Warwell's Wargames

A page of counters ready to print

Oft get derailed by cats.

As I mentioned last time, I was planning to add a naval battle to my Tweenwater campaign. Saturday I decided to set it up.

A Redgravian warship is escorting a troop transport to Blancport. A squadron of Imperial ships intercepts the reinforcements.


But what is that line of dark clouds on the horizon?

It's Hurricane Onyx, who scatters the fleets!

Per our house rules, the game ends when the cat sits on the board. Oh well.

I did get a couple of turns in. I think I need to reduce the movement rates (I was using a rate of 3" if sailing with the wind). I also think that a gridded board will work better.

But my biggest issue was with the combat rules. Most Age of Sail rules use a dice pool mechanism. I was trying to avoid a dice pool so that I don't have to scrounge around for a bunch of dice. I tried a variant of my space dogfight rules - roll 2D6 and consult a chart to determine if the target is destroyed, damaged, or merely disrupted. This mechanism works well for dogfights where hitting the target in the first place is a big part of the challenge. It just did not feel right for Age of Sail. Hits should not be that difficult, however ships can take a lot of damage. I think I'll investigate other options.

In other news, my 2mm armies are progressing rapidly. Here is the Red army.

Top row (L to R) - Heavy cav, elite infantry, militia infantry, elite infantry, cavalry Middle row (L to R) - cavalry, 2 x regular infantry, general, 2 x regular infantry, cavalry Bottom row (L to R) - skirmishers, artillery, skirmishers, artillery

Blue is also finished.

I went for very simple paint jobs - I only painted ground, uniforms, and hats. The idea is to create a recognizable splash of color that can be seen while looking down on the board.

Now that I have completed phase 1 of my fantasy project, I find myself flitting off to another project. I recently ordered some 2mm sci-fi forces from GZG.

Here they are in the first stage of painting. So far, I painted the bases of the infantry and put on the main coat for the artillery and tanks. I'm creating 2 forces - the Federation will be in blue and a robot army is in silver.

I initially planned on ordering some O8 3mm troops but I wasn't all that keen on their stuff. It actually looked too realistic. I wanted something a little more futuristic, perhaps even space opera-like. Germy's 2mm fit the bill.

This is just the first stage of the project. I'll be basing each stand or vehicle individually. 2 bases will form a unit. I have enough for 5 units of infantry, and 3 each of artillery and tanks for each army. Ultimately, I want to expand the armies to include stompy robots (I really like Germy's 4-legged walker).

To go along with my new troops, I'm making some new terrain, starting with a new battle board.

Don't worry, the felt squares haven't been glued on yet. When I do I'll make sure the gaps aren't visible. I choose a "copper" color because it looks like it could be a desert-y planet (I also may use it for the Swartherian desert of my fantasy project). The board is 18 inches by 24 inches. Using 2 inch squares, I'll have a 9 x 12 board - double my current size. For some time, I've been wanting to expand my board - sometimes 6 squares just does not feel deep enough.

Next up will be making some hills, vegetation, and buildings to match this board.

This doesn't mean that I've forgotten my fantasy project. In fact, I have the next battle in the works, featuring these spiders from Perfect Six miniatures.

They seemed a bit small for 6mm but they are perfectly sized to join my 3mm evil army.

My now departed 2mm ancients

• Larger figures look better in photographs (important for my blog)
• Larger figures are easier to pick up
• It is easier to distinguish between troop types (e.g. elites vs. regulars)
• Squares look more full (using 2mm the squares look a little empty)

• I already have completed armies for the Empire, Redgrave, and Bluderia
• I can probably complete an army quicker
• I already have terrain 
• I can use the hills I have
• I have a few 6mm trees but could use more
• My biggest gap is buildings. I would need to make some
• Looks more realistic (like a helicopter view of the battlefield, although I probably should rebase so that there are 2 blocks on a base)

This morning I played the first game in the Francesian Conquest medieval campaign using my new 2mm armies.

After consolidating his hold on the barbarous kingdom of Redgrave, Lothar the Lascivious turned his greedy eyes southward toward the rich provinces of the tottering Argentian Empire. Gathering together his ravenous horde of warriors, he marched into Transflumia, sacking towns and villages as he went. Flavius Gravitas, prefect of Transflumia, gathered his own forces and rushed to oppose the Redgravians. He prepared a battle line between the villages of Nordia and Estria and then waited for Lothar's approach.

Lothar's army was primarily composed of heavy infantry (in gold with red shields). In addition, a troop of beastmasters (a heavy infantry stand with a stand of wolves - treated simply as heavy infantry) and a pack of wolves (treated as heavy cavalry) formed the army's right flank.

