The Lure of the Sublime Porte

A new history covering the campaigns that shaped the Ottoman Empire up to 1600. I was never going to be able to resist getting a copy!

I blame Eric Knowles for this! I first became acquainted with the Ottoman Turks via the Madasahatta campaign, the follow on WW1 South East naval camapign, along with an epic refight of the Siege of Vienna in 1683 fought using 25mm figures (mainly Minifigs and Hinchliffe) in the cellar beneath the New Model Army shop in Manor Park. As I recall - this was in the early 1980s - the result was the same as the historical version but the Turks came a whole lot closer, within a whisker even, of capturing Vienna. It was, as were most things Eric organised, large, brash and a whole lot of fun to take part in!

I have flirted with the idea of a Turkish army over the years and in a variety of scales, but never really settled on anything specific. To start with, the number of figures required to do the army justice tends to be on the large side which translates as a lot of painting. I was also undecided as to what scale of figures to use and indeed, I have looked at scales from 6mm to 28mm but have never settled on one. To be honest, for a long time I had given up on a land based set up for this very reason but instead focused on the naval side. This translates for the period in question (15th/16th century) to galleys and lots of them!

My thoughts on the naval dimension of the Ottoman Empire of the period will form a later post but as far as the land side is concerned I will, in the short term at least,  fall back on the use of my block armies. 

A long time ago in a man-cave, far, far away….

A good few years ago, when I chopped up umpteen sets of ‘not-quite-Jenga-blocks’ to make my block armies, I wanted to make a set that would be suitable for tribal or irregular armies. The formal armies consist of red, blue, green, light grey, brown and olive sets whilst the irregular set is a little more varied in colour.

The ‘Irregular’ blocks set. The blocks in the bottom three rows were designed as a ‘Zulu’ set whilst the two rows above are intended for use as Afghan/Arab types. The top row has some artillery and my version of the famous Janissaries.

The top left two sections contain the blocks that I organised to represent stylised Janissaries - the colours were deliberately chosen - with their famous white headdress, blue tunic and red leather boots. 

Jannisary blocks - although I made these best part of a decade ago up until now they have never been in action. The ‘Zulu’ and ‘Afghan/Arab’ sets have been used on a few occasions and have given some really good games (see the Games folder).

With my recent acquisition of the first two Portable Wargame compendiums - with all that 3 x 3 goodness and much else besides - as well as the ‘Dominion’ series, I have some very good rules to experiment with and so the lure of the Sublime Porte makes a compelling case for further investigation.

And of course, there is the naval dimension to consider - and consider it I am!

“Great Service You Get…..

A great box full of boardgame covering the conquest of Granada 

The back of the box - the production quality is off the scale with this. Note the Medieval artwork on the cards - wooden blocks for armies, fortifications and even ships.

….renting your colour set from Granada!” I am sure that UK based readers of a certain vintage will remember that TV commercial! The only link it has with this post is the last word, namely Granada.

Aside from the Crusades the only Medieval history that I have fondness for, a fondness that could even turn into figures, is that of Spain. From El CID to the ‘Reconquista’ is a fascinating story of Christian kingdoms at odds with one another alongside the Moorish territories that has similar issues. Even in the final campaigns leading to the fall of Granada the Moorish cause was not helped by constant infighting and intrigue. In short it makes for a wonderful campaign setting. 

Last year Laurel and I spent a week staying in Alcaucin (the name is derived from the Arabic Al Kautin - “of the arches” )in the province of Malaga, Spain. We had such a good time we are shortly heading back for a two week stay at the same place but this time with a visit to the Alhambra Palace - which I am really looking forward to.

The Art of War in Spain is a book of two halves. The Conquest of Granada section was extracted from a three volume history of Ferdinand and Isabella with a modern section describing warfare of the period in Spain. It is a really good read. Moorish Spain is an overview of the history of the Moors in Spain - I read the author’s book on El CID last year which was excellent. The WRG title needs little introduction from me but includes a modest but excellent section of Spain and Granada.

