Lion Rampant… Flutter, Flutter, Flutter…

Greetings…

When my friend Matt came into work and told me about the lovely new Victrix Islamic Cavalry he had just bought…

I did not… Immediately go on to their website… 

Nope I definitely did not go here…

https://www.victrixlimited.com/

Nor did I dig out a couple of books that I thought Matt (And maybe me) might find interesting…

Nope…. Not me

Judeo -Turkish Steppe Nomads versus Kievan - Rus Warriors… 

Nope… Not me…

No I didn’t make a list…

Not even a little one…

No I did not pick up a few miniatures from North Star Military Figures…

https://www.northstarfigures.com/

Nope… 

I got Matt to do it for me… Well he was going over anyway…

When I said a ‘few’…

Nope… Not a few… Oops!

Sigh!… Or maybe… Hurrah! 🤣.

These are very busy / packed frames…

Well laid out with loads of options…

And a reasonably clear numbered instruction sheet…

As a rule I don’t enjoy building plastic kits/figures but I have decided to ‘ have a go ‘ and put together a collection using only the plastic box/bag sets.

Let’s see if I can get over this block/ phobia…

Nope!…I didn’t go home and start sticking some together immediately…

Nope!…

Nope!…

Of course I did…🤣.

I think the best way to describe the assembly process might be ‘Pose variations’ as opposed to ‘Multiple choice anything goes’

They have positive fittings where possible and were very easy to put together…

I really don’t know when I will get around to painting them… I’m still shifting stuff around the house and filling the cellar with my embarrassment of toys and stuff..

I was thinking about what I would like when I eventually get around to adding an extension to the back of my property…

And with the current popularity of the the film The Brutalist and a renewed interest in the work of Erno Goldfinger…

How about…

I can’t see any of the neighbours having a problem 🙀

I’m feeling better and Spring is on its way… 

Here’s to getting some painting done…

All the best.  Aly

From My Side of the Table… Lion Rampant… Christmas Cappers.

Greetings…

The other Friday we got together for a Christmas Wars of the Roses treasurer hunt…

The table was beautifully set up by Matt… looking suitably seasonal….

Although Adam and Matthew couldn’t make it we decided to include them as two drunken Revellers/Deserters…

The scenario was very simple… like most of ours… made up on the spot…

The object of the game was to collect up a much Xmas loot as possible and then present it to Santas glamorous helper at the church…

Points were given for loot gathered and enemies destroyed…

The drunks and the Maid acted as mobile loot…Moving randomly across the table.

The Drunks…

Santas glamorous helper…

The Maid and the Drunks….

A view of the table… 

You can see the cunningly hidden counters…

My brave warriors make their way on to the Field of Mars…

Hastings (Steven) makes his presence known…

My brave men start to spread out and look for Xmas treats….

Boucherie ( Israel) makes his play at the church…

I rush forward and persuade the Maid to join our party and snatch up a number of Xmas treats… A Goose and a Tree… I think 🤔.

The Drunks… Let’s be honest… They haven’t gone far… So much for their plan to to leave the country and party like its 1499….

An overview of the table… Enemies are massing around me as I try to snatch up as much treasure as I can.

I think this is probably my high watermark…

Then the dice gods removed their favour… And laughed in my face. 😱

I deftly place myself in a perfect position… For everyone…and their Aunties…to shoot at me… 

Sigh!

I am forced back… And lose control of the Maid…And her treasure…

Matt (Tudor) goes for broke and mobs the church…

“ With me lads… And you drunks… Get in the steeple… It’s party time”

The Maid decides to rejoin me… And I decide to try collect everyone around the House/Hovel and try and hold on to my goodies.

In the background Israel (Boucherie) makes a play towards Matt (Tudor) and the church…

Once more I seem to have presented a perfect target for my enemies…

Ouch!…

The Drunks make a break/stagger for pastures new…

But somehow end up back inside the church…

While Israel (Boucherie) and Matt (Tudor) continue their fight…

As I consolidate my position… Israel (Boucherie) rushes forward and challenges me to a duel…

“ Come on if you think you are hard enough De La Pole”

It turns out I was…

A fleeting moment of glory for me… Hurrah!

The party kicks off in the Steeple….

I look glorious and prepare to take on the world…

Unfortunately the world is armed with crossbows….

Not a single man left alive… Sigh!

The Maid wanders off to join the party…

Steven ( Hastings) sweeps up all of my fallen/lost treasures…

Party time for Matt (Tudor).

A splendid game indeed…

Matt won the moral/party high ground but Steven definitely won on points…

He got most of them for killing my men and collecting up my treasures…

I forgot to take a picture of what the treasures were … but there was A Tree, A Goose, Presents, Plum Duff, Beer, Wine…And much more. (Yes… The memory of a gold fish). We also included some blanks… I think Israel got these…

I think the next game will be my Xmas game with Mharaid 

Hopefully I will get some painting done over the holidays… 

I have been quite unproductive of late…

I am still not fully over the office Lurgy and the current weather we are having is exasperating my Sarcoidosis and causing my joints to ache ( Possible Fibromyalgia I am told)

Age… A laugh a minute 🤣🤣🤣

All the best.   Aly

Lion Rampant… Medieval Muggers.

Greetings…

Here is another addition to my Wars of the Roses collection…

Dastardly Medieval Muggers…

These are more lovely figures from Athena Miniatures…

https://www.athenaminiatures.co.uk/product/vignet7e-12-give-us-your-purse

I am not entirely sure how they will fit into our games… But they were a lot of fun to paint.

