MONGOL SAGA WAR BANNER AND TROUBADOUR

Mongol War Banner and Troubadour: Gripping Beast Mongol Riders

In order to round out the options for my SAGA Mongols, I needed two specialty figures: A War Banner and a Troubadour.  Well, technically, I already had a War Banner, but he is a light cavalryman, which works well with my Warriors.  I wanted to have a Warbanner that was tailored to fit in with my Hearthguard and Warlord (hey, specialty figures are as much about the look as the effect, ne'st-ce pas?).  This post, dear readers, will provide a brief study of my treatment of these two specialty figures.  As usual, you may clix pix for BIG PIX.

The riders are from the Gripping Beast Mongol line.  Specifically, the Trumpeter is from the Heavy Cavalry Command set and the War Banner is from the Mongol High Command set. 

The horses you get with these sets tend to be a mix of armored and caparisoned.  The  Gripping Beast Timurid Medium cavalry come almost exclusively with these caparisoned horses. 

I had collected sets of Timurid command as well as mulitple Mongol heavy cavalry and command sets, leaving me with a healthy mix of both types of horses.  I concentrated the armored horses in my Hearthguard, leaving me with a pile of caparisoned horses left over, which I used for my Troubadour and War Banner (being more colorful).

For the Troubadour, instead of going with yellow and bright red, I used Humbrol Matte Cream (which comes across as yellow) and Model Master Guards Red (a dark red). I then went with flat yellow for the pom poms and ornaments on the quiver and bow holster. 

On the War Banner horse, I wanted to make the neat detail of the studs stand out as much as possible.  I tried something new and used a goodly wash of black (these were white primed) to bring out the seams before painting in the squares on the caparison (normally, the wash comes after).  In this way, the colors were brighter and would not be dirtied by washing them over after they were painted.  Although this worked well, I found that I still wound up adding a very weak wash and some touch up to the finished caparison after the fact.  I then went back and did the studs in black and tipped them with brass.  After matte coating the horse, I went back again and touched each stud with Model Master Gold in order to brighten them up and give them a bit of shine.   

Although I'm probably not likely to field a Troubadour or a Hearthguard War Banner in a SAGA game, these figures can be used, and probably will, among my Tartar contingent in my Smalle Warre system (perhaps sooner rather than later: one always likes to play with one's new toys).  

Uukhai!

OF FLIP PHONES AND UN-CONVENTION REPORTS (BARRAGE 2019)

My Flip Phone--Deployed for Action!

As the above image attests, dear readers, I am among the rearguard of those who still think of their phones (even of the mobile/cellular variety) as "phones." Thus, when "upgrading" my phone a few years ago, the only non "smart" phone option was the above, a "ruggedized" flip phone for outdoorsy types: shock proof, waterproof, and small profile to fit in pockets.  Minimalist thing that it is, I happily took it--I must add that it does have a rather clunky ability to do texts and it does have minimal Bluetooth capability.  I only found out the latter when setting up my new car's hands-free calling thingy (which requires a connection to a phone, ostensibly a smart one). 

Now, working at a University in the US for the last decade or more, I have seen lots of trends arise, some passing, some becoming the new norm (motor scooters, for instance, are ubiquitous and here to stay, wheras they were few and far between when I first hit campus).  Nowadays, I witness scenes like the above on a daily basis--only magnified by about 10.  The few students I see in view who aren't walking in supplication to their phones have them, appendage-like, extending from an arm (in a hand that is now useless except as an accessory to said phone).  Whilst I'm walking across campus, or anywhere for that matter, my flip phone is not only not in-hand, but it is usually tucked away in a bag (sometimes a pocket); quite often, I may even venture forth sans-phone entirely (gasp!).  Needless to say, although I am reasonably comfortable with Information Tech and things digital, I have no intention of joining the smart-phone processional.  But I digress (meander?).

 Image from Giphy

Those few rugged individuals who have the stamina to still be reading this (bless you!) may at this point be wondering what all this has to do with our beloved hobby--and this blog in particular.  And I'm glad that you asked.  What this retrograde individualism on my part means is that I still must use an actual camera to take hobby pictures.  I have two, actually:  a portable Cannon PowerShot N for when I'm on the road and a Nikon Coolpix L340 for home use.  I might add that both of these are digital.  