As is usual for me I tend to take reading material that is themed for the occasion and so the above is my library for this period of Spanish history. I shall be taking the top two books on the trip.

With the Portable Wargame 3x3 format, along with Dominion series, reluctant figure painters have even less excuse for not trying things out - certainly for me the largest figure painting project I would consider would be something DBA or HOTT sized! 

This has been my thinking with the Colonial collection as well but that is for another post.

Command and Colours: Medieval(?)

The modest selection of titles I own covering much of the material from the base game - note the hardback version of the venerable Armies of the Dark Ages.

It Is fairly safe to say that the majority of readers of this blog will be familiar with the Command and Colours series of games designed by Richard Borg. The Medieval version takes as its starting point the end of the Roman Empire in the West and finished up at the end of the 6th century. I do not consider myself to be well read in the period at all but in my mind calling this period Medieval feels a little off but I am sure that wiser heads than mine can explain the whys and wherefores!

Anyways, before moving on the Crusades expansion (which I why I purchased the base game in the first place and then waited ages for the expansion to be published!) I figures that it would be a good idea to acquaint myself with the wars of the early Byzantines centred on Belisarius of Robert Graves’s Count Belisarius fame - despite the artistic licence!

Starting with the WRG book - and what gamer of the period hasn’t? - I added a few other titles over time to round out my knowledge of the period. With the exception of the Belisarius title all have featured on the blog at some point in the past. The Belisarius title is the latest addition and I am really enjoying reading it.

It is one of those books that is very self contained in that it starts with setting the scene of the period, traces the life of Belisarius and his campaigns, looks at the armies of the period and how they were equipped and fought as well as including maps and brief biographies of the key personalities. It is not a perfect title in that here are a few irritating typos but make no mistake - if you only had one book on the period I would absolutely recommend this one!

At the time of writing I am just getting to the war in Africa against the Vandals after his earlier campaign against the Persians. This is one of the irritating typos - Sasanid rather than Sassanid….

Despite my earlier reservations - mainly because of a lack of knowledge of the period - I am looking forward to enjoying some games set in the 6th century before moving on to the main course of the Crusades - which in my world is firmly in the Medieval timeframe!

For the record I have absolutely no intention of painting armies for this period nor for the Crusades - although the idea of using 3mm has a certain appeal….

Just saying….

A Personal Crusade

Using a modern definition of Medieval - starting with the Late Roman/Early Byzantine wars against the Sassanid Persians

The back of the box for the base game.

For as far back as I can remember I have been interested in the period of the Crusades. In terms of the Medieval period I would go so far as to say that it is probably the only Medieval period I have ever really seriously considered, alongside the Mongol conquests and perhaps the fall of Granada. Despite my best intentions The Hundred Years War or the War of the Roses has never really done to for me so I had resigned myself to parking those areas that are of interest very much on the back burner.

A few years back I picked up a copy of Command and Colours: Medieval, mainly because the scheduled first expansion was going to be devoted to the Crusades. In truth I only purchased the base game with this expansion in mind although the original version and a charm all of its own, featuring as it did Late Roman/Early Byzantine, Sassanids Persians and various tribal types. 

The Crusades expansion was a long time coming - long, as in years - and I was quite close to giving up on it but, at long last, it has arrived!

Slightly different from the original box design when first mooted by GMT

The back of the box - call me old fashioned but this feels more ‘Medieval’ than the original base game

The scenarios. The expansion is now marketed as the Crusades part 1 so we will have to wait for Richard the Lionheart

I am in two minds about this - on the one hand I am delighted that this has finally been released but on the other I would have preferred it to have been a one off expansion rather than the two. As to when this will be available - who knows?

I will have a lot of label sticking to do to get the game table ready but that will not be a problem once I can  get to it - possibly over the Christmas break.

On a Seperate Note(s)….

