Medieval Warfare Archives - Page 2 of 8

Twilight of the Britons – A Battle Report 1

23 Apr 2022 by Steven Thomas

Britons-103 Army A - Warlord's Shieldwall - Banner

Vincent Tsao and I have been playing around with a version of Twilight of the Sun King for the early medieval period in Britain. I started with a rewrite of my original 2001 version of Twilight of the Sun King and incorporated ideas from Vincent’s Battle of Hastings variant. The result is called “Twilight of the Britons: Fast play rules for the English invasion of Britain”. I got Adam and Chris to give an early draft a go. So early I’d only written the rules that day, so isn’t wasn’t so good.

Summary: Too much dark age shield wall stodge. Not enough heroics. But a glimmer of hope for the rules.

2022 Confessions of a Megalomaniac Wargamer and Amateur Historian

4 Sep 20221 Jan 2022 by Steven Thomas

Confessions of a Megalomaniac Wargamer and Amateur Historian - Banner

I am pretty happy with my efforts in 2021 and now it is time to lay out my plans for 2022. As always they are crazy megalomaniac plans. 2021 proved that even pumped I can’t achieve all my annual goals. But I’ll try.

I start with a brain dump of my active projects, i.e. those all projects that are more or less “in progress”. The list is split into three parts: likely in 2022, unlikely, and background activity.

2021 Reflections of a Megalomaniac Wargamer and Amateur Historian

4 Sep 202220 Dec 2021 by Steven Thomas

Reflections of a Megalomaniac Wargamer and Amateur Historian - Banner

My Confessions of a Megalomaniac were my 2021 aspirations. How did I do? I started the year with huge ambitions, and didn’t achieve them all, but it wasn’t a bad run.

Solo DBA Arthurian Campaigns

16 Aug 202114 Aug 2021 by Steven Thomas

I’ve shared some DBA Arthurian Campaigns based on Martin Smith’s “Arthurian campaign” article in Slingshot (Smith, 2021), itself based on Kaptain Kobold’s solo HoTT campaign (Dux Bellorum). Both Martin and the Kaptain give solo opportunities so I thought I’d share how to use my campaigns in solo mode. You can play a solo variant of the campaign, like Kaptain Kobold. Or you can play a multi-player campaign with the table top battles fought solo, like Martin Smith (2021). Both options are presented here.

El Cid crushes the Caliph – A Big Base DBA Battle Report

16 Aug 20213 Jul 2021 by Steven Thomas

Adam and Chris came over for a Big Base DBA set in the Reconquista. El Cid (Chris) leading a Castilian/Spanish army against the fanatic, Moroccan, Caliph of the Murabitun (Adam). Feudal Spanish versus Fanatic Berber according to DBA. Any one who has seen the Charlton Heston “El Cid” movie will know what this is all about.

Summary: Fun game. The action was all cavalry with the infantry hardly involved. Ed Cid and his Hidalgos (Knights) triumphed after a long and fierce struggle. The Caliph died at the head of his army.

Simple knock-out Arthurian DBA campaign (518-537 AD)

16 Aug 202112 Jun 2021 by Steven Thomas

Simple Knock Out DBA Arthurian Campaign (518-537 AD) - Banner

IanH’s Simple knock-out DBA campaign (Skodbac) offers a really simple way to run a DBA campaign that will reach a conclusion really, really quickly.

So I have written yet another DBA Arthurian Campaign, but this time using the Skodbac concept. Like The Bear Exalted, this campaign is set in 518-537 AD, the most likely time period for a historical Arthur.

Being 518 AD, the Roman legions are long gone and the barbarians – Angles, Saxons, and Scots-Irish – are established on the soil of Britannia. The Picts remain troublesome neighbours, and the Gewissei are the enemy within. But the Romano-British kingdoms (Dumnonia, Powys, Hen Ogledd) and their Celtic people (Kymry), continue to fight back.

The Bear Exalted (518-537 AD) – DBA Arthurian Campaign

4 Apr 202224 Apr 2021 by Steven Thomas

It is 518 AD. The Roman legions are long gone and the barbarians – Angles, Saxons, and Scots-Irish – are established on the soil of Britannia. The Picts remain troublesome neighbours, and the Gewissei are the enemy within. But the Celtic people (Kymry) of the Romano-British kingdoms continue to fight back.

