Well,
I picked up both types of Romans, but still I have no full review. I'm hosting a big game this weekend and I've been getting ready for that. But, I've handled the figures more and I'll list out what I dislike and what I like about the figures.
Dislikes
Primarily I don't like the shields. As one can see from the picture, the banding or edge of the shield is painted yellow. I would prefer bronze. Also, the way the shields are packed mean I'll have to do little touchups.
Lukewarm
I am lukewarm on the shield transfer. I'd rather not add them myself but they are nice and it gives me the chance to add my own if I like. And since transfers are one of those things that one can whip out once one has practice it is not that big a chore.
Likes
The figures themselves are nicely painted. It is a darker paint job with shading and subtle highlights. They match well with my other Old Glory figures and are actually nicer figures then older O.G. Romans (both types).
Conclusion
Weighing all the things I mentioned above, I still think the O.G. Pre-Painted Romans are a good buy. Of course, everything I said is subjective so it might not be that helpful to someone still undecided about purchasing the figures. Initially, I was a little hesitant when I made my purchase. I don't know how they would turn out and I hoped they looked the same as in the pictures on the O.G. site. And if there is anything useful one can take away from this review it is this - the paint jobs you get are the same as what you see in the picture (maybe a bit better).
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Old Glory Pre-Painted Romans
Since I am up to my elbows in unpainted Biblicals, I thought I would check out O.G.'s new pre-painted Romans. I have to say, for $2.00 a figure I am happy with them. There are some things I would change, but they are a minor concern. I'll put together a full review tonight.
Friday, October 3, 2008
Tale of 5.5 Gamers - 500 point battles (a)
This was our 1st Tale of 5.5 gamers’ battle day. We played only one game as only two people showed up ready to play. Old man Ray is old and had to rest, Robin had some Space Orks to paint, Adam had 5 business projects due that night and Mike had to eat a can of chili.
Proto-Assyrians vs. Mycenaean Greeks 500pt Battle.
Forces :
Mycenaean Greeks
3 Chariots with Hero (Force Commander)
8 Chariot runners
2x 20man mixed (L/S/M) Spearmen/Bow units
Chad played his nicely painted Mycenaean Greeks. He put a lot of work into them and they were lovely to look at. Hopefully he will chime in at some point and maybe share some of pictures of them.
Proto-Assyrians
15 man Assyrian Heavy Infantry (S/M) plus Force Commander
24 man Assyrian Auxiliaries (L/S/M) (cheating - 20 is max in 500 point games)
8 man Chaldean Slingers
10 man Aramaen Javelins
I played some Proto-Assyrians. I had to scramble the night before the game as I had not based my chariots and I had no plasti-card for basing. So I came upon the idea of using my newly painted Neo-Babylonians (O.G. Assyrians) as early Assyrians and the rest of my Hittites as Assyrian Aux. The idea here is that one of the border Hittite client cities decided to switch sides rather then fight the Assyrians. I’ll finish up my Hittites for next time but the important thing is everything was painted.
Setup
We went with the standard meeting engagement. We only had five hundred points so we wanted to keep it simple. We played in 4x4 area. After selecting our table sides (basically where we happened to be standing at the time) we rolled to place terrain on the table. Chad won the roll to go 1st. Using the random terrain table Chad rolled up a small hill. I then rolled up a stand of trees. Chad then passed so I rolled the final time and happened to roll up river/stream. I selected the stream option so I could go across the table without needing Chad’s permission. In the end, the table was set up as shown above.
Turn 1
Mycenaeans
We rolled to see who went 1st. I won the roll and graciously allowed the Mycenaeans to go 1st. For their turn, the Mycenaeans boldly stood still.
Assyrians
Both my heavy infantry and auxiliary infantry moved forward. My slingers moved forward as well, going just as fast the heavy infantry. My javelins moved double time through the trees to the treeline. Both my heavy infantry and auxiliary infantry moved far enough to be in range of the Mycenaeans. My heavy infantry fired at spear 2 to no effect while my auxiliary fired at the chariot runners to no effect.
Turn 2
Mycenaeans
Prodded into action by Assyrian bowfire, the Mycenaeans moved forward slowly. Seeing they were in range, the bowmen cowering in the ranks of the spearmen took some ineffective pot shots at the naked slingers.
