Esoteric Extravaganza Part3 - A Return to IHMN

Here is the fluff that I wrote as the background to the third installment of an "In Her Majesties Name" wargame. If the Europeans prevail, the British Empire will be saved ... if not ... better not talk about it too much rather than saying Cthulhu will be stalking Cockneys for the foreseeable future.

Dr. Dias tumbled not a little way through the dust eventually coming to rest at the base of what he assumed was an odd African tree. He gathered his senses and brushed the fine sand from his waistcoat when he suddenly gasped. His favourite tome, the “Cultes des Ghoules” lay open a few feet away from him, soiled and missing several pages. Trudging back to collect the pages he, for the first time began to take stock of his surroundings. A sparse line of weathered telegraph posts stretched away across dry terrain and desiccated scrub. To his left, several hundred yards away, was a ramshackle compound with yellowed, baked mud walls and a roof of thatched twigs. Dias cleaned his spectacles and began the short walk to this island nestled in this parched waste.
As he neared, Dias noted a tattered flag limply, but almost lasciviously, undulating atop a flag pole which extended from the courtyard of the compound. The dry wind combined with the sun’s heat to slowly bake the good doctor who was completely unaccustomed to the desert … or indeed any form of hardship at all. The flag revealed itself to signify the Congo Free State of King Leopold. “Good,” thought Dias, “at least I can expect a civilised welcome and an enlightened ear to receive my plea for help.”

Within half an hour Dias was bound to a chair, which was festooned with splinters, in the company of three men whose reek, unkempt appearance and menacing demeanour seemed to compete with one another to threaten him the most.

“I will try to explain things to you one more time,” the strain was evident in Dias’s voice as was his pleading intent. He had been trying to convince the trio the veracity of his story. London, in the future, will fall to the machinations of a cabal of swarthy malcontents led by the venomous, Filthy Abdullah – whose nom de guerre was the ‘Sultan of Baksheesh.’ To do so they must prevent the birth of Abdullah by fair means of foul.
“So let me get this straight,” the drawl was unmistakeably American, “you want us to shoot some blackies?”
“There is no need for shooting, and in any case,” retorted the good doctor, “I have no idea what this devil’s author actually looks like. We can’t simply annihilate a whole village.”
“Well,” returned the American - known as O’Connell - , “we can’t at the moment anyhow. Damn place is like a powder keg set to explode. Not only do we have the local fuzzies, who turn to eatin’ folks with not much prodding, but there’s also the local Mullah been stirring everyone up. If we start firing we might have the whole valley bearing down on us, and our local militia ain’t worth much in a scrap. Added to that there’s rumours of a band of murderers lurking about in the night picking us off, although that might be our boys running to the hills as they can see things goin’ from bad to worse.”
“All I actually require is to prevent a certain turbaned laddie from mating tomorrow evening,” stated Dias. The room fell into an awkward silence at this utterance.
“A rum request to be certain,” blurted Captain Savage. “But I dislike the thought of these blighter’s coupling to supply the Mullah with more Mohommodans. Also damnedably boring around here. I’ll dip my wick into the business. But … how the devil do we stop our unknown semite cassanova from hoisting the flagpole and feeding the cat?” An unsurpassably awkward silence now befell the room.
All were waiting, however, for the interjection of the, as yet, silent occupant of the room. In this case the elephant in the room was of Belgian persuasion. All awaited Captain Lacoste, our Belgian. His nationality singled him out for sadistic ingenuity in his dealing with the indigenous and his continental European background imprinted him genetically with a preoccupation for pursuit of sexual deviancy of the basest sort.
The Captain now stood, clad in a once martially magnificent uniform that was now starched stiff by the sun and countless deluges of perspiration of near biblical proportions. He seamlessly began to speak of topics so detestable that they would render another man helpless under an avalanche of self-loathing and degradation. Savage only stroked his moustache in such a manner that it profoundly disturbed the Doctor.
“After toiling under the date palms,” Lacoste spake with professorial grandeur, “the return journey of the swarthy gentlemen may lead past certain stimuli. Remove these and you will be sure to conquer his ardour. First, he may stop by to fill his bag with khat. Next, he may linger at the pen of the goats to ogle, or fondle, that hirsute temptress, the Sultana – most lovely goat in the village. From here, the lure of Khamal’s fermented milk still may draw him in for a secretive draught. Finally, he may gather at the door of the local missionary, with his fellows, to pelt the door with ordure, for nothing excites the turban toter more than violent thought and deed toward the feeble.”
“So, to save London and the future of humanity,” O’Connell’s voice was pregnant with incredulity,” we have to burn some plants, kidnap a goat, blow up a still and fling shit at the door of a priest before the darkies can do it?”
Lacoste stood erect and simply stroked his moustache in an even more grandiose manner.
“Well, gentlemen, will you aid me?” pleaded Dr. Dias.
O’Connell plucked the spittle drenched stub of a well abused cigar from the corner of his mouth and slowly coaxed it back to life through application of a flaming match. Once done he puffed several clouds of noxious fume into the already seedy air of the room and said simply, “We’re in.”

