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Friday, 7 April 2023

Another return to Hyboria?

 


Having discovered yesterday that there is going to be a specific Hyborian variant of the Portable War Game (PW), to be published in the Second PW Compendium (Ed. Bob Cordery), I've pulled out the boxfile of 20mm figures labelled "Hyboria" that I was preparing in 2020 (see Here). Mark Cordone is the author, and I'm really looking forward to trying the game.

I had forgotten that along with painting the Army of Corinthia, I'd also got some way with my Army of Stygia (the country South of the River Styx, full of sinister Set Worshipers). A few pictures follow for anyone who is interested in this sort of thing. The figures are from various manufacturers, some plastic and some metal.


Army of Corinthia - this was in 2020. Another 3 units of foot have been added


Army of Stygia - auxiliaries made of tribesmen from client states to the South of Stygia (Kush, Punt, Darfar etc)


 Stygian Heavy Infantry - the backbone of the Army


A Stygian Necromancer and "friends" - Robert Howard's Conan stories included a bit of magic though they are more Swords than Sorcery.

Looks like I've got enough for a game!

21 comments:

  1. I was tempted too , and will root around the garage on account of this news . I guess l can come up with something. Now all l need is to find some background on the armies…
    Alan Tradgardland
    P.S your figures really look the part

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    1. Thanks Alan. Definitely have a root around in your garage; it's amazing what you find!

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    2. I’ve just bought a pdf of “ Royal Armies of the Hyperborean” off Drivethrurpg for five dollars. It is full of fascinating info and inspiration. I really need to go to the shed and find the Vendayan mammoths and take it from there…
      Alan Tradgardland

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    3. What a bargain! I remember it though never owned a copy.

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  2. Nice looking armies! I’m waiting for a few more articles to be submitted and then I will be able to publish the second Compendium. Hopefully it will be out by the end of the month.

    All the best,

    Bob

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    1. Thanks Bob. I'm looking forward to reading it.

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    2. Really looking forward to it too Bob!
      Alan Tradgardland

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  3. Projects of this type are a lot of fun - developing, assembling, organising, and letting loose in campaign and battle. All sorts of political manoeuvring, intrigue, strategy and tactics, shifting alliances ...

    ... well, to be honest it can all get out of hand. Much as I admire Tony Bath's original concept, and the entertaining accounts in his series of articles in Battle and Military Modelling magazines, I'll be keeping an eye out for your own Hyborian narratives!

    Cheers,
    Ion

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    1. Cheers Ion. Keeping it small and simple has been the lesson learned from Campaigns past!

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  4. Your armies look great, I'm looking forward to seeing them in action!

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    1. Thank you Mark. I'm not on FB but maybe Bob will post a few pictures from your Hyboria games in the future. I'd be very interested in seeing them.

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    2. It's been awhile since Bob has done an other peoples portable wargames post. A lot of interesting stuff has been posted on the Facebook page.

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    3. I'll be leaving a large hint on Bob's next post!

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  5. Good to see the Hyborean Age armies resurface…I suspect Corinthia may be repelling a Stygian invasion soon 🫣 !! Also, I second the recommendation from Alan Tradgardland….just got a copy too, and there are some great army lists in there. Loving the 20mm figures for this - some historical have a certain fantasy feel, and those Corinthians with their plumes do it for me. Lovely stuff 🙂👍🏼👍🏼

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    1. Cheers Martin. The Irregular Minis who play my Corinthians were a must buy as soon as I saw them!

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  6. Don’t forget that Garrison Miniatures had a Sword & Sorcery range which contained a sizeable number of Hyborian armies. Rather “old school” but that’s very much part of their charm.
    Cheers,
    Geoff

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    1. Thanks Geoff. The Garrison figures were great. Minifigs Sword & Sorcery range too of course http://www.miniatures-workshop.com/lostminiswiki/index.php?title=Sword_%26_Sorcery

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  7. Many years ago I started organizing my Peter Laing ancients based on the different countries of Hyboria based on the Tony Bath map. Hopefully between your project and the new Portable Wargame book will reinspire me.

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  8. I first encountered Hyboria in Don Featherstones book "wargames", sometime in the 1960s (iirc) and it's great to see it still in favour with gamers.
    I do likeyour 'old school" minis.

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  9. Cheers Joe. I had the same introduction to Hyboria as you! I then went on to read Howard's books about Conan.

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