Fighting Brothers a new set of American Civil war rules

Based on the Veni Vidi Vici rules for 18th century land battle rules, Best Allies, these rules have been modified to better reflect the tactics used in the American civil war.

As with Best Allies, the basic uints are regiments and they organised into brigades. A turn proceeds with both armies taking it in turn to move/fight alternate brigades. Which side gets to activate the first brigage depends on an intiative roll at the start of each turn. Brigades are grouped into divisions and divisions into corps, if you want to do really large battles.
The army lists for each side is based on a brigade but since the organisations of brigades changed for both sides during the course of the war , there are different brigade structures for; early, middle and late war periods.
Weapon ranges have been increased, especially for rifled cannon and fire fights are now the main way of deciding combats. Fire rates are increased for breech loaders and doubled for magazine loaders. Sharpshooters with long range breech loading rifles have been added. Along with the ability to disable commanders by shooting them.
Infantry units move faster and can now detach part of their units to act as skirmishers to protect them from rifle fire. Cavalry can fight either mounted or on foot but they can only fire when dimounted, usually using breech loading carbines.
With a points system for club games and a definition of unit types to convert historical orders of battle, into wargames.
Available as a downloadable pdf from Wargames Vault at £8.00 a copy.
The Best Allies Yahoo group is here.

Animal portraits in pastel

 

 

I came across this artist the other day. He does an excellent job capturing the  likeness of animals in pastel.

Check him out at Animal Pastel.

OK so Veni Vidi Vici goes WW2

Learning from my experience of writing the Die is Cast the next rules project is WW2. Currently under the working title of WW2 RD.

Again fairly scale independent its 1 figure equals one man/tank. Learning from TDIC its going to be slightly larger in size 7x10 inches which means that the font size can go up to 10 for easier reading.

Its IGo UGo but instead of that applying to the whole army, its a unit at a time. So players select a unit, perform all their actions with that unit and then the enemy get to do theirs.

Back in 2003 I set up a Yahoo group for this project and that where I will be loading the playtest rules and army lists. Its call the WW2RD group.

New range of 10mm Imperial Romans – Van Dyck

I have just been sent a couple of photos of a new range of Imperial Roman figures using my 10mm Roman designs


I love the figures and you can see more of them at the chaps test website. I am afraid they are not available to buy yet but I hope to get my hands on some sample figures.

Two new pictures showing the unpainted (inked) Roman legionaries

Magnetic basing for wargamers

This page explains the how and why of magnetic basing for wargamers. The idea is to use magnets to aid the use of figures on the table, transport them to the games and store them safely and efficiently.

Using magnetically-based figures allows you to field large units on the tabletop as one item. Figures can be easily mounted on magnetic movement trays to create a single unit. This removes the time spent moving figures one-by-one across the table. Individual miniatures can also be easily removed during gameplay. Even if the trays are knocked or tipped, you have a good chance of your figures staying attached and undamaged.

How to base figures with magnets
The easiest way is to stick the figures onto magnetic bases to start with but assuming that you are starting from scratch, you can buy self adhesive magnetic sheet (available from Magnetic Displays in the UK) which sticks directly to the bottom of your old bases. The sheet is not very thick, about 2mm and in many ways improves the appearance of the base (if you are in the habit of looking at the bottom of your bases). See picture on the right I prefer to buy complete sheets of magnetic material, cut into strips of the right width (to fit the base), attach, trim and you are then ready to paint your base as normal. For some reason the adhesive on the 'page' type magnetic sheets, is better than that sold in roll form. So although it might seem faster to buy rolls, than cut to size, it is actually better to take more time and get a better result, with a sheet type magnet.
If you are starting from scratch, there are plenty of different sizes and shapes of magnetic bases available. Veni Vidi Vici can provide magnetic bases in all of the common sizes. Square, rectangular, round and hexagonal bases are available in a variety of sizes. These are available from our webshop.
Transporting your Miniature Collection
There are 3 main methods of storing figures. The first is the 'Shoebox' method. Figures are piled on top of each other in a box. Ths is very cheap, but usually results in a lot of damage to your figures. Secondly, there is the ' toolbox' method. Your figures will be well protected and easy to transport, but toolboxes tend to be made of solid metal, so they are very heavy. Most toolboxes are very big too - are you really going to use all that space? Foam-padded boxes are a serious method of storing figures. Your collection will be well protected and easy to transport, but it will be time-consuming to get your miniatures in and out of the box, and to sort them before a game. Over long periods of time, constant rubbing can also damage the padding, making it less effective. We use box files, as they provide a good all-round solution. We take sheets of steel paper (available from Magnetic Displays in the UK) and attach them to the inside of a box file. Magnetically based miniatures can just be stood inside and left until your next game. The boxes stand the usual amount of normal moving around and car journeys, with the figures staying in place. These box files are inexpensive to buy, easy to adapt, and stack easily. Just lift off the shelf, take to the game and return. As a further bonus, organasing your figures becomes much easier and quicker. All-in-all, this is the probably the best way to house and transport your miniature collection.