Assyrians
Having the Mycenaeans right where they want them, the Assyrian heavy and auxiliary infantry stood pat. Both the slingers and javelins moved forward to better firing positions. Everybody let lose with their weapons. The slingers and javelins combined to kill 1 person in spear 1 while the heavy infantry killed 1 person in spear 2 and the auxiliary killed two chariot runners.
Turn 3
Mycenaeans
The Mycenaeans continued to slowly move forward and reached the edge of the stream. They took some more pot shots at the javelins and killed one of them.
Assyrians
The javelins were a little to close to spear 1 so the backed up a little. Outside of that, everybody stood still. The shooting was a repeat of the previous round with the slingers and javelins combining to kill 1 person in spear 1, the heavy infantry killing 1 person in spear 2 and the auxiliary killing two chariot runners. At this point, the runners had had enough and retreated behind the chariots.
Turn 4
Mycenaeans
The turn started with chariot runners failing to rally while making good progress toward the boards edge. Now entering the stream, the Mycenaean spear 1 managed to move partway through it. The chariots where able to cross the stream and put themselves in a position to charge the enemy next turn. Spear 2 also made good use of the bridge, putting themselves in a position to charge next turn as well. After moving, the archers concentrated on the slingers and managed to kill one.
Assyrians
Counting on massive bowfire and expecting a decisive blow, everybody stood their ground and maintained two ranks. It started out well with the javelins killing 4 in spearmen 1 and the auxiliary archers killing two of the chariots. Unfortunately, the heavy infantry could not finish the job and take out the final chariot nor could the slingers with double-shot kill a single Mycenaean in spear 2.
Turn 5
Mycenaeans
The Mycenaeans were in prime position to take advantage of the thin lines of the Assyrians. That is, if they survive the Assyrians standing and shooting. So the chariot charges the Assyrian auxiliary who pass their fear test, shoot their finally volley and prepare for the chariots impact. Spear 2 overcomes their fear of the Assyrian heavy infantry and charges in under a hail over bowfire. After the dust of the charges settle and the airs ceases to be darken arrows, both the chariots and spearmen made it into combat without a single causality. Watching the rest of their comrades, spear 1 continued across the stream. The combat between the Assyrian heavy infantry and the Mycenaean spear resulted in one dead Assyrian and no dead Mycenaeans. But with three ranks of Mycenaeans to the Assyrians two, the Mycenaeans won the combat and Assyrians failed their leadership roll. Fortunately in this case, the Assyrians were the faster as they fled from the combat. The more decisive combat ended up being the Mycenaean hero in chariot against the Assyrian auxiliary. Two assyrians died but bolstered by their addition rank and a standard they held their ground and got a draw. But there was an auxiliary musician. He pounded out a droning beat during combat and this apparently unnerved the Mycenaean hero. The hero promptly fled and was run down the axillaries.
With this, both the spearmen in stream and spearmen who defeated the Assyrian heavy infantry lost heart and also fled from the battle.
End
At this point, we were tired and decided to end the game. Do most WAB close combats seem to last just one round?
Proto-Assyrians vs. Mycenaean Greeks 500pt Battle.
Forces :
Mycenaean Greeks
3 Chariots with Hero (Force Commander)
8 Chariot runners
2x 20man mixed (L/S/M) Spearmen/Bow units
Chad played his nicely painted Mycenaean Greeks. He put a lot of work into them and they were lovely to look at. Hopefully he will chime in at some point and maybe share some of pictures of them.
Proto-Assyrians
15 man Assyrian Heavy Infantry (S/M) plus Force Commander
24 man Assyrian Auxiliaries (L/S/M) (cheating - 20 is max in 500 point games)
8 man Chaldean Slingers
10 man Aramaen Javelins
I played some Proto-Assyrians. I had to scramble the night before the game as I had not based my chariots and I had no plasti-card for basing. So I came upon the idea of using my newly painted Neo-Babylonians (O.G. Assyrians) as early Assyrians and the rest of my Hittites as Assyrian Aux. The idea here is that one of the border Hittite client cities decided to switch sides rather then fight the Assyrians. I’ll finish up my Hittites for next time but the important thing is everything was painted.
