Conan: Blood of the Serpent

 My latest bedtime fiction reading has been a new Conan book, written by S.M. Stirling, a prequel to one of Robert E. Howard's original tales, Red Nails. This is a nostalgia trip for me as I devoured most of the Conan books as a teenager. The original Howard books and later work by L. Sprague de Camp and others.

In this book, Conan is a member of a mercenary unit employed by Stygia to protect a far-flung outpost with nearby gold mines. The unit has a broad mix of characters, including one of Howard's best characters, Valeria of the Red Brotherhood. Definitely one of my teenage fantasies! They get into scraps with the Stygian nobility, always a risky business and the commander sends them on a mission to get them out of town. They are scouts for a relief convoy to a gold mine that goes spectacularly wrong. I won't spoil the story, but Valeria, followed by Conan, leaves the unit and ends up in the palace setting of Howard's Red Nails, reproduced in the book.

Stirling is an experienced fantasy writer, and he broadly keeps to Howard's style, albeit a little more politically correct than the originals. Most of the fight scenes involve wild animals of various types, given the 'African' setting. This is proper sword and sorcery fantasy, and being Stygian, it involves a lot of snakes. While the writing is very descriptive of the location, it perhaps lacks the raw action of Howard's originals, but it is still a good read.

Conan has been used as a wargame setting. I have a decent figure/board game with ship and tavern settings that came with 72 hard plastic large 28mm figures. I have not played the game often, but the figures have come in useful in games of Dragon Rampant, Rangers of Shadow Deep and Open Combat. I also used them in a GDWS participation game, Conan and the Princess, at Carronade in 2017. The setting for Conan is Hyboria, which Tony Bath adapted for his famous ancients campaign, all explained in the WRG publication, Setting up a Wargames Campaign.

Conan, aided by a Frostgrave wizard, takes on the priest of Set to rescue the princess.

More Oathmark lockdown painting

This week's lockdown painting was in two parts.

Firstly my Dwarf army was in need of some punch. Looking at the options I settled for some heavy-duty guys from the Mantic range. Not sure about the flat heads on the command figures, but otherwise one part castings, with no bits to glue on - or fall off!

I also added the general figure from this range. I'm not expecting much strategic leadership from this guy - looks pretty hands-on with that axe!

The Eastmark realm (sort of Norman) borders onto Malumter, the orc and goblin kingdom. So border raiding is common. This fortified house is just the job. It won't stop a full-blown siege, but it should hold off raiders. The building comes from the Noch range, which comes primed and is made from a hard foam material, so very light. Thanks to Mrs W for the birthday present.

Oathmark Dwarves

One of my favourite fantasy races is the dwarves - probably a Hobbit thing as at 6'-2" tall there is no obvious affinity!

However, this isn't reflected in my modest collection of fantasy figures, which rest on some very Oldhammer Bugman's dwarves from the old Citadel range. This means my Oathmark dwarf kingdom is looking decidedly underpopulated.

Looking at the various ranges on offer, I plumped for the 'Dark Age' dwarf spearmen from Conquerer models, as they looked suitably rank and file and in keeping with the Oathmark setting. They aren't quite as barrel-chested as most fantasy dwarves, but the sculpts are nice. The one major irritation is the shields. They have a lug in the shield, but no corresponding piece on the arms. With little contact, superglue struggled and I reverted to epoxy resin. We will see how they survive with play.

Next, they need a home. My wife bought me a very nice model for my birthday made by the German firm Noch. This is a hard foam model, so very light and comes primed. This means just a bit of dry brushing is required. Very pleased with this and who needs socks anyway in lockdown!

So, let battle commence. The latest action from the Oathmark lands involves a punitive raid by Eastmark (Normans) and Holdfast (Dwarf) alliance on the Orcs and Goblins of Malumter. A 1500pt Oathmark game.

Bugman's dwarves, despite their age, did well against two units on the right flank.

The left flank didn't do so well and the alliance General was surrounded and killed. Time to beat a hasty retreat home.

It was a close-fought game, as you can see from the depleted bases, and the rules work well. I haven't tried the advanced rules yet, or magic. That is for another day.