BARRAGE T-Shirt

This, friends, brings us to the Un-convention(al) convention report.  I recently attended the most excellent 2019 Barrage Convention.  Here is my rump-report.  This small convention was held in Maryland, some distance from my current abode in New Hampshire.  I made the trip based on nostalgia: I used to live in Maryland and had attended this convention then (when it was held in the cafeteria of a high school in Baltimore).  I had always thought about taking in the convention again, and this year I took a day off and acted on it.  Despite the convention having grown to two days, and being years on from my last experience, I can say that the convention still maintains its wonderful "family" feel from before (right down to the home-made chili served up on Friday evening).

A Baroque Battles Game

This year, I ran my Baroque Battles Battle of Lutzen Game on Friday evening.  Despite Saturday really being the main convention day, my game was filled with six spirited players (several of whom had made the trip from New Orleans).  The convention staff were superb: one couldn't ask for better support as a game master.  Now to the nib: although I had packed carefully and had all the necessities for the game, I had failed to pack my camera! (Hey, I had my phone, though).  There you have it: the payoff--no camera+no smart phone=no piccies. 

In the absence of any pictures taken by me, I can only link you to this posting on the convention on The Miniatures Page  and suggest the Little Wars TV report on last years Barrage Convention (I believe they were in attendance at Barrage this year, so there should be another convention report forthcoming).   Thanks to the HAWKS for running this excellent small convention and thanks to the players (whose names I failed to record--sort of like forgetting my camera). 

I suspect that some day, sooner rather than later, I may be obliged to get a "smart" phone simply to maintain functionality (more and more things are coming out that require an "app" to operate, and there are even starting to be processes at work that require a workaround to access via means other than smartphone).  I'll try to look on the bright side when that day arrives: at least then I'll always be equipped to take pictures of toy soldiers.

Excelsior!

BLOODY MONGOLS II--ANOTHER SAGA BATREP

Seizing the moment, my friend and fellow bloggist AJ and I found ourselves free on an evening a few days ago and decided to do a rematch of his Eastern Princes Russians vs my Mongols in a SAGA, Age of Crusades game. The first match went to AJ and his Eastern Princes, as reported earlier. We were both interested in applying lessons learned from that game as well as giving new force combinations a try.  I wasn't taking photos during the game: All photos here come courtesy of AJ, who graciously shared his with me (and you may read his excellent batrep on this game on his blog). As usual, in this report, you may clix pix for BIG PIX. 

Once again, we did the Clash of Warlords scenario.  This time around I wound up being player one.  During the terrain placement, I once again plopped the large open hill prominently on the battlefield to facilitate my mounted force. AJ was more mindful of the relative mobility of the Mongols vs his mainly infantry force this time, placing the large wood and rocky field to create a bastion in one corner of the table. 

This was a 6 point game. AJ's Eastern Crusader Russians consisted of 2 points of warriors (in 2, 8 fig units), one point of hearthguard (in 1, 4 fig unit), 1 point of levy crossbow (12 figs), a mercenary horse unit, the black hoods (8 figures), and a legendary leader, Alexander Nevsky. Among Nevsky's special abilities is that units keep generating Saga dice, regardless of losses. A cagey move on the part of AJ that would negate one of my guiding aims, which is to hit hard and cause one or more opposing units to drop below the figure threshold for generating a Saga Dice: there would be no cheapo gains via that tactic this time. I'd have to work for it!  Setting up, he bulwarked his position by starting his crossbows and a warrior in the woods, with his other warrior poised to take up position in the rocky ground. Nevsky and the hearthguard were in depth.

Wanting to try more warriors than last time time, I took 2 points of hearthguard, but I concentrated them in one big 8 figure "hammer"  unit. I took 3 points of warriors, deploying them in 2, 8 figure units and splitting the 3rd into 2, 4-figure units, which I deployed on the flanks.  The rest of  the units I put in a group.  I again took the War Drummer (costing 1 point) and the standard Warlord. This combination generates 7 Saga dice, and the War Drummer's ability to activate all horse mounted units within L is the equivalent of having another  4 or 5 Saga dice, depending on how you're deployed. In this configuration, the Saga Dice differential is almost certainly in the Mongols favor. The key for the Mongols is that you don't have to divert many Saga dice to movement but can load up on battleboard dirty tricks. I also took a warbanner and deployed it with one of my warriors.  This lets them recover 1 fatigue at the start of each turn for free (wheras normally you would need to burn an activation to rest).  In this particular game, the banner really didn't come into play. I think it would be of more use in a situation mixing movement and combat as opposed to the close-in slugfest this game wound up being.