Storing your Miniature Collection
If you are an avid gamer, then you may need some heavy duty storage. At Veni Vidi Vici, we attach sticky labels to our boxfiles to identify the different armies. These can then be stacked in a storage cabinet (see picture right!), This way, the miniatures are organised and ready for easy access.. As usual, if you have any queries whatsoever, then please get in contact us by email. We'll be glad to help.

 

Transfers are not just for toy soldiers

A customer bought some transfers off me to decorate some arrows they were making. They are made by a member of the Craft Guild of Traditional Bowyers and Fletchers. Its a great job as you can see here

the designs themselves come from the 10mm sheet 10M5. The customer who gets these arrows is going to have something very special.

Play testing the new Die is Cast rules

The background to this is that I have been working on an updated version of my Die Is Cast rules, which have been more or less a hobby project for me since they were first published back in 1992. You may never have heard of them but in those 20 years thousands of copies have been sold and more downloaded as pdfs. But the time has come to make them into a commercial set with points based army lists and different gaming mechanisms.

The major change is the combat system, originally the rules used combat factors that you referred to a chart to work out the number of casualties. Now it is dice rolls, D12's to be precise which give you twice as many possibilities than a D6. So with one die roll, you work out if an enemy figure has been killed. There is still a chart, with modifiers that tells you what you need to roll (roll that number or less to kill) but the numbers are few and simple. You could even remember them (not me, I have a very poor memory). Everything is taken into account, the weapon being used and the type of target.

Simple army lists are also in production and this game was a full dress rehearsal with equally pointed armies.
So 1000 point game fought between Later Macedonians and Republican Romans. Every army gets a standard 2/2 general for free. The numbers refer to the generals command/combat abilities, each of which can range between 1 to 4. 2/2 is a middle of the road commander.

We used 15mm figures simply because they are easier to from car to gaming area. In this case we played at Portcullis in Bolton.
An important part of these rules is that moves are simultaneous. Both players move, shoot and fight at the same time.

The Macedonian army was
6 Agema cavalry (guard heavies with lances) 90 points
2x 6 Greek heavy cavalry (javelins, sword) 116 points
2x 6 Greek light cavalry (javelins, sidearms) 98 points
3x 16 Macedonian veteran pikes (pike, medium armour, shield) 270 points
2x 12 peltasts (long spear, javelins, shield) 140 points
2x 12 Galatian fanatics (javelins, sword, shield, fanatics) 170 points
2x 12 mixed skirmishers (half with bow, half with javelin, shield) 92 points
Total 976 points

Roman army
6 Roman heavy cavalry (heavy, javelin, sword, shield) 76 points
6 Italian heavy cavalry upgraded to veterans (heavy, javelin, sword, shield) 76 points
3x 6 Numidian cavalry (javelins, sidearms, shield, elite shots) 183 points
3x 6 velites (LI, javelins, sidearm, shield) 102 points
6x 12 Hastati/Princepes heavy infantry (pila, sword, shield) 504 points
6 Cretan archers (bow, sidearm, shield, elite shots) 40 points
Total 951 points

All pictures can be clicked on for a larger image. Photographs were taken with a Nikon Ixus 100, which I find great for wargames shots, very tolerant of poor lighting.

The Macedonian army deployed, see light cavalry on the left, pikes and heavy cavalry in the centre and light troops on the right.


The Roman left, Numidians in front, screening the two units of heavy cavalry in March column - that was the only way I could represent it by facing the cavalry to the side


Roman center, two lines of legionaries with velites in front


And the Roman right. Numidian cavalry and Cretan archers


Numidians advance on Roman left


Galatians and Macedonian lights advance on Roman right


An overall view


OK some examples of shooting. For all combat you roll a D12 for each pair of figures shooting/fighting. You need to roll equal or under the number needed to score a hit. In this case 6 Cretan archers fire at long range against advancing Galatians and need 3's to hit. The 3 dice show you what was rolled (10, 8, 5) no hits.