My copy of Battle Cry is now table ready - the counters and terrain tiles have been punched, the flags have been added to the figures and the command cards have been sleeved. I am hoping to get a game in over the weekend.

The final piece of news is that I have been able to pick up two intact copies of a game that featured in my youth and they will form the basis of my next post.

Warriors of the Steppe

 

The first edition of James Chambers work on the campaigns of the Mongol armies

My back continues to give me grief. It tends to be worse in the mornings - presumably as a result of being upright after sleeping - and after a period of walking around (along with the ongoing ankle/leg situation). I have decided that getting on in years is not without its disadvantages from a health perspective! Seriously though, the back has dragged on for more that I would have thought so a trip to the GP will inevitably follow at some point. In the meantime the man cave is largely off limits, along with lifting and stretching so the great reading frenzy continues instead of modelling.

I first came across the book above during the mid 1980s (the book was originally published in 1979) and for the life of me I cannot think why I did. At the time I would have been far more likely to have looked books on the army of Attila the Hun or even that of Parthian/Sassanid Persia. In any event it is a cracking read and I remember being suitably inspired to think about raising a Mongol army for use under WRG 6th edition. As I recall that particular army featured a lot of Regular B cavalry….

I actually fought using a Mongol army against the Teutonic Knights whilst taking part in an impromptu all day DBA session in my garden using cardboard cut outs for the armies in the absence of figures. The Mongols lost. Fortunately Light Horse as a troop type has fared rather better under DBA 3.0 and so are better able to make use of their advantages in mobility. 

One of the projects on my ‘to do’ list features the Crusades and of course the Mongols appear in this, if only on the periphery - not that the Mamlukes (another idea for an army I had at one time - there seems to be a common thread here - I really like cavalry armies!) thought so at the battle of Ain Jalut

I always intended using the block armies for periods other than the usual horse and musket games I have fought. In order to do this I have two choices. I can either design more block labels that would better represent the myriad troop types from the earlier (or later) period or I can use markers of some kind with the blocks as they are. I certainly have sufficient spare blocks for the former option but I am leaning towards the latter and producing a range of MDF tokens that can designate what the block is actually representing. For example, a bow and arrow marker could be placed on the block to designate that particular weapon rather than having separate archer labels. This is what I am currently planning for the blocks.

The Mongol Conquests had a lasting impact on much of the Middle East and I recall reading somewhere that the devastation visited on the region set back the development of Islamic culture by several centuries. How true this is I cannot say but certainly the impact of the Mongols was a major blow.

For my own part I like the idea of an army with superior strategic and tactical mobility that would probably not be out of place in a WW2 Panzer Division. Something to think about for the future methinks.

The last word should probably be left with Genghis Khan himself (allegedly):

“The greatest happiness is to vanquish your enemies, to chase them before you, to rob them of their wealth, to see those dear to them bathed in tears, to clasp to your bosom their wives and daughters.”

Sound words indeed, so sound in fact that Conan the Barbarian said something rather similar….

“To crush your enemies, to see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of their women.”

Art imitating life perhaps….

News of the Crusades

 

Oh yes indeedy! I am really excited about this expansion so hopefully I will not have too long to wait before it is available

Command and Colours: Medieval is the base game in what I suspect will be a large series covering the wars of the late Roman Empires up to the Renaissance period. I acquired a copy of the base game in anticipation of the expansions that would cover the periods that would be of most interest to me. This would be the period of the great Arab Conquests and of the Crusades in the Middle East as my primary interests and for the latter I have quietly amassed a good selection of reading material with the avowed intention of gaming it at some point.

There have a been a few Crusades near misses over the years in that I have looked at a few rule sets and even got as far as buying some as well as a selection of figures but thus far this has come to naught. What of Command and Colours Medieval then? Well, to be honest the period of the base game - the wars ‘twixt the Late Romans/Early Byzantines and the. Huns, Goths and Sassanid Persians - are interesting but it was not for them that I originally purchased the game. It was always acquired as the stepping stone onto other periods of greater interest for me. Having said that I have retroactively picked up some reading material about the period to round out my knowledge and to put the scenarios into some kind of context but it was always a kind of ‘take it or leave it’ interest. Unsurprisingly perhaps, the acquisition of some reading material has led me to develop rather more of an interest in the period than initially - such is the way I routinely get seduced into projects!

