tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69780691808780921862024-03-13T13:36:25.751-04:00Sea Kings and Horse WarriorsWargaming and History from the Whale Road to the Silk RoadAlanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03839537946561685053noreply@blogger.comBlogger131125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6978069180878092186.post-12929028668135043922015-12-13T09:07:00.003-05:002015-12-13T09:07:40.309-05:00Naffata in SAGA and history <h3>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;">While discussions of incendiary devices in pre-modern times usually begin and end with the Byzantines and Greek Fire, the use of fire dates to Biblical times. Bronze age armies of the middle east and eastern Mediterranean figured out how to take the pitch or oil from naturally occurring wells and turn it into a weapon capable of being thrown by hand or hurled by catapult. The Byzantines deserve credit for weaponizing available fuel sources into something more potent. In the mid-eighth century, the eastern Roman Empire looked as if it would soon go the way of the western half. It was beset on its frontiers, from the Arabs to the south and Bulgars to the north. Drawing on ancient Greek records and scientific tradition, Byzantine alchemists developed Greek Fire. Primarily a naval weapon, special fire ships were fitted with tanks of fuel and pumps that could spray Greek Fire at enemy ships.</span> </span><br />
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<a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f7/Greekfire-madridskylitzes1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" height="162" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f7/Greekfire-madridskylitzes1.jpg" style="-webkit-user-select: none;" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small; font-weight: normal;">By all accounts, it was a fearsome device. Supposedly, it ignited on contact with water and could not be extinguished. In reality, some sort of primer or pilot light ignited the fuel, and it only appeared to ignite on contact with the sea, but it would certainly burn on water making it a devastating naval weapon. It could only be put out by smothering. Byzantine fire crews kept sand and vinegar on hand in case of accidental fire.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small; font-weight: normal;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Its exact composition was a state secret. The liquid mixture was produced by very few (a single family by one account) and the troops who used it knew nothing of its preparation. A similar level of secrecy also applied to the working of the projection device. </span><span style="font-weight: normal;">An infantry version of the pump/flame thrower device was also used with mixed results. It could be clumsy and slow. Once, the Bulgars managed to capture some of the Greek fire, but were unable to operate the equipment. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Sometime in the mid-tenth century, the armies of the Caliphate also began using a similar pump/siphon device that was handheld, in the fashion of the Byzantine device. Whether this was a result of reverse engineering of the Byzantine invention or the outright acquisition is not known. Incendiaries were devastatingly effective against Crusader siege engines. Saladin's use of naffata troops is well documented. </span></span><span style="font-size: small; font-weight: normal;">Saladin sent troops armed with Naphta grenades against houses and civilians during an uprising in Egypt led by African troops. </span><span style="font-size: small; font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://legacy.fordham.edu/halsall/source/1187saladin.asp" target="_blank">The Christian defenders of Jerusalem noted his use of incendiaries in catapults used to attack the city walls</a>.</span><span style="font-size: small; font-weight: normal;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small; font-weight: normal;">During the Third Crusade, Swimmers smuggled containers of the fuel into Acre during the Crusader's siege of that city. </span><br />
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">While the Greek Fire of the Byzantines was a closely guarded secrets, Arab alchemists were more ready to commit their recipe to paper. One of Saladin's chroniclers describers the burning substance as a mixture of tar, resin, sulphur, dolphin fat and goat fat.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JxIkFWVu5Os/VlsTafIfIcI/AAAAAAAAFyI/-jPNbB6f-z8/s1600/naphta%2Bthrower.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="293" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JxIkFWVu5Os/VlsTafIfIcI/AAAAAAAAFyI/-jPNbB6f-z8/s320/naphta%2Bthrower.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small; font-weight: normal;">I suspect, the cost, availability and unreliable nature made widespread usage of naffata troops less than common.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small; font-weight: normal;">Overall, it is safe to say that outside of the navy, fire troops were not common, and very rare in the kind of fast moving skirmish combat that SAGA depicts. Because of its limited range and unpredictability, it was most often used against soft targets (civilians and civilian structures and in sieges).</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-L_pDVqKd614/VmS3B1Kdx6I/AAAAAAAAF8s/qY-bXig-ZEM/s1600/naffata%2B01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="427" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-L_pDVqKd614/VmS3B1Kdx6I/AAAAAAAAF8s/qY-bXig-ZEM/s640/naffata%2B01.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Gripping Beast and Essex (far right) figures </span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">In SAGA, a unit of four Naffatun troops can be purchased for a single point. Up to two models can then be assigned to a unit of warriors, but not levies or hearthguard. Naffata shoot with a movement activation, similar to javelin throwers but only at short range. Since their weapons are an area effect attack, they have +2 to hit on attack rolls. They can generate between one and three hit dice each, up to the controlling player. Why not choose all three? That brings us to the Naffata's disadvantages. If a Naffatun rolls a "1" an accident has occurred and a friendly model must be removed from the unit, controlling player's choice. Another </span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;">disadvantage</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">, a considerable one in my opinion, is that unlike other shooting attacks, a naffata attack puts a fatigue token on its own unit. However, the defending unit takes at least two fatigues if it suffered any casualties. </span></span></span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Z5Y2cT8MXpw/VmS3B0b8uUI/AAAAAAAAF8k/Jjwv02iir3I/s1600/naffata%2B03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Z5Y2cT8MXpw/VmS3B0b8uUI/AAAAAAAAF8k/Jjwv02iir3I/s640/naffata%2B03.jpg" width="640" /></span></a><h3>
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I would like to play these in my next match, mostly as a test of their balance in the game. AS SAGA as advanced, some of the new units have moved to the extremes in terms of bonuses and drawbacks. Correctly deploying them is more tricky than the shield wall and charge combat of early SAGA. I probably will put them into as large a unit as possible, not a 6 person squad shown above, given their propensity for friendly casualties. </div>
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Some readings used to research this post: </div>
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A History of Greek Fire and Gunpowder, by J.R. Partington<br />Medieval Siege Weapons (2), Byzantium, the Islamic World and India 476-1526 AD by David Nicolle</div>
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<a href="http://legacy.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/williamofnewburgh-four.asp" target="_blank">Book 4, Chapter 19, Section 3 of William of Newburgh's history of English monarchy</a></div>
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<a href="http://legacy.fordham.edu/halsall/source/1187saladin.asp" target="_blank">The Capture of Jerusalem by Saladin from De Expugantione Terrae Sanctae per Saladinum</a></div>
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Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03839537946561685053noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6978069180878092186.post-1440037166130564602015-11-23T21:37:00.002-05:002015-11-23T21:37:15.061-05:00Frostgrave Pics and MoreThis week's painting work was mostly Frostgrave, but a slight conversion bears its posting here. First, two more sprues of Frostgrave plastics painted. These are some really nice plastics, great for hirelings in your RPG game or as "rabble" in your late twelfth/thirteenth century wargame. Of course, some weapons will need to be toned down a bit - that two handed sword is a little over the top.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aAZqw0TrMd0/VlO70cyQ6EI/AAAAAAAAFs4/qIPdalHDw2o/s1600/frostgrave%2B04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="409" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aAZqw0TrMd0/VlO70cyQ6EI/AAAAAAAAFs4/qIPdalHDw2o/s640/frostgrave%2B04.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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The Frostgrave soldier's come with loads of extra bits. Work well with Gripping Beast's plastics, especially these Arab figures. If you need an eastern themed Frostgrave army, or just want to spruce up your moors with axes and crossbows, the Frostgrave kit is not a bad place to pull from.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Dark Ages Media Recommendations </span></h3>
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Toil and Trouble </h3>
I am always on the lookout for historical/historical fantasy comics set in the Viking Age, and this is an excellent find. Toil and Trouble retells the MacBeth story with a greater focus on the witches, specifically one of the three here named Smertae. The writer, Mairgrhead Scott, tells a familiar story with some key differences between this and other versions. Instead of observers of fate, the witches are active shepherds of fate, choosing who lives and dies by their power. Book one ends where Shakespeare begins, with the battle against the Viking invaders. The real joy is this book is the art. Kelly and Nichole Matthews handle both expressive faces and epic landscapes with equal skill. Their style is built on clean lines and bright colors, and contains influences of Disney's Sleeping Beauty. Three issues are already out, buy them or wait for the collection.<br />
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The Last Kingdom </h4>
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After the first two episodes, my tv viewing time became very limited, and this show dropped off my agenda. Thankfully, I was able to binge watch more of the episodes through my cable provider on-demand service. Though I am two shows away from the end, I am quite impressed. While I still think the producers should have given us an entire episode with Uhtred as a boy before advancing to his early manhood, the rest of the series is very well done, much better than History's The Vikings, which it begs comparison to. </div>
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<br />Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03839537946561685053noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6978069180878092186.post-90269342879574696422015-10-26T11:22:00.001-04:002015-10-26T11:22:26.695-04:00The Last Kingdom and Sagas of the Northmen<h3>
THE LAST KINGDOM</h3>
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Bernard Cornwell's Saxon series features a Saxon born, Viking raised hero named Uhtred at the time of King Alfred. It has been a great series to read, and one that probably inspired me to collect Viking and Saxon miniatures.<br />
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Here's a link: <a href="http://www.bbcamerica.com/the-last-kingdom/" target="_blank">The Last Kingdom</a><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-T3ihUocZOJo/Vi5EsY5IfjI/AAAAAAAAFRg/0BDm-kxP3Ro/s1600/lastkingdom3_3468575b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="199" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-T3ihUocZOJo/Vi5EsY5IfjI/AAAAAAAAFRg/0BDm-kxP3Ro/s320/lastkingdom3_3468575b.jpg" width="320" /></a> The first two episodes do have a lot to recommend, primarily the acting. Matthew MacFayden as the main character's father is spot on with the book, as is Ian Hart as Beocca, the kindly priest. The actor playing Uhtred, Alexander Draymon, is fine for the young version of the character. If he can mature into the steely and brutal character from the novels remains to be seen. And any scene with Rutger Hauer is eminently watchable.<br />
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My main critique with the first episode is with some of the pacing and story direction. If this is the first episode of an eight part miniseries, and this miniseries intends to only adapt the first book, <i>The Last Kingdom</i>, then this first episode has churned through quite a bit of the book. The heart of Uhtred's story is his internal conflict between his Saxon heritage and his assimilated Viking identity. A great deal of character development is lost when we advance so quicly from Uhtred's childhood abduction by Ragnar into his late teens. One key childhood event that sets up later conflict is shown, but very little of his embrace of the pagan religion. I understand that devoting two episodes out eight to a child may alienate action-seeking viewers, but I think it is essential for understanding Uhtred's torn loyalties between Saxon and Viking.<br />
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On a more positive note, the battle at the end of the first episode showed shieldwall combat as two forces pushing and jabbing at each other. Whereas the History Channel's Vikings, a good show with great characters, shows shieldwall combat as two armies forming into walls, and then running like crazy at each other.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UBg_J-XzA9Y/Vi5E8NcIKvI/AAAAAAAAFRo/HwI0m94u7mk/s1600/vikings-season-2-brothers-war-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UBg_J-XzA9Y/Vi5E8NcIKvI/AAAAAAAAFRo/HwI0m94u7mk/s320/vikings-season-2-brothers-war-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Here are some remaining Gripping Beast plastic Saxons I painted this week with the Last Kingdom as inspiration. My color choices are a bit brighter than the series - thank you Peter Jackson for turning all medieval themed costuming into blacks, browns and greys.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-u8rmHDoGjhU/ViWn4YBhfmI/AAAAAAAAFGI/WAP_HDJ5eus/s1600/saxons%2B04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-u8rmHDoGjhU/ViWn4YBhfmI/AAAAAAAAFGI/WAP_HDJ5eus/s640/saxons%2B04.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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These are one of the oldest plastic Dark Ages sets available, and I think it shows. While better than the Wargames Factory line, the posing and options are limited, and the definition on the chain mail is muddy, especially on the sides.<br />