In the centre both sides are advancing behind light troops - there is going to be some shooting here but more on that later.


Macedonian archers (in the rear rank) try a shot against the Numidian cavalry. Their chances are poor and they need 1's to hit and get one.


Cretans against the advancing Galatians, remember need 3's to hit. Get a 2 and a 3 for two hits.


(back to events in the centre) Velites need 2's to hit the light cavalry. Nothing.


The cavalry need 3's to hit, get lucky and hit twice. The velites tested their morale and promptly fled.


The remaining velite unit only has 2 figures in range and with a 12 misses completely.


Here the Numidian cavalry in the centre (circled red) charged the Macedonian cavalry (circled blue) who failed their morale test and fled. Very close to some other Roman Numidian cavalry (red line) who will be shooting at them later in the turn.


The Galatians are getting closer to the Cretans with 2 of the Cretans firing at medium range, they now need 5's to hit but the base at long range still needs a 3. They get 2 hits and the Galatians have taken (including from previous turns) a total of four hits. Because the figures are on multiple figure bases, they were based for DBM, we use dice to mark the hits. The Macedonian player will now take a base of 3 figures off and leave a white die with a one to show the extra hit remaining.


The Numidians fire at the fleeing Greek light cavalry, needing 5's with two bases at short range and 7's with the base that is at long range. All three hit and hopefully that makes it harder for the Greeks to rally.


A bit more shooting from the Greek archers in the rear rank. Still need 1's to hit but they get two hits and the Numidians fail their morale and flee. Now to explain morale for light troops, it is fast and brutal. Throw 1 D6 for every 6 figures that your unit started with, you must roll under the numbers of figures left in the unit to be OK, otherwise you flee. So the Numidians roll 6 (white die) and with only 4 figures left, they break. There are a few modifiers to change the die roll but nothing to help the Numidians here, so they are gone.


Now the Macedonians charge with their guard cavalry in the centre (circled blue) and with the Galatians on the Roman right (blue line). However the guard cavalry had already taken 2 hits from earlier shooting and was so down to 4 figures and is just about to be hit by shooting from the Numidians and the velites as the charge in.


The guard cavalry take 3 more hits from shooting and must take a morale test. Now we allow regular units to throw 4 D6 for a morale test and choose 1 die to discard (normal units use 3 dice for their morale tests which are more complex than those for light troops). Well the Macedonians rolled 3 1's and a 2. So even with the best will in the world that was a bad die roll and the choice did not help much. And with 80% losses the Macedonian cavalry broke and fled.


On the Roman left, Roman cavalry trade javelins with the Greek peltasts. The Romans cause 2 casulaties, whilst the peltasts needing 4's with the front rank firing (white dice) and 3's with the rear rank (red dice) get 5 hits and inflict 80% losses on the Roman cavalry in round of shooting. Roman cavalry break and run.


Now on to our first melee (the Macedonian guard cavalry did not fight, they were broken by shooting before fighting). The Roman legionaries throw their pila before fighting the combat, this is still counted as part of the melee. They need 6's to hit with the front rank (red dice) and 5's with the rear rank (blue and purple dice). They roll 6 hits and then fight with their swords.


With swords, both sides inflict 2 wounds apiece. But the pila hits also count toward combat and  that makes it 4 to 1 in the Romans favour. With half of the unit gone and massively beaten in melee, even the Galatians broke.


The Roman legionaries took a morale test, to try not to pursue the fleeing Galatians (6, 2x5, 4) but even dropping the 6, the temptation was too much and they chased after the Galatians.


After the pursuit move


On the Roman left the Italian cavalry charged the peltasts, with the Numidians joining in on the flank. They won the combat and broke through the peltasts wiping them out. This was obviously wrong and will result in a change to the rules. If you have cavalry capable of breaking through infantry from multiple directions, in future players will only be allowed the choice of one lot of cavalry.


Numidian cavalry hit the flank of the pike block (next to the peltasts), beat them and broke through them, forcing the surviving pikes to retreat. Now the Macedonian right was a great big hole.


And another over-view of the battle.


If you have any questions, please ask.

What's next? Well one more game, once we are happy that the game can be played with no more rule changes then it will go out to a blind-test group who have never seen the rules before. Comments from them can be used to make the game suitable for people to buy it off the shelf.

