Huns versus Early Imperial Romans

Not exactly an historical match, but close enough.  Dave's Roman faced the Huns.  Would this be three victories in a row for my new Hun army? Read on...

Deployment.

The only terrain is that hill and the table edges.

The Huns advance and then evade as the Romans charge.

The Huns are now on the Roman left flank.

The Huns keep shooting and evading when charged.

Both Roman flanks have now been turned.

But the rear table edge is looming for the Huns in the centre.

The Romans are surrounded and their losses are increasing.

The Roman cavalry and their general are routed,

but even hit in the flank the Roman infantry keeps fighting.

The melee in the centre grinds on.

A new one develops on the Hun right,

but on the left a successful charge took out a severely weakened legion,

giving victory to the Huns.

Barbarossa Turn 29

Compulsory mud in the centre, clear elsewhere.

AGN bashing its head against Tallin.

While trying to put a noose around Leningrad.

AGS makes a massive attack against Kiev,

incurring massive (two for one) casualties

as they crossed the river to the north of the city.

But there is easy movement in the central part of AGS' theatre of operations.

And the Rumanians get serious at Odessa.

Failed housekeeping around Tallin 

(as in a few random counters have been left on the map).

AGN will need more than a model of Thor to take Leningrad. 

AGC and Moscow.

AGC to AGS

The rest of AGS

Casualty Markers for Napoleon's Battles and further varnish observations

I started with the Napoleon's Battles rules around the same time as Fire and Fury.  What I liked about the latter was the use of figures rather than chits to denote unit status etc. I have been striving ever since to bring the same level of visual appeal to Napoleon's Battles.  

There are plenty of lovely figures to use and these ones from AB are delightful, if a little sad.  My only challenge is that I am not convinced I have yet devised the best way to incorporate markers into units.  What I have are designed to replace a base once a casualty has occurred.  My new thinking is that it would be best if the base was a permanent feature of the unit, incorporating the "command" element as well - which for Napoleon's Battles means the base that has the tag that provides unit information.

This chap had a brief spray of varnish and I am glad that was all it had 

as you can see how it started to mottle on the horse's rump.

This figure had been done some time ago and was varnished back then without trouble.

 On the subject of varnish, this was my test to see if it was the paints I use that was causing the reaction.

From left to right: Jo Sonja, Vallejo, Jo Sonja with a Games Workshop wash and Tamiya.

The problem shows up more on the darker colours in this image.

The clean squares on the bottom colour intersections are from where I applied a top coat of wash.

This seems to readily fix the problem.

The limbers which were badly affected by the varnish have now largely been repaired by painting on varnish (as suggested by Carlo and that partially reduced the problem) and finally by applying a wash.

Needless to say I am no longer using a varnish on my figures (although as per the previous post, I did varnish the Dragon's Teeth without apparent problem - which was at exactly the same time I sprayed the test strip shown above). It remains a mystery.

Dragon Molars

These are Dragon's Teeth for the Stolberg Corridor scenario/mini campaign game I am developing for Rommel.  When I did my original research I was sure I saw some square Dragon's Teeth and having found some little cubes suitable for the 15mm scale I thought way to go.  Now I can't find the refence and see only pointy Dragon's Teeth.  It is possible the Swiss used square blocks, but I am at the stage of whatever.  

The cubes were secured to plastic bases (cut from old CD cases) using PVA glue and then covered with plaster.  Black paint, grey paint and a dry brush of some more grey paint (that doesn't seem to show) and then a brown base and a dump of static grass and I reckon they will do nicely.

Interestingly they show no adverse affects from having been varnished, in sharp contrast with the test strip I did at the same time (and will keep for a separate post).

Huns versus Justinian Byzantines - Big Battle Style

For the NWS August Games Day I put on a game using my new Huns, Dave's old Huns and a mix of my figures to make up the Byzantines.  Stephen and I went the Huns, while Mark B and Olivier went Byzantine.  It was a similar battle to the previous Hun vs Byzantine game with a similar result.

Deployment as seen from the Hun side.

One of the club's gaming mats is in use.

And deployment as seen from the Byzantine side.

The Byzantine right wind perfectly matches the Hun left wing.

Olivier's command was the Byzantine foot in the centre.

Stephen had the Hun right flank.

Instant action as the Huns on the left get in a number of disordering shots on their opponents.

The Byzantine cavalry on their right engage the Huns with mixed results,

while the Byzantine left saw the Huns wipe out half their units.

The Byzantine right is retiring shaken, trying to delay the enemy while preserving their force.

On the Byzantine left the Huns are moving around the flank, but not without losing some units.

The Byzantine centre is advancing while the Hun centre is shuffling .

The Byzantine centre has now realised the danger to its flanks and has undertaken some about face.

The Hun light cavalry has been steadily getting into position.

The Hun light cavalry inflict enough damage to break the Byzantine morale and rout them.

The army lists used were:

We didn't use Ace in the Hole cards (so no betrayal).

The refusing to vanish varnish

First up thanks to all those who commented on my More Varnish Woes post.  These four limbers were affected to varying degrees.  Overpainting with a varnish lessened some of the damage, but the white mottling seems to be persistent.  The damage looks worse in these images, but they will still be serviceable on the table top.

While I am still continuing to investigate cause, I haven't reached a resolution.

Problems might be due to being too heavy handed when spraying, reaction with previous varnish and possibly even reacting with the paint I have been using (a mix of Vallejo and Jo Sonja).  I will be doing some more tests to cover this latter possible issue.

Overpainting with varnish certainly helps reduce the problem and for that I am grateful.

Some of these figures had been previously varnished, but not all of them.

These had certainly not been previously varnished.

 

Huns versus Nikephorian Byzantine

My brand new Huns took to the table against my Nikephorian Byzantines which were commanded by Mark B. How would the new troops fare?

The Byzantines have deployed in a box.

The Hun light cavalry are on the wings.

(Note: some old figures of mine are standing in for the Hun Nobles and skirmishers).

The Byzantines hold their ground as the Huns surge forward.

The Huns have some success on the left,

but despite the overwhelming numbers on the right they fail to overwhelm.

The situation on the left develops well,

but on the right it is pretty miserable.

Things are now getting tense.

The Hun Nobles have advanced,

while their left is sweeping round behind the Byzantines

and the right is now clear.

The Hun right wing has taken a lot of casualties,

but so has the Byzantine cavalry in front of the Nobles.

Hun light cavalry doing their thing.

The critical fight.

A diminished Hun light cavalry unit takes the Byzantine foot in the flank.

It survives until the Hun plays the dastardly betrayal card.

The Byzantine fails on the reroll.

Victory to the Huns!