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Nonetheless, they are great for building up an army in a Hail Caesar type game, but for your elite troops in a skirmish game, one might want something with a little more distinctiveness.<br />
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SAGAS OF THE NORTHMEN </h3>
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<a href="http://www.drivethrucomics.com/images/3616/157735.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.drivethrucomics.com/images/3616/157735.jpg" height="400" width="258" /></a></div>
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If you are looking for some more Viking themed media, I highly reccomend a new graphic novel I received recently through a Kickstarter I backed.<br />
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Sagas of the Northmen is a 64 pages black and white graphic novel. An anthology format, it contains a number of seperate, unconnected stories by multiple artists and writers. Anthology can be hit mess The writing is consistently good and most of the art is excellent - with a few exceptions,<br />
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It is a $6.99 digital download currently, with a print edition promised later.<br />
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<a href="http://www.drivethrucomics.com/product/157735/Sagas-of-the-Northmen" target="_blank">Sagas of the Northmen at Drive Thru Comics </a><br />
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Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03839537946561685053noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6978069180878092186.post-53244181621598861262015-10-12T15:01:00.002-04:002015-10-12T15:33:20.352-04:00AAR: Moors versus Byzantines<br />
After almost a year of owning the expansion, I finally got around to playing a game using a new army from Crescent and Cross this past Saturday.<br />
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1x4 Mounted Hearthguard<br />
1x4 Mounted Hearthguard<br />
1x4 Blackguard (Hearthguard)<br />
1x8 Spear warriors<br />
1x12 Bow Levy<br />
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The Byzantines have three warrior units, one armed with bows along with a unit of mounted hearthguard and steppe nomad mercenaries. The warlord is accompanied by a priest.<br />
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Below, setup at the start of the game. The Moors are on the left, the Byzantines on the right. I spread out, and my opponent tightly groups his units. I should have saw that as an indicator of what was to come.<br />
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Another view, with the Byzantines behind the small hill. </div>
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On my turn, I advance my mounted hearthguard, possibly to use the building as a screen. </div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AZ9RI3yzAOI/Vhq7yN-nddI/AAAAAAAAE48/i7KzPnH7a-M/s1600/byz%2Bmoors%2B1010%2B04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AZ9RI3yzAOI/Vhq7yN-nddI/AAAAAAAAE48/i7KzPnH7a-M/s400/byz%2Bmoors%2B1010%2B04.jpg" width="350" /></a>As his steppe mercenaries advance from around the oasis, one my hearthguards wheels toward them. Hopefully they could throw javelin, engage the nomads and allow the Blackguard and supporting warriors to close in. Of course, they are halfway across the board before that can happen, but not before we take two from each unit. Bad news when that's half your unit. </div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-R9OQNnSrWkY/Vhq7yRpmPjI/AAAAAAAAE4g/xGagD9_x6_w/s1600/byz%2Bmoors%2B1010%2B05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="237" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-R9OQNnSrWkY/Vhq7yRpmPjI/AAAAAAAAE4g/xGagD9_x6_w/s320/byz%2Bmoors%2B1010%2B05.jpg" width="320" /></a>More bad news for the Moors. I tried to bribe the steppe nomads away from the Byzantines for a turn ("Corruption"). Unfortunately, my opponent took the three fatigue on the Warlord option. Weighing the possibilities, My warlord and hearthguard was within striking distance of his warlord in a couple of moves. Hit 'em while he was down, I thought. These warriors intercepted me - but maybe hearthguard against warrior? Not too risky...However, since his formations were so tight, he drew half the attack dice from a nearby unit (Strategikon). A good roll and four Moors down, taking only two spearmen with them.</div>
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The Moors fortunes improve. The blackguard hit the steppe mercenaries, taking out all but one with no cost to themselves. Some great melee abilities are on the Moorish battleboard. A unit of Moorish spearmen do about as well against some Byzantine infantry.<br />
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As so often happens in SAGA, it comes down to a battle of warlords. In this case, two battles. The Byzantine warlord moved within distance of the Moorish general, triggering this first encounter. I<br />
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For my first run through on the Moors, I am overall pleased. I like the faction and will play them again. Most of my problems were in my unit composition and not paying attention to the Byzantine abilities. The Moorish hearthguard have javelins, and the lower armor penalty that comes with it. I don't like shooting hearthguard, especially if it is with javelins, a rather poor trade-off in my opinion. In light of bow armed cavalry, the javelins are a weaker weapon with the same disadvantage. Next time, I will go with a full eight Blackguard; they did the job when required. </div>
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All in all a fun game, and a great start to Crescent and Cross. </div>
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Later this week, I will have my review of BBC America's The Last Kingdom</div>
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<br />Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03839537946561685053noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6978069180878092186.post-33664260786083801272015-09-22T19:13:00.002-04:002015-09-22T19:13:30.614-04:00Crusaders for SAGA & Frostgrave<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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Has it been over three months since I posted? I guess so. </div>
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I have been busy over the summer, but not extraordinarily so: Some house renovations, camping with the kids and running a lot more, four or five days a week. </div>
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The hobby has taken a bit of a backseat, but not entirely. I am painting a lot of fantasy figures lately and posting them on my other blog, <a href="http://fantasticallysmall.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Fantastically Small</a>. I tend to compartmentalize, and this site is reserved for historical figures - from a pretty narrow slice of history at that. One reason for the slowdown in posting is that by and large, I've already completed most of my goals for Dark Age gaming. I've assembled rather large armies of Vikings, Normans, Scots and Irish. For Southern Europe, I have the Spanish, Moors and Byzantines. Sitting on the backburner is a Tibet v. Tang China project that I hope to get around to one day. </div>
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Also, I need to game more often. I've yet to get in a proper Crescent and Cross scenario, but I'm eager to play the Crusader faction. Black Tree's Second Crusade line looked like a good starting point. </div>
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In the Crusades, military units were a long way from having standardized colors and heraldry. But this is wargaming not history, and I like thematic colors. I based my colors on the Jeremy Irons character from Kingdom of Heaven. He is supposed to be Raymond of Galilee, but called Tiberias, after his fortress. I recall reading that the filmmakers thought there were too many Raymonds in the movie and they didn't want to confuse viewers. </div>
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A group of four knights and eight sergeants:<br />
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Historically, the early to mid twelfth century is a good period got building a Crusader Army. The Christian Levant kingdoms were still vigorous and the holy orders had just been founded. </div>
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As mentioned, I'm tending more towards fantasy gaming more lately. Open Combat is still my favorite system for fantasy skirmishing. The recently released Frostgrave looked very promising and I'm giving it a try. My main reservation is that the campaign system seems very integral to the game. So if you are an occasional gamer without a circle of multiple gamer buddies, some of Frostgrave's best features are lost. </div>
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Northstar's Frostgrave plastic boxed set is a good purchase. Some of the best faces I've seen, plastic or metal. Furthermore, there are plenty of accessories and options: bows, crossbows, hand weapons and two handed weapons and it is fairly compatible with Gripping Beast's plastics for all sorts of kit bashing potential. </div>
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Historically, the helmets and headgear have in more with the Third Crusade through the thirteenth century. Obviously they are outfitted for colder climates, so if you're wanting to do a Baltic Crusade for SAGA, this set and some Fireforge Teutonic knights will get you started. </div>
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A wizard and apprentice with their mercenaries: </div>
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These fantasy humans from Black Tree are equally good for a Hundred Years War Army.<br />
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<br />Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03839537946561685053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6978069180878092186.post-67765368798486182492015-06-19T09:49:00.000-04:002015-06-19T09:49:58.170-04:00MacBeth in film, drama and wargaming<br />
MacBeth has been hovering at the edge of my awareness lately for several reasons. Perhaps it is the upcoming movie with Fassbender, which seems to be as much influenced by Game of Thrones and TV's Vikings as by William Shakespeare.<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>MacBeth in History and Shakespeare </b></span></h3>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">MacBeth as history has taught us, was a Scottish lord, who received a prophecy from three witches that he would one day be King of Scotland. Slowly descending into madness, he murdered his king, and many others, friend and foe alike, at the urging of his power hungry wife. Shortly thereafter, he was killed by the rightful heir and an army of men wearing Dark Age ghillie suits. </span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 16px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Right?...Not exactly, but it does speak to the power of Shakespeare in particular and literature in general to alter our perceptions of history. In discussions I have had with Lit teachers, it is fair to say that a number of them take Shakespeare's plays for more or less accurate representations of events. Sure, Julius Caesar was really killed in a theater and not in the Senate, but the deed and perpetrators played out on stage as it did in reality. Similar discrepancies from history can be found in Antony and Cleopatra, the Henry cycle, but to suggest that MacBeth was a good king and hardly the murderous madman the Bard depicts goes against even their broadest interpretation of artistic license. </span></span><br />
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<span 16px=""><span style="font-family: inherit;">MacBeth or </span></span><span style="line-height: 16px;">Mac Bethad mac Findláich,</span><span style="line-height: 16px;"> was born in the early eleventh century. The monarch of Scotland through much of the period was Malcolm II, whose long reign was made possible by the strategic marriages of his several daughters to powerful families in Scotland and the Orkneys. Some sources place Macbeth as being born from one of these marriages eventually elevating himself to be the lord of Moray. Thus, after Malcolm's death and the succession of his grandson Duncan to the throne, Macbeth found himself as a vassal to his cousin. For reasons not quite clear, Duncan invades Moray and was killed. Either because of his victory or his blood descent from Malcolm, MacBeth was elected High King in 1040. His reign was long and stable, enough that he was able to go on a pilgrimage to Rome in 1050. A few years late he was challenged by Duncan's son Malcolm, and the king met his death in battle in 1054. Malcolm did not become king immediately, for he had to kill MacBeth's stepson Lulach. After accomplishing this task, Malcolm was installed as King Malcolm III.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">Shakespeare's play <i>The Tragedy of Macbeth</i> premiered around 1606, a few years after the coronation of the Scottish King James. Not coincidentally, England's new monarch affected Shakespeare's writing in some very specific ways. Obviously, the Scottish setting was the most important, so much so that superstitious actors sometimes refer to <i>MacBeth </i>as "The Scottish Play." Furthermore, one of James' ancestors and MacBeth's victims is flatteringly depicted. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">Double, Double Toil and Trouble</span></span></h3>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Witches of MacBeth by RAFM. The CD-base diorama was mostly sculpted from Miliput and flocked. </td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">The most </span></span><span style="line-height: 16px;">intriguing influence by King James on Shakespeare's MacBeth is inclusion of the three witches in the first scene. </span><span style="background-color: transparent;">King James was fascinated by the study of witchcraft and he even wrote a text on identifying witches called </span><i style="background-color: transparent;">Daemonologie. </i><span style="background-color: transparent;">Shakespeare was certainly playing to the contemporary interest in witches when he made them a major part of his story.</span><i style="background-color: transparent;"> </i><span style="background-color: transparent;">Highly recommended is the 2010 Patrick Stewart adaption of the play which modernizes the setting and show the three witches as hospital nurses. </span><br />
