The Severn Samurai

Despite trying to wear my 'sensible hat' these past few days, I have succumbed to doing a (currently) small Samurai project, inspired by watching the current re-make of 'Shogun' on Disney+. As I think I mentioned before, my knowledge of this 'period' is rather lacking, with anything that passes for it based upon those superb Kurosawa films we used to see on the BBC. To significantly expand upon this 'knowledge', I decided to buy the following book as a good starting point:

I have a variety of these 'sourcebooks' for other periods, which have all been excellent, so this seemed a perfect starting point. At over 300 pages and packed full of detail, it will help me to get a good grounding to move forward. It was also less than the price of a second hand Osprey book!

Games wise there are plenty of options in my current rules collection, from small scales skirmish, right up to large scale battles. They are:

My preference is certainly for small scale actions using these rules, and whilst surfing the next, I came across some very useful lists on Michael Leck's Blog. You could of course use 'Lion Rampant' too.

For larger games, Warlord Games have published the following Army Lists to be used with these rules. Highly unlikely for me to be honest, but good to know should things change...

This book contains a complete set of rules for gaming the Samurai period in question, so I could use either blocks/counters, 2mm figures or simply bases from 'The Pikemen's Lament' forces, with this being the easiest option.

So looking at the sample lists on Michael Leck's Blog, I've already put in an order with Pendraken, based upon these, but with some additions so that I can field some Ikko Ikki warrior monks cum rebellious villagers etc. Having just watched the latest episode of 'Shogun', I'm now going to add some archers and mounted Samurai, to give me some more flexibilty for forces and scenarios.

I'm in two minds about adding sashimono banners to the figures, as they seem to not have been used in smaller actions, but they do really help add to the look of the period, so may use them for the leader only. 

I've also pondered using some of the ECW troops for a bit of a 'what if?', where the Dutch East Indies Company, the East India Company and Portugese/Spanish had some troops being used by both sides. Not historically accurate as far as I can tell, but it could be fun. I've also remembered that I have a ship model somewhere that could make a nice piece on the coast for part of a campaign, battle and storyline etc.

TTFN.

The Camberwick Green Chronicles

During my recent (and ongoing) sort out of my wargames stuff, I came across two storage trays of figures for use with 'The Pikemen's Lament' and 'Dragon Rampant' rulesets. Like so many of my projects, I had a burst of enthusiasm of planning, purchasing and painting, only for it to fall by the wayside as my interest wained for a variety of reasons. Looking at the figures anew, some of the ideas I'd had for both sets resurfaced and so I decided to look through my notes and see if I could get a game or two in before Xmas.

Essentially the original idea was to have a bit of fun with a narrative campaign set in and around the Forest of Dean and the Mines of Gloria, with Dean being some sort of Demon and Gloria well, just the person who owned the mines. Obviously a bit of a nod to JRR Tolkein's Mines of Moria, but the whimsy tickled my fancy! This led to the idea of setting it in and around the village of Camberwick Green, inspired not only by my love of the whole Trumpton tv series, but also of Norm Smith's Piggy Longton chronicles and Keith's Border Reivers Ballade's verse.

Plenty of ideas abound for sure, all with a very whimsical slant, but first and foremost I need to reacquaint myself with the rules. Looking at them I've decided to have a mix of both rulesets, calling the mishmash 'The Dragon's Lament'. I'm not sure how well they'll play, but looking at them there is very little difference between the two. Time will tell. At least I made up some basic unit cards for a game, to try and speed things up and set up a very simple encounter type scenario, as it didn't need to be anything fancy at this stage.

To set the scene:

Somewhere in the Forest of Dean, 1685.

The Glorious Revolution has caused chaos in the area and rumours abound. One such is:

"You fear to go into those mines. The miners delved too greedily and too deep. You know what they awoke in the darkness of Hazard's Doom ... shadow and flame."

The scene is set.

The miners are defending their church.

A 'Basset's All Sorts' force.

Some of Camberwick Green's finest.

Commanded Shot lead the way.

The action underway, as the Miners see off an attack by Goblin Scouts, routing them.

The 'Basset's All Sorts' force closes in on the church.