Setup
We went with the standard meeting engagement. We only had five hundred points so we wanted to keep it simple. We played in 4x4 area. After selecting our table sides (basically where we happened to be standing at the time) we rolled to place terrain on the table. Chad won the roll to go 1st. Using the random terrain table Chad rolled up a small hill. I then rolled up a stand of trees. Chad then passed so I rolled the final time and happened to roll up river/stream. I selected the stream option so I could go across the table without needing Chad’s permission. In the end, the table was set up as shown above.
Turn 1
Mycenaeans
We rolled to see who went 1st. I won the roll and graciously allowed the Mycenaeans to go 1st. For their turn, the Mycenaeans boldly stood still.
Assyrians
Both my heavy infantry and auxiliary infantry moved forward. My slingers moved forward as well, going just as fast the heavy infantry. My javelins moved double time through the trees to the treeline. Both my heavy infantry and auxiliary infantry moved far enough to be in range of the Mycenaeans. My heavy infantry fired at spear 2 to no effect while my auxiliary fired at the chariot runners to no effect.
Turn 2
Mycenaeans
Prodded into action by Assyrian bowfire, the Mycenaeans moved forward slowly. Seeing they were in range, the bowmen cowering in the ranks of the spearmen took some ineffective pot shots at the naked slingers.
Assyrians
Having the Mycenaeans right where they want them, the Assyrian heavy and auxiliary infantry stood pat. Both the slingers and javelins moved forward to better firing positions. Everybody let lose with their weapons. The slingers and javelins combined to kill 1 person in spear 1 while the heavy infantry killed 1 person in spear 2 and the auxiliary killed two chariot runners.
Turn 3
Mycenaeans
The Mycenaeans continued to slowly move forward and reached the edge of the stream. They took some more pot shots at the javelins and killed one of them.
Assyrians
The javelins were a little to close to spear 1 so the backed up a little. Outside of that, everybody stood still. The shooting was a repeat of the previous round with the slingers and javelins combining to kill 1 person in spear 1, the heavy infantry killing 1 person in spear 2 and the auxiliary killing two chariot runners. At this point, the runners had had enough and retreated behind the chariots.
Turn 4
Mycenaeans
The turn started with chariot runners failing to rally while making good progress toward the boards edge. Now entering the stream, the Mycenaean spear 1 managed to move partway through it. The chariots where able to cross the stream and put themselves in a position to charge the enemy next turn. Spear 2 also made good use of the bridge, putting themselves in a position to charge next turn as well. After moving, the archers concentrated on the slingers and managed to kill one.
Assyrians
Counting on massive bowfire and expecting a decisive blow, everybody stood their ground and maintained two ranks. It started out well with the javelins killing 4 in spearmen 1 and the auxiliary archers killing two of the chariots. Unfortunately, the heavy infantry could not finish the job and take out the final chariot nor could the slingers with double-shot kill a single Mycenaean in spear 2.
Turn 5
Mycenaeans
The Mycenaeans were in prime position to take advantage of the thin lines of the Assyrians. That is, if they survive the Assyrians standing and shooting. So the chariot charges the Assyrian auxiliary who pass their fear test, shoot their finally volley and prepare for the chariots impact. Spear 2 overcomes their fear of the Assyrian heavy infantry and charges in under a hail over bowfire. After the dust of the charges settle and the airs ceases to be darken arrows, both the chariots and spearmen made it into combat without a single causality. Watching the rest of their comrades, spear 1 continued across the stream. The combat between the Assyrian heavy infantry and the Mycenaean spear resulted in one dead Assyrian and no dead Mycenaeans. But with three ranks of Mycenaeans to the Assyrians two, the Mycenaeans won the combat and Assyrians failed their leadership roll. Fortunately in this case, the Assyrians were the faster as they fled from the combat. The more decisive combat ended up being the Mycenaean hero in chariot against the Assyrian auxiliary. Two assyrians died but bolstered by their addition rank and a standard they held their ground and got a draw. But there was an auxiliary musician. He pounded out a droning beat during combat and this apparently unnerved the Mycenaean hero. The hero promptly fled and was run down the axillaries.
With this, both the spearmen in stream and spearmen who defeated the Assyrian heavy infantry lost heart and also fled from the battle.
End
At this point, we were tired and decided to end the game. Do most WAB close combats seem to last just one round?
