Friday 24 March 2023

Just a bit of everything!

The discovery of 3mm figures has certainly had some effect on my enthusiasm for the hobby, something about the mass effect when drawn up just appeals to my minds eye of how an army should look. Alongside that was the rediscovery of DBA v1 which gives me just the kind of game I used to enjoy, while apparently simple they present lots of tactical challenges. not unlike a game of chess. With 4 ancient armies painted it was time to get out the simple 2 x 2 cloth covered foamboard, bang down some clump foliage and a hill and were off.

 It's 60AD and the Iceni are revolting! Roman governor of Britain, Gaius Suetonius Paulinus has rushed back from campaigning in Wales to quash the rebellion.

It's been many a year since I played these rules so had to take it slowly. My deployment was probably not the best but I wanted to see how the different elements handled and was especially keen to get some combat between the Legion (Blades) and the Warbands as well as getting the light chariots into action against different types of opponents. The combats between the Legion and the massed Warbands actually proved fairly evenly matched despite the basic +5 v +3 factor with push backs going both ways which in turn allowed for additional overlap factors. I was surprised how broken up the ranks of the Legion became in the prolonged contest as I had expected them to just roll through. Light chariots count as 'cavalry' with a basic +3 against foot but I used them mostly on the flanks against Auxilia and Roman light cavalry where they did pretty well. There was lots of drawn combats that carried over into a second bound and push backs and pursuits that went back and forth before one element was finally defeated. The game ended in a 4 to 2 Roman victory but I think a more experienced DBA general could have fought a tactically better battle. Still, I enjoyed myself and thats what counts for me and I'm very keen for more. I now have the Carthaginians and Late Romans set up for another game although they almost came a cropper when our cat decided to sit on the board between the facing armies!







I'm now making progress on the 3mm ECW armies which are intended for the C&C ECW variant by 'Foy' using both the command  and chance cards. A few initial unit types, pike and shot, pike heavy, Trotters and Gallopers. Also a couple of command bases.








Beside the above I'm still bashing out the Epics strips, this month has been ACW, French Napoleonic, Prussian Landwehr and finishing off with more ACW's so keeping me busy.








19 comments:

  1. Your painting is fantastic! Although they are the opposite end of the spectrum for my usual scale, I love the look you get from masses of tiny figures (and without needing an entire living room floor to play) - like proper *armies*

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    1. Thank you John. Over the decades I have collected ECW in just about every scale so I had to have a shot at 3mm to see what I could do!

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  2. Nice to see you getting a game in, the 3mil lads look terrific!

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    1. Hi JBM. I'm really not sure where this will go but I'm having fun playing around with them. I did enjoy the DBA game though.

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  3. I think you're right about how much these 3mm armies look more like armies than larger scales. Thay said the Ancient Brit warbands do look weaker than the serried ranks of romans.
    The ECW figures in this scale also make it practical to use 2 or 3-rank units to differentiate between the tactical systems.

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    1. 3mm works well for DBA I think. Warbands are on deeper bases with as many as I could pack on :)

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  4. WOW fantastic turn out, well done mate, seeing your cat reminded me of back when i first started painting 20mm plastic figures our old cat (Sooty AKA black devil of neighborhood as no dog or cat was safe!!!) he used jump on my lap and flick figures all over the room
    cheers Old John

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    1. Thanks John, I'm an Epic production like at the moment, 800 epic figures painted this month! I'm a real cat lover even though he sits on my figures :)

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  5. Your Epic are looking mighty fine. Good to see you rolling dice again :-)

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    1. Must say I really enjoyed it Norm, few things I need to clarify but I'll keep going with it. Epics of course all for customers, averaging 800 per month! Struck me that I could paint myself 2 armies in a couple of months :) What do you think of the ECW's? I'm trying so hard to resist a sprue but I know where it could lead.

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    2. I have seen the figures and they look good, though I do wonder whether 60mm for everything as an ‘Epic’ thing, reduces flexibility for the user. If doing it, I would mount the pike on one block of 4 ranks, but I wonder whether that front rank of porte pike will cause handling issues. I’m sure it will be very popular.

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    3. Have been giving them some thought over the weekend and decided that they are not for me anyway Norm. I think the decider was the review of the cavalry sprue on the ;Keep your Powder Dry' blog, to be blunt I really don't think they are very good at all. Yes. they are a cheap way into a new period but I was concerned from the start that the foot were far too cramped to be in anyway historically representative of the period, what worked well for ACW and Napoleonics does not work for Pike and Shot, in my opinion at least. If I was going for the scale again it would be Peter Pig or Steel Fist.

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  6. Good to see you playing a game Lee. The ECW figures look brilliant. Like you, finding small scale figures after all this time gaming, opens up a whole new world.

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    1. Thanks Ray. I like how quickly an army or two can assembled in this scale!

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  7. Crikey Lee, in terms of painting figures you’re certainly “knocking it outta the park” as they say. 👏👏
    The Epics are lovely. I appreciate they are relatively small compared to their 28mm brethren but they still occupy sooooooo much table space compared to the 2mm and 3mm fellas. Where tabletop/battlefield space is limited then it’s still going to be 2mm for me.
    Your 3mm ECW set-up is coming along well. Let’s hope you get ‘em ready for a battle soon. Careful though, it looks like you narrowly avoided a cat-astrophe there 😂🤣
    Cheers,
    Geoff

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    1. Thanks Geoff. I'm hooked on the 3mm scale now and have a clear plan for the ECW's. I'll drop you a line re your 2mm's as I'm stuffed for April, trying to get out as many Napoleonic cavalry as I can for an Epic refight of Waterloo in June, my shipping deadline is mid May and after that I'm going to ease things back a bit!

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  8. The 3mm figures certainly give the impression of mass. I had my first experience of DBA just a couple of weeks ago and thoroughly enjoyed it!

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    1. Thanks Ian. I agree re the 3mm's for DBA, it's a good look. Funny how such apparently simple rules can give such a tactically challenging game isn't it? I need to learn how to better handle the various types but can see I'm going to enjoy the learning process.
      Cheers
      Lee.

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  9. The 3mm look excellent and I’m glad to see you Gaming I hope you really enjoyed it. I’m sure the ECW will bring you some fun and I enjoy Tony’s rules as you know they play well even though I have tweaked a few bits.There’s mor PP ECW on the way to give you a break from all those epic’s which of course look great as always

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