The Covenanters finally appear!

 Back in 2023(!) I succumbed to marketing genius of Warlord Games and started painting up a few of the freebie sprues that they occasionally give away with issues of WI.  In this case it was for some of the Epic scale ECW range.  I was donated a few unwanted sprues from friends, and acquired some more from eBay so have had a decent amount to paint up.  My painting speed is pretty glacial and the Covenanters have been on pause while I worked on some other bits and pieces, but I finally decided it was time to get them out on the table.

I have a decent amount of Covenanter Pike and Muskets and a smaller number of more generic troops.  The advantage of the Scots is that they fought pretty much everyone in the ECW so I have plenty of choice of opponents!  I haven't got round to painting up some Highlanders for a Montrose army so they would have to fight some English troops... Royalist or Parliament?  Who knows!

The Epic figures come in 10 figure strips which are easy to paint and look great en masse...I still haven't got round to adding flags for these yet which would definitely enhance the units. .. they're next on the to-do list.

We used Pikeman's Lament which are nice and simple.  Commanding units proved a bit of a challenge for my Scots who were obviously a bit reluctant to take on the English troops. And the musket fire was remarkably effective.  Each side had 1 unit of cavalry...my Scots lancers refused to move, but the English stations proved very effective.  

The Covenanters eye up the village

I managed to drive them out of the village but only to have them hang about on my flanks proving very annoying and tying up half the army.  Not the Covenanters finest hour...here's hoping they prove more successful in future games!

The Dragoons occupy the village

AI... good or bloody annoying?

 Of course the answer is probably both!

If you've been on any wargaming related FB pages recently you can't miss the flurry of posts showing AI generated animations of wargames figures.  These seem to be mostly done using an app called Nauk Nauk.  Some are really well done and it's fun to see your own figures marching or galloping across the battlefield, at least for the first couple of times.    After all that's how we imagine them in our heads (or is that just me?)

The posts tend to generate lots of heated debate with some people getting very angry about it in the way that only a FB poster can! The arguments tend to be...

1. This is taking away legitimate work that creative and artists could have done.  This is certainly true if people are using AI to generate brand new images but in the case of animated minis, the poster has already done all the creative bit themselves in painting and basing the figure.  It's unlikely they've snatched a crust out of the mouth of an aspiring animator.

and...

2. The FB pages are being swamped by a tidal wave of animations.  Not sure this is the case either...there are quite a few because it's a novelty but most posts aren't about AI.

I reckon this will die a death in a few weeks and we'll all move on to something else to post and moan about.

Interestingly the argument that doesn't often crop up is about the huge environmental impact of AI.  There's no doubt there's a real AI revolution going on and the impact on our work and home life is accelerating rapidly, but environmentally it's going to cost us.

There's also a question about the security of apps like Nauk Nauk and what data they're harvesting.

I suspect some of the angry posters are the same kind of people who objected to those new fangled printing presses snatching work away from calligraphers!

Anyway, despite all my concerns, I couldn't resist having a go (I know... what a hypocrite!)!! I used this photo of one of my friend Anthony's 54mm Vikings...

...and turned it into this...

It was interesting, and quite fun to see the outcome but I can't see me doing anymore.

Painting update

I've had a bit of a break from painting... my usual spot in the dining room was occupied with other stuff, and I hadn't really felt in the mood.  I tend to go through fits and starts of motivation but playing a game with my ECW Covenanters earlier in the week (I'll post about that soon) reminded me that they've been languishing in a box file waiting for me to supply them with some opponents.  So it's back to the paint table

First job though was work on a couple of half-started projects.  First up are some of the Guards from the Guards of Traitor's Toll set.  I bought this at Salute and had only got as far as part assembling one sprue of guards.  These are now completed and, if there's a gap in the promised downpour over the weekend, I'll get them undercoated.  They're lovely figures, really full of character as you'd expect from Wargames Atlantic with lots of extra bits to personalise the figures...

The other figures I'd been painting were also acquired at Salute... in this case they were a freebie sprue in the bag, and I was then gifted a 2nd sprue (thanks Giles!). These are from the Quar range, also by Wargames Atlantic.  Think militarised anteaters or Clangers.  They're lovely figures and a real pleasure to paint.  I suspect they may stay unplayed as they're quite niche and everyone I've spoken to has been slightly bemused by them but not keen on actually playing with them.  I could sneak them into a Star Wars game I guess.   I am very tempted to get a few more though...

A week in Fife

We're back from a long overdue and really badly needed break in Scotland.  The last year has been pretty rocky for us as a family so we were very glad to finally get away and have a bit of space from things.  We'd booked a dog friendly cottage with a company we've used a lot (Pack Holidays for those of you with dogs) and found a house for rent in Kinghorn in Fife.  Despite living in London for nearly 40 years I'm a confirmed Weegie so the east of Scotland is like a foreign land and this was all new to  loved it... we stayed in a house a minutes walk to the beach and with the Fife Coastal Path running almost past the front door.  We had a week of walking on beaches, stopping off for coffees (and inevitably cake), and relaxing.  Crucially it was also only an hour away from Glasgow so we were able to finish the break with a few nights back home so we could catch up with family.

I could fill the blog post with photos of dogs (a couple might sneak in) but I thought I'd see what historical links I could find for places we visited.