And whilst other people are testing the rules - instead of me - I will be writing up army lists which will be up on the internet for free download. There will also be historical scenarios for those who would like to play games based on actual historical battles (which was the intention of the rules when I first wrote them).

Zvezda 15mm WW2 tanks

Just to add, I am really starting to get into the Zvezda range. They truly are snap together models. The first ones I bought were quite hard to put together but I have just been building the KV1 and T34 models. The T34 is 5 bits, the KV1 has 6! Clip out from sprue and fitting together is a breeze. I am using glue, just in case but I am a very much a fan.

Warhammer Ancient Battles WAB new army list book

Warhammer Historical have just released a new version of Armies of Antiquity army list book.

Covering 100 armies from the early classical period to the late medieval. A list of which armies are available is included here.
These lists use a new consistent points system so in the tradition of WAB you can use all these lists freely against one-another but not against any of the existing supplements. Apparently an army of 2800 points in the new points system is equivalent to 2000 points in the old points system. They are ‘bare bones’ lists, so no historical background or pictures of nicely painted wargames figures. This book is for gamers only. In many cases the army lists have been simplified, so to illustrate this lets compare Early Imperial legionaries from both the rule book list and the list in armies of antiquity.
In the most basic way a veteran legionary now costs 24 points compared to the old 20 points in the rulebook. But also gone are the options for heavy armour and javelins. The javelin option is now available in other list, the Middle Imperial Roman where legionaries are generally of less quality and lighter equipment than in the Early list.
Many of the old special to army special rules have gone (no flaming rollers for a Spartacus army for example) and the Samurai list has been toned down from the old ‘Samurai are supermen’ list. All of the army special rules come either from the rule book or this book, so you don’t need to own a copy of your opponents army list book to understand what rules they are using. I like it, IMHO it has moved away from the extremes of army special rules to more of a middle ground and follows the lead started in WAB2, less of characters dominating the game to a good solid ancient wargame with some special rules to give armies unique character.
One of my favourite lists is the Galatians, where all the warriors can be Frenzied making them; lethal in combat, very difficult to control and immune to Panic tests. This is going to make them a very unusual army to use.
A quick read through has found a couple of typos, for example the crew of Late Roman artillery are listed as 5 points each, where in the notes alongside they are listed as 10 points. But that is simple, the cost for extra artillery crew is standard at 10 points, so just ignore the 5 points cost. It will be errataed in due course. Also WHH may also publish some army lists which did not make into this book on their web site in pdf format.
The book also includes some new rules but not many. One of the things I really don’t like is that the additon of characters to model (chariot or elephant for example) gives it a model + character abilities. So an Egyptian chariot with character mounted now will shoot 4 times instead of the standard 2. It seems to go against the general toning down of characters in WAB but hey thems the rules (unless you make a house rule about it of course).

Redesign of 25mm Spartan and mixed hoplite designs transfer sheets.

Whilst trying out some of the 25mm Greek shield patterns on the new Wargames Factory plastic hoplites, I noticed that the edges of the transfers were creasing. That was because the carrier film (varnish) could not fit the slightly domed curve of the shields. Now the transfers for the Spartan V (GG5) and mixed hoplite designs (GG8) have been redesigned to only have the
minimum amount of varnish needed. As I hope you can see from the attached picture the transfers fit the shields much better (on the right) and will improve application on all Greek shields, from whatever manufacturer.

You can clearly see the wrinkles on the old designs (left of picture) but there are none on the new version of the designs.

New Wargames Factory Greek hoplites

I have just received the new plastic Wargames Factory hoplites and taken some scans of the sprues.
First of all the heads, there are 3 different types on a sprue and there were 10 sprues in the box.

Bodies, one of the bodies has the bronze muscled corselet 12 in the box and another 18 in the linen linothorax armour. All have greaves, so these are for the heavy armoured hoplite figures.

Arms, 5 sets of these and 7 pairs of arms per sprue, so enough for 35 figures.

Weapons, 10 sprues of spears and swords. The sword (kopis) is supplied drawn, for gluing into the hand and sheathed to be mounted on the body. My preference is for the hoplite to be armed with a spear and for the sword to be sheathed. Fantastic looking spears.

Shields, 10 sprues of 3, just enough for the 30 figures in a box. The shield is a total of 16mm in diameter, with the central area very slightly curved (easy to stick transfers to) and 13mm in diameter.

Included with the figures is a new item for WF, plastic bases. 30 of the 20x20mm bases are included in the box.

OK so now the next task is to build some of the figures.