Flavius could only draw upon local troops as the cream of the Imperial army remained close to the capital (to be used by ambitious politicians). Instead, the Imperials only mustered a couple of auxiliary cohorts and four bands of locally raised, bow-armed infantry (troops in white and silver).

The Redgravians come in sight

 Lothar quickly pushed his troops forward to attack the sparsely guarded village of Nordia (on the left of the picture). Meanwhile, the pack of wolves raced forward, attacking the auxiliaries with Flavius.

Attacks on Nordia and on Flavius's guard.

 Soon, a swirling battle developed in the center of the battlefield. Flavius's valiant leadership encouraged his men and stemmed the tide of battle-maddened barbarians. The defense of Nordia did not go as well, and soon the garrison was racing for its life while Lothar's personal warband rushed forward in pursuit.

Nordia falls. Battle develops in the center.

 The Redgravians were beaten back in the center, but Lothar led a wide flanking maneuver around the Imperial left.

Lothar swings around the Imperial left.

At this point, Flavius noticed the battered Redgravian warbands and decided to crush them. His advance left him vulnerable and soon he found his cohort of auxiliaries surrounded by enemies.

Flavius carelessly attacks.

 Nevertheless, Flavius was able to beat back the attackers. Alas, he paid no attention to the left and Lothar succeeded in driving away the archers in the rocky ground. Two powerful warbands now could cut off the Imperial lines of communication. The archers in Estria raised a cry of alarm before fleeing. Flavius could not hold his battered cohort together. It and the remaining auxiliaries on the left fled from the field. The way was open to Transflumia's capital.

The left flank is turned.

Lothar rushed to the city and forced its surrender. He prepared for a counterattack, but the Senate dithered and no Imperial relief came. The Transflumians reluctantly bowed before their new overlord while Lothar began to eye the lush grasslands of Meditera.

As I mentioned yesterday, I'm planning to run a Francesian Conquest game using 2mm figures. I had ordered some from Irregular last year after my foray into 15mm stalled. But then my 2mm project never got off the ground. Well, I fnally got (most of) them painted.

Here are the armies so far.


Army 1 - Redgrave
The Redgrave army is loaded with heavy infantry. As I was unpacking the figures, I discovered a pack of wolves so I decided to add some of these predators to the army. I'll probably treat them like cavalry, but allow them to move and attack in wooded terrain without penalty. I'm actually 1 heavy stand short (due to some poor planning on my part). I'm going to order some more 2mms so I can fill in the gap.

The Redgrave army Still need to paint the base edges

 Army 2 - Imperials
The Imperial army will be much bigger than the rest because it needs to stand in for 4 different provincial armies (Transflumia, Meditera, Argentia, and Draconia) with vastly different compositions. Currently, I have completed the heavy infantry (due to the planning snafu I mentioned earlier, I have an extra stand of heavies) and 2 units of cavalry. The light infantry and archers are drying as I write. I need to order more cavalry and the Draconian elephants.

The Imperial army

So why did I decide to plunge back into 2mm? Well, my post last year gives some valid reasons. An additional reason is that my wife and I are planning a cruise in November. I want to bring a small game to play during the trip. I decided that 2mm would make an excellent portable wargame.

This morning I had some rules ideas and thought about trying them out, but I did not want to pull out my plastic figures. It dawned on me that I have some 2mm figures lying around. They should allow easy set-up for a quick solo experiment.

I did not get a chance to fight the Battle of Maraconi this weeked, so I'll present a little history of Franconia. About a decade prior to the Battle of Maraconi, the Emperor of Silverfern died, sparking a succession crisis and a land-garb by the King of Redgrave.

From the Chronicles of Francesia:
The beloved emperor, Godfrey the Good (called the Good because he slashed taxes; unfortunately this resulted in a reduced military budget, which would have a detrimental effect on the Empire) died without a direct heir. A number of relatives, including Duke Johann of Drakendorf and Godfrey's nephew Lester, staked a claim to the Imperial throne. Lester quickly gained the upper hand, but he still faced opposition. King Frederick of Redgrave decided to take advantage of the turmoil and seize some territory at Imperial expense. As Redgravian forces moved into the Empire, Lester was able to hammer through his selection as Emperor. Hastily, he gathered an army and moved north to confront Frederick.

The first major action of the war took place at Blancport.


A combined land-sea offensive descended upon the Empire. Details have been lost, but the forces that took place were as follows:

• Empire (Duke Fredio) - 37,000 troops; 7,000 casualties
• Redgrave (Gen Redmond) - 31,000 troops; 7,500 casualties

Each stand represents:

• 4,000 infantry 
• 6,000 militia 
• 2,000 cavalry 
• 20 guns and 1,000 crew + support 
• 500 casualties per stand lost