Last week began with an almost empty painting desk and lots of 20mm figures out on the gaming table. It wound down with lots of stuff piling up on the painting table but nothing much being finished and an almost empty gaming table. This week has seen the gaming table filled with 10mm figures a couple of times while plodding progress with painting and rebasing continues.
There are two main reasons for lack of progress with painting. First was the realisation that the programme to rebase all the ancient cavalry required a new set of sabots to put the bases on. For open order cavalry this is easy since the old sabots are 3cm too wide and can simply be trimmed down but for the close order cavalry the old ones are 10cm wide when 12cm is the new requirement. So, the main workbench has been given over to the production line for these. A few more cavalry have been debased but none have moved further along the rebasing process.
The second reason was that having begun the week with the decision to invest time in completing all of the Spanish style infantry for the 30 Years War project I changed direction mid week. This was in response to the hoplite battles fought last week. I had noticed that several bases were becoming warped and not holding on the sabots well, so decided to check through the whole lot to see which were still on the old cardboard or plastic bases that are susceptible to warping. This turned up some 30 bases that were already badly warped or showing signs of it, so they were lined up ready for the treatment. Then, I couldn't help noticing how badly some of the figures were painted. So, I ended that week with another repainting project on top of all the other things.
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| A crowded painting desk at the end of last week, 10 mm figures having got no further than an undercoat at the rear, a first batch of hoplites removed from their old bases and getting ready for repainting on the right foreground while some command figures have just been rebased on the left. |
Slow painting progress continued this week. The 10mm infantry have now had an under wash to highlight detail before colours start to go on. 60 or so hoplites have been taken off their old bases and have been sorted into categories with those needing most attention starting work first so that all should be ready for revarnishing and fresh metal work at the same time. Two Greek cavalry command bases are the only things completed.
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| At the end of another week, more hoplites in various states of repair added to the painting table, only 2 cavalry officer bases completed. |
At the top of this post, the picture shows the view from across the painting table to the gaming table, on which some terrain had been set out and a few bases of troops were being used as markers for planning a new scenario for battles in the Thirty Years War. The idea is to have a table with several roads coming in, converging on one of two settlements that are placed on the centre line a little way in from each short edge. There are low hills with some woodland on either side but between the two settlements is open plain. On this table Protestant and Catholic League armies of roughly equal strength will 'Blunder into Battle'. Each army will be divided into four main components, two infantry, two cavalry and three further elements - Advance Guard, Baggage Train and Rear Guard. Each of these elements will have two possible starting positions or entry points, determined at the time of a game by drawing cards.
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| Top down view of the table. Entry points are numbered from 1 to 8. The road across the centre looks as if it is towards one side but this not true. It is a consequence of photographic adjustment to make a picture taken at an angle seem as if taken from directly above. The table measures 8' by 5'. |
The Advance Guard of each army will be near the middle of the table, just about to enter either the town of Doranstedt or the village of Kuhfeld, giving the possibility that the game may start with these forces about to come to blows over one of these built up areas. Alternatively, each side is going to get uncontested occupation of one of the settlements. Whether any of your main forces will be marching to reinforce the Advance Guard, or heading off in a different direction, and whether your forces will be well distributed across your side of the table or mostly crowded together with a traffic jam along one road is down to the draw of the cards. The cards also decide where along your baseline your baggage is parked and where your Rear Guard will arrive (if it arrives).
The only choice players have about the initial dispositions is where they place their commander and subordinate generals. Each side has four generals, including the commander, so each component cannot have its own general. Furthermore, 1 general on each side is graded 0, so is of no help with action tests and movement under the Twilight of Divine Right rules we will use with the games. You have to judge where best to place your competent generals in order to help get your forces into whatever position you judge will best allow you to drive the enemy from the field or at least leave you in control of both settlements by the end of the day while also protecting your baggage train from enemy attention.
So far two tests of the scenario have been played. The next post will report on these, along with any more that happen before I find the time to sift through the photographs that have been taken and gather thoughts on how the scenario set up works and the various novel questions about the rules that the scenario has brought to light.
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