I went first. In Saga, the first player is limited to 3 Saga Dice, but by my War Drummer allowed me to move my entire force. So, I advanced and poised the hearthguard and warriors in a line opposite the wood, ready to go into action in the next turn.

AJ's countermove was to pull his units in the woods back from the edge so that I couldn't hit them in melee on 1 activation (cagey fellow!). He brought his black hoods up to fill the gap between the wood and the rocky terrain, and slipped his Warriors into the latter. He shifted his hearthguard and Alexander Nevsky to a supporting position. 

On my next turn, I again used my drummer to send a solid wall of units into action. Once again, I used the "Predator" ability to give my big hearthguard unit composite bows, so they would be generating 8 fire dice (before adding specials). I then pulled out the "Scorched Earth" ability, which blasted the woods, causing it to no longer provide light cover (for the rest of the game) as well as putting a fatigue on AJ's warrior and levy crossbow who occupied it. Although the woods would still be a movement obstacle, it had suddenly lost its value as a bulwark vs mounted and missiles.  I then unleashed composite bow volleys from my hearthguard and warriors into the levy crossbow...

...I had learned in the last game how dangerous these lowly fellows can be and so negating them early was job one. This combined attack managed to take them down enough so that they would not be a factor in the game  (and not worth spending the Saga dice to activate). 

Unfortunately, bv focusing on the crossbows, this left their neighbors hale and hearty.  Recovering quickly from the nasty shock of the Scorched Earth, AJ's warriors assaulted my hearthguard with excellent results (well, not so excellent from the Mongol perspective!).  My warriors paid the price as well, taking some effective fire from the Black Hoods....

...the Dead pile at the end of the turn attested to the effectiveness of AJ's counterpunch.  For the loss of 3 warriors, he had reduced my big hearthguard unit by half, taking out 4 of 8 figures (ouch!).  At this rate, it would be a short game!

The next few turns saw more mixing it up. I continued pushing my hearthguard to finish off the crossbows.  The black hoods evaded a charge by my warriors, who then wound up behind the woods: there was more back and forth there, with both sides getting reduced. Meanwhile, AJ's hearthguard made their way around the woods and tangled with my right wing warriors, both suffering.  Alexander Nevsky swung into the Mongol rear--in Saga, the warlord is a formidable melee unit in itself, so this was becoming serious.  Now those losses to my hearthguard were coming home to roost. I was running out of options for countering this threat!

The growing dead pile attests to the fighting in this "middle game" phase of the battle.

Running out of options, I send my warlord in to fight Alexander Nevsky before he can recover exhaustion and run amok...

...despite the favorable exhaustion situation, Nevsky proves to be no pushover, rolling 5 hits on my warlord: this could spell mutual annihilation! For those not familiar with Saga, figures get to try and save melee hits (need a 5, 6) and on top of this, Warlords can convert hits to exhaustions, but can only do that for 3. Thus,  Alexander had no more exhaustions to give and would need to save all hits.  My warlord, on the other hand, wound up being saved (literally) by an equally sterling save roll: I saved 3 of the 5 hits, and put 2 exhaustions on my warlord, thus just surviving the onslaught. AJ wasn't so fortunate with Nevsky's saves, though, and he wound up in the dead pile: high drama, for the warlords to clash like this!

...at that point, we were at something like turn 5 (out of 6), and all I had left were my warlord, drummer, and two small units of warriors, opposed by 1 of AJ's warriors and a few figures (out of the picture) of Black Hoods. Discretion being the better part of valor, I beat it out of range of the warriors and let night arrive to end the battle.  This time, the points favored the Mongols, so the match between the Mongols and Eastern Princes is now tied at 1 win each.  A very well played game by AJ and a learning experience (once again) for me. I'm already looking forward to the next practice round!

Uukhai!