Song of Blades and Bricks

Introduced my daughter (age 8) to wargaming this weekend with a slightly simplified version of Song of Blades and Heroes.  For figures and terrain, we used Lego minifigs and bricks.

The scenario was simple: get across the pond, through the ruins, get the treasure and get out.

My warband was built for power, 2 Minotaurs, 2 dwarves and 1 dwarf magic user.  My daughter went for stealth and magic - 2 wizards (Harry Potter and Hermione), 2 barbarian cave girls, 1 thief (Red Riding Hood) and a crossbow wielding Hagrid.

While the magic users transfixed my fighters, Little Red Riding Hood sneaked into the ruins and got the treasure. 

The "bad" warband did manage to get back on their feet briefly: 

Hermione versus a Minotaur: 

Red takes out a Minotaur that Harry Potter transfixed:

...and that was the game.  A fun afternoon game, and my daughter grasped the concept of activation and combat rolls very well.  I was impressed that she learned on her own some basic tactics and gameplay exploits - her favorite was transfix with a wizard and then attack with the crossbow.  Two additional educational benefits from the game: quick but basic mental math computation and use of the metric system, both of which are skills not sufficiently taught in American primary schools.

Hopefully, I will soon post pics of my recent painting efforts, a few units of Scots that I have been working on for SAGA, and some El Cid Spaniards for a friend and fellow gamer.

Song Dynasty

     The Song Dynasty of China was easily the most wealthy and technologically advanced society in the world in the tenth and eleventh centuries.  Much like their contemporary empire to the west, the Byzantines, the Song Dynasty fought nomadic and semi-nomadic peoples who desired the great wealth that abounded in their kingdom.

     To historians and wargamers, the Song Dynasty gets little credit due to its military and diplomatic blunders. After losing territory in the north to the Jurchen people's Jin kingdom, Song policy makers too slavish followed the maxim 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend,' and they cultivated an allegiance with the Mongols, who were north of the Jin.  When the Mongols turned their sights on the Song after destroying the Jin, China placed far too much confidence in their defensive walls, and were not prepared for the Mongols' mastery of siege warfare. The Song held out longer than many of the Mongol's enemies, but finally fell in 1279.

On the other hand the Song Dynasty lasted about three centuries, if one counts both the Northern Song and the Southern Song periods.  That Dynasty can also be credited with developing a standing navy and the implementation of primitive gunpowder weapons into its army.

It was my first purchase from The Assault Group (what a great name, by the way).  The sculpts are excellent, and look to be based on some Song-era iron sculptures that are still extant.  A pack of four contains four unique figures, and the conscript spearmen could probably used for most any era of China from the Warring States period through early Qing.  While a bit chunky, they are comparable in terms of size and heft with the Crusader Miniatures line.  

I would love to build a huge army for Clash of Empires, my favorite 'big battle' system, but that is definitely a year away, at least.  In the short term, I imagine adapting the Song into SAGA using a Byzantine battleboard.  After all, both were heavily missile based armies who had adapted their armies to fighting steppe nomads.  Other battleboard abilties should take advantage of China's capacity for levies, as well as some limited abilities based on the psychological effect of firelances or thrown bombs.

  

Reading Suggestions

Tun Huang by Yasushi Inoue. Inoue, Japanese writer of historical fiction (1907-1991), produced this novel in 1959 about Chao Tsing-te, young Chinese scholar in the early eleventh century. He misses his civil service exam by an accidental nap and after a chance encounter with a woman and a mysterious scroll, he wanders westward towards the title city. Again by accident, Chao finds himself fighting in the Song army against the Xi-Xia.  Like a Japanese woodcut, the beauty of Tun-Huang is in its simplicity; an adventure novel, and the search for meaning in the randomness of life.

SAGA Speculation

The release of Raven's Shadow in late November brings the addition of four more factions to the SAGA game: Hiberno-Norse, Franks, Strathclyde Welsh and the Irish.  As with the first expansion, this second expansion is mostly a variation on the original factions.  If you have one or two different warbands, there's at least one warband in this new release that can allow you to use another battleboard.

Where else can SAGA go from here?  Based on hints from Studio Tomahawk, and references in some recent podcast interviews with Meeples and Miniatures and Historical Wargaming, plans are in place to add factions multiple times a year for the next three years.  

1) Back in Time.  Given the popularity of Dux Bellorum and Dux Britannarium, a SAGA Arthurian expansion would be very successful   This could include four to six new factions (Romano-British, Saxon invaders, Picts, Early Irish and Early Welsh) plus some very interesting hero characters. With the amount of Arthurian miniatures people are picking up right now, adding a third game can get more use out of the same figures.

2) Moving East. The official release of the Byzantine battle board, and the non-official Arab release offers promise of SAGA staying in the ninth and through eleventh centuries, but with a move to the east.  Even if Vikings are the glue that hold SAGA together, their eastern journeys bring in the Rus as a new factions along with the Byzantines, Bulgars and possibly a steppe faction.  The Byzantines connect to Italo-Normans, Lombards and possibly the Seljuk Turks.  