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<b>Macbeth - beyond Shakespeare</b></h3>
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<i>King Hereafter</i> by Dorothy Dunnett - a book I try to re-read every couple of years. It's massive in scope, and ambitiously proposes that MacBeth and Thorfinn of Orkney were not cousins, nor half-brothers, but the same person. It is not a literary gimmick, and the author genuinely believed it to be true based upon her interpretation of the various sources in her research. Thematically, the novel covers the end of the Viking Age, the decline of paganism and the incorporation of the northern European hinterlands into the realm of Christendom.<br />
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<i>Macbeth the King</i>, by Nigel Tranter - A straightforward historical account of Macbeth's rise and fall. Tranter is no great stylist or revisionist, but there is an efficiency in his prose and his prolific output is nothing to sneer at.<br />
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Macbeth in SAGA</h3>
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The official mini for MacBeth is huge (over 32mm), as are most of the SAGA line's hero character. Below, a comparison shot with a Crusader mini (left) and a Reaper Barbarian. The scale of most of Gripping Beast's Hero characters are more in line with current fantasy ranges. </div>
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As a named hero, MacBeth is fairly typical in abilities, with little chance of game-breaking especially if paired off against another hero. </div>
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<b>Hero of the Viking Age</b>. MacBeth generates three SAGA dice. This is mandatory if I play a hero character. If I spend a point on a hero, I need the extra dice. I admit that I am not a skilled enough player to make use of special heroes who generate less dice, but have other abilities to compensate.<br />
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<b>Norman Exiles.</b> One unit of eight hearthguard can be mounted Norman knights. A number of these served in MacBeth when the Godwin's began to exert more control over the Norman favoring English king Edward. This is perhaps the earliest example of the Scottish-French alliance against their English rivals.<br />
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<b>Great Ruler. </b>As long as MacBeth is on the table, you always roll six SAGA dice. A great power, but doesn't it make his three SAGA dice ability irrelevant? Another minor ability in place of Hero would be better. <br />
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A six point Scot warband led by MacBeth:<br />
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<br />Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03839537946561685053noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6978069180878092186.post-2528888047542412142015-05-31T23:22:00.000-04:002015-05-31T23:22:08.859-04:00Nashcon 2015 <br />
I am a little late getting my pictures up from Nashcon on May 22nd. I drove up early Saturday morning - it was only about a 2 1/2 hour drive.<br />
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The SAGA tournament was fun, but a little sparse in turnout.<br />
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My first match was Normans against Vikings.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_igrRXc8ZY8/VWrzYygu7RI/AAAAAAAADMo/vsH-Yga_agw/s1600/nashcon%2Bsaga%2B02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_igrRXc8ZY8/VWrzYygu7RI/AAAAAAAADMo/vsH-Yga_agw/s320/nashcon%2Bsaga%2B02.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Here my eight Sergeants crash into a unit of six Viking hearthguard...<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ux4HPdA1wiQ/VWrzZesR-FI/AAAAAAAADNs/wMOLIJKGkoE/s1600/nashcon%2Bsaga%2B03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ux4HPdA1wiQ/VWrzZesR-FI/AAAAAAAADNs/wMOLIJKGkoE/s400/nashcon%2Bsaga%2B03.jpg" width="225" /></a></div>
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And only one survivor per side...</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8xme_gDgy3E/VWrzZRqqRwI/AAAAAAAADM0/KE8cA-tu_D8/s1600/nashcon%2Bsaga%2B04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8xme_gDgy3E/VWrzZRqqRwI/AAAAAAAADM0/KE8cA-tu_D8/s320/nashcon%2Bsaga%2B04.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aVFP_4N7YtY/VWrzZveUUCI/AAAAAAAADM4/6v2bg2UUuUA/s1600/nashcon%2Bsaga%2B05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aVFP_4N7YtY/VWrzZveUUCI/AAAAAAAADM4/6v2bg2UUuUA/s320/nashcon%2Bsaga%2B05.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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The Normans took out the Viking warlord, buy my win was by just a few Victory points. My next match was against the Irish: </div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BYGg0tNhatc/VWrzZ7YFwSI/AAAAAAAADNA/Gp3fBfvMTgo/s1600/nashcon%2Bsaga%2B06.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="176" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BYGg0tNhatc/VWrzZ7YFwSI/AAAAAAAADNA/Gp3fBfvMTgo/s320/nashcon%2Bsaga%2B06.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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It was a real education in how to use a battleboard. MY opponent concentrated on making a single attack and stacking every possible effect into that attack. A single move wiped out entire units. </div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-R4qDYgTzDKE/VWrzaDA9rcI/AAAAAAAADNE/-AoadAK-5Ec/s1600/nashcon%2Bsaga%2B07.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-R4qDYgTzDKE/VWrzaDA9rcI/AAAAAAAADNE/-AoadAK-5Ec/s320/nashcon%2Bsaga%2B07.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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These last few shots are of my warlord and his four remaining sergeants on a glory bound suicide attack. The game had went on too long, with a battle of attrition going against me. Time to go out bold, I thought. </div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1AAfoqauvRs/VWrzY61USfI/AAAAAAAADMs/SpfCdDLPMlM/s1600/Nashcon%2Bsaga%2B08.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="153" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1AAfoqauvRs/VWrzY61USfI/AAAAAAAADMs/SpfCdDLPMlM/s320/Nashcon%2Bsaga%2B08.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Fq0b6szM1X4/VWrzaUbc3PI/AAAAAAAADNM/dMDQ2BEQRto/s1600/nashcon%2Bsaga%2B09.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Fq0b6szM1X4/VWrzaUbc3PI/AAAAAAAADNM/dMDQ2BEQRto/s320/nashcon%2Bsaga%2B09.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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And then the Irish warlord moves in, and of course through some strange mojo he places eight hits on me, or something like that... </div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YjJJpiyH5xQ/VWrzag97kSI/AAAAAAAADNU/2Mh4OUAjF8E/s1600/nashcpm%2Bsaga%2B09.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YjJJpiyH5xQ/VWrzag97kSI/AAAAAAAADNU/2Mh4OUAjF8E/s320/nashcpm%2Bsaga%2B09.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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The real highlight of the day was an afternoon match in Alamo game run by Doc McBride of Splintered Light miniatures from his own rule set, Bloody Dawn. The rule set was I played the Texans with two partners (pardners?). It was funny being told before we began that we would lose and be killed to a man. However, if we could take 600 Mexicans with us, that would satisfy the win conditions. </div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aOmp4vhK1Yw/VWrzoNkO0FI/AAAAAAAADN4/5CrH8fHDTRo/s1600/IMG_20150523_150209357.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aOmp4vhK1Yw/VWrzoNkO0FI/AAAAAAAADN4/5CrH8fHDTRo/s320/IMG_20150523_150209357.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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After a short learning session, we took assigned roles. I commanded the units at the main gate. Though in our game, most of the action took place at the North Wall. </div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-i-HlpoXr0VY/VWrzoO6W92I/AAAAAAAADN8/VKMSC2Ng3O0/s1600/IMG_20150523_152958452_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-i-HlpoXr0VY/VWrzoO6W92I/AAAAAAAADN8/VKMSC2Ng3O0/s320/IMG_20150523_152958452_HDR.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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The Mexican team thinks arranging the dice pool into a flag will help their luck. </div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1qm28m55Awo/VWrzosH1y6I/AAAAAAAADOE/5tzM50T0I7M/s1600/IMG_20150523_154236404_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="191" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1qm28m55Awo/VWrzosH1y6I/AAAAAAAADOE/5tzM50T0I7M/s320/IMG_20150523_154236404_HDR.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Mexican forces take the wall, but are quickly routed with some timely hits on "6" and the special damages that occur. </div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gCNsP7L5b7s/VWrzpdkP3mI/AAAAAAAADOU/0PY3yhIA3kI/s1600/IMG_20150523_163728008_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gCNsP7L5b7s/VWrzpdkP3mI/AAAAAAAADOU/0PY3yhIA3kI/s320/IMG_20150523_163728008_HDR.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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In the end, our Texans killed well over 600 before the enemy occupied the main plaza. "Remember the Alamo!" </div>
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This game was a first for me. Until now, I have never gamed anything in the 19th century, nor have I ever used 15mm. It is definitely something I might be more interested in doing - however the experience of playing with the rules author on a massive custom table would be hard to match on my own. Maybe that's what cons are for. </div>
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<a href="http://www.wargamevault.com/product/126192/Bloody-Dawn-The-Assault-On-The-Alamo" target="_blank">Bloody Dawn rules at Wargames Vault</a>.<br />
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<br />Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03839537946561685053noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6978069180878092186.post-84098839231826618042015-04-01T13:54:00.000-04:002015-04-01T15:52:06.062-04:00SAGA into Open Combat<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Apologies for going a whole month without blogging. I have done my share of gaming and painting in the past month, but kid's birthdays, school sports and a return to running nearly eliminated my blog time. On the positive side, I can now build up a reserve of posts for times when I am crunched for time. </span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-de49be39-75de-7f17-0c4f-a736a5a096a4" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SAGA is my usual go-to historical skirmish game, but Open Combat is increasingly filling a niche: a quicker game, fewer figures, or games with newer players (like my young son). SAGA is far quicker than most historical games, and its unit point system makes list building a matter of minutes.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On the other hand, Open Combat can be time consuming with its initial RPG-lite character creation, so I have been working on a few rules to convert SAGA figures into Open Combat. As an “open” system, Open Combat can handle any self-imposed rules players choose to create.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">First, to preserve SAGA’s units, the different quality troops will have assigned Fortitude and Renown points. These values will be apply across different factions. Warlords will not be assigned FOR points, as Warlords are meant to be more unique than other troops. </span></div>
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<tr style="height: 0px;"><td style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Warlord</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">30</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">-</span></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jkfjzvIT_nA/VRvGTk_U5KI/AAAAAAAADIU/CDczFCcgBRE/s1600/Norman%2BOC%2B01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jkfjzvIT_nA/VRvGTk_U5KI/AAAAAAAADIU/CDczFCcgBRE/s1600/Norman%2BOC%2B01.jpg" height="291" width="400" /></a></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<b>Norman Archer (Levy) </b><br />
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="margin-left: 0pt;">
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none;"><colgroup><col width="49"></col><col width="48"></col><col width="51"></col><col width="50"></col><col width="48"></col><col width="50"></col><col width="73"></col></colgroup><tbody>
<tr style="height: 20px;"><td style="background-color: #f1c232; border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SPD</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: #f1c232; border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ATK</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: #f1c232; border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">DEF</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: #f1c232; border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">FOR</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: #f1c232; border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">MIN</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: #f1c232; border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">WPN</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: #f1c232; border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Abilities</span></div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 40px;"><td style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Bow</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Aim</span></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<br />
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For Warriors, the points go up by 6, giving them a Renown of 18.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-c1AZi2ep9Aw/VRvGTsu-3AI/AAAAAAAADII/FXEyt1bEn-0/s1600/Norman%2BOC%2B02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-c1AZi2ep9Aw/VRvGTsu-3AI/AAAAAAAADII/FXEyt1bEn-0/s1600/Norman%2BOC%2B02.jpg" height="293" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<b>Norman Spearman (warrior)</b><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span id="docs-internal-guid-de49be39-7601-3ff2-4d27-a97fafa3cb34"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="margin-left: 0pt;">
