John Carter of Mars (Barsoom!)

 The weekend of May 13th, Starfest Con is returning to Denver after a two-year hiatus due to Covid. I'm planning on redoing the Battle of Naboo between the Gungan and the Droid Armies Friday afternoon. On Saturday, 5/14, I will be staging numerous engagements based on the John Carter stories. Finally, Sunday morning, I will put on a Epic-scaled Horus Heresy battle between the forces of the Blood Angels, Emperor's Children, Titans and Chaos demons. If you're in town, stop by and see what you can do!

For the Carter Games, the figures I have collected over the decades (literally starting back in the 80s!) include the earliest Heritage models (not so good); later versions from same (better); Kickstarter miniatures form Morphius from a few years back (excellent); and finally, some from Bronze Age just these last two weeks (also excellent). Here is a preview of those miniatures. I hope to download some After-Action photos following the Con.

Part I: Red Martians from Helium..

Ankh: Gods of Egypt

 Couple weeks ago, became intrigued by this board game with miniatures. having always been fascinated by Ancient Kemet, and with the miniatures looking so awesome, I decided to take the plunge and make the purchase. It has turned out to be what it I hoped for and more. At first I thought I'd just paint the figs, but then I tried out the game. Granted, its not made for solo play, but I wanted to see how the mechanics played out. It was a blast...

The Cole Box comes with the following miniatures, all molded in different colored plastic. (Coded to each of the five Gods, plus the Guardians [lesser known or powerful entities from Kemet/Egypt]) But it didn't take long for me to take a further plunge, and begin to paint each of the figures. And they are beautiful sculptures to say the least. While the Warriors that go with the Gods are for the most part average (although the Isis Warriors are very nice), the Gods and Guardians are excellent, and paint up extremely well. There are supplements for seven additional Gods,  numerous other Guardians, and even upgrade gaming tools. 

So to start the tour, we'll look at the figures that come with the Core Box, the God in the center, flanked by the Warriors...

Spanish Attack on Port Royal

 As one of the Spanish players involved in our Blood and Plunder Campaign still going strong nearly a year later, I've been able to change history and build up a fairly strong Fleet. Combining with the second Spanish player, we have two Galleons, two Merchant Frigates, four Brigs/Brigantines, and six Sloops. The following photos preview an upcoming game that will show the Spanish assaulting Port Royal in 1666. The game will consist of 1/700 and 1/600 scale models from Warlord Games Black Sails; Firelock Games Oak and Iron; and Leviathan Design. The 2D map is taken from a 17th century map, and Fort Charles I constructed out of balsa wood. We're going to use regular Blood and Plunder rules as this may be a one-up game at this scale and don't want to complicate matters by learning another set of rules. 

The amazingly narrow Port Royal peninsula with the Spanish on left (Sloops at top; Galleons/Frigates at center; Brigs lower left), and Buccaneer and Merchant ships on right. Harbor entrance is at top with Fort Charles at the peninsula's tip...

Focusing on the Galleons (l) and Frigates (r) approaching Ft Charles...

Down on the decks so to speak...

Fort Charles. Incredibly I located a source that showed me the exact guns, caliber and positions within the fort. Nine guns total at this early stage, two 12lb; four 9lb; and three 6lb...

While the rest of my Port Royal was simply drawn then painted, I just had to model the Fort in 3D. I didn't attempt to model the actual gun embrasures (afraid that the the balsa would simply begin to fall apart) but I like how the paint effects worked at this scale...

We'll see how the fight goes this coming Wednesday...

An Historical Notice

 Never would we have thought that a wargaming battle from our table recreating an event in the Russian Civil War in 1919, would reappear historically in our present day. Back in January,  we fought the Whites and Reds in the town of Kherson, located in southern Ukraine. Obviously, if you are keeping abreast of present events, Kherson finds itself again in the news. Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of the Ukraine as they fight for their freedom!

Slave Revolt: Rome in Saga

 Just a small collection retelling a fight between a roving band of slaves against a Roman Republican force trying to protect the citizens hold-up in the country villa.

Its nighttime as the slaves (at top) approach the villa. The Legionaires at stationed alongside the Villa...

a closeup of the Romans; Velites up front, Hastatus and Princips next, backed up by Triarii, flanked by the commanding Tribune...

Later in the fight, many slaves and Roman have been slain, (the black cutouts show where the fight was fiercest). The Slave commander and a few of his men threaten the Villa, while the Tribune moves up his Triarii (in white near Villa), Hastatus (left)and Velites. (to the Tribune's left)..

A second closeup with the Roman (l-r) Hastatus, Velites, and Tribune. The fight will come to an end, with the slaves setting fire to the Villa, but with only a handful of slaves surviving the fight...

May you always make your throws!

Attack on St. Eustatius, 1666

 It has been a while since we had a Blood & Plunder game, as most of our moves have been on the map. This game involved a group of Buccaneers from Tortuga moving against the Dutch colony of St. Eustatius (which had actually been occupied by English Buccaneers out of Port Royal. When the attackers demanded 1000 pieces/eight in lieu of an attack, Captain Morgan (Henry's uncle) answered back, that Governor Modyford of Jamaica, would hang them as pirates. As the defenders burned their Bark drawn up at the dock (knowing they couldn't defend it, The attackers then landed many of their men south of the fort. Unknown to the attackers, the defenders had moved three groups of Freebooters and one of Sea Dogs into the woods, to oppose the advance.

As the first group of Zeelieden made it onto the table, some Freebooters rose up and blasted a volley into the Dutch, dropping four!

Two more additional Zeelieden appeared, answered by two Freebooters, who inflicted more casualties. 

The attacking commander now realized he had recruited no muskets for his force. He would have to make it into melee...

More and more Dutch arrive, while two 9lbers from the Fort (top left) score tow more hits...

On the third turn, the Dutch finally make contact and inflict the first losses of the English, but the Freebooters are able to retire in order towards the fort...

The will of the Dutch commander is finally broken as additional cannon fire and musket fire rip into his men. But the final straw was the counterattack of English Sea Dogs, who wiped out one of the Zeelieden units. He decided to attempt to besiege the English instead of a direct assault...

Til under time, may you make your saving rolls!

Test of Honor:16th Century, Age of Sengoku

 The group has played several games based on the Test of Honor system. A possibility of a campaign has led me to restart painting my troops.

The following, from left to right includes the Clans of: Uesugi; Shimazu; Hojo; and Takeda. They show (from front to back for each) Samurai, Ashigaru Yari (spearmen), Yumi (bowmen), and Tempo (arquebus). These figures are from Footsore, Perry, and AW Miniatures.

A closeup of some Ashigaru, all from AW Miniatures...

Some Ashigaru holding Nodori 

The famous Daimyo Takeda Shingen, (Perry Miniatures)  the 'Tiger of Kai'...

The final photos (for now) are several very old samurai (from the 1980s), in fact so old I don't even remember their manufacturers. Fortunately the craftsmen making our miniatures today have come a long way!...

Four more Clans including (l-r): Chosokobe; Date; Mori; and Oda...