Post Cancon 2014

It’s been two weeks since I have returned from Cancon and a month since my last post.  I'm truly amazing how much the real World can interfere with my hobby!

What I came away with from Cancon

I thoroughly enjoyed my two days in Canberra. Not only was it an opportunity to relax and play twelve games of DBA against a variety of gamers, but it also afforded me the chance to chat with some friends, both old and new.

I must thank Ailsa and Mike, though we hadn’t seen each other for over five years, they welcomed me into their home for a drink and the conversation flowed, as if we had been in regular contact during that time.

As usual, my thanks also go to Greg, Mark and David for organising a great weekend of gaming.  Mark’s selection for the traditional Cancon DBA dinner, though undersubscribed was an excellent choice as usual.

Day one of the competition saw some interesting match ups for my Bosporans and at the end of six games I had scored 32 out of a possible 48 points.  The best placed gamer at the end of Day one was Peter on 43.  Importantly for me, when I had been defeated in these games, except the game against Peter, I took points off my opponent for having eliminated several of their elements.  This was an improvement over past competitions.

Unfortunately, day two and my selection of Hussites, proved to be less successful, primarily because I didn’t fully understand how to use this specialist troop type.  For example, in my final game of the day, I was defending and left three blades on my right flank guarding my artillery against four knights.  Sounds positive, however knights quick kill blades, so all my opponent had to do was beat me in combat by one and I lost an element!

I finished Day two on 28 points and an overall total of 60 points.  Twenty points behind the eventual winner.  The worthy winner of Day two, Marcus ended the day on 43 points, had I not thrown my last game through poor deployment, the win would have made me more competitive.       

Before going to Cancon, I had decided that I wouldn’t purchase any more lead to be added to Mount Neverpaint for the year!  It was difficult, given some great figures being on display at the traders' stands.

Well as can be seen by the photo below, which depicts what I purchased at Cancon, this resolution remains unbroken, technically!

You will see, in the above photograph, that I did buy two packs of Donnington Miniatures from Dean of Olympian Games.  One contained some barrels and crates and the other a field blacksmith.  

Before going to Cancon, I had identified that I owed six Medieval DBA armies, both painted and unpainted, but I only had four tents from Claudio at Baueda Wargames to be fielded as camps for these forces.  The field balcksmith is generic enough to work with all of these DBA armies.

You will also see that I purchased Maurice from Nic at Eureka Miniatures.  The purchase of another rule set doesn’t signal a new period of gaming, which will require the purchase of more lead.  Rather, these rules will enable me to use what I already possess, both painted and unpainted for the Seven Years War ('SYW') and the Wars of Succession. 

Over the years, I have collected the core of a well turned out Austrian SYW army using 15mm figures from Old Glory.  I also have painted British and Franco Bavarian armies in 15mm for the Marlburian Wars.  These latter forces were sourced from Dixon Miniatures. 

As one might expect, I also have several large trays full of unpainted lead to be used as re-enforcements for these three armies, as well as a Russian SYW army, all waiting the application of paint.  The former three armies will, over the next few months, be re-based for use, as I prefer to use a standardised base width of 40mm as recommended in the rules.  Additional units, will be organized and painted during the second half of the year, as my understanding of the rules improves.

The resin forest bases purchased at Cancon were an excellent find and are sourced from Battlefield Accessories, an Australian business.  These will enable me to mount the drawer of trees I currently have, primarily of K & M manufacture.  Once completed, these bases will be used for DBA, as well as encounters using the Maurice rules.

I also picked up some basing material manufactured by Army Painter from the War and Peace games stall.  A great find is the container of ‘snow’, so I no longer have to contemplate the use of Bi Cab soda as a means of depicting snow bound forces.

Because I was involved in the competition over the two days, I lacked the time to really check out some of the other games on display which was a disadvantage.  I did quickly check out the two demonstration/participation games run to promote the rule set, Chain of Command by Too Fat Lardies.  Suffice to say, I liked what I saw, have purchased the pdf version of the rules, as these rules affords me a reason to paint up the understrength platoon of AB 20mm Germans I bought off Nic a decade ago!

Ensuring posts will depict photographs of my Bosporans and Hussites.  As I complete other DBA armies, these will also be photographed and published. 

The end of week one, 2014

I have spent an enjoyable week, pondering over the possible DBA armies, which I could take with me to Cancon in two weeks.

On Day One, I have decided to run a Bosporan contingent, circa 100AD (DBA II/25).  The army's home topography is classed as arable and the army list assigns it an aggression factor of zero.  On this basis, I should have a better than average opportunity to defend and have the capacity to deploy the terrain.

The army list details the Bosporians' composition as four elements of three knights each, including the general, representing lancers from the nobility of the kingdom, located in the Crimea.

The Bosporans were a Hellenised Skythian race, heavily influenced by the Sarmatians until the kingdom was absorbed into the Roman regime.  In support of the cavalry, there are four stands of four auxilia each.  This infantry represent the city militia, who, at the time, are no longer equipped as thureophoroi, having adopted '... the Roman style...'.  The remaining four elements of the army are made up of a combination of psiloi, bow, and an element of artillery.  The artillery element, if deployed, will be depicted by a bolt shooter mounted on a light cart (Source: 'DBM Army Lists, Book 2').