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none;"><colgroup><col width="49"></col><col width="48"></col><col width="51"></col><col width="50"></col><col width="48"></col><col width="101"></col><col width="176"></col></colgroup><tbody>
<tr style="height: 20px;"><td style="background-color: #f1c232; border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SPD</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: #f1c232; border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ATK</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: #f1c232; border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">DEF</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: #f1c232; border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">FOR</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: #f1c232; border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">MIN</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: #f1c232; border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">WPN</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: #f1c232; border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Abilities</span></div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 40px;"><td style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Spear, Shield</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Resolute, Shield Bash</span></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Warrior with a crossbow makes a formidable Dark Ages sniper: </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Norman Crossbow (warrior)</b></span></div>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="margin-left: 0pt;">
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none;"><colgroup><col width="49"></col><col width="48"></col><col width="51"></col><col width="50"></col><col width="48"></col><col width="101"></col><col width="119"></col></colgroup><tbody>
<tr style="height: 20px;"><td style="background-color: #f1c232; border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SPD</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: #f1c232; border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ATK</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: #f1c232; border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">DEF</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: #f1c232; border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">FOR</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: #f1c232; border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">MIN</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: #f1c232; border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">WPN</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: #f1c232; border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Abilities</span></div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 40px;"><td style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">4</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">4</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Crossbow</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Marksman, Aim</span></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The classic Norman troop is the mounted cavalryman. The Warlord, center, is flanked by two knights. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LD9EKo71pkc/VRvGTqxK3oI/AAAAAAAADIE/8FwWDKzXQGk/s1600/Norman%2BOC%2B03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LD9EKo71pkc/VRvGTqxK3oI/AAAAAAAADIE/8FwWDKzXQGk/s1600/Norman%2BOC%2B03.jpg" height="272" width="400" /></a></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<b>Norman Knights</b><br />
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<br /></div>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-de49be39-7609-5634-55c6-f4c409dbd010"></span><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="margin-left: 0pt;">
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none;"><colgroup><col width="49"></col><col width="48"></col><col width="51"></col><col width="50"></col><col width="48"></col><col width="101"></col><col width="128"></col></colgroup><tbody>
<tr style="height: 20px;"><td style="background-color: #f1c232; border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SPD</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: #f1c232; border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ATK</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: #f1c232; border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">DEF</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: #f1c232; border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">FOR</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: #f1c232; border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">MIN</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: #f1c232; border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">WPN</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: #f1c232; border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Abilities</span></div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 40px;"><td style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">7</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">4</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">4</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">4</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lance, Shield</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Furious Assault</span></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-de49be39-7609-5634-55c6-f4c409dbd010">
</span>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Warlord </b></span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-de49be39-760d-70e0-cb37-63d4551500f1" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="margin-left: 0pt;">
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none;"><colgroup><col width="49"></col><col width="48"></col><col width="51"></col><col width="50"></col><col width="48"></col><col width="109"></col><col width="235"></col></colgroup><tbody>
<tr style="height: 20px;"><td style="background-color: #f1c232; border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SPD</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: #f1c232; border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ATK</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: #f1c232; border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">DEF</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: #f1c232; border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">FOR</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: #f1c232; border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">MIN</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: #f1c232; border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">WPN</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: #f1c232; border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Abilities</span></div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 40px;"><td style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">8</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">5</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">4</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">5</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sword, Shield</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Furious Assault, Inspire, Intimidate</span></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br />
To set your points for a match, begin with 30 for the Warlord, and add multiples of 24 to make purchasing easier. The warband above is worth 198 points; 30 for the Warlord, 48 for four levy, 72 for four warriors and 48 for two knights. Finally, this is not meant to go against the <i>ethos </i>of Open Combat or "fix" it, but more as a way to show its adaptability to a variety of settings. <br />
<br />
Up next, creating some foes for the Normans.<br />
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<br />
<br />
<br />Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03839537946561685053noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6978069180878092186.post-67708938718364872552015-02-25T08:08:00.002-05:002015-02-25T08:11:35.083-05:00A Horse is a Horse Last year, I purchased a shedload of Essex Arab and Tang Chinese figures from a webstore that was closing down. A number of them were cavalry and unfortunately they were riders only - no horses. But at well under a dollar for a 28mm figure, I couldn't pass it up. However, finding compatible horses has been a bit of a quest, but I like the hunt. Essex's would of course be perfect, but after rather high shipping costs and currency exchange, I was looking at about a $4 horse. Wanting to keep costs low, I looked at a variety of plastic sources.<br />
<br />
HaT is a manufacturer of mostly 1/72 soft plastic figures. I have a Macedonian and Persian army from them. They are good figures, but no one seems to game ancients in that scale - it is either 15mm or 25/28mm. <br />
<br />
HaT must have recognized this and has begun putting out a line of 28mm El Cid era figures. They still do not seem to have much of a grasp of the wargame market as their figures are upscaled from their 1/72 line. Details like chainmail and faces are indistinct compared to any other plastic 28mm products on the market. Most striking though, are the proportions. The HaT figures are more accurate, with a figure about 7 heads tall, whereas most 28mm figures run 5 or 6 heads tall. This can make HaT's visually incompatible side by side - if that matters. Because all I wanted were the horses, which don't seem to suffer from scaling issues, I bought a box:<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lrwyKqoUaXw/VOs9LE7vDHI/AAAAAAAADCI/uSXSz8mMBqw/s1600/hat%2Bcav.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lrwyKqoUaXw/VOs9LE7vDHI/AAAAAAAADCI/uSXSz8mMBqw/s1600/hat%2Bcav.jpg" height="400" width="298" /></a></div>
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Three identical sprues come in a box. The horses and riders are single piece models, in a hard, slightly glossy plastic. The horses are good, the riders are the weak point. </div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7XqkbmgCQr4/VO1Phlb09II/AAAAAAAADDc/a7oNa-B8tI8/s1600/HaT%2Bsprue.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7XqkbmgCQr4/VO1Phlb09II/AAAAAAAADDc/a7oNa-B8tI8/s1600/HaT%2Bsprue.jpg" height="400" width="293" /></a></div>
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On the other hand, they are inexpensive. I can get a pack for under $16 at a "big box" hobby store, or pay a little more via the internet. That's a decent price for 12 plastic 28mm figures - but are they worth it in terms of quality?<br />
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Below, here are some of the Essex heavy cavalry mounted on HaT horses. All it took was a little shaving of the saddle and some file work on the rider.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ym-f_6nqhec/VO04061SPWI/AAAAAAAADCY/Rx1KKIDBXE8/s1600/hat%2Barabs%2B02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ym-f_6nqhec/VO04061SPWI/AAAAAAAADCY/Rx1KKIDBXE8/s1600/hat%2Barabs%2B02.jpg" height="320" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Essex Arabs on HaT horses.</td></tr>
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I was tempted to work on a unit using the included figures. I clipped off the original heads and glued a spare head from the Gripping Beast plastic Arab box. Since the head is what are eyes are most drawn to, this conversion goes a long way to make these figures compatible with other 28mm lines. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rTT210-Z9V0/VO05Bv_lKaI/AAAAAAAADCg/RLo3FOR1D6Y/s1600/hat%2Barabs%2B01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rTT210-Z9V0/VO05Bv_lKaI/AAAAAAAADCg/RLo3FOR1D6Y/s1600/hat%2Barabs%2B01.jpg" height="275" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">HaT Arabs with Gripping Beast heads</td></tr>
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Below, a comparison of the converted HaT to similar models. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EluCaxBa45g/VO05PZg3T0I/AAAAAAAADCw/FET58AqOcFU/s1600/hat%2Barabs%2B03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EluCaxBa45g/VO05PZg3T0I/AAAAAAAADCw/FET58AqOcFU/s1600/hat%2Barabs%2B03.jpg" height="293" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;">From left to right, Old Glory, the converted HaT, Gripping Beast and Artizan. </span></td></tr>
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The same horses for my Tang China cavalry<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-u75V8Ae9Q-0/VO1RYHJ6JEI/AAAAAAAADDo/fXTUjlebnSg/s1600/tang%2Bheavy%2B02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-u75V8Ae9Q-0/VO1RYHJ6JEI/AAAAAAAADDo/fXTUjlebnSg/s1600/tang%2Bheavy%2B02.jpg" height="278" width="400" /></a></div>
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Overall, the HaT's are a good, but not ideal way to supplement your early Arab or Moor army. In light of the recent announcement from Gripping Beast that plastic Arab cavalry is coming in April, I am afraid these might not be so useful after all.<br />
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<br />Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03839537946561685053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6978069180878092186.post-10220849939664681152015-02-10T12:21:00.000-05:002015-02-10T12:24:52.842-05:00February Painting Update - Finns, Irish and Scots No historical content this week, but a few pictures of my painting efforts these past couple of weeks.<br />
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More Dark Age Finns, this time some Black Tree Design unarmored Bondi:<br />
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Also from Black Tree, some skirmishers with Javelin. I kept them nondescript enough to use anywhere from the Byzantines to Ireland. </div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PTUJ5Ic871M/VNmIGb2WqmI/AAAAAAAADBE/Gf_Os6b0T-8/s1600/scot%2Bjav%2B01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PTUJ5Ic871M/VNmIGb2WqmI/AAAAAAAADBE/Gf_Os6b0T-8/s1600/scot%2Bjav%2B01.jpg" height="451" width="640" /></a></div>
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Four Irish mounted fianna from Gripping Beast: </div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sGG-H0G4g3k/VNmIGXI5YWI/AAAAAAAADBM/HFJXtuhuKo0/s1600/irish%2Bcav%2B01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sGG-H0G4g3k/VNmIGXI5YWI/AAAAAAAADBM/HFJXtuhuKo0/s1600/irish%2Bcav%2B01.jpg" height="411" width="640" /></a></div>