Chronologically one would have expected the first expansion to cover the period up to the Crusades so the early Arab Conquest and the rise of the Vikings etc would feature. This I would have really enjoyed but Richard Borg and the team at GMT Games have pulled a rabbit out of the hat in the shape of the first expansion being described as part 1 of the Crusades. The expansion is currently in what is known as P500 status meaning that once it gets to 500 advance orders then it goes to press. Take a look at the blurb from the GMT Games website and you will see what I mean.

I am really excited about this expansion as the Crusades are probably my favourite period from the medieval world (the Arab Conquests come a close second) and to have it ‘Command and Coloured’ is a great development. Best of all I still have a ton of Risk: Europe medieval figures (roughly 20mm and very generic looking) that could serve for the period with little difficulty. I am now rather pleased that I hung on to these as they had been earmarked for disposal!

All being well this will be certainly something to look forward to next year at some point.

Casting As Persians

A great doorstop of a tome with an outstanding level of coverage - take a look at the contents below.

Everything you wanted to know about the armies and Sassanid Persia but were afraid to ask

Many years ago, whilst still a young boy, I remember receiving a book as a Christmas present called ‘The History of the World’ by the splendidly named Plantagenet Somerset Fry. I was hugely inspired by this book and the wonderful colour illustrations therein and there was one that always stuck in my mind. There was a chapter about Persia (I think) and the picture at the head of this was of a Parthian horse archer shooting backwards - the famous ‘Parthian Shot’.

Fast forward to the Newham Wargames Club and the advent of WRG 6th edition ancients and I found myself looking at figures for a 25mm army consisting solely of Cataphracts and horse archers. I never got around to it though as the Carthaginians appeared and so my efforts were directed at the exploits of Hannibal. There were two later Persian armies in the club at the time - both of the Sassanid era and  in 6mm and 25mm - and they had a fearsome reputation. The 6mm army was around 20K points worth whilst the larger version was a far more modest 4K or so. Both had the full range of Clibanarii, Cataphracts, Elephants and levy infantry and as mentioned, they were fearsomely effective. I managed to beat the 25mm version with a late Roman army - one of my last games with 6th edition and long after the Carthaginians had headed off to pastures new - by the simple expedient of covering the entire front of the army with caltrops and using bolt throwers as anti-elephant guns! I must admit that I was rather in awe of the Sassanid Persian army and it was certainly one that I rather fancied owning at some point.

I should perhaps point out that to anyone owning a Carthaginian army under WRG 6th edition any army that featured extra heavy or super heavy cavalry armed with lance was considered to be the height of luxury....

I digress.

Fast forward to (more or less) the present and the world is a very different place. The latest version of Command and Colours covers the start of the Medieval period and features the late Roman and early Byzantine wars, primarily against, you guessed it, the Sassanid Persians. Our friends at the Plastic Soldier Company have just launched a brand new set of rules for the ancient period with some supporting figures in 15mm cast in a new plastic/resin material and available in army packs for, you guessed it, late Romans, Sassanid Persians, Goths and Huns.

Aside from the WRG Armies and Enemies of Imperial Rome and the follow on Dark Age volume (there is the inevitable Osprey and I seem to recall something published by Montvert on the Sassanids) my library is a little light on this army so when I saw the title at the start of this post I thought that would rectify this. It is hugely impressive and one of those books that ticks so many wargaming boxes. I have not decided how to progress this beyond the Command and Colours option but having some comprehensive background may stir some future developments.

We shall see.

Risking it all on a Crusade

One of the better versions of Risk and should anyone need any of the components (other than the figures that is) then let me know!

