(Well... that was when I was starting to write this early this morning, before taking the pictures... since then I have put some paint on a pair of Ogryn I'm working on for Blackstone Fortress Retinue Characters - so... maybe not fully, completely distracted from 40K)
I'm not entirely sure when or how this started, but in the last week I got looking at fantasy - and Mythological - armies that were either based for Hordes of the Things or earmarked to be Hordes of the Things armies if/when they ever got painted, and decided to start reorganizing and rebasing them (actually using the washer bases that I took so many 40K/Necromunda minis off of in that Great ReBasing Project).
Initially I was thinking about Dragon Rampant as I started the Reorg but, as they are singley based now, they could easily be used in role-playing games or Song of Blades and Heroes, or, in the case of these mythological beasties, I could actually try out Of Gods and Mortals - which was actually the first game I owned using the Song of Blades and Heroes engine, which I fell in love with, instantly, but NEVER ACTUALLY PLAYED!?
While I may try out Of Gods and Mortals - just to try it out - but I wasn't really giving it MUCH consideration as I don't think it would be something I'd play too much as it seems rather limited in scope. I might use the stats for games of Song of Blades and Heroes or modify it in some way to represent the battles of Greek heroes of myth and legend - but where GODS don't always have to be present and taking an active roll in the battle!!
Centaurs
First up we have some Centaurs - starting with these because they are a complete force - nothing really to finish up or add to them. Originally they were a complete force for Hordes of the Things (You can see them here: Centaurs!).
The Whole Force
For Dragon Rampant this works out to:
Centaur Shamaness - Elite Rider - Single Model Unit (1), Level-Headed, Missiles, Fearful @8 Points
2x Centaur Warriors - Heavy Riders (6) @ 4 Points each (8 Points)
2x Centaur Hunters (Archers?) - Light Riders (6) @ 4 Points each (8 Points)
=24 Points
Alternate leader: Centaur Lieutenant-General - Elite Rider - Single Model Unit (1) @6 Points
The Centaur Shamaness. I'm calling her an Elite Rider Single Model Unit - which makes her a super bad ass... as should she be! I've also added in Level-Headed (negates the Wild Charge that Elite Riders normally get) and Missiles (to represent throwing around some ranged magicks), but then also Fearful - just to make her a touch more brittle and - not to represent cowardice or anything... more like... a sense of self-preservation. Discretion is the better part of valour and all that...
The Centaur Lieutenant-General - the only reason this guy ended up being General is because he was already on a bigger base. He's really only a war leader when the Shamaness is busy... or... whatever... He was on said bigger base because I had extras of this miniature and sometimes I made "Army Markers" for my Hordes of the Things and DBA armies - the idea was they would mark the location of the army on a map should I ever use them in a campaign (if you look back and find some old DBA campaign posts, you'll see what I mean...)
I would call him an Elite Rider - just to make his something a bit more menacing... but that's only 6 points...
Centaur Warriors - Heavy Riders - 4 Points
More centaur Warriors
Centaur Hunters? Archers? I kind of like the name "hunters" better than "archers"...? - Light Riders - 4 points
More Centaur Hunters - Light Riders - 4 points
In the original Hordes of the Things army I had two elements of allied Satyrs - which may also turn up as allies in games of Dragon Rampant or Of Gods and Mortals... but I haven't rebased them and they are just allies - not internal to the army or tribal system that I imagine these live under...
I have a large Pan model that could be used as a God in Of Gods and Mortals, and I imagine these could be part of his army - along with the Satyrs...
Amazons
A large part of the Amazon army isn't actually painted yet. many were on temporary wood bases to eventually
Amazon Queen - Elite Rider - Single Model Unit (Chariot) @ 5 points
2x Amazon Cavalry - Light Riders (6) @ 4 points each
Amazons Heroines - Elite Foot (6) @ 6 points
3x Amazons Hoplites - Heavy Foot (12) @ 4 points each
Amazon Auxilia - Light Foot (12) @ 3 points
Amazon Archers - Light Missile (12) @ 4 points
Amazons Psiloi - Scouts (6) @ 2 points
So... LOTS of options... y'know when (if?) I ever get them all painted.
what I've got so far:
Amazon Auxilia - Light Foot (12) @ 3 points
Well, part of the unit... I still need to find a few more... most of them are from Wargames Foundry - but the Amazons don't seem to be listed on either the Foundry or Warmonger's websites anymore....? So I may have to find some alternatives.
Amazon Archers - Light Missiles @ 4 points
Amazon Psiloi - Scouts - 2 points
Hoplites - heavy Foot - @4points
I have 36 of these (33 still to paint!) which will make three units of twelve.
The rest are in varying degrees of paintedness. Most are primed and based. Some are based but not primed because they need repair (fragile horse tails that fell off). The Queen and her chariot remain entirely unassembled...
As for which God these would be a retinue of in of... while I think Athena would be the obvious choice - Goddess of War (or Strategy?)... female warriors... - I think the Amazons were more closely related to Ares...?
Other Greek Myths, Legends, and Monsters
An assortment of other beasties that could be part of any army or force or be a nemesis for any of the above armies/forces.
Bronze Bull (Tauroi Khalkeoi) - Greater War Beast - Single Model Unit, Flame Attack @ 8 points
One of the fire-breathing, bronze bulls of King Aeetes of Kolkhis - crafted by Hephaistos himself! I guess I actually need a second one...
