Anglo-Saxon Thegns

 

Here are some Anglo-Saxon Thegns that I've just finished painting. The figures are from the Gripping Beast plastic set with LBM shield transfers. I already have some Anglo-Danish huscarls with kite shield and some Anglo-Saxon Ceorls, so a few more painted units and I should have enough figures to play a game with them against my Vikings.

Command and Colors Medieval Crusades Games - Lake Antioch and Dorylaeum

 

Crusaders play a Mounted Charge
card in the first turn

Seljuks evade and shoot

Battle takes place between the Orontes River
and Lake Antioch on 9 February 1098

Crusaders win 5-4 victory banners

Crusaders and Seljuks deployed for the third Dorylaeum
scenario, a flank attack led by Raymond IV of Toulouse 

Happy New Year for 2025! Last Monday afternoon Craig came over with his Muslims and we played two Command and Colors Medieval Crusades games out in the shed. The first scenario was Lake Antioch 9 February 1098 and the game was over fairly quickly. The Crusaders winning 5-4 victory banners, although the Seljuks finished strongly. The mat had four inch rather than five inch hexes we usually use, which meant some of our unit sizes were smaller than normal, not that it makes any difference in game terms. We decided to play a second game, the third Dorylaeum scenario, with a flank attack led by Raymond IV of Toulouse. I had been soundly thrashed playing the first two scenarios with just the blocks last month.

We hurriedly deployed for this scenario, see photo above, and failed to notice that the troops behind the hills on Seljuk left flank should be Crusaders not Seljuks! However the Seljuks were unable to use these troops at all in the entire game, due to a lack of cards for this section. It proved to be a much closer game and the Seljuks made good use of their cards and Inspired Action tokens to Darken the Sky and Fire and Close. The Crusader knights attacked but suffered heavy casualties. In the end multiple left section cards enabled the Cruader infantry to attack and drive the Seljuks back. The Seljuk light bow cavalry and light cavalry suffered retreat results near their base line which meant they were wiped out as they were unable to retreat. The Crusaders winning a hard fought game 7-5 victory banners.

Troops behind the hills on Seljuk left flank
should be Crusaders not Seljuks!

Crusader knights attack

Crusaders suffer heavy casualties

Seljuks are driven back

Side view of the game

Crusaders attack with infantry and
win 7-5 victory banners

Heraclea 280 BC - Strength and Honour Game

 

Roman and Epirote armies deployed
with the Siris River in the centre 

Opposite flank - Epirote skirmishers guard the ford

Pyrrhus' pike and Tarentine cavalry advance

Romans under Laevinus advance more haphazardly

Pyrrhus' reserve of elephants arrives on the table

Last Friday afternoon Rick, Garry and Robert came over and we played a Strength and Honour Game of Heraclea 280 BC out in the shed. The scenario was from Conquest: The Age of Alexander and Hannibal (pp.46-47) by Mark Backhouse. This is a supplement for his Strength and Honour rules published by Reisswitz Press and available as a pdf on the Too Fat Lardies' and Karwansaray websites. Rick commanded the Romans under Laevinus and Garry commanded the Epirotes under Pyrrhus. Robert and I watched the game and took photos. We were all pretty rusty with the rules as we haven't played them since earlier in the year. There were quite a few new rules too (pp.8-13), with the different troop types in the new supplement. 

The Agrianes were a tribe who formed elite skirmisher units in Macedonian armies, there's a typo in the supplement and these are spelt as Agrarians. Where the road crossed the Siris River there was a central ford of four squares width which counted as open terrain and most of the infantry combat occurred there. The Roman infantry crossed the river and got stuck in. The legions with Leves skirmish lines in tact were level pegging with the pike but once these were removed, they were down 3 to 4 in combat. The Professional Phalanx rules meant that a grind result for the pike became a push back result. It was tough going for the Romans and the setback cards steadily mounted. The Roman and Italian cavalry arrived as a flanking force on the Epirote right flank. Eventually Pyrrhus' elephants and skirmishers routed but Laevinus' Romans had reached army break point.

Roman and Italian cavalry arrive as a
flanking force on the Epirote right flank

Epirote skirmishers move to guard the flank

Romans cross the river and get stuck in

Allied Italian Legions, without access to the
central ford, are hampered by the river

Romans are pushed back over the river

Pyrrhus' elephants and skirmishers rout but
Laevinus' Romans have reached army break point

Pompeii: Inside a Lost City - National Museum of Australia Exhibition Part Two

 

Bronze statue of Apollo,
1st century CE, excavated 1937,
House of Julius Polybius, triclinium (dining room),
Regio IX, Insula XIII

Alabaster Hydria (water jar),
1st century CE, excavated 1954-56,
Necropolis of Nocera Gate,

Columella (funerary marker), 1st century CE,
excavated 2020-23, Necropolis of Nola Gate

Painted plaster fresco, with a scene of the Nile,
1st century CE, excavated 1953,
House of the Sculptor, Regio VIII, Insulae VII

Fresco of a Garden Scene,
1st Century CE, excavated 1975,
House of the Golden Bracelet,
Regio VII, Insula XVII

Fresco depicting Pegasus, Bellerephon and Athena,
1st Century CE, excavated 1939,
Regio I, Insula VIII

Fresco depicting Calliope,
1st century CE, excavated 1927,
Regio I, Insula VII

Fresco depicting a winged female figure,
1st century CE, excavated 1971,
House of Marcus Fabius Rufus,
Regio VII, Insula XXII

Terracotta Ollae (pots) with pigment,
excavated 1982-2005, Regio I, Insula IX

Cameo glass plaque featuring Ariadne,
late 1st century BCE-early 1st century CE,
excavated 1960, found near the House of Marcus Fabius Rufus,
Regio VII, Insula XVI

Cameo glass plaque featuring Bacchus,
late 1st century BCE-early 1st century CE,
excavated 1960, found near the House of Marcus Fabius Rufus,
Regio VII, Insula XVI

Marble Oscillum (circular ornament),
1st century CE, excavated 1903,
House of the Golden Cupids,
Regio VI, Insula XVI

Marble Oscillum (circular ornament),
1st century CE, excavated 1903,
House of the Golden Cupids,
Regio VI, Insula XVI

Marble pilasters, 1st century CE, excavated 1903,
House of the Golden Cupids,
Regio VI, Insula XVI

Marble pilasters, 1st century CE, excavated 1903,
House of the Golden Cupids,
Regio VI, Insula XVI

L to R Marble mask of a maenad, depicting a female follower
of Bacchus, 1st century CE, excavated 1903,
House of the Golden Cupids,
Regio VI, Insula XVI
Marble mask of Silenus,
1st century CE, excavated 1903,
House of the Golden Cupids,
Regio VI, Insula XVI
Marble mask of Pan,
1st century CE, excavated 1903,
House of the Golden Cupids,
Regio VI, Insula XVI