A game in progress with Saracens fighting Northern barbarians over France

The figures from each of the four sets

As a certain Lord of the Sith once said: “The circle is now complete…”or rather it is slightly more closed than previously! Some time ago I picked up at a very good price a couple of sets of the board game Risk – the highly acclaimed version set in the Middle Ages. As is common with this type of purchase I did not really buy it for the game itself, rather it was as a source of figures. There are four armies in this version of the game and each has a set of unique figures and also siege weapons. Each army has a cavalry figure, a close combat infantryman and one armed with a bow/crossbow. The siege equipment consists of a trebuchet, a ballista, a battering ram and a catapult. The figures themselves are moulded in hard polythene and are true 20mm and rather nice although in single poses. I would say – and I am certainly no expert on the period – that are designed to be 12^th century types which is rather handy.

I have mentioned previously that I had acquired a copy of the latest release from the Command and Colours stable covering the start of the Medieval period. Working on the basis that one would need the base game to be able to use the inevitable expansions I am happy to sit on this until we get to the Arab Conquests or, better still, the Crusades. Suddenly the acquisition of these figures begins to make a modicum of sense.

The figures are very generic looking and cover what appears to be the following armies:

Middle Eastern – Saracen for want of a better description

Northern – These look like Vikings or generic Hollywood barbarians.

Frankish – Western European typical crusader types.

Eastern – Russian/Byzantine

The number of figures within each force now stands at 48 cavalry, 140 close combat infantry and 48 missile troops. There is also around 8 of each of the siege weapons. These numbers are well in excess of what I envisage using but it does mean that there is plenty of choice available as well as the potential for conversions.

Now here is the thing. I managed to pick up another couple of sets of the figures for a very good price meaning that for each set I now have four games worth. I have a long term plan with these and when I say long term I doubt if I will get to this before next year but that is not a problem. I want to organise at least a pair of armies using these figures  - Frankish and Saracen being he obvious choice – for use with the Command and Colours: Medieval system as well as others. In fact it would not be beyond the realms of possibility to go full on imagi-nation and to also incorporate some fantasy elements. Like I said, this is very much a long term plan so there will not be any noticeable progress with it for some time. There are a couple of bits and pieces I would like to add to the figures I have but nothing major and I reckon the occasional rummage at a boot sale may well do the trick. I will also need to think about a few conversions for things like commanders etc. the key thing is that I really do not want to point a lot of money at this project, hence the acquisition of sets of Risk figures.

I have not painted this type of plastic figure for decades so it will be an interesting experience for sure but without the fumes and resulting headaches of yesteryear!

Counting on Belisarius to begin with....

Hard to believe that this book was added to my library some seven years ago!

Way back in the dim and distance days of 2012 I devised a plan to expand the coverage of my block armies to include the pre gunpowder or 'ancient' period. The plan was that by devising some fairly generic looking blocks I could happily fight wargames from the time of the Pharaohs up until the Italian Wars. Essentially the new blocks would be covering the time span of DBA. The book you see above contains some rather nice battle maps and makes use of some very useful looking map symbols for the usual variety of pre gunpowder troop types. I got as far as drafting some basic troop type labels but abandoned the attempt - mainly because I came into a large selection of Command and Colours Ancients blocks which were rather more useful than my own efforts.

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear - more expense....sigh....

The Command and Colours: Ancients system needs little introduction from me and it is what I would call a 'proper' ancients wargame, covering as it does the period from the Greek and Persian Wars up to the fall of the Roman Empire in the West. Richard Borg has now taken the game system a stage further come up with the first release in the next sequence if you like - Command and Colours: Medieval.

I will be completely honest with you. When I first heard that this was going to released my initial reaction was frankly one of 'meh!' I had visions of endlessly replaying the Battle of Agincourt and dealing with hordes of Knights and longbow men - a subject that is only of passing interest in my world unless you get down to skirmish or Lion Rampant level. I should have had more faith in that the game above is obviously the first in what I suspect will be a long sequence.