Cyclops - Bellicose Foot - Single Model Unit, Terrifically Shiny Armour (it's just what the rule is called that gives it +1 to it's armour to make it a bit tougher) @ 6 points
I have some more monsters I'll put into another post - perhaps with the Greek Gods and Jason and the Argonauts and some Spartans I have...?
I'm not sure where I'm going with this... I mean, I actually STARTED rebasing all the Amazons a few months back - around the time I was reorganizing the Legends of the Five Rings forces for Dragon Rampant (Lion Clan, Phoenix Clan, Crab Clan)... and, like those, I COULD just put these all back in their drawers and move on with all the 40K stuff I had planned... but at this exact moment, it's feeling like something else... like I want to delve into this a little deeper. While I was thinking about the possibilities for using them with Song of Blades and Heroes or Of Gods and Mortals, and using them to play out a series of scenarios to form a narrative campaign following the Argonauts or Herakles or Queen Hippolyta or some other random Greek Hero - that got me thinking about TALES of Blades and Heroes - the role-playing game based on Song of Blades and Heroes and the idea I'd had a while back about using that to run a Cthulhu Invictus campaign... but this time using Roll20 or some other online platform to play with friends in other cities... or friends in Saskatoon that I'm just not seeing these days because... you know... social distancing and such due to Covid-19 pandemic and whatnot...
Coming Soon to Tim's Miniature Wargaming Blog:
I have no idea... maybe more Greek Myth stuff... Maybe back to 40K and the Blackstone Fortress...
What would YOU like to see!?
How is everybody else doing?
I've never been into Greek mythology, but you have some nice painting and minis there. Good forces for rules like Dragon Rampant.
ReplyDeleteI've been working on prepping some minis from a couple of kickstarters (stuff I received last year or earlier).
Cheers!
DeleteThe Foundry Amazons are on the Casting Room Miniatures site which is where Foundry put all the newer sculptors work (not commissioned by Bryan Ansell).
ReplyDeleteAh, I knew I'd seen them SOMEWHERE! I forgot about Casting Room Miniatures! Thanks so much!
DeleteGreat looking Greek myths figures! I'm painting Highlanders/gallowglass, more Picts and Napoleonic French dragoons, I've got some primed late WW2 Germans and I need (?) to paint some more early Imperial Romans for a tournament that probably won't happen! Always enjoy whatever you paint.
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
the last day or two I've been finding it difficult to motivate myself to PAINT anything at all... rebasing required less concentration and focus - so something to work on when I can't really pain't. As long as it's something I really want to/was planning to rebase, and not just rebasing for something to do...
Delete(I DO want these on individual bases)
(Really!)
I like these. Very envious.
ReplyDeleteThank you! There are a few more in my Ancient and Mythical Greek Gallery (there is a link in the column on the left, or here:
Deletehttps://saskminigamer.blogspot.com/p/28mm-ancient-and-mythical-greek-gallery.html
I was thinking I'd post pics of Jason and the Argonauts... but they're all here:
https://saskminigamer.blogspot.com/2014/09/argonauts-and-colonel-lawrence.html
I may post pics of them again - with how I'd organize them for Dragon Rampant... if I stay focused on this long enough to do so!
The Osprey rule engine is pretty good. It usually gives a good game.
ReplyDeleteThe most common house rule that I have encountered is that failing an activation rule doesn't end your turn. You can check each unit for activation. Another house rule that I encountered and liked is that all movement activation rolls automatically pass. This works for time periods when units moved together in much larger formations. This was the rule we used at Trumpeter in March for a 2mm recreation of Edgehill (English Civil War)
Sometimes the morale rules get a bit wonky though with a unit with just a single figure remaining heroically fighting on. That may be an unintended consequence of the first house rule in that you would be less likely to try to activate that unit under normal rules because there's a higher chance of failing and thus ending your turn.
I'd be happy to try and play a virtual game, if you want to "host" it.
I don't mind the turn ending mechanic of failing at all - I find it fun dreaming up a narrative reason for why one unit surged ahead while the rest stood still and did nothing. It usually involves confusion, failing to understand an order or a signal or some such - sometimes an commander anxious for glory. Makes the game more dynamic and unpredictable - which, I feel, is a better way to simulate combat.
DeleteThere is a quote I love that is attributer to Phil Barker on the PIP system used for Command and Control in DBA:
"Clausewitz said that the simplest things in battle were incredibly difficult. If you view an army as a machine, the main task of a general is to keep it moving in the right direction and repair the bits that constantly fall off. Many wargamers think of a battle in terms of rectangles moving on a flat page. In reality, the page slopes or has holes in it and the rectangles are made of grains of sand stuck together with poor quality glue. The people most keen on using a PIP system in moderns were company-level officers, one of whom said that nothing else could cover the man who had not recharged his radio batteries, had dozed off, was in a radio dead zone, or was pretending to be in case you gave him an order he did not like."
Iv'e been thinking about how to do virtual miniature games lately... role-playing games we more or less have figured out - Finnegan's been running/playing in three different campaigns and been doing them all online for the last few week. I feel like I might need a different/better camera to to miniature games properly... and a way to set them up closer to our computer (a desktop - not a more portable laptop...). I will DEFINITELY keep you in mind if I get it figured out though! Thanks!