Another OHW posting

 OHW Scenario 2 has been posted over at my Battling through OHW blog. It features another pitched battle in Hyboria.

A One Hour Wargame Scenario

 Scenario 1 from Neil Thomas's One Hour Wargames was fought this morning - the report can be found here. Having played through them all in order once I'm thinking of doing it all again (possibly, though on a very casual basis, not committing myself to anything!)

Update to the last Hyboria Post

 As a little update to my last post regarding Campaigns in Hyboria (or similar), below are some images of my recent tinkerings with siege rules. As a starting point I've used Dominion of the Spear (DotS) but will adapt the conclusions for the Portable War Game. My interest in sieges is due to working on an "Ancients" Campaign setting (ImagiNations) which is home to fortified cities - while sides will be encouraged (by the risk of plague, famine etc) not to hide behind fortifications, the need may arise for some simple rules to game attacks on a city or fort.

Siege Engines

Attacking the Walls or Defenders with Engines in my first adaptation for DotS. I later decided I wanted to show which units were actually manning the battlements

The assumption is that the Siege Engines are far enough back to be replaced by Infantry once the walls are breached.

Battering Rams

Attacking a Gate with a ram operated by Infantry

By this stage I had decided that the only Defenders that could engage with the sieging army would be Archers (or other Infantry missile types) who would be positioned on the battlements.

Likewise only Archers could be attacking the defending units until a breach is made.

Non missile infantry could possibly defend a gateway that is equipped with meurtriere (murder holes).

Once the gate is breached the Infantry discard the ram and are fighting like normal.

This is very much a work in progress, so any ideas for Sieges in DotS or PW will be warmly received!

A Hyborian Sandpatch

 I've been keen to try out some additional rules for Dominion of the Spear that were posted by Mark Cordone on, I believe, The PW Facebook Page (I don't have a link for this but a kind reader may be able to provide one!) I played a couple of games this morning using scenic variations. The "sandpatch" for the games was on the PC, though could easily have been on paper. They worked well and at some stage will be tried out with actual figures...

The setting for these games is Hyboria, an old favourite of many gamers, and was inspired by recent communications with Martin S. and  posts on mutazoid's blog, both of whom have been running campaigns using Hordes of the Things rules.

The Kingdom of Ophir has launched a three-pronged attack on its Southern neighbour, Koth.

The first battle was fought on the edge of the Khorshemish Forest - this was a standard DotS game to remind me of the rules. Units for both sides were based on descriptions in Appendix 1 of Royal Armies of the Hyborean Age. Unit initial positions were randomly generated.

Koth (in white) was represented by a unit of Royal Horse Guard (Elite Armoured), a unit of Chariot Archers (Armoured), a unit of Spear armed Infantry (Armoured) and a unit of Archers. Ophir (red) had a unit of Royal Guard (Elite Armoured), a unit of mounted knights (Armoured), a unit of Spear armed Infantry (Armoured) and a unit of Archers. Slight variations of these units appear in the other two battles also.

Opening positions 

Mid battle

Ophir victorious

The second battle saw action across a fordable river. No penalties for missiles but a -1 penalty for hand to hand fighting in the river. 

Battle begins

In the balance

Ophir victorious once more

The third battle featured a partly defensive arrangement for the Koth army. Mounted troops were deployed outside of the defended village. The infantry were given a defensive bonus.

 

Initial positions

A third victory for Ophir

Despite the defences, a conclusive victory for the forces of Ophir over those of Koth. The rules and additions have again proven themselves as a useful way of deciding battles when a speedy resolution is called for. 

An Age Undreamed of (Part the Second)

 

The slaying of a Priest of Mitra, one Sopious, by Stygian Assassins from the priesthood of Set, led to the raising of an army from amongst the loose affiliation of City States that makes up Corinthia. Once again it was that old warrior General Ilossmykies commanding the host that made the long march South. With orders to avenge the Church of Mitra, the Corinthian force aimed to destroy a Stygian Seminary just South of the River Styx' near to the City of Luxur.

Crossing war-torn Koth without incident, the Corinthians entered the rolling grassland of Shem.

Having received urgent dispatches from their spies in Corinthia, the Theocrats of Stygia sent a force into Shem to attack and delay their enemy, commanded by Bishop-General Pheerles.

Ilossmykies and the advance guard were probably half a day ahead of the main bulk of the Corinthian Army, moving as it was at the speed of the baggage train. Arriving at a deserted Manor house, the General determined to await the arrival of the rest of his men. It was at this point that the Stygian force appeared over the horizon. Both sides quickly took positions, cavalry and skirmishing archers leading the infantry. The Stygians had a slight numerical advantage but were mostly light troops. The Corinthians were all heavy types. 

A few scenes from the battle follow. It was a fairly standard affair with both sides bashing away at each other, falling back, advancing again etc (apologies for the blurry pics)
 

 

The Stygians, although half being lightly armed and unarmoured, made a good account of themselves pushing the Corinthians to Exhaustion Point (set at 50%) first.

