Tressle

 More than a year after Count Enarriere saw off the last incursion by a Lord of Chaos (here), another Chaotic army has appeared in the Wastes north of the Thistle Down (also known as the Green Hills).

Sir Philip, Lord of the tiny Manor of Whare, alerted to the approach of the Chaos Army, has mustered his local force and sent a messenger to the Count.

The force of Sir Philip (third from the right) mustered outside of the village of Tressle. The Manorial Lord's guard were all mounted; the foot comprised of peasants from the estate, and such herders and hunters from the surrounding area who could be gathered quickly.

The opposing force was led by a Lord of Chaos, the Moonlit Knight (first mounted figure from the right) accompanied by his Standard featuring Mad Man Moon. Knights of Chaos, both mounted and on foot, were joined by a rabble of Orcs.

 The two armies formed ranks outside of the village, then in eerie silence the Chaotic force began to advance. 

Sir Philip led a group of warriors in a dash across the battlefield, hoping to strike down the Chaos Lord early in the day.

The battle quickly broke up into many small clashes, but the Chaos army was edging closer to the village.

Sir Philip, his warriors dead around him, fought on alone

More of his men attempted to reach their beleaguered Lord 

On the edge of Tressle, luck was turning against the defenders

The last of the defenders fell and the Orcs began to set light to the village

The end of the battle saw Sir Philip's broken force retreating, the burning village of Tressle forming a backdrop to Chaos's victory.

Lookout

 This post is really just a cheeky filler, as I haven't got round to writing the report of a game played at the end of last month. The Lookout is watching for the appearance of an enemy force, known to be approaching Tressle, a village that nestles in the lower hills of the Thistle Down...

Hope to report the game tomorrow.

Apologies for the perspective distortion creating the leaning tower effect!

If

 If I'd have thought about wargaming battles in Middle Earth in 1970 they might have looked like this (April's been a slow month for my hobby efforts!)

Men of Dunland attack the Westfold of Rohan

Testing

 Having enjoyed a game of my (version 2) fantasy variant for One Hour Wargames on Friday, I gave it another go yesterday with the aim of testing out the Magic Use system. The version 1 rules had included magical creatures but no actual magic use so I have adopted the Magic from Swords, Sorcery & Spells (see Portable Wargame Compendium by Bob Cordery - here).

The game featured an attacking army of Wild Men with their Druid and a defending Dwarf army including their Wizard. The scenario was #3 from OHW, Control the River. The objective for both sides was to be in control of the two crossing points by Turn 15.

Both sides arrive 

Fighting on both bridges

The Dwarf Wizard lobs a fireball across the River

The Dwarves have cleared the West bridge but have left the East crossing poorly protected

The Dwarf attack seems to be gaining momentum in the West, while the East bridge is still held

Magic Users are vulnerable, especially to lucky throws from Infantry Units!

The Dwarves press home their advantage

While the Wild Men run out of options

The Dwarves control both bridges, the Wild Men are down to 1 hit point and call it a day

With the current ranges I allow for spells, it was difficult to manoeuvre  the Magic Users into a position where they could fire off spells without firing into melees (which I don't allow) in this game (though the same could be said for archers I guess). I think I'm going to extend the ranges and give them another go. Magic Users are suitably (in my opinion) vulnerable to attack by all units (they could choose to shield themselves though this costs them spells).

Happy Easter Everyone.

Revamp

John over at the 54mm or Fight! blog (see here) has recently been adding some interesting features to his Fantasy Variant of OHW (Neil Thomas's marvelous set of fast play rules). This got me thinking about giving my  gridded version a revamp and including the three hit variant (see here) for assessing casualties. This was given a little play through this afternoon. I have added a Magic section but didn't play that today as I wanted to get a feel for the combat first. 

Inevitable Generic Fantasy Map for no reason other than I like it

Orcs have appeared from the Mountains of Mourning and attacked the Elves.

The objective is to be in sole possession of the hill at the end of the battle

Orc and Elf Cavalry clash - 2 sixes equate to 2 hits on the Orc unit leaving 1 hit point before the unit is destroyed

Fierce fighting on the hill as both sides rapidly start taking hits

The Orc Hero/Leader is seriously damaged by this point

The Elves now control the hill - losses are great on both sides

Having lost the Troll, and with only 1 hit point left, the remaining Orcs leg it 

Well the combat rules worked ok. Just got to test the Magic rules now!

Free

 A free hobby find is always welcome, and this paper house is just that. It come courtesy of Erny's Place, and there are more posts with such buildings if one cares to look. Thanks Erny. I think he really caught the look of the 1980s Warhammer scenery.

A Free House (ie a Pub that's not linked to a single brewery)

I'm not very gifted when it comes to model making, but this one was nice and simple. I copied the image then printed it onto the thin card you can buy that will run through a laser printer. The card is quite flexible so I stiffened the walls by attaching some thicker card with a glue stick.

With hindsight (that really should be available on prescription) I should have left some card at the bottom of the walls to make tabs that could be stuck onto a card base - will definitely do that next time.

Three

 For the third post of the year I fought a Mini Campaign using 3x3 Fast Play Portable Wargame rules again. I was quite expecting it to go to three games, but as it seemed drawn at two I stopped there, leaving things open for a re-match.

The Map

The Empire, tired of raiding parties playing havoc with the economy, have sent a force across the wide river to give the local tribe a bloody nose. As this involves quite a lot of logistics, the barbarians have had time to get a force of their own together and marched to meet the enemy.

The First Battle

The two armies arriving

The Barbarians take the initiative 

Evenly balanced

The Empire begin to push back

but run out of resources and must fall back instead

The second battle

A reinforced Barbarian Army chases the Empire force to the nearest town where they also gain additional numbers.

The confident Barbarians attack

but are repulsed

and now the Empire is on the offensive

The Barbarians are driven off with few crossing the river at the end of the day