Mithridates Revenge

This evening saw my return to the wargaming table for the second week in a row. A big event after this habitual wargamer has had about 14 weeks off after the birth of his firstborn.
To celebrate my return I played the Pontic army of Mithridates which I had been yearning to do for some time now. I played and won my first game against Rome last week but I have no images of that game.

This week I rectified that as you can clearly see below. Let the "Sword and Spear" commence!

The terrain roll was again high with 9 pieces to be placed. Just like last week the pieces were almost all huddled around my right flank, blocking any chance of a cavalry flanking attack. Instead Mithridates (me) decided to mass my cavalry in one block to crush the Romans that lay before my left flank. I assigned both sub generals, Ptolemy and Kraterus, for this task.

Two units of Pontic Heavy cavalry, my Sarmatians and my Scythian horse archers all amassed to crush the puny Roman cavalry before us. 

Forward ... we cannot lose! 

Mithridates commanded the centre. From near to far: slingers, peltasts, Imitation legionaries (2), a pike block, more Imitation legionaries and finally my beloved Thracians with rhomphaia. 

The Romans pinned the right of their line of legionaries on their fortified camp. On each side was a single unit of armoured auxilia to march through the rough terrain and deal with an pesky asiatic skirmishers. 

The cavalry duel did not begin well for Mithridates. The charge of the Sarmatians ended in complete disaster with the unit routing and Kraterus the commander being cut down in the first combat. Insult was added to injury as my mounted advantage melted away entirely when the Roman light cavalry shrugged off the ineffectual Scythian arrows then charged their opposites slaughtering them. The dice pictured are not combat dice but the bonus dice Proconsul Rob poured into the fray. 

The Pontic heavy cavalry had both taken hits losing their valuable fresh bonus and things looked bleak. The Cappadocian javelinmen in the rear of the picture, who were supposed to be flanking auxilia, were now called upon to join the cavalry fight. 

Almost surrounded Ptolemy was clinging on. His unit fought back and routed one Roman cavalry unit then he switched to the other beleaguered group. By now, using a bonus dice, the javelinmen crashed into the flank of the Romans. In another turn the Roman lights would do the same to us. 

One unit of Pontic heavy cavalry turned their attention to the Roman camp (at this time I didn't realise cavalry did not gain impetus bonuses when in combat with train.) The Thracians had made very short work of the auxilia opposing them and had launched an attack on the Roman fort. Their two handed weapons scythed through the fort inflicting two hits in the initial round. 

Mithridates ordered the phalanx forward at last. With two cohorts turning to face the threat to their armoured camp the ratio of heavy foot units was now favourable to the Pontic men. 

The Roman auxilia holding the hill now looked quite vulnerable but as yet the slingers were the only ones to take offensive action through repeated but ineffectual showers of stones. As can be see the Proconsul was being forced to divide his main battle line to cope with his crumbling right flank. This fight had soaked up huge quantities of activation dice and thus delayed the heavy infantry on both sides from coming to blows. This suited Mithridates much more than his opponent up till this point. 

