Samnite Linen Legion

 

Here are some Samnites from the archives, the Linen Legion described by Livy in his The History of Rome (Book 10.38.12.), who fought at the Battle of Aquilonia during the Third Samnite War:

...when the leading Samnites had been bound by this imprecation, the general named ten of them and bade them choose every man another, and so to proceed until they had brought up their number to sixteen thousand. These were named the "Linen Legion," from the roof of the enclosure wherein the nobles had been sworn, and were given splendid arms and crested helmets, to distinguish them from the rest.

https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0155%3Abook%3D10%3Achapter%3D38

These are all Crusader Miniatures figures that I painted about nine years ago. I have a Pen and Sword book on the Third Samnite War by Mike Roberts but haven't read it yet!

Last Sunday we went on a camping trip to Barrington Tops and Ganguddy-Dunns Swamp, near Rylestone in the Wollemi National Park. Below are a few pics from our trip.

Creek crossings at Barrington Tops
were high after all the rain

Beech Forest Walk 

Thunderbolts Lookout

Soggy camping at Polblue Swamp

Brumbies

Polblue Swamp creek

A wallaby

The Firs, Barrington Tops

Campsite at Ganguddy-Dunns Swamp

Dammed Cudgegong River

Pagoda Lookout

The Weir was built in 1921 to provide
water for the Kandos Cement Factory

Mitanni and Canaanite Infantry

 

Here are some 15mm Mitanni infantry and Canaanite javelin men. The Mitanni infantry are by Chariot Miniatures and the Canaanite javelin men are by Essex Miniatures. I'll try the Mitanni against my Hittites in a Chariots Rampant game soon.

Early New Kingdom Egyptian Chariots

 

Here are some 15mm early New Kingdom Egyptian chariots by Khurasan Miniatures. These are from the 18th Dynasty, part of the army of the great Egyptian warrior pharaoh, Thumose III. At the bottom is a combined shot of the infantry and chariots I've painted to date.

Norse versus Anglo-Danes Midgard Game

 

Armies deployed from the Anglo-Danes' side

Opposite end

Anglo-Dane left flank and centre

Anglo-Dane right flank and centre

Norse left flank and centre

Norse right flank and centre

Armies close, skirmishers shoot

Last Thursday afternoon Garry came over and we played a Norse versus Anglo-Danes Midgard game out in the shed. We diced for sides and Garry commanded the Anglo-Danes defenders and I commanded the Norse attackers. The Anglo-Dane skirmishers were on target early on but the Norse were able to get in the first charge with a bonus Get In! movement activation. In the Midgard rules a charge or winning marker allows that side to reroll any ones for each round of combat which can prove very handy at times. 

Single combats between heroes are fought first and are an important way of gaining or losing reputation tokens in the game. The Norse lost three heroes in single combat but were winning the early melee combats. In the end it proved to be a very hard fought game with the Anglo-Danes eventually winning on their right flank while the Norse won on the left. Both armies were exhausted and fought to a standstill, with two reputation tokens each remaining, so we called it a draw.

Anglo-Dane archers and slingers are on target

Norse straighten their line and Anglo-Danes hold

Norse charge with a bonus
Get In! movement action

Norse are winning the melee combats but
have lost three heroes in single combat!

Anglo-Danes win on their right flank
but the Norse win on the left

The game ends in a hard fought draw

Last weekend I drove up to the Blue Mountains to visit friends, mountain bike and attend the Blue Mountains Music Festival at Katoomba on the Saturday afternoon. Below are a few pics of some of the mountain bike rides we did. The BMMF music is a roots, blues and folk music festival which has been running for about thirty years but which I've never been to before. The highlight for me was seeing the eighteen year old Irish country blues guitarist and singer Muireann Bradley, perform with brilliant covers of songs by Memphis Minnie, Mississippi John Hurt, Elizabeth Cotten, Reverend Gary Davis, Blind Blake and Sam McGee. I've been a massive country blues fan since I was seventeen and used to go to a lot of the blues, jazz and folk gigs and festivals around the traps. She recorded her first album when she was seventeen and learnt guitar from her father since the age of nine. Here's a link to her website and a video performance of When the Levee Breaks:

 https://www.muireannbradley.ie

https://www.muireannbradley.ie/video/

Rydal showground

Rydal single tracks

View of Mt Banks from my friends' house

Blackheath single tracks

Start of the Oaks single tracks on the
Wentworth Falls to Glenbrook ride

Norse versus Irish Midgard Games

 

Irish and Norse deployed Game One

View from the Norse side

Norse attackers and Irish defenders advance

Irish light riders scout ahead

Bondi charge and Irish heavy riders counter charge

Irish army commander and hero are killed,
a very quick and easy victory for the Norse!

 

Game Two Norse advance

Last Sunday Rick, Gary, Rob and I met down at the Vikings Club in Lanyon for the monthly meeting of the Canberra Regional Wargame Group. We used to play down here every month but have only been a couple of times since the pandemic. We diced for sides, Gary and I were the Irish defenders and Rick and Rob, the Norse attackers. It was a pretty good turn out for the meeting considering it was a long weekend. Ian and his mates were also playing a Hundred Years War Midgard game. 

We ended up playing a second game as the first game was over very quickly, when the Irish commander and a hero were killed. This was a very quick and easy victory for the Norse before lunch! After lunch we swapped sides, Gary and I were the Norse attackers and Rick and Rob, the Irish defenders. This was a much closer game and the Irish performed a lot better on their second outing. The Irish heavy riders accounted for a Norse hirdmen unit but it was the Irish Norse allies who accounted for the Norse beserkers and bondi, sealing the game by killing the lone Norse army commander. It was good to get my Irish and Norse troops on the table and a real bonus to have two quick, fun Midgard games.

Irish light riders charge the Norse bondi

Norse hirdmen guard their right flank

Norse bondi and beserkers fight
the Irish Norse allies

Norse hirdmen are at half strength

Irish Norse allies have the upper hand

Norse hirdmen are winning but about to rout

Norse right flank is gone!

Norse army commander dies,
Game Two a closer victory for the Irish