Soz, I’m a bit of a one trick pony at the moment aren’t I?
I’ve finally completed what passes for 2 x 128pt HYW armies. I shall naturally continue to add to them over time, but for now I think they’re good enough for a quick Billhooks test game.
The English troops are the rearguard of a larger force currently retreating off board behind them. They are positioned across a gap between two thickly wooded areas through which any enemy intent on catching the baggage train will have to travel.
The English force consists of two wards. One under a mounted commander is composed of a company of archers and a company of “spears” (a catch all name for hand to hand combat weapons of mixed types in this period). The second ward is commanded by a dismounted leader and consists of two archer company’s and a dismounted men.at arms unit “en herce” as billhooks defines it. Both wards have deployed a limited frontage of stakes to protect themselves. If this all looks a bit “Azincourt” it’s because I want to test out the efficacy of the longbow under these rules.
The French who’ve been in a fairly languid “pursuit” anre also composed of two wards. The first ward includes three companies of knights (one of whom is actually English but donated to the French to give them a greater chance, numerically, against the archers) while the second includes companies of crossbowmen, spears and men at arms.
Our last bunch of family guests left behind a ruddy nasty bug (Covid?) that the wife and I are still struggling to recover from so despite setting this game up on the table it might be a couple of days before I get to play it. (Note to self - put all new rivals through a ruddy sheep dip). Still, lying in bed feeling sorry for myself will at least give me time to decide how the French should approach this I suppose.
In lieu of anything else of note, the Lanchester has progressed beyond being a bag of parts…
…and this old timey lorry arrived from Sarissa. Choo choos next possibly.
And finally… I’ve worked out how to add text to photos…
Toodleooh mes amis.
Really nice to see the HYW get to the table and agree get a game in early, which you can with Billhooks. The resin car looks great …. Was there a lot of tidying up to on that?
ReplyDeleteYeah, Guests with Covid - now you know why I don’t talk to anyone and have my comments turned off :-)
Hey Norm, it’s certainly a milestone when you reach the point of being able to play a game with the forces you’ve mustered. I’m deffo over the hump on this one now. The car needed a little cleaning up on the underside rear of the turret and the positioning of the front axle seemed a bit off too…but other than that it was as clean as a whistle. Need some decals for it from somewhere? Guests and Covid. We have a population density of 21 people per square Km here, where they come from it’s 4,420. Little wonder that folks arriving from the UK are often ill, and little wonder that after three years of virtual isolation that we pick these things up off them so damned quickly.
DeleteI was thinking it sounded like Agincourt or Crecy....will be interested to see if the rules replicate the mass slaughter of the nobility!
ReplyDeleteSorry to read you are under the weather, but your text bubbles put a smile on my face 😀
Hi Keith, I suspect it’ll be a blood bath. The rules themselves recommend an odds advantage to the French on every encounter to sort of even things out a bit. Glad you liked the text bubbles, my sense of humour is a bit odd I’m afraid.
DeleteYour HYW armies are looking very nice. The Never mind the Billhooks activation mechanism always seems very suited to the period.
ReplyDeleteThanks Peter, I’ve read through the rule book about 20 times and I like them, but getting the figures out on the table is always the true test I find.
DeleteGreat looking armies JBM. Hopefully the French work out how to win this time.
ReplyDeleteHope you get better soon. Lots of chocolate and internet purchases of toy soldiers is the recommended cure... so I have been told. 😁
Hello Ben, I think the only way the French can win an encounter like this is to not engage at all. Soaking up all those arrows with the bodies of peasants is such a wasteful exercise n’est ce pas? Gotta pay my Foncière tax this month so buying toys is off the menu for the moment - besides which I’ve been adopting that “cure” strategy for some months now, even when I’ve not been sick. lol.
DeleteLooking forward to seeing your game, the miniatures look great on the table, hopefully the plague will pass and you will be fighting fit again. The added captions certainly raised a smile on a cold, grey Sunday morning!
ReplyDeleteHey Donnie, feeling a bit crap today but I’m pleased you got a smile out of my stupide sense of humour.
DeleteFigures are looking good, JBM, but ahh, the memories of Saturday mornings getting the latest Commando comic..
ReplyDeleteCommando or Battle Picture Library comics were brilliant weren’t they. I only got my hands on them during the summer holidays - but I’d buy a bunch of them. The artwork was top notch and some of the story lines were also surprisingly good. You can get them in large anthology type reprints now I’ve discovered.
DeleteWell done on getting to the stage of having enough toys finished to have a sizeable battle mon brave.
ReplyDeleteLove the captions! Made I larf. Looking forward to the French crying “aieeee!” when stuck by an arrow.
Chris
Thanks Chris, I’m sure you know yourself there’s quite a feeling of achievement to be had in completing something that seemed so far away at the start. If I was compiling a list of battle comic lingo Aieee would definitely be in there, though from memory this was a Japanese cry of anguish?
DeleteVery nice soldiers - great to see these - hope you are both feeling better soon. Impressed by the armoured car. My uncle had an old Lanchester 10 when I was a nipper, and it must have had a very similar build style apart from the number of wheels and the absence of gun. All right, it was nothing like, except maybe the weight, and I bet you that armoured car had a Wilson pre-selector gearbox - Lanchesters were famous for them.
ReplyDeleteJust looked thé Lanchester 10 upon the interweb and it’s a spiffy little motor isn’t it. The 6x4 armoured car underwent a number of Frankenstein like modifications but was still essentially a car chassis, unlike the lorry structures used by the likes of Austin. No news on the Wilson pre selector gearbox I’m afraid, but the vehicle did seem to be quite well liked by its crews due to its reliability. On the health front were both now out of our respective iron lungs but still feeling ruddy frazzled - cheers for asking.
DeleteThat looks like it’s going to be an entertaining game….
ReplyDeleteI would personally go for traditional French tactics… CHAAAAAARGE 🙀
Love the armoured car… I think I have one in a box somewhere.
I like your idea of having a sheep dip bath…
At the front door or maybe the entrance to the village 😁
All the best. Aly
Hi Aly. With all that cavalry it’s probably their only option. Visitors - I think the sheep dip is reasonable under the circumstances - it’s either that or new arrivals get scrubbed down with bleach and wire wool. Only amongst wargamers would the admission “I have an armored car in a box somewhere” fail to raise an eyebrow.
DeleteExcellent work on your HYW troops and always good to get them to a stage for a game, so you can work out what might need to jump up the paintg queue. The Lanchester looks pretty cool and look forward to seeing it painted up. SWMBO works in school, so is always bringing back viruses from the snotty nosed kids, who always insist on close physical contact. Luckily she has just recovered before we head off for a mid-week break
ReplyDeleteHey Steve, schools and hospitals are definitely the places to go if you want to pick up something nasty. Your missus is braver than me that’s for certain. I ordered some spiffy new BUF decals for the Lanchester, so I’m looking forward to moving that part of the project on when then arrive. Enjoy your break!
Deleteyes, it can be a good mood / ego boost when you amass enough troops for a table game and makes sticking with the project seem all the more worthwhile. Sticking to one project over the long haul shows a commitment that all the ladies want. 😁😆
ReplyDelete