Oathmark barbarians

As I start to develop my Oathmark nations, I remembered that I have some unpainted fantasy figures in the Conan game box that I backed on Kickstarter. I had painted some character figures for a participation game at Carronade in 2017, but the bulk of the figures remain untouched.

The barbarian types are pretty good sculpts, if lacking in variety. I added a character figure as a Shaman to lead them.

I have made a start on my Oathmark nations. Years ago I used to use a programme called 'Campaign Cartographer' for this sort of thing. Looking at the examples published on the Oathmark Facebook page, I plumped for Inkarnate, an on-line tool, which does the same thing, only much better.

It really is a very flexible map making system, and reasonably priced as well. I could have used Photoshop, like Henry Hyde, who has published some helpful tutorials, but this platform takes a lot of the hard work away. It's also a lot of fun.

Anyway, here is my first go. A lot more detail to be added, but it is a start.

Oathmark is more a Dark Ages setting than the traditional High Medieval fantasy settings. So I am going to have Normans and Saxons in the middle, Scots to the north, Vikings to the west, Nomadic tribes in the east, with Byzantine, Spain and the Seljuks in the south.

This has also been an excuse to tidy up my eclectic collection of fantasy figures. Some rebasing and improving my painting from many years ago.

Oathmark

I am not a big fantasy player, but when in the mood, Dragon Rampant usually scratches the itch. However, I thought I would give Joseph McCullough's new rules for fantasy battles a try. I have played his skirmish games, Rangers of Shadow Deep and Frostgrave. I generally enjoyed these games, other than the use of D20 dice. Oathmark uses multiple D10s which should deliver a more consistent outcome.

The first thing that attracted me to these rules is the absence of a fixed setting. You can pick your nation from the main fantasy Tolkein races - Humans, Elves, Dwarves, Orcs and Goblins, and can also have units from different races in the same army. There are army lists built into the rule book, with stats for most of the figures you are likely to have. Strangely, there is torsion artillery but no crossbows. Dwarves without crossbows, what is the fantasy gaming world coming to!

There is a tidy campaign system which allows for recruitment and defends your core city. While North Star do a range of figures, you can use existing ranges.

The rules are pretty straightforward. I have a few queries after my first game, but nothing major. You can download a decent QRS from Osprey.

Units are activated using two D10, needing to roll higher than their activation stat. In my game that was a 5 or 6, so the odds are pretty good that your troops will take two actions per move e.g. move and shoot. Even if you fail, a simple move is allowed.

Shooting and combat generally involve a D10 for each figure in the front line, usually five, with modifiers for ranks and the usual flank, hills etc. You deduct the fight or shoot stat from the targets defence stat, then apply modifiers. While your unit is at full strength, maximum of 20 figures in four ranks, this gives a reasonable odds. But attrition will make it difficult later in the game.

Units taking casualties have to take a morale test with modifiers for casualties. It wasn't clear if that was cumulative or in that turn. I played it as cumulative and that means units don't hang around for too long once casualties mount up.

There are a range of special abilities which reflect the different races - Orcs wild charge, that sort of thing. There are also advanced rules, which add in characterisation, magic and strange events when doubles are rolled on activation.

So, on to the tabletop, having dusted down my old fantasy figures. My first kingdom is Leonis, a play on the Latin for Lion in the North. Essentially an excuse to use early medieval Scots, with a few Dwarfs when I work out a stat for crossbows! The evil opponents (Orcs and Goblins) are Malumter, another play on the Latin. If only my Latin was this good at university Law School!

The Leonis axemen (Varangians) grabbed the hill and fought off the Orcs. However, a couple of trolls crashed into their flank and that was that.

The peasant spearmen did much better holding off the trolls and two units of Goblin spearmen. Up the workers!

This gave the archers, who had disposed of their Goblin counterparts, time to shoot up the Trolls, recapture the hill and rain death on the disorganised enemy. Score two to the workers!

The Goblin wolf riders almost saved the day coming around the flank, but the Leonis horse fought them off.