Treemen watch on in case anyone wants to damage their trees.

Reckless, rowdy Rupert counter-charges the Saddleback Pigs...

... and is driven back...

... but the Saddleback Pigs rout! Oh the shame of it in their first battle.

Gerald the Giant easily sees off the Commanded Shot.

A few Turns into the game.

Goblin Shamans throw fireballs at anyone in their way.

That reckless and feckless rogue, Rupert, decides to charge Derek the Devil, which is not a good idea as he routs from the table!

Gerald the Giant charges Jones's Pikemen...

... who force him back despite taking losses themselves. He doesn't like it up him!

The end of the game.

Derek the Devil is happy to see more Saddleback Pigs arrive as reinforcements.

The Camberwick Green Militia have taken losses and are waivering, so decided to call it a day and retire to the pub for a pint of cider or two.

Post Game Thoughts

Well it's been quite some time since I've played these rules and I'm happy to say it all came back to me, bar the odd query, which was nice. So a few thoughts on how things went:

• First and foremost it was fun! I loved the mix of figures and scales which I think helped give it that real fantasy look that I remember as a kid, something I was hoping to achieve. So the Giant looked like a Giant rather than a slightly bigger figures on the table.
• The unit cards I made really made it easier than looking up on a unit roster. As I get more au fait with the rules, I will make more bespoke cards for the fantasy figures to better reflect them than the current generic Great or Lesser Warbeasts for example. As an example Derek the Devil will be able to fly, maybe the Treemen will be more vulnerable to fire attacks etc. 
• The mash up of the rules worked fine and I saw no issues at all in this first game. Early days of course but given this will be a solo outing, I can always fudge things if need be.
• I think the Camberwick Green Milita (as they are currently called) might need some fantasy input in terms of units they can call upon. Dwarves are on my list for sure as Bellicose Foot and probably a Cleric or Wizard. Maybe even a Solomon Kane type hero?

What's Next?

Well more playtesting for sure, then firming up the background story too, along with character and unit names. Then of course the ever present need to paint figures!

TTFN.

The Pikemen's Lament - Dawn Patrol AAR

I managed to kick off my narrative campaign as planned a few days ago, with it still set in the New World in the 17thC. As yet I'm not sure whether to have it in and around the time of King William's War, or the early part of the century. The former is more tempting as I can include some Salem style witch trials should they take my fancy which could then include some Dragon Rampant 'magic'. Anyway, that's in the future. 

The background fluff has not been fully fledged out, but broadly speaking we have the following to get things going:

Nikolaus Vermuyden. An Ensign in the employ of the Dutch West Indies Company, he is an experienced, but at times brutal officer, who suffers from a wound gained in previous battles in Europe.

Sir Richard Grenville. An Ensign in the employ of the Royal Virginia Company of London, he is relatively inexperienced in battle, but is a strong and patient officer. 

Dawn Patrol.

There have been some minor skirmishes and raids along the borders of the two Companies territories. As such, the powers that be have seen fit to make a show of force, so at to both reassure their folk as well as to intimidate the opposition. Both sides have been patrolling in the early morning and are on their way back to their encampments when they stumble across each other as the morning mist clears.

The English are at the top left, the Dutch the bottom left. Both sides have to try and exit the board in the opposite cornet to their deployment.

The Dutch have 1 x Pike, 1 x Shotte, 1 x Commanded Shotte and 1 x Forlorn Hope.

The English have 1 x Pike, 1 x Shotte, 2 x Commanded Shotte, 1 x Clansmen and 1 x Clubmen.

The Dutch view of the open field in front of them.

The English view.

 

The Dutch get off to a slow start, but not the English, who are able to move all of their units.

The Dutch throw out a screen of Commanded Shotte into the wood to protect their flank.

The Dutch Shotte to the fore.

The English moving forward with the Commanded Shotte providing a skirmish screen.

The Clansmen on the hill, spoiling for a fight.

The Dutch being outnumbered are finding it hard to pin down the English to slow their escape.

The English trying to find an escape route.

The English continue to edge past the Dutch troops.

The Dutch manoeuvre to try and bring weight of fire to slow down the English.