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Finally, mounted Scot warriors from Crusader Miniatures: </div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xYwBqbBr1As/VNmIGqZBLiI/AAAAAAAADBQ/_njakFGYSbo/s1600/scot%2Blt%2Bcav%2B01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xYwBqbBr1As/VNmIGqZBLiI/AAAAAAAADBQ/_njakFGYSbo/s1600/scot%2Blt%2Bcav%2B01.jpg" height="440" width="640" /></a></div>
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Surprisingly, these were my only disappointment. Usually, Crusader is my favorite manufacturer, but these were a bit of a let down. Part of is my fault for mistakenly ordering the wrong pack (I wanted the Thegns with chain mail) but I was also a bit disappointed in the casting quality. The horses were fine, but the men had excessive flash, and the faces are "muddied." </div>
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<br />Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03839537946561685053noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6978069180878092186.post-44737755974480232432015-01-26T13:12:00.000-05:002015-01-26T13:12:02.134-05:00Open Combat - Finns v. Vikings AAR<br />
This weekend's game was another delve into Open Combat using the Dark Age Finns I put together last week.<br />
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The scenario was Capture from page 43 of the rules. Two rival raiders, Finns and Vikings, both fall upon the same village at the same time. The winner is whoever can get out with the most plunder. Livestock, pigs, sheep and reindeer were considered neutral or submissive, and the two villagers and the dog were hostile. My opponent took the Finns who approached from the "north" end of the table, and my Vikings from the lower side.<br />
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Below, a Finn target a villager. As a hostile, she attacks and scores a 6 on a mental attack and escaped. <br />
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My Vikings close in on the reindeer, who conveniently move towards them on their randomly generated moves. </div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fwj2iSnIqoU/VMOg1r157hI/AAAAAAAADAo/zRN_2HFzbqk/s1600/open%2Bcombat%2Bfinns%2B05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fwj2iSnIqoU/VMOg1r157hI/AAAAAAAADAo/zRN_2HFzbqk/s1600/open%2Bcombat%2Bfinns%2B05.jpg" height="238" width="320" /></a></div>
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My Viking makes it off the table with his prize, a lady who is not that happy with her situation.<br />
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Fighting over the sheep in the pen.</div>
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The Finn, with the Nimble perk, jumps the fence, avoids a Free Attack runs off with a sheep. My archer tags him, but he still has enough Fortitude to get out.<br />
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The plundered village: </div>
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Final score, Finns 10, Vikings 6. </div>
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Open Combat's initial draw is the flexibility of force creation. There are no approved lists; characters can be as fast or strong as the points you are willing to pay. My opponent and I also stumbled onto another element that added to the fun when we kept our character's scores secret until combat began. In most all games, each player can know the opponent's strengths and weaknesses by knowing the lists. But in Open Combat, the exact power of each model can vary, giving one the opportunity to bluff and feint. Obviously some trust in your opponent is required, but we're all gentlemen here.<br />
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The interaction with the terrain and objects may be the next best feature of this rule system. Figures are a part of their environment, and the terrain can be much more dynamic than usual. Every tree, fence and barrel can become part of the action. <br />
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Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03839537946561685053noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6978069180878092186.post-2235296355437816272015-01-20T12:28:00.004-05:002015-01-20T12:28:53.983-05:00Viking Age Finns The Vikings are at the heart of my interest in the Dark Ages and wargaming. After years of reading and study, I continue to find new facets to the Viking story. One area often overshadowed in comparison to the stories of Western Europe is the Eastern Baltic.<br />
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The Baltic Finns, Estonians and Karelians are a related group of peoples speaking a Uralic language, somewhat related to Hungarian. In the Viking Age, their cold and marshy lands marked the first leg of the journey eastward to the Dnieper .<br />
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Viking goods and burial sites begin showing up in the Lake Ladoga region in the ninth century. This might indicate a pattern of Viking settlement in the region, as they set up semi-permanent bases on the road to Constantinople. The artifacts might also indicate that the Finns and Karelians traded with the Vikings and also adopted some aspects of their culture. <br />
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A significant Finnish element to the Viking Age might be the naming of the Rus. The Finn word for Swede, Ruotsi, may have stuck to the Eastern Vikings as they blended into the people later called the Rus. There is not a great deal written about the interaction between the Finns and the early Vikings, and even less is available in English. The story of the Vikings in the west is shaped largely by its raids on targets containing literate monks and by the later Icelandic Sagas. There is no comparable preservation of early Viking encounters in Finland and the Baltic. It can be surmised that the Finns were a frequent target for slave raids, but this decreased in frequency as the Vikings traded and mixed with the Baltic peoples. <br />
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This early twentieth century Russian painting served as my primary visual inspiration for painting up some Viking Age Finns. Pinterest is also a good source of recreations of Finnish folk clothing from the Viking era, although much of the work is focused on female dress.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Invitation of the Varangians, by Viktor Vasnetsov, 1909.</td></tr>
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These Crusader Bondi archers are unarmored and some are beardless which fits in well with some of the presentations of Baltic Finns and Karelians. In the photo below, the figures on the far right were given a fur hat and cloak using a bit of green stuff.<br />
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While a full faction of Finns is not really something I plan to pursue, I can see them fitting into a Rus warband in SAGA. However, as I dig into Open Combat, I find that it is a great system to do small custom warbands as I explore some of the more obscure recesses of the early Medieval period.</div>
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Here is a quick stat box for the eight figure shown above:</div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 9.0pt;">NAME</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 9.0pt;">SPD</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 9.0pt;">ATK</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 9.0pt;">DEF</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 9.0pt;">FOR</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 9.0pt;">MIN</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 9.0pt;">WEAPO NS</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 9.0pt;">SPC</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 9.0pt;">RENOWN</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">Leader</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">5</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">6</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">6</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">5</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">6</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">Bow, Sword</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">Inspire, Intimidate, </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">30 pts</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">Hunters(x7)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">5</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">4</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">4</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">4</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">3</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">Bow, Dagger</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">Aim, Surefooted</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">24 ea.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">Breakpoint</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">26</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">Total
Renown </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">32 + 168 = 200 </span></div>
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This small band will make a raid on Viking settlement in an upcoming game, after I finish some longhouses - the subject of my next update.Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03839537946561685053noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6978069180878092186.post-45092675942794587082014-12-18T22:01:00.001-05:002014-12-18T22:02:34.171-05:00Norse Gaels: Vikings in IrelandThe story of the Vikings in Ireland is a fascinating part of their history, but one that is not as often told as their role in England, Iceland and the New World. Even Irish national histories minimize the effect of the Norse in their country. The Vikings deserve a great deal of credit for hastening the trend towards centralization and urbanization in Ireland.<br />
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Unlike England, the Vikings in Ireland were never present in such numbers as to effectively colonize and conquer large swaths of the country. Instead, they built coastal settlements and focused on raiding and trading. From these bases in the late ninth century, the Vikings formed alliances and fought alongside one Irish kingdom against another. These alliances shifted but could be strengthened through inter-marriage. Most famously, in 999 AD the Irish High King Brian Boru was married to Gormflaith, an Irish princess who was the mother of Sigtrygg Silkbeard, the Norse king of Dublin, from her previous marriage to Olaf. Sigtrygg was then married to Slaine, one of Brian's daughters. These Hiberno-Norse (or alternately, Norse Gaels) faded from significance after the Battle of Clontarf in 1014, though Sigtrygg held on to Dublin until 1036. <br />
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For SAGA, the Norse Gael faction is a mix of the Vikings and the Irish, leaning a bit towards the Irish. The Norse-Gaels are fairly "shooty." The Levy and the Warriors are both javelin throwers. Alternately, warriors and hearthguard can be armed with Dane Axes. They cannot be mounted as the Irish can, but on the whole, their defensive values are a bit better. Furthermore, their "gimmick" is the Challenge, in which significant combat bonuses can be achieved - if luck is on your side.<br />
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From some of my many unassembled Wargames Factory sprues, I threw together a few dedicated Norse-Gaels. The first unit of warriors below is kit-bashed from several sets to achieve a mixed Viking-Irish look. <br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-egoGUEaj5r0/VIjwVUZpOwI/AAAAAAAAC8w/SBxqIpq0pQA/s1600/norse%2Bgaels%2B01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-egoGUEaj5r0/VIjwVUZpOwI/AAAAAAAAC8w/SBxqIpq0pQA/s1600/norse%2Bgaels%2B01.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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Norse-Gael Warriors with double-handed axes below. The unit leader in front does not have a double handed axe, he has an axe in each hand. He was inspired by Floki from History Channel's Vikings - which is perhaps the only thing left worth watching on that channel. </div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-c3YBlGmUWpE/VIjwVKYjDqI/AAAAAAAAC8s/sYQVlngiRys/s1600/norse%2Bgaels%2B02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-c3YBlGmUWpE/VIjwVKYjDqI/AAAAAAAAC8s/sYQVlngiRys/s1600/norse%2Bgaels%2B02.jpg" height="411" width="640" /></a></div>
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A six point Norse Gael warband below. If all goes well, this will be my army at my next tournament. </div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IkksF8r00l0/VJOUUUtNScI/AAAAAAAAC9U/9-3VI2p8drw/s1600/norse%2Bgaels%2Bgroup%2B02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IkksF8r00l0/VJOUUUtNScI/AAAAAAAAC9U/9-3VI2p8drw/s1600/norse%2Bgaels%2Bgroup%2B02.jpg" height="344" width="640" /></a></div>
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<br />Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03839537946561685053noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6978069180878092186.post-84519827642018469762014-12-08T22:34:00.000-05:002014-12-08T22:34:24.685-05:00Irish Warband from West WindThe Irish have been my preferred SAGA warband lately for reasons of both game style and familial lineage. While most of my figures have been from Crusader Miniatures, I picked up an army pack of twenty from West Wind on a sale a few weeks age. <br />
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West Wind's Irish warband is, judging from the rest of their offerings, aimed at the early Dark Ages or Age of Arthur. Nonetheless, it is not too much of a stretch to use these for the era of Viking invasions in Ireland, especially in the ninth century.<br />
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Below, a group shot of all twenty. For a paint scheme, I stuck with a limited palette. The shields were all red and white and I worked on plenty of variations of Celtic crosses, some historical and some improvised in that style. <br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vPwyY4zzOYw/VIUT5p710MI/AAAAAAAAC8E/FXBz3du3uPM/s1600/west%2Bwind%2Birish%2B01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vPwyY4zzOYw/VIUT5p710MI/AAAAAAAAC8E/FXBz3du3uPM/s1600/west%2Bwind%2Birish%2B01.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
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The rank troops are for spear or javelin (unsupplied) and come in four different poses. Hands will need to be drilled out in order to fit the weapon. Heads are separately cast, and there are 10 variations. Shields are separate as well (except for the musician). </div>
