Sunday 20 January 2013

It's the Snowpocalypse!!!!

I'm updating my blog from the snowy wastes of Surrey where we're in the grip of 2" of snow and have been largely cut off from the outside world.  The Tesco Express next door has row upon row of empty shelves [not even an horse burger to be seen...] and we may have to eat the dog if they aren't restocked soon [... only kidding... he's too skinny, we'll have to eat my son instead!]

It's the annual weekend of snow that we get here and everything grinds to a halt... this is where I should go into a rant about how it wasn't like this when I was young/ they're all southern softies down here in Surrey/ everyone's hysterical etc, but actually I've been mainly preoccupied by the fact that our heating and hot water packed in and it was bloody freezing!!!  We now have heat but not hot water but at least I can grab a shower at work so it's not too bad.

The snow has meant a quiet weekend though so there was a chance to do some more work on my Saxons [see... I really am trying to stick to my plan!]  I've built 20 of my Gripping Beast plastic Saxons and had part-painted them last year so wanted to try and get them finished.  They're now painted and had an ink wash and just need to bases finished off.  Somewhere I have some shield transfers for these and for my Vikings but I couldn't find them anywhere so have had to give them some rather boring shield patterns.  Hopefully the transfers are in a box in the loft and I'll be able to track them down for the next batch as they really did make a difference to the Viking shields.



Saxon Warlord and Standard bearer
 
 


 

 
 
 
On another note I saw that Warlord Games have reduced the price of some of their rule books in the last week or so.  I decided to order a set of Hail Caesar at the reduced price of £20.  One of my quests has been to try and find a decent set of rules for my Italian Condotta and Swiss armies.  I originally used these with DBM but it's a rule system I struggle to love although I really do like DBA!
 
I've tried FoG which is the Ancient/Medieval rule du jour at the club but again struggled to get along with it.  I quite enjoyed them but never really felt like I knew what was going on [... nothing unusual there!]. 
 
I've also been having a look at some of the Perfect Captain rules  [ http://perfectcaptain.50megs.com/captain.html ], especially Strongbow and A Coat of Steel to see if these could suit the early Renaissance period.  I'm a big fan of Black Powder though so Hail Caesar seemed like a good bet for the Italians and Swiss.  I'll let you know how I get on.

5 comments:

  1. Great looking Saxons - I really like the helmets. I think you'll enjoy Hail Caesar - I liked it; but I haven't played it in awhile. Best, Dean

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks Dean. My copy of HC arrived today so I now have a bit of studyIng to do!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I have to say that I am a fan of plain shields. I suspect dark age warriors didn't go in for some of the intricate designs you see on transfers these days.

    I'm glad that I'm not the only one who often doesn't understand what's going on in rules!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I would be happy to give you a game HC. I've played Dave edwards four time now (Medieval and Hellenistic periods) and really enjoyed the games. You might want to consider Pike and Shotte for the French Italian Wars as they cover from 1500 to 1700.

    Excellent Saxons!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We'll have to arrange a game. I was torn between HC amend Pike and Shotte. The Condotta period sits right on the cusp.

      Delete