It was a good game and the rules played well. I can have some fun with imaginations and it may even inspire me to finish painting all those Conan figures.

Zooming with Game of Thrones

I needed a break from WW2 lockdown painting. Looking at the lead/plastic mountain I had a unit of Lannister crossbowmen, which I had bought to give my Lannister army some much-needed firepower.

The figures are from the CMON range for their Song of Ice & Fire game. They come ready assembled and based, although the detailing is fairly basic. A bit of block painting and a wash gives a decent unit.

While I like the figures, I am not a big fan of the rules. I prefer to use Lion Rampant, although any medieval set would do. As long as you ignore the dragons! Lion Rampant is also ideal for playing over Zoom in the current lockdown.

So, onto the tabletop. Slightly larger armies than the usual 24pts, now that I have a proper table again. Lannisters on the right, Stark and some Bolton allies on the left.

The fierce Umbar foot charge across the table and rout the Lannister swordsmen.

The Lannisters are not keen to move off the baseline and on the left get shot up by Stark bowmen. One really bad courage test and they are off.

The men at arms are difficult to move in Lion Rampant until they get within wild charge range. Eventually, the Starks got a move and the Mountain led the Lannister knights forward. Neither side coming out on top.

Finally, the Stark left knocked over the Halberdiers and swept around the right flank of the Lannister line. Although the Boltons, treacherous as usual, failed three wild charge tests!

The last stand by Tyrion with my newly painted crossbowmen was futile. The North triumphs! 

 

Rangers of Shadow Deep

As we are in lockdown I thought I would try a game designed for solo play, rather than adapt a standard ruleset. I was listening to Henry Hyde's interview with Joeseph McCullough, which reminded me that his Rangers of Shadow Deep is designed for solo play.

There is a new fancy bound edition of this game just out, but I settled for a downloadable PDF of the original version. This is a skirmish game in a fantasy setting. You play the part of a Ranger who has basic abilities with a set of fairly standard statistics - move, fight, shoot, armour, will and health. You strengthen the basics and then add heroic abilities and skills. These all give exceptional actions or bonuses in combat.

You can then add companions like archers, barbarians and men-at-arms, or something more exotic like a conjurer. These are all recorded on a ranger sheet and you are ready to go.

The game is scenario, or mission, led. There are several in the book to get you started. They outline the tabletop and the creatures you will face. Creatures have their own bestiary and include a range of typical fantasy enemies.

Each activation allows two actions, typically a movement and fight or shoot. The Ranger goes first, although he can take some companions with him/her.

In my test game, the elven ranger had a couple of archers and a barbarian, who looks remarkably like Conan! Their task is to get across a bridge guarded by what they call Gnolls (I used Orcs) and a Shadow Knight.

The solo mechanism sets out a series of automatic reactions for creatures. So, when the Ranger shoots and kills a Gnoll, the others in line of sight spot him and generally attack. There is a simple flow chart of options. These are supplemented by event cards, playing cards and a table that describes actions for each scenario depending on the card drawn. It works very well.

Shooting and combat are pretty straightforward. You add the relevant stat to a D20, both sides roll, and the loser deducts his/her armour from the winning roll to calculate damage. As with this author's other popular ruleset, Frostgrave, this is a problem for me. D20 is a massive variable.

In this game, Conan just about survived his first round of fighting with a Gnoll.

And then killed his opponent in the second round with a huge difference in the roll.

Anyway, the Ranger comfortably beat the Shadow Knight and off our merry band went to the bridge.

There is a campaign system, which links the missions and allows a decent narrative to develop.

The rules could have done with a playsheet, accepting there is probably one on a forum somewhere. With all the add on rules, it required a lot of going back and forth. But regular play would probably reduce that. The solo mechanisms work, but I am not convinced by the combat mechanisms. For this level of game I prefer Open Combat, but I might pinch the solo mechanisms and use the scenarios.

Fantasy bits and pieces

Back to my pile of lead/plastic to make some room for my next project, which will be 'Operation Sealion' in 28mm this time.

First up the Rohan foot I picked up at the Lakeland show. These are very nicely painted, to a standard way above anything I could achieve. They will primarily be a mercenary unit for my Game of Thrones armies, but have other uses as well.