Blows like hammers now fell on the Roman camp. The Thracians issued an ultimatum. "Bring out your comeliest goat and we will attack you no more." Stark silence was their only reply. 

The final result on the left Pontic flank. Ptolemy, with two bonus combat dice, routed the remaining Roman heavy cavalry unit. Their pursuit move then opened a passage for the Cappadocians also to charge through on the unsuspecting - and impetus dice-less - Roman light cavalry. The javelinmen slaughtered the Romans with the Legate only narrowly escaping death and a shower of pointy sticks. 

All for the want of a goat the Roman camp was raised to the ground by the Thracians. The Romans took a range of discipline tests for the loss of their camp quickly followed by another round as they had lost more than a third of their army. The final nail in their sandals was the poor auxilia who were being monstered by peltasts and slingers. The loss from repeated discipline tests routed them and the game was lost for Rome. 

The Pontic Kingdom is on the rise once more. Hail Mithridates - chief calamity of the Roman Empire! 

I am enjoying the strong cavalry arm the Pontic army can muster and the cheap cost of imitation legionaries to bolster your battle line. Add in some medium foot (my beloved Thracians) and lights to threaten in the rough and its a nice little army at 400 pts. Don't think I'll add my scythed chariots until we play some larger point games. 

Mithridates Revenge

This evening saw my return to the wargaming table for the second week in a row. A big event after this habitual wargamer has had about 14 weeks off after the birth of his firstborn.
To celebrate my return I played the Pontic army of Mithridates which I had been yearning to do for some time now. I played and won my first game against Rome last week but I have no images of that game.

This week I rectified that as you can clearly see below. Let the "Sword and Spear" commence!

The terrain roll was again high with 9 pieces to be placed. Just like last week the pieces were almost all huddled around my right flank, blocking any chance of a cavalry flanking attack. Instead Mithridates (me) decided to mass my cavalry in one block to crush the Romans that lay before my left flank. I assigned both sub generals, Ptolemy and Kraterus, for this task.

Two units of Pontic Heavy cavalry, my Sarmatians and my Scythian horse archers all amassed to crush the puny Roman cavalry before us. 

Forward ... we cannot lose! 

Mithridates commanded the centre. From near to far: slingers, peltasts, Imitation legionaries (2), a pike block, more Imitation legionaries and finally my beloved Thracians with rhomphaia. 

The Romans pinned the right of their line of legionaries on their fortified camp. On each side was a single unit of armoured auxilia to march through the rough terrain and deal with an pesky asiatic skirmishers. 

The cavalry duel did not begin well for Mithridates. The charge of the Sarmatians ended in complete disaster with the unit routing and Kraterus the commander being cut down in the first combat. Insult was added to injury as my mounted advantage melted away entirely when the Roman light cavalry shrugged off the ineffectual Scythian arrows then charged their opposites slaughtering them. The dice pictured are not combat dice but the bonus dice Proconsul Rob poured into the fray. 

The Pontic heavy cavalry had both taken hits losing their valuable fresh bonus and things looked bleak. The Cappadocian javelinmen in the rear of the picture, who were supposed to be flanking auxilia, were now called upon to join the cavalry fight. 

Almost surrounded Ptolemy was clinging on. His unit fought back and routed one Roman cavalry unit then he switched to the other beleaguered group. By now, using a bonus dice, the javelinmen crashed into the flank of the Romans. In another turn the Roman lights would do the same to us. 

One unit of Pontic heavy cavalry turned their attention to the Roman camp (at this time I didn't realise cavalry did not gain impetus bonuses when in combat with train.) The Thracians had made very short work of the auxilia opposing them and had launched an attack on the Roman fort. Their two handed weapons scythed through the fort inflicting two hits in the initial round. 

Mithridates ordered the phalanx forward at last. With two cohorts turning to face the threat to their armoured camp the ratio of heavy foot units was now favourable to the Pontic men. 