Kinghorn...quite close to spot where Alexander III died

We stayed in Kinghorn which is one of several lovely little towns along the coast.  It's main claim to fame is that King Alexander III fell to his death here in 1286 on a dark and stormy night, precipitating a crisis which eventually resulted in the Scottish Wars of Independence 

Memorial to Alexander III

We also visited Falkland Palace which was used by assorted King's and Queens from James I onwards.  As with all Scottish sites, Mary Queen of Scots looms large but at least in this case it is somewhere she stayed a lot, and not the usual "MQoS stayed here for a night in 1542".  The town is very nice and was trading heavily on Outlander connections as it doubled as Inverness in the series apparently (I've never seen it). Several places in the region seem to have doubled as other locations and we met several American tourists who were clearly doing the Outlander trail.

Falkland Palace 

Finally we had a quick wander past St Andrew's castle.  St Andrew's itself is very much the touristy part of Fife... full of golfers and posh students (and we'd arrived on a day when graduations were happening) and more Americans.  The castle dates back to the 12th century and has changed hands multiple times.  It features a particularly unpleasant bottle dungeon.

What all of this did make me realise is that my knowledge of Scottish History is pretty poor.  At school we did a bit on Wallace and Bruce and then skipped to the 18th century and a very positive spin on the Tobacco Barons which I don't think would hold up today!  Everything in between is a bit hazy so I think there may be some reading required.

Inevitable dog photo...

Latest games

 There hasn't been a blog post for a few weeks... lots going on at home and work, and a couple of weeks away in Scotland are to blame I'm afraid.  More on the Scotland trip in a separate post, but I have managed to fit in a couple of games and a bit of online bargain hunting.

I had a great game of Black Powder at Eric the Shed's pitting Zulus against some heavily outnumbered British troops.  On my flank the Zulus made heavy weather of trying to overrun the Redcoats who were defending a drift which broke up the Zulu charges.  My fellow Zulus further along the table had a bit more success and the Brits were in trouble by the end of the evening but it was by no means a clear outcome.

 

Inevitably the gatling jammed but the combination of the gun and some rockets held off a whole Impi

Last night I has a game of a Napoleonic  Battle Cry at my friend Anthony's... in thisncase a refight of Quatre Bras.  The whole game was nip and tuck with lots of fighting in the woods and honours very even till the end when I managed to gang up on an isolated cannon to win the last flag... a little bit of a gamey ending as it had been so close all the way through.  Excellent fun as always and Battle Cry worked well for the earlier setting with a few tweaks.

I've also acquired assorted boardgames over the last lityle while, but I might save those for a separate post

My 1st army...

A post on the Ancient & Medieval Facebook page the other day sparked off a memory of my 1st wargames army (a bit of a Proustian madeleine moment).

I bought my very 1st wargames army from Viking Miniatures, some time around 1979-1980ish I reckon.  I'd discovered 'proper' wargaming via D&D, stumbling somehow across the Glasgow & District Wargames Club.  They didn't play D&D but were very welcoming to a spotty-faced teenager, and various club members let me play with their armies

Eventually I decided I needed my own army and discovered that Tom Davidson at the club had his own company... Viking Miniatures.  Tom later (or possibly at the same time) ran a games shop in Candleriggs in Glasgow and later the Dragon and George in Parnie St., but I ended up collecting my Viking army from source at Tom's house only about 3 miles from my parents in Glasgow's southside. I suspect this was a birthday or xmas present unless my parents  just shelled out the required £22.50 to shut me up!

That army was my introduction to 'real' wargaming, losing  on a weekly basis to just about every player at GDWS.  They were frankly rubbish... obviously the army was to blame, not me!!!  The rules of choice at the time were WRG 5th Edition briefly, before they were supplanted by 6th Edition, a set of rules I still have fond memories of.  My set and army lists are still tucked away in the loft... maybe they'll re-surface one day.  The figures, sadly, are long gone.

Donnington Castle and Avebury

Last.weekend we had an overnight break to Berkshire... only a fairly short drive of a couple of hours, and we were back home the next day, but it felt like having a complete break away.  We stayed at a lovely Butcombe Brewery pub... I can highly recommend them as a group... really nice food and beer and very dog friendly which is key for us.

We were staying near Donnington Castle so stopped there after we'd checked out.

The main gatehouse is all that was left after the castle was demolished after the Civil War siege but it's still very impressive.  You can also make out the remains of the siege works

Obviously the Civil War looms large around Newbury, but there's something very unnerving having this chap staring at you when you're trying to eat breakfast...

Next stop was Silbury Hill: sensibly you can't get too close to it, but there's a nearby car park and viewing point.  It dates back to 2460-2350CE and is huge and, at 30m high, is really striking.  And also baffling as no one knows what it was for (aliens, obviously!)

We then carried on a couple of miles to Avebury which, along with Callanish, is probably my favourite ancient site.  The henge and stone circle is huge and encloses the very pretty village.

Again... what was it for?  Probably aliens... or of course this terror from my childhood...

We resisted the new age tat in the shops and eventually headed for home with our energy levels recharged by the leylines and the cosmic energy or maybe it was the bottle of cider and a takeaway that we had when we got home...