I have painted them as Boucherie (Israel) and Tudor (Matt) mugging Hastings (Hastings)…

Why?… You may ask…

Well it’s a dirty job… And someone has/had to do it… 🤣

The Blue bits are… Citadel… Kantor Blue.

The Yellow Bits are… AK Interactive… AKA 11118 Ochre.

The Hose are… Foundry… Drab 12B.

The Red bits are… Citadel… Mephiston Red.

The Belts are… Citadel… Skrag Brown.

The Green bits are… Vallejo… 70.967 Olive Green.

The White bits are… Citadel… Pallid Wych Flesh.

Everything was given a wash of Aly’s Brown Liquid and then re-highlighted with the original colours.

The paints are Wargames Foundry, AK Interactive, Vallejo and Citadel

https://www.wargamesfoundry.com/collections/paint

https://www.games-workshop.com/en-GB/Painting-Modelling

https://ak-interactive.com/product-category/paints/paints-acrylics/3rd-acrylics/

https://acrylicosvallejo.com/en/

The base is as always…

https://warbases.co.uk/

Things have been a bit slow on the painting front at the moment… I am moving stuff ( slowly) down into my cellar work/hobby room… This will take quite a bit of time…I have an embarrassment of unpainted lead to move 😱

And I am also suffering from a not very entertaining eye condition… Which is taking its time to go away…

Sigh!…

It is actually starting to improve…

I’m just an impatient old sod…

Sigh!…

🤣🤣🤣

All the best.  Aly

Lion Rampant… Drink Lots… Drunk Lots.

Greetings….

Here is another character/ vignette base for our ongoing Lion Rampant Wars of the Roses games…

Drink Lots (Somerset) and his cousin Drunk Lots (De La Pole)…

They have found themselves on opposing sides in this “Cousin’s War” but will always go “ party mode “ when they find themselves within drinking range…

The Dark Blue bits are… Citadel… Kantor Blue.

The Lighter Blue bits are… Citadel… Teclis Blue.

The Yellow Bits are… AK Interactive… AKA 11118 Ochre.

The Hose are… Foundry… Drab 12B.

The Red bits are… Citadel… Mephiston Red.

The Belts are… Citadel… Skrag Brown.

Everything was given a wash of Aly’s Brown Liquid and then re-highlighted with the original colours.

These were really fun to paint… And I am sure we will find a use for them

The figures are from…

https://www.athenaminiatures.co.uk/product/22-vignette-8-drunk-soldiers

The paints are Wargames Foundry, AK Interactive and Citadel

https://www.wargamesfoundry.com/collections/paint

https://www.games-workshop.com/en-GB/Painting-Modelling

https://ak-interactive.com/product-category/paints/paints-acrylics/3rd-acrylics/

The base is as always…

https://warbases.co.uk/

All the best.  Aly

From My Side of the Table… Another Game of Lion Rampant.

Greetings…

The other week Matt, Israel, Alessandro and myself got together for another game of Lion Rampant using our Wars of the Roses toys…

In true period style we swapped sides around…

Alessandro (Somerset) and myself (De La Pole) v’s Matt (Tudor) and Israel (Bouchier)

The scenario was very like a treasure hunt/rescue… Three travellers were wandering the table all with useful information in their possession… whoever “rescued “ the most was the winning side.

Two of our Wanderers… There is also a Merchant/Trader but he had already scuttled off…

The Wanderers moved randomly… When a unit made contact with them they could run away, come with them, come with them but slow you down or cause them to change sides…

We kept things as simple as possible 😁

Our brave boys prepare for battle and a bit of  “rescuing “…

That’s the Trader keenly headed towards us…

Gratuitous images of my brave fellows… Well it is called From “My” Side of the Table 😁.

Okay…. Here are the villains…

There is not a lot of moving going on here… The Gods of Dice did not favour Israel and Matt on this adventure…

Israel builds a wall of green dice in an attempt to keep me away… The Wanderers decide to move away from us… Except for Brother Drinkwell who falls over the hedge…

Israel and Matt… Still not moving much…

Brother Drinkwell knows which side has the best wine cellars and joins us with gusto…

The Trader ponders his next move…The Young Lady has headed off  in the direction of the Tudors (Matt).

Off camera there has been a lot of action…With Israel coming of worst and losing a lot of men…

In desperation he challenged me to a duel…

It’s a resounding draw 🤣

Unfortunately I actually met my demise shortly after this … my men carried on and sought revenge (Or more likely just didn’t care 🙄)

Israel also met his end… The good old arrow in the eye routine… A classic 🤣.

We have the Trader now… Hurrah!

Alessandro’s men get stuck into Matt’s archers while rather surprisingly the Young Lady persuades her Tudor “Rescuers” to change sides… Oh how we laughed 🤣🤣🤣.

The Trader and Brother Drinkwell head safely towards our end of the table…

The last picture… And nearly the last man… 

But not for us😁…

This was a hoot of a game… Especially considering that the scenario was knocked together in the few minutes before we started…

My dice throwing was unnaturally good… Matt wanted to know what I had done with the real Aly 🤣😈.

We were having such a good time that no one took any pictures of the out and out massacre that Isreal had to endure… He didn’t seem that enthusiastic about taking any himself for some reason.

I  would like to do something like this again but with a bit more planning… Possibly more like a treasure hunt game involving wandering characters and loot…

All the best.  Aly