3) Reconquista and First Crusade. I seem to recall an interview with Alex where he mentioned that El Cid era Christians and Moors were a part of their plans.  The Spanish theater alone could provide four or more factions from among the Christian kingdoms of the North and the Taifa kingdoms along with the Almoravids.  A Crusades supplement that focuses on the early Crusades could include the Crusaders, Turk/Abbasid, Armenians and Fatimids.     

Worth noting is that Gripping Beast, Studio Tomahawk's miniature partner, already has lines of miniatures for the Spanish, Moors, Rus, Slavs, Early Crusaders and Arthurians.

I'm excited about the future of SAGA and Dark Age skirmishing in general. This speculation has also inspired me to put together another custom battleboard, one still in the tenth and eleventh centuries, but much further afield than Europe and not likely to be officially released.  More later...

Vikings and Rus

A quick review of some minis from two online retailers that I have used for the first time recently, Black Tree Designs and Magister Militum.

Out of the package, the finish of the Black Tree minis is very good.  There is some flash to remove. Also, the metal on some other (more expensive) companies looks a little cleaner than Black Tree's, but it's all covered by paint anyways.

The sculpting is where Black Tree really impresses me. The poses are lively and natural.  Their line of Vikings is heavy on characters, but the rank fighters are just as good.

I particularly like the wounded fellow below. When I ordered this pack, I did not realize he was bandaged. It's a very good example of some of the detail in their line.

Service from Black Tree has been excellent. Orders were confirmed almost immediately, I was notified of shipping dates, and the package arrived in about one week.

I have been interested in purchasing some Rus for a while.  They are a good opponent for the Byzantines, and combining a few dedicated Rus figures with some traditional Vikings could make a decent SAGA warband.  In light of the recent release of the Byzantine faction, I am willing to bet that a dedicated Rus battleboard is on Studio Tomahawk's three year plan.

These Rus are my first purchase from Magister Militum. I was impressed with their selection of eastern figures, including Slavs, Seljuk Turks and Byzantines.

The finish of Magister's figures is a bit lacking compared to some other miniatures. While the amount of flash was not excessive, the mold lines were prominent and took some effort to remove.  After that, though, these figures were a joy to paint because of their expressive faces, dynamic poses and appropriate details. A pack of six came with four figure variations. 

Service from Magister was excellent, with the packages arriving from the U.K.  about two weeks after I placed the order.

SAGA Dice Redux

After painting a box of Conquest Norman infantry some Song Chinese crossbowmen last week, I have been giving my increasingly older eyes some rest. So I played a game of SAGA (Normans v. Saxons) and a new card game with my eight year old daughter. In Timeline, players are dealt a certain number of cards, and must discard all of their cards by placing them on the table in the correct order.  As more cards are correctly discarded, the complexity of the timeline increases.

The enthusiasm my daughter has shown for the game was very rewarding, and its a great way to teach  the history of technology.

I also stripped off the paper stickers from my homebrew SAGA dice and replaced them with waterslide decals in color.

Overall, the look is much better than the black and white versions, although a few dice faces show some fuzziness, either from too thin a sealer on the waterslide paper, or too much submersion in water before applying.  

Conquest Norman Infantry, Completed

This week's update is a completed box of Conquest Normans.  Not pictured are four axe-bearers in service as Anglo-Dane huscarls and six figures converted into Breton skirmishers.

Ranked with the chain mail wearing knights at the front:

Pictured below are three of the four command figures.  The small banner is stock from the box, the large banner is from Little Big Man Studios.  

After having finished one box, I would suggest that the quality and variety of the finished product can be improved by having some bits from Conquest's cavalry on hand.  The cavalry box contains different helmets and sword arms that are compatible with the infantry.  This set was definitely a worthwhile addition. It is tempting to purchase another box, even though 44 infantry is more than enough for SAGA purposes.  

Works in Progress: Terrain

Terrain is the weak spot in my wargaming layout.  Too many times, I have made the choice to purchase an additional army rather than spend money on houses, trees and other pieces.  Time, as well,  gets spent on painting miniatures rather than some basic scratch building projects.

This week, as a break from all of the plastic Normans I have before me, I decided to work on some terrain projects.  First, a Norman keep made from Hirst Arts plaster blocks.  The top front is almost at the height I am looking for.  I need to bring up the other sides, and maybe do some interior detailing.

My professor of Middle East history and the Crusades often stressed that the castle is better viewed as an offensive military structure rather than a defensive one; as a place from which raiding parties and newly established conquerors can strike out at neighboring enemies and a possibly rebellious populace.   Wargaming scenarios almost always use castles and buildings as defensible targets. It might be possible to come up with a campaign scenario that uses castles or manors in a different way, but one always comes back to limited table space and scale.

Next, is a storage building to be placed near the keep or in a village.  It was built according to the plans at the Too Fat Lardies blog: http://toofatlardies.co.uk/blog/?p=899 

After these are completed, I will need a few more trees - which as much as I would prefer not to make, it's still preferable to buying.