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
5.5 Mycenaean Greeks - The First 500 Points
So for months Tom and I had been talking about playing some Warhammer Ancient Battles. We had talked about a Spartacus campaign, but the enthusiasm among the group was luke warm at best. Tom and I decided that we were going to do something with ancients, if anyone else thought it was cool and wanted to join in so be it. If not Tom and I go it alone. When Tom finally decided to push forward on a late bronze age campaign that worked just fine for me as I already had a small bronze age Greek army that I had painted for Karl Con years ago.
The tale of 5.5 gamers was to begin in earnest in August. I had 2 chariots and about 70 guys painted. Most of the painted figs were redoubt and I had most of the heroes painted up already. But I still wanted to paint up 500 points per month like everyone else.
Figuring out my army list and what I needed for figs has turned out to be much more complex that I had anticipated. Although I had a bunch of painted figs, I had no “units” per say for WAB. I had a bunch of random figs that I would need to add to get “units”. So although I will be painting 500 points per month, the army I will field will not be made up of the figs I just painted but a mix of newly painted and previously painted figs.
That solved I got to tackle the next complication. I had a few unpainted redoubt and Foundry Greeks I had bought years ago. I painted those up quick and fell in love with the Foundry figs. They are just fantastic. I had plotted and planned what I wanted to buy, but when I compared Foundry figs with the price of Old Glory there was a huge difference. I could get 5 Old Glory figs for every 1 Foundry figure. Tom and I looked at the pictures online and talked about my options. Late July I put in an order for about 15 packs of Old Glory figs. It took about two weeks for them to arrive, so it was almost mid August. I broke out the figs and started to work on them at a fevered pace. Unfortunately, the more I worked on them the more unsatisfied I was with the quality of the figs. Now anyone who has Old Glory figs knows that some of their lines and very nice (AWI for one). On the other had some of their lines and not well done. One of those lines is their Trojan War line. After working on the figures, it looks to me like someone sculpted them and then later on “added” extra muscles to make them look more heroic. Not good. The more I worked o them the more unhappy I was. With the clock ticking, this was turning out to be a disaster. Finally, I decided to bite the bullet and live with them.
The next day Foundry announced their 20% British bank holiday sale. Could this get more complicated? Tom (being as cheap as I, who better to seek advice from) and I talked some more about my dilemma. Seth added his two cents. I decided to go with Foundry. I took a day or two to decide what to get. I decide to order 3 Trojan Warriors hordes, 1 Sea Peoples horde and 1 Bronze Age European horde. I decided I would use my WAB army as a basis for a big Trojan War convention game. The Sea Peoples and Bronze Age Europeans I would use as Trojan Allies.
Two days later while doing some research on the Trojan War I found out that modern archeological evidence points to the fact the Troy was in Anatolia and was within the Hittite sphere of influence and was probably a loyal ally of the Hittites. Further more, the actual city is laid out like a Hittite City and the Trojans spoke Luwian a language in the same family as the Hittite language. In fact it appears that the only thing they had in common with Bronze Age Greece was trade. Into my mind prodded the idea that I could use Hittites as Trojans and really give my con game a different look. I went on the Foundry website and proceeded to spend more money I did not have and buy the 1200pt. Hittite WAB army. I spend way too much money.
It took about 10 days to get my order from Foundry. AT last I could actually start working on my 500 point army! As usual Foundry did not disappoint. By this time Tom and I had talk about delaying the start of the tale of 5.5 gamers. Robin had not gotten his figs until the end of August (about the same time I got mine) and Adam still did not have his figs. It was clear that hardly anyone would have 500 points ready for 9/1. We decided to shoot for 10/1.
After looking at Chariot Wars this is the 500 point army I think I will field;
1 x hero in chariot 89 points
2 x chariots 78 points
1 x 20 man spear unit with bowmen intermixed 140 points
1 x 18 man unit of swordsmen 141 points
1 x 8 Javelinmen 48 points
A total of 496 points. I am working on another heavy spear unit with archers intermixed and might replace with the sword unit with a second spear unit.
I’ll give an update on my next 550 points in October.
-Chad
The tale of 5.5 gamers was to begin in earnest in August. I had 2 chariots and about 70 guys painted. Most of the painted figs were redoubt and I had most of the heroes painted up already. But I still wanted to paint up 500 points per month like everyone else.
Figuring out my army list and what I needed for figs has turned out to be much more complex that I had anticipated. Although I had a bunch of painted figs, I had no “units” per say for WAB. I had a bunch of random figs that I would need to add to get “units”. So although I will be painting 500 points per month, the army I will field will not be made up of the figs I just painted but a mix of newly painted and previously painted figs.