Then some mercenary pikemen that will also do for Game of Thrones and medieval battles. These are the Perry plastics.

I picked up these giant rats as an impulse buy somewhere. I am sure they will come in useful, the perennial wargamers chant. So a quick paint job gets them moving. Our cat had a quick sniff, but wasn't impressed!

And finally, some wolves. No idea why, too small for Direwolves, but I think these are from Warbases.

That pile of plastic

My gaming productivity has dropped significantly recently, busy time at work. So I thought I would dip into the pile of plastic in the 'to be painted someday' box every wargamer has.

First out were some Hyenas from the Conan game. Nice simple paint job these. The GDWS participation game at Carronade in May will be using the Conan figures in a Dragon Rampant adaption. The challenge will be to rescue the Princess from the castle guarded by a priest of Set. Testing the game in a couple of weeks, so watch this space.

On the subject of shows, don't forget to support the Dumfries show, Albanich, next Saturday. I know it's a bit of a trek for many, but it is usually worth the effort.

Next up are some reinforcements for my Caucasus 1942 project. Some Russian 120mm mortars (Plastic Soldier Company), should beef up the Soviet firepower in the absence of mass T34s and other kit. I need some more infantry, but couldn't face painting more bland Russians. So I have decided to go for a Naval infantry company. That arrived this week, adding yet again to the pile!

And finally, some Gebirgsjager. You can never have enough!

Conan and Dragon Rampant

The last painting session of the holidays included some more character figures from the Conan board game. These include Conan himself, the wizard Hadrathus, Thak, Skuthus priest of Set and of course a princess for Conan to rescue - over and over again!

For the final game of the holidays I used Dragon Rampant rules. Conan with Hadrathus and his bodyguard, supported by Aquilonian archers, spearmen and mercenary light horse - are off to rescue the Princess, a captive of Skuthus in the ruined tower. Skutus has his giant snake and a band of demons. Two 24pt armies in total.

The archers force a wild charge from the demons, who are weakened by bow fire from horse and foot bows. Bolts of long range fire from Skuthus were not enough to support the demons. Then the snake slithered out of the woods and forced back the spearmen, who were eventually saved by Conan himself. With his forces routed, Skuthus slinks away to fight another day, and the princess is rescued.

Dragon Rampant are a great set of rules for a quick game. Highly recommended.

Open Combat revisited

My Xmas game was an opportunity to revisit Open Combat since getting the nice new glossy hardback and dice as part of the kickstarter. For those not familiar with these rules, They allow you to point up all sorts of historical and fantasy skirmish forces, creating balanced games between genres if you want.

The game also allowed me to get my newly painted monsters from the Conan board/figure game on the table. I like the board game, but I suspect I will get more use from the figures using Open Combat and Dragon Rampant.

Here we have a couple of demons.

and then a rather tasty giant snake.

Then, onto the game itself. My merry band of adventurers included a first outing for my Frostgrave wizard and his apprentice. Together with Bugman and his dwarf rangers. Some of my very first fantasy figures from the old Citadel range.

We had a cunning plan for grabbing the jewels from the demon fort. Bugman would distract the Demon knights and the big hairy demon, while the wizard and apprentice sneaked into the fort.

It started well, with dwarf crossbows weakening the demons. The Open Combat dice are useful, but not essential, as the rules are very simple and the QRF covers most of it.

But they soon got a bit too close for comfort. Crossbows down and get stuck in with the axe - the slope was useful too.

Meanwhile, the sneaky attack on the fort got disrupted when the giant snake slithered out of the wood. Those fangs are to be avoided! Glad I paid for the nimble and evade skills for our magic pair.

The Demon king hopped out of the fort to join in.

After that it was a slogging match. Sadly, both wizards died a fate worst than death, but Bugman and the boys saved the day. Held the hill and killed enough to reach the demon break point. But it was a close run thing!

Not sure they will accept these demon jewels as payment for a well earned pint in Bugman's Brewery, but the dwarfs will no doubt be persuasive....