I have written two DBA Arthurian Campaigns based on Martin Smith’s “Arthurian campaign” article in Slingshot (Smith, 2021), itself based on Kaptain Kobold’s solo HoTT campaign (Dux Bellorum). The first was The Legions Have Gone (420-439). This is the second campaign. It is called “The Bear Exalted” and is set in 518-537 AD, the most likely time period for a historical Arthur. The campaign name, “The Bear Exalted”, is based on the title Arthwyr, a possible, if dubious, old Welsh origin of the name Arthur.

The Legions have Gone (420-439 AD) – A DBA Arthurian Campaign

16 Aug 20213 Apr 2021 by Steven Thomas

The Legions Have Gone (420-439 AD) - DBA Arthurian Campaign - Banner

It is 420 AD. The Roman legions left 10 years ago and the barbarians are pounding at the doors. The Angles, Saxons, and Scots-Irish all want a piece of Britannia. The Picts and un-Romanised Welsh are also troublesome neighbours. But the Romano-British kingdoms are fighting back with a combination of ex-Roman troops and men fighting in native styles.

I have written two DBA Arthurian Campaigns based on Martin Smith’s “Arthurian campaign” article in Slingshot (Smith, 2021), itself based on Kaptain Kobold’s solo HoTT campaign (Dux Bellorum). This campaign is “The Legions have Gone” and is set in 420-439 AD. The campaign assumes Arthur existed, was early 5th century, and led Roman troops.

DBA Arthurian Campaign – What are my options?

15 Aug 202213 Mar 2021 by Steven Thomas

I like the Arthurian setting. I like Campaigns. I like DBA and HoTT Campaigns because they are relatively simple and quick. I’ve played a few games of Arthurian HoTT. I’ve run Britannia 600 AD as a HoTT campaign for six players, although it can be used for DBA. I like the idea of gritty dark age DBA games. A recent article by Martin Smith on his “Arthurian Campaign” for DBA got me thinking about campaigns in this period again. The question is, what to do? How can I improve on previous efforts? What does an even better Arthurian campaign look like? And what army lists to use?

2021 Confessions of a Megalomaniac Wargamer and Amateur Historian

15 Aug 20222 Jan 2021 by Steven Thomas

2020 was a good year for wargaming projects and I thought I should lay out my plans for 2021. Crazy megalomaniac plans, of course.

As usual I’ve done a brain dump of my active projects, i.e. those all projects that are more or less “in progress”. No off the wall fantasy here. They are all active but I have to admit that some of them are on a slow burn. A very slow burn. So I’ve split the list into parts: likely in 2021, unlikely, and background activity. You get to have a say in the priority order – see the aside.

2020 Confessions of a Megalomaniac Wargamer and Amateur Historian

15 Aug 202211 Jan 2020 by Steven Thomas

2020. New year. New decade (depending on how you count these things). 2019 was a good year but I want 2020 to be even better. My crazy inner megalomaniac demands I monologue about my world conquering (i.e. overly ambitious) list of what I’d like to get done this year. Get ready for the ride …

2019 Reflections of a Megalomaniac Wargamer and Amateur Historian

19 Aug 202221 Dec 2019 by Steven Thomas

My Confessions of a Megalomaniac were my 2019 aspirations. How did I do?

DBA 3 – Improving the Simulation – Some Comments

18 Aug 202226 Oct 2019 by Steven Thomas

Joe Collins has highlighted a number of problems with DBA 3.0 and suggested ways to address these problems. Collin’s was part of the group that developed DBA 3.0 so he is both a fan and on the inside team. I really like Collin’s attempt to tackle some big problems with DBA. It would be great if more people did this, starting with Phil Barker. Unfortunately, Collin’s particular suggestions mostly leave the problems unsolved. I do like his solution for Bow but even that needs more.

Armies and enemies of the Portuguese in Africa 1415-1670

6 Jul 202220 Apr 2019 by Steven Thomas

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This review of warfare focuses on south central Africa, from what is Angola (west central Africa) today to Mozambique (south-east Africa). This area is what the Portuguese referred to as a the Pink Map during the Scramble for Africa although I do a small diversion to Ethiopia. The review is not complete but I figured I should publish it as is and refine over time. This is the period before the Scramble for Africa, the early period of the Portuguese explorers – the period some historians call Medieval Africa.

Dana’s Year 7 Castle Assignment – Lütjenburg Castle in 1:150th scale

5 Aug 202223 Feb 2019 by Steven Thomas

Year 7 Castle 3328 Lütjenburg Castle in 1:150th scale - Banner

My older daughter (Dana) is in Year 7 and in January she came home with some home work that got me excited … she had to make a castle. And Dana wanted to do a Motte and Bailey Castle. Oh, wow, modeller heaven. We only had two weeks so we got stuck in.