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There are also four unique figures in the set. Two are warriors with short swords, which are cast-on and not separate. For a SAGA warband, these can serve as your Curaidh. </div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sW4tcWsah1Y/VIUT6XMsaYI/AAAAAAAAC8c/WzO8iWsite0/s1600/west%2Bwind%2Birish%2B03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sW4tcWsah1Y/VIUT6XMsaYI/AAAAAAAAC8c/WzO8iWsite0/s1600/west%2Bwind%2Birish%2B03.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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The other two unique figures are a command character with a banner and a musician. The rough and improvised banner is the detail that most distinctly places these figures in the pre-Viking age. Using a separate staff and Viking-era banner is easy, but the metal-cast banner is nicely sculpted and unique among my collection. I went with it. </div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-f3AdwfbDQGc/VIUT6DJ9InI/AAAAAAAAC8I/gOqFU1r5IIE/s1600/west%2Bwind%2Birish%2B02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-f3AdwfbDQGc/VIUT6DJ9InI/AAAAAAAAC8I/gOqFU1r5IIE/s1600/west%2Bwind%2Birish%2B02.jpg" height="346" width="400" /></a></div>
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These are good figures but do require a bit of prep work. Drilling the spear holes is a plus for long term stability, but it is an extra task. Casting quality is good, but some cleanup of jagged areas is necessary. The neck pocket will also need to be opened up a bit on most of the figures in order to get the head to glue in properly. That is a small price to pay for having some customizeable options. </div>
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For SAGA, these twenty figures give you two points of warriors, a half a point of Hearthguard (Curaidhs) and a Warlord. One would need at least 12-20 more figures to get a complete six point warband out of this box, so this could best serve as an expansion to an existing army in that game. </div>
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<br />Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03839537946561685053noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6978069180878092186.post-81097917116473933952014-11-19T15:24:00.001-05:002014-11-20T13:33:58.462-05:00Open Combat by Carl Brown Apologies to all for dropping off the blog for a while. Work, family and church has kept me incredibly busy of late, and I can't promise that my pace will pick up anytime soon. I do have a number of new painted figures to post, as soon as I have time to take some pictures. In the meantime, here is a review (of sorts) for a new game I picked up and played recently. <br />
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Open Combat by Carl Brown is a new miniature rule system released through his website and company <a href="http://www.seconthunder.com/" target="_blank">Second Thunder</a>. Having heard about the game from a couple of my favorite podcasts, <a href="http://meeples.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Meeples and Miniatures</a> and Fool's Daily, I decided to pick it up. On the face of it, the game system is flexible for ancient, medieval or fantasy gaming with a limited number of models per side. It is easily customized to fit any miniature, and it promises to be quick to set up and quick to play. <br />
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What is perhaps the most unique aspect of the game, one that sets it apart from other miniature wargames, is the creation of your army list or warband. Warbands are based on a point system ("renown") and can be set at various levels for desired length of play and size of the warband. One hundred points will get you a small force with some average to good characteristics. Points are assigned to each individual model for five basic statistics - Speed, Attack, Defense, Fortitude and Mind. Weapons and special abilities (Aim, Inspiration, etc.) add points as well.<br />
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The mechanic for combat is based on adding up modifiers to the character's attack value, such as cover, high ground and so forth. The number of points greater than the defender's total (if any) determines the amount of dice the attacker rolls, with a maximum of three. The attacker takes the best value, and this should give him a greater chance of scoring a hit. There is no save roll if a model is hit, this is built into the modifiers and the fortitude (i.e. "hit points"). This makes for a quick resolution of combat. <br />
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Initially, I was a bit perplexed by the lack of lists or standards? What is the typical defense value for a Viking in chain mail? What sort of attack would a Roman legionnaire have? And, if we're getting into fantasy, what about a goblin, an orc or a werewolf?<br />
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Lest you think the lack of lists can be attributed to the authoer's laziness or inattentiveness, it was purely intentional and it may be the key selling point of the game. In a true skirmish game, each miniature is an individual and all individuals are distinct. Not all Vikings were equally tough. A quick but naked Celt could have a defense of 6 and a clumsy Roman in armor might have a defense of 3 if you so choose. This gives you the freedom to create a warband with a few powerful heroes or a swarming mob, or somewhere in between. You could even create a warband made of a single god-like character (25 attack! 25 defense!) but the rules system naturally limits such pointless overpowering. No matter how high your attack, you still roll only three dice and pick the best, and no matter how high you defense, your opponent still gets to roll a single die. Regular players of the game should find an equilibrium based on their style of play. <br />
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For my initial game, I decided to test out character creation and put some Skraelings up against Vikings. The Skraelings were initially for SAGA, but I never had a great desire to play their battleboard. Loved the figures, so now I can play the Indians as I envisioned them. The Vikings were led by an 11 year old son of a friend, a Boy Scout with an deep interest in history - definitely a future war gamer.<br />
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The Indians are low on defense and fortitude, but I spent points on Speed, Aim and Nimbleness. Run and Gun! </div>
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Above, the Vikings advance to the tree line. </div>
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Initiative is the usual IGYG system, but rolling a "1" during combat ends your turn. The does bear some similarities to the Song of Blades and Heroes iterations, in that a poor roll ends your turn before all the models have moved. </div>
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Position matters in Open Combat. This Viking about to get shot in the back will only be able to apply half of his Defense value. </div>
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Above, the Jarl successfully defends against a Brave attacking from the high ground and then pushes them back, He has taken some damage, however and...<br />
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another Brave activates and takes him out. </div>
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With their Jarl slain, the Vikings reach the breaking point on their renown, and the game is called in favor of the Skraelings. Total game time is under an hour, not bad for two players, one completely new to miniature wargaming. </div>
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Open Combat definitely fills a niche in my gaming habit. The DIY nature of warband construction allows me to field some figures and forces the way I think they should be played, all within a balanced game mechanic. It is quick to learn, and quick to teach, but not at all oversimplified. </div>
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Currently, it is only available as a PDF from his website, though a published edition may be down the road if the game catches on. I hope it is because Carl Brown is very supportive of his product through forums and outreach. </div>
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Update: Apologies to Carl BROWN for originally listing his name as Brand. Not sure who I can blame for that, but if I find the culprit I'll be sure to identify him!</div>
<br />Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03839537946561685053noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6978069180878092186.post-16083673339196881772014-10-21T13:09:00.000-04:002014-10-21T13:09:58.534-04:00My Vikings are bigger than your VikingsOn my last post about Black Tree Design Vikings, there were some comments and questions about their relative size and scale, specifically the fur clad Vikings. <br />
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The photo below is a sampling of my various BTD Vikings. Even without drawing a reference line, the bald guy with the axe is noticeably (but not excessively) taller than the rest of the warriors. The archers were, I think, the slightest of all the BTD Vikings. <br />
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Vikings are perhaps the most ubiquitous ancient/medieval range of miniatures. They offer a lot of reward for collectors who like variation in their painting routine. Plus, they can often do double duty in fantasy gaming. That may explain why there are so many Viking manufacturers out there. </div>
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Here is a size comparison of the BTD Vikings with some other popular manufacturers. From left to right: Gripping Beast plastic hirdman, Gripping Beast metal (?), BTD and Crusader hirdman, Again, the barbarian Viking comes out the tallest. </div>
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On the last big Black Tree sale, I also purchased a few packs of Dark Age/Viking villagers. Below, a group of Viking elders (DA1011). It offers a nice social cross section, from a poor thrall to a well off village elder. The wealthy beardless gent on the right would make a more than passable Njal from the great Icelandic Saga. <br />
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The pack (DA1070) shown below is the only one to offer a female figure, and it was out of stock for quite awhile. Apparently, a mold was lost, but it is now available. </div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1XVzPNPULfo/VETbDU9oZAI/AAAAAAAAC3o/GaQDaYHAXjQ/s1600/btd%2Bvikings%2B05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1XVzPNPULfo/VETbDU9oZAI/AAAAAAAAC3o/GaQDaYHAXjQ/s1600/btd%2Bvikings%2B05.jpg" height="430" width="640" /></a></div>
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Finally, mixed pics from a couple of other packs that I have multiple copies. Useful for populating your village with artisans and workers. <br />
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<br />Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03839537946561685053noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6978069180878092186.post-6980845987981192472014-10-10T08:51:00.002-04:002014-10-10T08:52:43.497-04:00Vikings from Black Tree <br />
This past summer, Black Tree Designs had one of their massive 50% off sales. I hardly needed anymore Vikings (as if "need" is a word any wargamers ever needs to utter) but I really liked the look of some of their packs.<br />
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I've been rereading some of the Icelandic Sagas lately and these Vikings seem to fit into the aesthetic of those tales. Survival was more precarious in Iceland, and minor transgressions could be a cause for murder. With their furs and axes, these Vikings seem more like men out to settle a feud rather than hop on a longship.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-t31o9GicObE/VDVYi_KSCEI/AAAAAAAAC2c/VDDgKCY8mqY/s1600/btd%2Bvikings%2B01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-t31o9GicObE/VDVYi_KSCEI/AAAAAAAAC2c/VDDgKCY8mqY/s1600/btd%2Bvikings%2B01.jpg" height="392" width="640" /></a></div>
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DA1105</div>
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The unit below will be fielded as Norse-Gael hearthguard in SAGA, which I hope to focus on in the future. Their Challenge mechanic is interesting, but I've not played them enough to make the most of that faction's abilities. </div>
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I also purchased three packs of the Viking villager packs that should be finished soon.</div>
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<b>Reading Recommendations</b></div>
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Any of the Viking Sagas are recommended. On one hand, many can be tough to read, for they contain genealogical lists and side stories that are tangent to the narrative. Overall though, the sagas are a fascinating look the social values of the Norse people in the dark ages - as viewed through the lens of the thirteenth century Christians who wrote down the sagas. Two of the best (and most violent) are Egil's Saga and Njal's Saga. </div>
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I have previously recommended <i>Finn Gall</i> by James Nelson . The second book in that series <i>Dubh-linn</i> continues the story of Thorgrim, a dour Viking and his son Harald. Tired of raiding, Thorgrim is stuck in Ireland without a way home and becomes caught once again between Vikings jarls and Irish kings and princesses. The books bear some resemblance to George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series with its multiple POV characters and political machinations for control of a throne. However, Nelson's books are fast moving and efficiently-told tales that have come out twice in two years. Sorry, George.</div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Dubh-linn-Novel-Viking-Ireland-Norsemen-ebook/dp/B00KDRZ2O4/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1412943675&sr=1-1&keywords=james+nelson" target="_blank">Dubh-linn at Amazon</a></div>
Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03839537946561685053noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6978069180878092186.post-54444499063683075002014-10-06T19:39:00.000-04:002014-10-06T19:39:36.826-04:00The Khitans in SAGAI've seen the Steppe Tribes faction do some pretty nasty stuff in SAGA and have been thinking it would be fun to give them a try. Where to begin, though? "Steppe Nomad" is very broad and nonspecific compared to, say "Norman" or "Welsh."<br />