The Roman auxilia holding the hill now looked quite vulnerable but as yet the slingers were the only ones to take offensive action through repeated but ineffectual showers of stones. As can be see the Proconsul was being forced to divide his main battle line to cope with his crumbling right flank. This fight had soaked up huge quantities of activation dice and thus delayed the heavy infantry on both sides from coming to blows. This suited Mithridates much more than his opponent up till this point. 

Blows like hammers now fell on the Roman camp. The Thracians issued an ultimatum. "Bring out your comeliest goat and we will attack you no more." Stark silence was their only reply. 

The final result on the left Pontic flank. Ptolemy, with two bonus combat dice, routed the remaining Roman heavy cavalry unit. Their pursuit move then opened a passage for the Cappadocians also to charge through on the unsuspecting - and impetus dice-less - Roman light cavalry. The javelinmen slaughtered the Romans with the Legate only narrowly escaping death and a shower of pointy sticks. 

All for the want of a goat the Roman camp was raised to the ground by the Thracians. The Romans took a range of discipline tests for the loss of their camp quickly followed by another round as they had lost more than a third of their army. The final nail in their sandals was the poor auxilia who were being monstered by peltasts and slingers. The loss from repeated discipline tests routed them and the game was lost for Rome. 

The Pontic Kingdom is on the rise once more. Hail Mithridates - chief calamity of the Roman Empire! 

I am enjoying the strong cavalry arm the Pontic army can muster and the cheap cost of imitation legionaries to bolster your battle line. Add in some medium foot (my beloved Thracians) and lights to threaten in the rough and its a nice little army at 400 pts. Don't think I'll add my scythed chariots until we play some larger point games. 

All done!

This week i have daubed the last of the miniatures i have for my Macedonian nd Successor army. 26 units are complete! Will there be more? Probably, as i don't have a prodromoi unit. But it is time for a breather.

Terrors from the deep

Just another project finished off. I finally found a suitable shark toy and hacked tge fins and head off, glued them to bases and added a little colour. There you have it  .... dangerous terrain to kill the unwary.

The plan is to use the fin markers to show where sharks are lurking around the table. They will be attracted by any movement in the water. The head will be used for a shark attack. It is yet to be appropriately named. 

As for the "son of kraken" ... well you sometimes just get lucky and buy something that needs no effort. He'll be dragging adventurers to their doom from ships, islands and in the water in no time at all.

Brushing the dust off

This may have happened a while ago but it is still well worth posting. An IHMN game set on some fictious islands and featuring my tunnelling device. I cannot remember too many details so lets just go with the images. You can just inhale the waft of high adventure emanating from this one.

The table overall. 

A closer image of the marvellous digging contraption. 

The native guardian awaits the foolish. 

The tunnel leading to the ingenious engine ... but can the rockfall be cleared? 

The Growth of the Diadochi

Below is one of the better images of my scythed chariots but one of the worst of my new javelinmen from Cappadocia, Phrygia or Pontus. 

I do love my new Macedonian army ... and I really want to document it in images, but I have realised that it just doesn't look too good in photo's. Well it does, but it doesn't. I just notice the blemishes and the failures of my ability to paint when I look at it. After all, we are deluged with the most beautiful wargaming images these days. I sometimes feel the average gamer is somewhat "priced out of the market" - so to speak - by these lovely images in comparison to what an everyday guy can do with a paintbrush between balancing work, kids and whatever else. 

A pretty good photo of my attacking right arm of my army ... the companions.

The Hypaspists ... as yet untested on the field of honour (read "honour" as fortuna or tyche.)

Onomastus and Polydamus below ... I really like how I painted the elephants themselves ... unsure on tower, drivers or crew. Functional ... best describes my painting. 

The battle line with the temple/camp in the rear. Units stretch into the distance ... 21 I think?!

The engine room .... a good image of my phalanx. I must admit this image below makes the army look damn good, and shows that I can actually paint.

From the other direction ... the phalanx. For anyone who is prevaricating or considering painting pike - 4 ranks is the undoubted best for portraying this type of unit.  

There we go, an anguished gripe and a new blog all at once ... although only one new unit appeared and they don't look very good in the image (the asiatic javelinmen.)