In fact this has been confirmed by GMT themselves in that this initial release concentrates solely of the Byzantine Wars against the Sassanid Persians and occasionally the Moors. All of the various Goths and Franks the Byzantines campaigned against do not feature at all although they may appear in a future supplement.

As an aside one of my pet peeves with the Command and Colours Ancients and Napoleonics is the fact that later expansions also tend to include additional troop types from earlier editions meaning hat if one wants to have a complete army one has to buy each and every expansion. I realise that companies are not charities and by selling more they can produce more but it is irritating all the same. Perhaps in time GMT will sell complete army packs to avoid this but I suspect that is a naive hope!

The period from 500 AD to 1500AD saw the rise and dominance of the mounted arm and the subsequent shift in emphasis as the lowly foot soldier slowly came to prominence. For me there are certain periods within the span of the thousand years mentioned that are of particular interest. First and foremost I would say the Crusades which I am sure will feature in due course as will the period of the great Arab conquests. I like the idea of the Viking era but again, mainly at a Lion Rampant level.

For a detailed overview of the game take a look at the following: Command and Colours: Medieval - A Review

For my own part I am very excited about the potential of this latest version in the Command and Colours stable and the nuanced way that Richard Borg has taken the core system and 'medievalised' it for that all important period flavour. At this stage I cannot see myself producing armies for the game - at least not for this edition - although I do have a couple of sets of plastic figures from the Risk: Europe Medieval version that would be a cheap solution. I will say that I am probably more excited to see what comes next because should the Arab Conquest feature then sign me up!

Note: Belisarius was a famous Byzantine general of the period covered by the earlier years of this edition of the game and subject of a cracking fictionalised account of his life written by Robert Graves - Count Belisarius.

Revisiting Risk: Europe and Hollywood Medieval Gaming

 

The box art - this is not like a 'normal' Risk game, in fact I think it is closer of Axis and Allies in many ways.

 

The rear of the box showing the components.

 

 

The map board - very useful as the basis of some stylised campaigns.

 

 

The figures - and they are very nice indeed!

 

Finally, a game in progress with what looks like Scandinavians and Arab/Turkic types fighting over France....

 

There are many periods of military history that I have an interest in – there are also many periods of military history that I am unlikely to raise armies for. The Medieval era for me very much falls into the latter category. Of course systems like Saga, Lion Rampant, DBA/HOTT and the Portable Wargame mean that smaller armies are required with the obvious advantage of needing less figures and are therefore much quicker to get into action. That is the theory anyway…. 

If I am honest I have a strange relationship with the Medieval period. I cannot say I am well read on the subject as the only things I have studied at any great length have been the Mongol Conquests or the Crusades and even then only intermittently. I have fought a few games in the period but not for some time. I have come to the conclusion that my ‘interest’ in the period is largely what I would call a Hollywood one in that my ideas of warfare in the period have been firmly influenced by the films I have seen. With this somewhat lackadaisical approach to historical accuracy it is fairly safe to assume that any armies I undertake will probably be of the ‘based on’ variety rather than being super accurate.

That is why I was so pleased to have  acquired a couple of copies of Risk: Europe way back in November of last year.

As mentioned in a previous post this version of Risk is unlike any other and in fact is more like an Axis and Allies style of game. The troop types have various strengths and weaknesses – for example you are not able to attack a castle unless you have a siege weapon – and although the armies are made up of the same types of figures (missile troops, hand to hand fighters, cavalry and the aforementioned siege weapon) the game uses different models for each army. The figures are pretty generic and represent eastern and western European forces, Scandinavia and Arabic/Turkic. They are small 20mm scale moulded in a kind of soft plastic. 

A single copy of the game will net you four armies each of 12 foot, a dozen missile troops and 35 hand to hand fighters with around 4 siege engines – of differing types. Having two sets of the game gives a little extra flexibility.  