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Nonetheless, warfare in late Antiquity and early medieval was similar across the Eurasian plains. It's just a matter of picking which variety of horse warrior you prefer or can find.<br />
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As it turned out, I came across a sizeable number of Khitan, Chinese and Tibetan figures on closeout this summer. Here is the first completed set from that purchase.<br />
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<b>The Warlord</b> - This Khitan commander with his falcon is a really nice sculpt. Hunting birds should be seen more in character minis, given their popularity in both Europe and Asia.<br />
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The banner was lifted from the Osprey book on Medieval Chinese Armies. Steppe armies, both pre and post Mongol era used color names for the divisions of their armies.<br />
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<b>Hearthguard </b>- The Noble Cavalry shown here here are heavy cataphracts. The Khitan's control of northern Chinese towns gave them access to artisans and markets. With this, their weaponry and armor was of better quality than most steppe armies.</div>
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<b>Warriors</b> -or Ordo, were free warriors who served for honor, status and plunder. They were expected to provide their own horses and weaponry. </div>
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Here are 3 points of light horse I've posted before. They are a mix of Khitan and Jurchen warriors from Essex.</div>
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<b>Levy </b>- for the Khitans, skirmishing troops were drawn from tribal archers to Chinese and other conscripts. </div>
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These six representative archer figures are a mix of Khitan, Chinese and Tibetan ranges.</div>
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<b>Far East SAGA</b><br />
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This is the first of three Asian forces I'm putting together for SAGA. No custom battle boards this time, because I will use existing battle boards that are most analagous. The Khitans will obviously use the Steppe Tribes board, and I have some ideas about China and Tibet. The goal is the end of the year.<br />
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Later this week, more Vikings!<br />
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<br />Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03839537946561685053noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6978069180878092186.post-302382790585394992014-09-27T16:46:00.000-04:002014-09-29T14:12:29.845-04:00Anglo-SaxonsThe Gripping Beast plastics are a fantastic product, and I have purchased at least one box of all of their releases. However, the Saxons were one that never caught on for me. Originally purchased for some Viking and Saxon matchups inspired by Bernard Cornwell's Uhtred series, I assembled the Saxon Thegns, but never got around to painting them. Other new shiny things caught my eye and a couple of years passed by.<br />
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As a firm believer in delayed gratification, I thought I would attack the Lead and Plastic mountain from the direction of items that had been in it the longest, rather than recent or more desirable projects. So pulled them out last week and got to work.<br />
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After painting up a unit of 10 (SAGA's magic number for Saxons), I based them on 25mm round bases from Proxie Models. Then I hot glued the figure, and filled the lipped base with some PVA glue:<br />
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I then added some bits of rock leftover from a Woodland Scenic kit:</div>
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After drying, I add bits of moss (green foam) and grass clumps. </div>
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Now only 30 more to go...</div>
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I have no real plans to ever play the Anglo-Saxon board in SAGA nor do I have the time or money to build a Hail Caesar size army so maybe they will end up for sale. I might interested in seeing what is the going rate for some painted minis on eBay or TMP. </div>
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<br />Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03839537946561685053noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6978069180878092186.post-6338922321483537932014-09-18T14:20:00.001-04:002014-09-18T14:27:26.218-04:00Product Review: Proxie Model Bases<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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Miniature bases are not something that I will make a fuss about. I have bought plastics from various manufacturers, wood discs from craft stores and of course, metal washers. Plastic is my preference but if it is 30mm round or 25mm square, it will probably do. Occasionally however, the search for bases leads to a genuinely cool find. </div>
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I stumbled across Proxie Models on eBay, but their webstore is just as good and probably better for the company's return on the dollar. The bases themselves are black and with a slight textured surface. That possibly helps material adhere better to the plastic, or it may just look good. A $4.50 package contains four sprues of eight bases. Added bonus - the round center sprue makes a good stump or log for terrain builders. </div>
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The bases have a slight lip, which is convenient if you are adding some kind of basing material. I like a mixture of fine sand, latex caulk and paint. The base edge creates a nice border which holds the material better than a flat base. </div>
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Their products are made in the USA and shipping speed is excellent. I have placed two orders with them so far, and my bases arrived in less than a week. They also have some 28mm modern/futuristic terrain, including a pre-fab building that makes me want to play Fallout 3 with miniatures. </div>
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<a href="http://www.proxiemodels.com/" target="_blank">Proxie Models</a> </div>
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<br />Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03839537946561685053noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6978069180878092186.post-68826611267914412002014-09-14T16:39:00.004-04:002014-09-16T21:37:28.728-04:00SAGA Tournament Sept 13 <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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We do have game stores in small towns of Georgia, though they tend to focus on Magic and other CCGs. I am starting to see some X-Wing in local stores, but if the miniatures are pre-painted, aren't I losing half the fun?<br />
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<a href="http://www.giga-bitescafe.com/" target="_blank">Gigabytes</a>, my favorite game store in the Atlanta area, is a great place to visit when I can get away and look for an authentic game store experience. The store supports a wide variety of sci-fi, fantasy and historical games and they have a new, larger location. Yesterday (Sept 13), the store was the location for a SAGA tournament and so me and another local player made the trip down the interstate to the big city. It was a great day all around, largely because of the expertise of Richard, the tournament organizer and the other players, all a great bunch of gamers. <br />
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I had been playing the Irish a lot lately, and I felt like I had a good feel for what they could do.<br />
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<b>Game One - Clash of Warlords</b><br />
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Here I played against Vikings. We chose terrain according to bid system in the basic rules and I went for maximum, with four being the result.<br />
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I made the most of the terrain throughout the match. Most of my SAGA dice were spent on Sons of Dana (a free shooting) and blocking the opponent with Heirs of Mil (which prevent units from approaching a unit if it is S away). If I had to stand and fight, I tried to make sure I could use Sidh on them.<br />
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On turn six, I was probably leading in victory points, and so the opposing warlord took a risk and attacked...but the dogs won.</div>
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If this had gone the other way, I did have a unit of hearthguard in reserve that could have double activated and hit the warlord - but as it turned out I was far enough ahead in points to win. In addition to my warlord and two curadhs surviving, a whole unit or warriors and hearthguard survived untouched. </div>
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My opponent in this match was Henry at <a href="http://plasticpirates.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Plastic Pirates</a>. He was a great guy to talk with, and was enthusiastic about the game. Hope to meet him again! </div>
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<b> Game Two - Escort</b><br />
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I really, really, really did not want to be the baggage player in this scenario. It was determined by low bid and I stupidly bid 5 points. My opponent was playing Anglo-Danes and with their intimidation and cancellation abilities his desire for the attacker should have been a given. <br />
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The set-up: Anglo-Danes closet to the camera, the Irish and baggage on the other side.<br />
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Mu whole strategy was to whittle down his units with Sons of Dana. Then, open a lane with levy or warriors protected by Heirs of Mil, and then move the baggage behind it. His strategy was to place fatigues on my baggage, and half their movement or cancel it entirely until the turn count ran out. But, he still had to destroy all three units for an uncontested win. </div>
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So I just moved and shielded baggage as best I could. I would like to say that I was intentionally playing for a draw because that was the best I could do against the Anglo-Danes. I could say that, but in reality a good dice roll saved me from a total loss. On the last phase of the last turn, I lost two of the three baggage pieces, and barely survived the third.<br />
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<b>Game Three - Sacred Grounds</b><br />
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In this round, my opponent was Skip, who I drove down with and he is my somewhat regular gaming opponent. He brought his Old Glory Normans. <br />
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Winning initiative and following the scenario rules were critical in determining the victor. At the end of each player's phase, the number of opposing models on the three terrain pieces are scored. I won initiative, and my opponent had no chance of scoring at the end of my phase. By doing a double activation, I placed two units on a terrain piece, played Heirs of Mil on them, and they remained there at the end of his phase, scoring me eight points. This extra score was very significant, although I did not realize it at the time.<br />
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The Norman cavalry scored a lot of points when he put two units of six on a terrain piece, but then lost some of those points, as eight was the maximum scoreable amount per area. </div>
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The most dramatic moment of the game was showdown between the two warlords. I played Blood of the Kings and sloughed off three hits. My warlord then brought up three warriors who were (I think) able to take out two of the knights with a missile attack.</div>
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After eight rounds, the points were added up and it was a more close than comfortable win for my Irish. Skip is the most gracious and friendly gamer I have ever met. He is the type of opponent who reminds you when he has fatigue and asks if you want to use it against him. In fact, he won the Favorite Opponent Award, and walked away with a hero figure pack. </div>
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<b>Game Four - Homeland </b><br />
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The pre-game portion of this scenario was again based on bidding - Each player offered a number of points they were willing to be the defender. With the Irish, I announced that I wished to be the raider, and would bid six. My opponent saw things the same way, so we had to roll off to play defense and I lost - but I at least got my six points. I played no curadhs and no dogs - I needed more bodies to occupy the buildings. My opponent had the choice of terrain and he chose none. Didn't want to get hit by random missile fire in the underbrush. <br />
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I was easily dislodged from the small house, and put two units of hearthguard and the Warlord in the large church. When one unit + 1 hearthguard were wiped out, I moved a unit of warriors into the church that I was keeping by the backdoor. </div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-boOm0DRy1jE/VBXktN4cR3I/AAAAAAAACwg/X0fZQzO1AtQ/s1600/giga%2Bgame%2B4%2B04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-boOm0DRy1jE/VBXktN4cR3I/AAAAAAAACwg/X0fZQzO1AtQ/s1600/giga%2Bgame%2B4%2B04.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></div>
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Again, my win was based on playing the victory conditions and I still held one building, in which was a unit of warriors, and encircled by javelin throwing levy. But, I was slaughtered in kill points. I lost the warlord, three units of hearthguard and a unit of warriors.</div>
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The Saxon player was Sean and we laughed at the amount of dead Irish and Saxons that must have been filling up the doorway of that church. A great guy to talk to and game with, and in fact, everybody I met that day was welcoming and and a pleasure to meet. </div>
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<b>End Results & Summary</b><br />
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I won three and tied one match, which won the tournament by win/loss record, though I don't think I was even in third place in terms of number of kill points or bonus points. I believe Henry took that honor. The last two wins were based on those particular scenario victory conditions. Which is a fair win, I guess, and nobody should ever expect the Irish to stand and fight shield to shield. We hit, run and hit some more. <br />
