's the redhead, because I don't paint too many.

Armored axe maidens by Shadowforge.  These were received painted, and I haven't got to them for touch-up.

Unarmored axe maidens, by Shadowforge. They were also received painted, and I haven't touched them up either. My plan is to combine them with the armored axe maidens as the second rank, making 2 10-figure units.  They will be considered Armor Class 4 until they lose half of their number, when they will become Armor Class 2, assuming that the front line has fallen to the enemy.

Maenads, received painted. They are the beserkers of the army, caring not if they die. I'm not sure who the manufacturer is.  They have been touched up.

Hoplites, or nobles in the Valkae list.  These are the elite heavies. Shadowforge.  They were received with black plumes and silver shield rims.  The wash used on the shields covered the bottom of the rim.  They were too dark for my taste, so I repainted the rims and plumes in green.

Chariots and chariot runners from Eureka.  Since there were only 2 chariots in the army as received, I decided to use the runners to bring the unit up to 12.  I have not retouched the figures, or even reglued one of the chariot drivers to her chariot, nor replaced a rider's spear.

The "heavy" shock cavalry.  These are all Shadowforge. Other than straightening the horn and a weapon or two, I haven't done anything to this unit.

And the centaurs, who also came with green plumes. Oh, my, where did I get the idea for the changes on the hoplites?  Also Shadowforge.

 There's the whole army, though I have a very few figures more. Its first appearance will be at Hubcon in September in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, where they will be facing my barbarian army.  Both armies will be looking to capture mates, for which there are rules in Warrior Heroes - Warbands.

French and Indian War troops

Here's everything I've painted over the years since I've been playing.  I've played French and Indian war with a large number of rules, so the numbers of troops may not conform to your favorite.  Here are the rules I've played under.  Bob Moon's rules, The Sword and the Flame, Brother Against Brother, Flintloque, Long Rifle and Muskets & Mohawks by THW, Sharpe Practice, and Rebels And Patriots.

British Line: Front Rank campaign dress, 36 infantry and 3 officers.

Highlanders: Old Glory 18 infantry, officer and drummer.

British Rangers: Old Glory and Wargames Factory, 12 men.

British Lights: RSM, 18 figures including an officer and drummer

French Line: The London War Room, 29 figures, including 4 officers, 3 NCO's, a drummer and a standard bearer.

French Militia: Old Glory, 32 figures including 2 officers.

Franche de la Marine: Warlord Games and Old Glory, 18 figures including 2 leaders.

Couriers du Bois: Old Glory and Wargames Factory, 12 figures.

British Militia: Old Glory, Wargames Factory and Staden, 56 figures including 3 leaders.

Women and Children: Dixon, Black Orc, Amazon Miniatures, RAFM and Old Glory, 16 figures, plus a dog.

Native Americans, from the RKO tribes: Old Glory and RSM, 54 figures including leaders. (My friend has another 18 painted, and I have another 3 bags of 18 to paint)

That's my collection. The Native Americans are of no particular tribe, since most come from the Old Glory bags.  Don't be too impressed; if you can't tell from all the rules sets they've been played under, this is about 20 years work.  The photography isn't too impressive. I had my contact lenses in while taking them.