As the Great Beetle maneuvered the Golden Orb of the Sun behind the hills, the two sides withdrew. The Stygians had succeeded in delaying the Corinthian advance, as Ilossmykies now had to patch up his Advance Guard and possibly rethink his strategy while awaiting the rest of the Army, who were approaching judging by the dust cloud to the North.

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!

An Age Undreamed of (Part the first)

Back in April (where did those 3 months go?) I wrote a post regarding my youthful dreams of running a Campaign in Hyboria (see HERE) in the grand manner of Tony Bath. Although this seems unlikely, a few games in Hyboria are well within my abilities!

I'm currently tinkering with my Fantasy variant of the Portable Wargame so I ran a small game with them this morning. As is customary, the backstory to my game is probably more interesting than the game itself.

Background to the game 

A wandering tribe from Brythunia has strayed into the hill country in the North East of Corinthia. Citizen-Soldiers from the local town march out to stop the invaders crossing the hills and invading their valley. The action takes place near the ruined Temple to the Fireflies, and a goat farm belonging to a man called Hook (apparently an old seafaring man...)

Game

This scenario is better suited to a bigger playing area and more mobile forces I think. Suffice it to say, when the two armies met, a static meat grinder ensued as both armies tried to break a hole in the others ranks..

Corinthians' advance

  

Brythunian tribesmen (courtesy of Sprinks)

The Brythunians are initially held back by a hail of arrows

but not for long

The slaying continued until Turn 7 when both sides reached Exhaustion Point

The Corinthian left flank almost destroyed by Brythunian axes

The battle ended with two battered, exhausted armies leaning on each other! The Corinthians had stopped the invaders but only just. They'll probably be back. I finish with an excerpt from The Nemedian Chronicles (copyright R E Howard estate)

Lockdown Update Part the Second

and a thank you

At the start of this week I received a surprise parcel from Mr Sprinks (of the Wronghammer Blog); a bundle of painted Strelets figures!! Sprinks suggested that these would make an Army of Asgard in the Hyborian Continent, and they are indeed perfect for the Norse type areas of Howard's fantastical creation. Thanks Mr Sprinks!

All I've done is based the figures and added a couple of archers and some cavalry and I have an instant army! I have also ear-marked some other figures from the Toybox to turn into an Army of Vanaheim to allow for some tribal fighting in the North of Hyboria.

Army of Asgard

Apologies for the picture quality - the light's not too great this afternoon!

Stay safe everybody and happy gaming.

A Lockdown Update

Tales from the Home Office

Not the Home Office overseen by Vampirella, I hasten to say, but the Office at Home that Chez Maudlin has turned in to.

Fairly typically, whilst providing a good deal of time at home, the Lockdown has not (yet) seen a great deal of hobby activity. With the household size increasing again, due to my sons' college shutting, and all of us trying to "work from home", every available surface seems to be covered in computers and files, many of them evacuees from my place of work. Consequently the Wargames I had planned for the Easter break are on hold, pending a return to "normality". I still have my little painting table, however, and have at least spent a while daubing paint inexpertly on to some figures, whilst "working from home".

I've also found myself thinking a lot about Projects Past, or rather the many Projects that I spend ages thinking about but that never see the light of day. One such is that old perennial, Hyboria...

Hyborian Sojourn

The first time I read the following passage from Donald Featherstone's The Wargame, I clearly remember looking at my box of Airfix Ancient Britons, Romans and Robin Hood figures and thinking "I could do that!"

Imaginary countries populated by figures of various ages and types, formed up in the style of my choosing seemed perfect to me (and still does). Some attempt was made to start the campaign; I remember "converting" Plains Indians by chopping off their rifles and sticking drawing pins on them for shields, thus creating some cavalry for my "barbarian" army. As I had at the time no knowledge of Hyboria, other than Featherstone's short description, all my ideas came from books like the following, and early play with Britains Trojan Wars figures! Shortly after this, Minifigs started producing their Mythical Earth range and Hyboria was forgotten.

Early inspiration

Early figures

During my teens I read many Science fiction and fantasy books, among them Robert Howard's Conan books, and the pull of Hyboria was felt again. Howard's description of the Hyborian Age (that can be found here) was responsible for more day-dreaming about huge armies on vast tabletops, none of which, sadly, were to appear.

In later life I've read Tony Bath's Setting Up a Wargame Campaign, and the articles he published in Battle and Military Modelling,  and come to realize the sheer scale of his gaming of Hyboria is beyond me, though it hasn't stopped small scale ideas!

One such idea came to me some years ago when Neil Thomas published One Hour Wargames (OHW). What about making some small armies of the Hyborian Kingdoms and fighting OHW games with them? A box of Irregular Miniatures 20mm "Biblical" range of figures was purchased to start with, and it has sat on my painting table ever since!

So, as I finally grind my way to the point of this post, a Lockdown Challenge to myself was get those bl**dy figures out of the box and paint them!

Here then is the first (and possibly last?) army of the Hyborian Age - The Army of Corinthia under their General Ilossmykies.

Finally out of the box

Kingdom of Corinthia

Hopefully these figures will see a battle, if I can paint up an enemy force, and ever find a space to set up a game.

Please stay at home and healthy everyone!