Sea People - Lucid Eye & North Star.

Another unit rolls off the paint table this team a slight distraction in the form of Sea People, I originally was given a pack of Northstar's castings as a Christmas present, only being 4 figures that lay in the draw of shame until now. Having seen Lucid Eye's latest release I thought I could round them up as a unit and have them as mercenaries on either side of Hittites or New Kingdom Egyptian forces. Besides they add a flash of colour to the table.

The peoples of the Mediterranean Islands were known to the Egyptians as the Sea Peoples. They included the Lukka, Teresh and Sherden.

They were armed with long bronze slashing swords and wore various kinds of helmets, sometimes decorated with boar horns. Some of the tribes even wore bronze body armour. A huge horde migrated by land and sea attacking Hittite and Egyptian settlements. The Egyptians defeated them and captured many prisoners many serving in the Pharaoh's army.

The two ranges combine well in style and size, the Lucid Eye range contain a number of female fighters, I have no idea if they genuinely fought in battle but they are hardly noticeable within the unit.

The leader is a serious piece of metal a true Big Man.... Probably more like 32mm but looks great on the table.

Next up something a little more modern.

New Kingdom Egyptian - Royal Guard

Hot on the heals of the new Rameses II, I thought he needed a unit of Infantry to act as his bodyguard, I chased my Warlord Medals and these were free..... badged up as Marines the bronze over shirt gives them a quality feel over the regular infantry.

I thought about the shield colouring for quite a while and whether they should be painted or cow hide, there does not appear to be a definitive view on the shield colourings, Red's Blue's and Brown's appear to be readily available less so Greens and Yellows which I have seen on others gamers armies. Given I have given the close fighters red and blue for spearmen, Blue seemed the most logical with a bronze edging to separate then from the main body.

For those interested in the stats for Infamy, I have included these below, upping them to Elite Status and increasing there armour class and the cost of an aggressive attack.

New Kingdom Royal Guard				Type	Elite Warriors
Points Value	24	Weapon	Mixed, Pila	Strength	8
Armour	Step Out	Aggressive Attack	Characteristics
Heavy	2	1	Drilled, Pila (2 rounds only),

Until next time.

Pharaoh's 2 for 1....

Not long after finishing Scarab Miniatures Rameses II leader figure, I spotted this version from Lucid Eye, perhaps that little bit more warlike.... And more imposing on the tabletop.

I guess they can squabble over who is the true leader of the New Kingdom. Coming in at £1.80 vs £6.50 you pays your money and you takes your choice.

Whilst I feel the new Pharaoh is a little on the expensive side, I guess I can balance the ledger with the 3D printed arrows which were free. They make great ammo markers for the missile units within Infamy Infamy.

Dispatches from the front XIV - Christmas Post

Well the escape from lockdown did not last long, as parts of the UK plunges into a new tier, tier four. The latest changes reminds me of the AVBCW campaigns with plans on crossing the Malverns to reach the scared land of Tier One Herefordshire a mere 10 miles away.

With Christmas cancelled, time to re-evaluate festive plans which is a pain but on a positive note creates an opening for some hobby time, which is good as the lead pile has increased somewhat in recent weeks.

Plenty of Wargames firms have been pushing out December discounts and whilst some the delivery times reminds me of the early 80's with packages taking up to 21 days. Some new stuff from Warlord, Warbases lands on the mat and the highlight a couple of nice pieces from Lucid Eye in the shape of a Pharaoh. Perfect to command the New Kingdom forces.

Meanwhile much like waiting for Santa to appear the Baccus order is on it's way perfect for the Pony Wars project in January.

Lacking any face to face gaming of late, I have been working on adapting Sharp Practice with elements from the Infamy rule set for the Zulu wars. We put some house rules together last year but have had a rethink with the release of the Rich Clarke's excellent ancient rules, you can find a copy of the unit stats and house rules here. http://dusttears.blogspot.com/p/sharp-practice-2-zulu-wars-house-rules.html

I have been trying to convince the kids to watch the must watch war films of the last 30 years. They did survive Last of the Mohicans with the iconic battle scene of the massacre of the British leaving Fort Willian Henry. You get a real sense of the pulpable fear in the column. I feel a solo scenario coming on.

Meanwhile one they won't want to watch, more oddities from Netflix.

An Indian Zombie story with British Red Coats circa 1857 (uniforms look more like 1776 to me.) released from a tunnel who set about an Indian special forces team, not a bad evenings entertainment, but how on earth they can fire and load a musket but not open a door is beyond me....

That's all for now... Stay safe all.