Much as I am intrigued by the game in its original form the likelihood of getting sufficient people in the same space-time continuum to actually play it is unlikely. However, as a low cost option for some Medieval mayhem you could do a lot worse. The two sets cost me £20 so there is a lot of figures there and all the other material  - the stylised map of Europe for example - would come in useful for campaign purposes.

 

These are not on the radar for anytime soon so no decisions really need to be as such in respect of painting or basing, even which rules to use with them. In a moment of weakness I may cobble up a couple of DBA/HOTT forces - these would be great to use for a fantasy set up methinks - as a side hustle so to speak.

 

Something to think about then.



 

 

 



 

 





Blocked in Crusaders

 

Crusader Rex produced by Columbia Games



For the record this is not an 'ooh shiny' purchase - rather it is a substantial part of my long term Crusades project. I should add at this point that it is very firmly on the back burner - I reckon I have at least four other things to tackle beforehand - but the acquisition of the above game means that once I get around to it I will have everything I need to start. Actually that is probably not strictly true as there is always room for  the odd extra book at the very least. The written word is invariably my downfall and if there is one area that always suffers from 'project creep' it is with books.

Books are my weakness - my wargames Achilles heel so to speak.

Anyway, back to the business in hand. The above game is a strategic level depiction of the 3rd Crusade featuring Richard the Lionheart and of course Saladin. It is a fine game on a standalone basis but for me the extra value will be use it as a campaign canvas for a Portable Wargame based set up using the previously mentioned Risk figures or perhaps something else.

I am a great fan of Columbia games block based wargames as they are straightforward to play, are simple but not simplistic and have very good production values. One mechanic the games use is the 'fog of war'. Usually unit blocks are deployed on an edge with the strength side facing the owning player. This means that the opposition does not know the strength of a unit facing him or her until they attack it. Very simple and very effective.

In the meantime though, the ships take priority.

More Risky Business

 

The front of the box....



I suppose this could be described as an 'Ooh Shiny' moment but then that would not be the first time (nor the last if truth be told) for me! I am rather fond of Risk although to be honest it is more to do with the components than the game itself.  Recent years have seen a myriad variants of this game produced ranging from Star Wars to the Walking Dead via Tolkien and even the Game of Thrones. For the most part they all tended to follow the original game with genre specific differences or flavour added. I noticed the above variant a couple of years ago and was mightily intrigued at the time - but not enough to splash the then £40 being asked for it. Anyway, to cut a long story short I came across a couple of sets at a price I could not refuse and so am now the proud owner of the same.

 

 

....and the rear.



What on earth for?

Well, the figures are very nice to start with and rather unusually for a Risk game there are four quite different figures mixes. A quick glance at the pictures will show that they have produced for each army very generic looking types for Frankish, Scandinavian, Eastern Europe and Euro-Asiatic types at around the 22mm scale in a softish plastic. Each army consists of 12 cavalry, 12 archers and 35 foot soldiers plus 4 siege engines.

 

The all important figures and raison d'etre for buying it the first place...



The game itself is card driven and is a lot more subtle than the 'classic' version of Risk as well as having a combat system that uses an order of precedence to determine outcomes - which probably explains why there are so many basic foot soldiers or ballista/trebuchet fodder....

I acquired two sets of this game (for rather less than half the price I originally saw it for sale although I believe it has come down in price) so am now placed in terms of medieval figures for use at some point. Essentially I could field a number of DBA/HOTTs armies or could even use then for Dragon/Lion Rampant. I will try to get some close up pictures of the figures so you can see what hey are like.

I do not consider myself to be medievalist to any great extent although I am interested in the crusades. I have also been wary of painting figures for the period but reckon these would be a likely candidate for my modest efforts at some point. Certainly from a cost perspective this has been a coup and if I am honest is probably the only way I would have tackled this period.

I am already thinking Portable Wargame, Portable Wargame....(but the ships I am working on come first!).

I also noticed that last month the number of blog posts I wrote actually got into double figures for the first time since August 2014....