I have cleaned and mounted the lancers and the psiloi on bases ready for priming.  The remainder of the army is already painted.

The army I will field on Day Two is a representation of a force mobilised by King Georg Podiebrad of Bohemia, often referred to as the Hussite King, in 1464AD (DBA IV/80).  I have had this army since 2006, having bought it from a talented Australian painter, Chris Jones.  I have not previously used it in a competition.  I'm looking forward to its unique challenges.

The army's home topography is arable and the army list provides for an aggression factor of one.  Again, this should see me as the defender in the majority of my games.

The Hussite general element can either be represented as three knights or four blades.  It has five war wagons (therefore no camp is required to be fielded), an element of light horse, another four elements of blades and an artillery piece make up the rest of the army.

I will upload some photographs of each of these armies prior to leaving for Canberra.      

I also constructed three 4ground manufactured MDF 28mm buildings for skirmish gaming using Saga.

These kits were the first I had made and I really enjoyed both the ease of construction and the look of the final product.  The use of faux Teddy Bear fur for the thatching is excellent.  The wattle and daub constructed house in the foreground of the picture above was a Christmas present from my wife.  She has also contributed a resin flint church to the village.

More mining results in...another army!

I had purchased my Khmer and Cham DBA army on eBay some years ago and to date, have not gamed with it.  In checking its composition against the DBA 2.2 army list, I found that I am down two archers - the painter of the army fielded two elements of three bow, instead of the required two elements of four bow.  For gaming purposes there is no adverse impact, just annoying!

I find myself in two minds, should I run the Cham on day two of Cancon, with the artillery element instead of the blades or run a Fanatic Berber army which I found in the lead mountain?

Up date

My all options New Kingdom Egyptian DBA army (DBA I/22ab) has been re-based and is awaiting flocking, as is my Middle Assyrian DBA army (DBA I/25).

The Early Bedouin (DBA I/6) option (c) is based and the unpainted figures are awaiting priming and then painting on the element bases.  I had sufficient figures to be able to morph this option of the army list to include option (b) though I am, presently restricted to running the 3Cm (General).  I need to get an Auxilia general which will not only expand my command element options but will also enable me to run the (a) option of the army list.

Whilst working on this side project, I discovered I only needed eleven more Essex Nubian archers in order for me to be able to field another DBA army, Nubians (DBA I/3) bow option.  An interesting army, as in this variant it is comprised of nine bow, including the general and two war band elements.  It certainly does not present as a balanced open competition army, but will fit in well as opponents for the New Kingdom Egyptians.

Cancon 2014 is approaching and the latest report indicates about 15 registered players including a junior.

I will have to consider which two armies I will take.  This competition is run over two days, the first day, the players are restricted to fielding armies which appear in Books I and II.  The second day sees armies from Book III and IV being run.

The difficulty for me is to run two balanced armies which respond to the distinct challenges presented on each day, such as chariots and spears on the first day and knights and bows on the second.

At this stage, the second day of competition might see my Cham (DBA III/23) facing their inaugural game.  Potentially this is a good army to go up against the knight/bow combination which could be expected.  It has two elephants, which if nothing more will cause a distraction to a lot of players, some bad gooding troops, in the form of four Auxilia, and two bow elements, but the one blade element can only be fielded at the cost of the artillery element.

In the interim, I wish all who happen by a happy festive season!      

Towards 2014!

The commencement of this blog reflects my new approach to wargaming.

Over the years, I have accumulated more unpainted lead than anyone else I know.  This virtual lead mountain has gone unchecked until this time last year, when, over a week, I sorted through it, bagged the figures and created an inventory for ease of retrieval with the help of my wife.

Following the sale of my apartment in Brisbane's West End, we moved into a house where I am fortunate enough to be able to allocate a room to my hobby.

I now have no further excuses, 2014 needs to be the year that the lead mountain is mined and useable, painted wargaming figures produced whilst I still am able to do so! Along the way, I will record my progress using this blog to ensure I remain on track.

Secondarily, I want to game more regularly.  I have committed to attend both Cancon (held in Canberra in January) and MOAB (held in Sydney in October) to play DBA in 2014.  I need to get some practice games in before each event for the sake of my ego!  This is something I haven't done previously and suffered the consequences.

Whilst in the UK in 2012, I got hooked on Saga, a rule set for dark age skirmish encounters and have over the ensuing year, acquired two rival factions of 28mm Normans and Anglo Saxons.  I have shied away from using plastic figures, instead I have sourced both factions from 'Gripping Beast' and 'Crusader'.  I have used 'War and Peace Games', located on the Central Coast of NSW, in this endeavour and recommend them!

These 28mm figures are on the painting bench awaiting cleaning prior to priming.

Last month, we visited Gettysburg in Pennsylvania.  This experience rekindled my interest in the American Civil War.  I meet John Zabawa, who operates 'Gettysburg Miniature Soldiers'.  John is a re-enactor and he put me on to some of the most accurate 10mm resin buildings I have ever seen.  These buildings depict the farms surrounding Gettysburg and are sold under the business name of 'Buildings in Turmoil'.

Whilst at Gettysburg, we visited the 'Victorian Photo Studio' operated by Patricia and Del.  Patricia took our photo using 1860s era wet plate photography.  It was a great experience!