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Also, I need to get sharper for tournament play. I realized that I had been playing movement through uneven ground a bit wrong, and I have a bad habit of not remembering to put fatigues on friendly units if a unit was wiped out within S. I also thought that Warlords were immune to that particular fatigue, but I may have been mistaking it for the special ability of a named hero. Those might be common mistakes, I sometimes see players using the Warlord's Activation for shooting or resting, which is not allowed. So it is good to get out, play with others, learn some new tricks and, most of all, have fun!Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03839537946561685053noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6978069180878092186.post-89494000867999881752014-09-04T15:55:00.004-04:002014-09-04T21:24:48.993-04:00Habeo Id! Review of SAGA's Crescent & The CrossSalvete,<br />
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Inspired by the accounts of the Crusade, I am here to offer up a little Latin and my first thoughts on the newly arrived copy of The Crescent & The Cross.<br />
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<b>Quick Reference Sheet</b><br />
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The quick reference sheet is useful, but it should have been two sided. That would have made it less "quick" I realize, but enough special units and new rules have been added to C & C. Barring that, printing it on the same cardstock as the Battle Boards would also have been nice.<br />
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<b>The Battle Boards</b><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-25egxIvtR5M/VAkQqND3mqI/AAAAAAAACwA/Fol4qW4N0Bk/s1600/IMG_20140904_144155770~2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-25egxIvtR5M/VAkQqND3mqI/AAAAAAAACwA/Fol4qW4N0Bk/s1600/IMG_20140904_144155770~2.jpg" height="233" width="320" /></a></div>
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Six high quality boards on slightly heavier stock than SAGA's early releases. All feature a parchment style background, but each faction has a unique iconic image in the bottom corner. The Spanish have a helmet and crossbow, and the Saracens a jeweled dagger, for example.<br />
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<b>The Book</b><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vXQlI3MZxRg/VAkQqI1PYAI/AAAAAAAACv8/2RVdB0eJuI0/s1600/IMG_20140904_144216058~2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vXQlI3MZxRg/VAkQqI1PYAI/AAAAAAAACv8/2RVdB0eJuI0/s1600/IMG_20140904_144216058~2.jpg" height="320" width="214" /></a></div>
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<b>Production Quality:</b> - A nicely bound hardcover printed on quality paper stock. The color printing is vibrant, but without the glare of a cheap magazine. As with many recent game rules, a good portion of the pages are composed of generously sized pictures of miniatures. This does increase the page count and production costs, raising the price of a not-inexpensive book even higher. I am fine with this overall, for enough of the pictures are play examples. The quality of the writing is much improved from early SAGA releases, with their the typos and translation difficulties. A humorous tone is maintained throughout, reminding the reader that this is a fun game, and not a serious simulation.<br />
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<b>The Rules</b> - The rules look like the SAGA we know and love, with the addition of a new narrator Hashim ibn Khalid ibn Abad. Our old friend Ragnar shows up, most often when there is an addition or deviation from the previous rule set. One such addition I noted was the inclusion of the Priest. Priests can be included with your Warlord, or they can be played as your Warlord. Furthermore, there are three different types of priests to choose from. This, along with the Dogs of War and weapon options allows players to customize their warband into their own thing. With old SAGA, you knew what to expect if you were going against the Vikings, the Normans, the Welsh, etc. With C & C, you might know the abilities of your Crusader opponent, but how about if your Crusader opponent was led by a warrior-priest with a troubadour, along with a unit of Turcopoles? Something to think about. <br />
I really cannot criticize the rule changes or additions in C & C yet, especially without a fair number of play-throughs. The rules look good, and the success of SAGA should be assurance that QA is even tighter. What was missing or needed? I can see a case made for a campaign system, and this would have been the ideal time to release it. However, those rules could be in a future expansion (you know they are coming) and I don't really hear a demand for it, at least from my small circle of fellow gamers. <br />
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<b>The Factions</b> - The layout and explanations are much improved. The Legends choices are good, and I have to love El Cid and Rachid al Din (The Old Man of the Mountain). The inclusion of some are a bit perplexing. Saladin is very well known of course, but if he was included, why wasn't Richard the Lionhearted? Both probably should have been saved for a Third Crusade expansion. <br />
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<b>Dogs of War</b> - Bedouin scouts, Daylami, Foreign Mercenaries, Turcomans, Turcopoles, Naffata, Fanatical Pilgrims and the Troubadour. So many options, so few miniatures. <br />
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<b>Scenarios</b> - disappointed in the lack of a proper siege scenario. In the Crusades, fortresses, whether large or small, were an integral part of many battles. An official siege scenario could have answered a lot of questions - does the defender get fewer points? How is scaling a wall accomplished?<br />
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<b>The Dice</b> - while not included with the book, two new sets of dice for the six factions were also released. Again, the fine folks at Studio Tomahawk released image files on their forum for those of us who prefer to homebrew our dice. Here are mine, with the images printed in color on waterslide paper on white dice. <br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9IlT4PK4RfQ/VAfPSRzVa9I/AAAAAAAACu0/XOtgnLFJP2w/s1600/crescent%2Band%2Bcross%2Bdice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9IlT4PK4RfQ/VAfPSRzVa9I/AAAAAAAACu0/XOtgnLFJP2w/s1600/crescent%2Band%2Bcross%2Bdice.jpg" height="258" width="400" /></a></div>
Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03839537946561685053noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6978069180878092186.post-59846073676220179382014-08-31T21:35:00.001-04:002014-08-31T21:35:40.234-04:00Khitan CavalryAs SAGA's Crescent and Cross pushes the game's scope geographically eastward, one of my current projects will take my game even more to the east - China, Tibet and the Mongolian Steppes.<br />
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Following the collapse of the Tang Dynasty in 907, tribal peoples to the north of China enjoyed a brief respite from imperial interference. The first to dominate this political vacuum was the Khitans. The Khitans (pronounced kit-ens, not key-tans) were not originally steppe peoples, originating in forested highlands, but they eventually adopted the lifestyle and tactics of steppe warriors.<br />
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Steppe tribes succeed under a strong visionary leader, and for the Khitans it was Yelu Aboji (r. 907-926). Under him, they conquered a very agriculturally rich strip of northern China called the Sixteen Prefectures, and at the same time extended their control over more nomadic steppe peoples to their north in Inner Mongolia. From the start, the Khitans set up a dual administrative system, with Chinese governance in the sixteen prefectures, and a traditional steppe tribal structure for the rest of their territory.<br />
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Predictably, the Khitan rulers gravitated to the Chinese territories and increasingly abandoned the steppe lifestyle in favor of the luxuries of Chinese imperial governance. They were a formidable enemy to the Chinese for they combined the power of the steppe horse archers with the wealth and manpower of their Chinese cities.<br />
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<i>Below, Khitan light cavalry armed with lance or swords. Figures from Essex, horses are from Essex and a variety of manufacturers. </i></div>
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<i>Another group of four with their bows in cases on the left side. </i></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6omVI6H6Kmw/VAOuczIjDUI/AAAAAAAACtI/0syP9u9olHc/s1600/khitan%2Blt%2Bcav02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6omVI6H6Kmw/VAOuczIjDUI/AAAAAAAACtI/0syP9u9olHc/s1600/khitan%2Blt%2Bcav02.jpg" height="448" width="640" /></a></div>
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<i>The Jurchens were Khitan subjects from Mongolia. Below are four from an auxilliary unit.</i></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7OuRHACAI0I/VAOucJAOkAI/AAAAAAAACs8/TySHl39kqgc/s1600/khitan%2Bjurchen%2B01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7OuRHACAI0I/VAOucJAOkAI/AAAAAAAACs8/TySHl39kqgc/s1600/khitan%2Bjurchen%2B01.jpg" height="404" width="640" /></a></div>
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<i>Below, sixteen light cavalry for two units of warriors in SAGA</i></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JZRbP0v0O5g/VAOucDdScMI/AAAAAAAACs4/FP6R2qi3v14/s1600/khitan%2Bhorde.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JZRbP0v0O5g/VAOucDdScMI/AAAAAAAACs4/FP6R2qi3v14/s1600/khitan%2Bhorde.jpg" height="387" width="640" /></a></div>
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The Khitans were eventually destroyed by an alliance of the Song Chinese and the Jurchens. The Song never accepted the loss of traditionally Chinese territory to a barbarian people and hoped to manipulate another group of barbarians into destroying them. A common enough practice throughout Chinese history, but this time the strategy backfired on the Chinese. The Jurchen attacked Chinese territory and captured the Song capital and the imperial court in 1127. <br />
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My next post on the Khitans will focus on their heavy cavalry and command, along with how I plan to use them in SAGA.<br />
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Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03839537946561685053noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6978069180878092186.post-40871479595570756232014-08-21T22:57:00.000-04:002014-08-21T22:57:08.399-04:00Back in the Saddle AgainTaking a break from painting was definitely invigorating. It gave the eyes a bit of a break, I ran a little more, and got ahead on my lesson planning. But the call of the paintbrushes could not be ignored and earlier this week I returned to the painting table. While I don't have any finished projects to show, this is my progress so far.<br />
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Currently on the painting table is a unit of Steppe nomads. These are Khitans from Essex. The Khitans were a semi-nomadic people north of China in the tenth and eleventh century, fighting often with the Chinese and Koreans. However, it was a subject people of theirs, the Jin, who ultimately destroyed their empire. <br />
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The Khitans will do double duty as Steppe nomads in SAGA and in a related project I am finally moving forward on.</div>
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Below are two packs of minis I ordered from Curtey's in the UK arrived this week. I placed the order less than two weeks prior - all in all excellent service and I plan to order more, as this was more of a sample order. These are Tibetan cataphracts and heavy infantry. <br />
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Some of the Curtey's Chinese stuff seemed overly stylized (i.e. disproportionate). However, the Tibetans looked nice and I took a chance. I am very pleased with the sculpts, and the metal quality is excellent - some of the best I have ever seen. </div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nQ2QVhEszJk/U_as2F9XhPI/AAAAAAAACq4/sUppRkyd-2o/s1600/Tibetan%2B02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nQ2QVhEszJk/U_as2F9XhPI/AAAAAAAACq4/sUppRkyd-2o/s1600/Tibetan%2B02.jpg" height="306" width="400" /></a></div>
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So, yes, with the Chinese, Khitans and Tibetans I am now working on more Far East figures for skirmish gaming. My two options are to modify either SAGA or Ronin for these armies. Ideally, I will play the Chinese and Tibetans on existing battle boards with minimal modification to preserve game balance. Stay tuned. <br />
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And finally, while I was away from the blog I backed this on Kickstarter: <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/48375726/resin-terrain-for-miniature-gaming" target="_blank">Resin Terrain Kickstarter</a><br />
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I have been making an effort to limit my crowd funding budget, but this one struck me as an interesting idea for flexible terrain solutions. <br />
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<br />Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03839537946561685053noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6978069180878092186.post-39645369902451854692014-08-03T20:53:00.001-04:002014-08-03T20:53:39.425-04:00Packing Up - for now!I am taking a break from painting for about a month for two reasons. First, I am repainting the room in the house that is the office/hobby room. It's where I have my painting table and we have the family computer/printer. So everything will be packed up and moved out for a few days. Second, I am teaching a new course this year (AP Microeconomics) and want to spend as much time preparing and planning out lessons several weeks in advance. A couple of weeks without picking up a brush should give me time to this.<br />
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I still plan on weekend gaming in the interim and will probably build some terrain boards in the garage, but expect to see few (if any) posts until Labor Day. <br />
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<br />Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03839537946561685053noreply@blogger.com3