The Dutch Commanded Shotte being whittled away be English fire.

Despite the English managing to get two units off the board, the Dutch fire is taking a toll on the English.

The three Dutch casualties at the bottom compared to those of the English at the top.

The English bunch together for safety.

The escaping English units.

The Dutch have fire superiority and it shows.

The English casualties continue to rise.

The Dutch mass for the attack.

Sir Richard Grenville with the English Shotte attempts to evade the Dutch...

 

... but to no avail as the weight of Dutch fire sees the remaining English units rout off the table.

Post Game Thoughts

In the end a rather convincing Dutch victory, but it didn't look like that early on as the English we able to out manoeuvre the Dutch. A fun game and one that lasted about an hour or so all told. So some thoughts on the rules, the game etc:

• The rules in themselves are incredibly easy to remember, with only occasional reference to the QRS. They might be a tad too simple for some, but as I've said before, I enjoy them and completely get where Dan and Michael are coming from.
• The scenario was OK, but one that I'm not overtly fond of. I've played similar ones before with other rulesets and they haven't worked for me either. So this is not a criticism of this one, but of this type in general. However it did work as a good start for my campaign.
• In theory, the English should have won as they got two units off the table, but at the cost of losing the rest of their force. So I decided to call it honours even and award both sides 3 points of Honour. This led to a promotion for Vermuyden, who is now a Lieutenant, gaining another Trait, this time of Strong.
• This campaign has kick started my painting again, with a unit of Dragoons finished last night and more cavalry to come. Some Native Americans are ready for priming, once the weather warms up a bit.
• I picked up a model of the Mary Rose for some background interest a week or so ago and so need to paint that up, as well as some coastline. Alongside this I think some Native Americans in canoes could lead to a nice scenario or two.
• When I have enough units I will have to come up with some names for the, which is rather nicer than calling them Commanded Shotte etc. I also need to add some flags to a few units.
• I need to either scratch build a few more buildings, or buy some for other scenarios, I'm not sure which yet. Maybe my Leven Miniatures one will make suitable stand in until then.

So plenty to be getting on with and to come up with the next logical scenario. I also need to plan a BKCII game for a weeks time as Adam is coming around for a game, as well as paint up a few units. So until next time...

The Pikemen's Lament - A New World Adventure

One of my plans for this year was to finish off my English Civil War figures and run a narrative campaign using the excellent 'The Pikemen's Lament' rules. Like many of my plans, it never really got off the ground. Given my current enforced rest as I recover from major surgery, I thought it high time I revisited this idea, given that I wanted something different from BKCII to tickle my wargaming buds.

So this afternoon I dug out my figures and knocked up a really quick game, based upon a rough premise of some action in the New World of the Americas, between some English and Dutch Colonists supported by some Native American Indians. As simple as that but I find it nice to have a bit of 'fluff' to go with my games. I plan to expand upon this over the next few days for my campaign.

Anyway, the game was great fun and even though I hadn't played for ages, it all came back to me with only occasional glances at the rulebook. I took a few 'photos for those that might be interested in another 2' x 2' game format. All the figures are from Pendraken's excellent 10mm range and I simply halved all the distances in the rulebook.

The Dutch are on the right, the English the left, as they advance to clash near Friedermann's farm.

Some Goblins standing in for Native American Indian's, until I can get some painted up.

The Dutch battle line.

The English throw forward their Clansmen and Forlorn Hope's.

Some Swedish Commanded Shot mercenaries just before they were dispatched in short order by the Clansmen.

The Dutch Shotte formed line ready to give a good volley of lead if required.

So my next challenge is to paint up some extra units, which should hopefully start this weekend, as they are all based and prepped and are just awaiting my attention. I would like to add some Dragoons, but doubt they were much used in the New World at this point in time. I hate painting horses but will have to bite the bullet at some point though.

On a related note Michael Leck has received his advanced copies of the new 'Rebels and Patriots' rules from Osprey. I was involved in the playtesting of these, which I really enjoyed and think they are a great set of rules. But  to misquote Mandy Rice-Davies; "Well he would say that, wouldn't he?"

Until next time.