That solved I got to tackle the next complication. I had a few unpainted redoubt and Foundry Greeks I had bought years ago. I painted those up quick and fell in love with the Foundry figs. They are just fantastic. I had plotted and planned what I wanted to buy, but when I compared Foundry figs with the price of Old Glory there was a huge difference. I could get 5 Old Glory figs for every 1 Foundry figure. Tom and I looked at the pictures online and talked about my options. Late July I put in an order for about 15 packs of Old Glory figs. It took about two weeks for them to arrive, so it was almost mid August. I broke out the figs and started to work on them at a fevered pace. Unfortunately, the more I worked on them the more unsatisfied I was with the quality of the figs. Now anyone who has Old Glory figs knows that some of their lines and very nice (AWI for one). On the other had some of their lines and not well done. One of those lines is their Trojan War line. After working on the figures, it looks to me like someone sculpted them and then later on “added” extra muscles to make them look more heroic. Not good. The more I worked o them the more unhappy I was. With the clock ticking, this was turning out to be a disaster. Finally, I decided to bite the bullet and live with them.
The next day Foundry announced their 20% British bank holiday sale. Could this get more complicated? Tom (being as cheap as I, who better to seek advice from) and I talked some more about my dilemma. Seth added his two cents. I decided to go with Foundry. I took a day or two to decide what to get. I decide to order 3 Trojan Warriors hordes, 1 Sea Peoples horde and 1 Bronze Age European horde. I decided I would use my WAB army as a basis for a big Trojan War convention game. The Sea Peoples and Bronze Age Europeans I would use as Trojan Allies.
Two days later while doing some research on the Trojan War I found out that modern archeological evidence points to the fact the Troy was in Anatolia and was within the Hittite sphere of influence and was probably a loyal ally of the Hittites. Further more, the actual city is laid out like a Hittite City and the Trojans spoke Luwian a language in the same family as the Hittite language. In fact it appears that the only thing they had in common with Bronze Age Greece was trade. Into my mind prodded the idea that I could use Hittites as Trojans and really give my con game a different look. I went on the Foundry website and proceeded to spend more money I did not have and buy the 1200pt. Hittite WAB army. I spend way too much money.
It took about 10 days to get my order from Foundry. AT last I could actually start working on my 500 point army! As usual Foundry did not disappoint. By this time Tom and I had talk about delaying the start of the tale of 5.5 gamers. Robin had not gotten his figs until the end of August (about the same time I got mine) and Adam still did not have his figs. It was clear that hardly anyone would have 500 points ready for 9/1. We decided to shoot for 10/1.
After looking at Chariot Wars this is the 500 point army I think I will field;
1 x hero in chariot 89 points
2 x chariots 78 points
1 x 20 man spear unit with bowmen intermixed 140 points
1 x 18 man unit of swordsmen 141 points
1 x 8 Javelinmen 48 points
A total of 496 points. I am working on another heavy spear unit with archers intermixed and might replace with the sword unit with a second spear unit.
I’ll give an update on my next 550 points in October.
-Chad
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Hittites DVD
This was a very enjoyable DVD. From a production point of view, I thought it was well done. The battles could have been more elaborate but that is nit picking. And even though I've read a little on the Hittites I still I picked up quite a few things I didn't know before. Anyone who is interested in Hittites or even just the Biblical period in general should enjoy this DVD.
A Tale of 5.5 Gamers - Delays
Real Life - 1
Tale of 5.5 Gamers - 0
The 1st Tale of 5.5 Gamers battle is now October 1st. Here is the list reasons, or as it should be called:
The List of Woe
Tale of 5.5 Gamers - 0
The 1st Tale of 5.5 Gamers battle is now October 1st. Here is the list reasons, or as it should be called:
The List of Woe
- Ray was gone half of last month because of Army commitments.
- Adam had to move to an apartment and help his parents move from Wisconsin to Georgia.
- Robin and Chad didn't have a good portion of their forces.
5.5 Hittites: Spearmen and Chariots
Just a quick note, I've got my first set of chariots painted up and my 1st unit of spearmen are almost finished. I just need to make a final decision on base texture and I will take a few pictures.
Next up are archers and skirmishers.
Next up are archers and skirmishers.
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