New Kingdom Egyptian (I/22) DBA Version 3 Army - Painting Progress

The little beggars have been clipped and filed, glued onto coffee stirrers and primed in Airfix Primer (back on the market thank gawd) then when dry, washed in Vallejo Brown Wash (see below, the Chariots were based, but as the majority of Egyptian infantry is "solid" it would be impractical to paint then 'based' so they get the deluxe individual attention):

I have to confess from the hiatus of the Hittite surge, the New Kingdom Egyptian slowed due to some distraction with getting to grips with the rules, DBA Version 3. Hopefully this post will spur me on - or will it be the whip of the Pharaoh instead!

"Call it Qids" or should that be "Qids in" SOA Kadesh Battle Game

It may not map directly onto my DBA Biblical Armies Project but under the recommendation of Trebian I purchased the "Call it Qids" board game from the venerable Society of Ancients (SOA, by Ian Russell Lowell). Looks and interesting little zip-lock (see below, if I want to convert it from counter to figure I may have to get more chariots):

An interesting booklet, a decorative laser cut piece of MDF with hieroglyphs, a map and some counters. All I need now is a cold beer, a quiet spot in the garden and some time to immerse myself in some reading!

Work Starts on the New Kingdom Egyptian (I/22) 6mm DBA Army

For the Hittites (and there loose formation) I just plonked them on the base and painted around them. The close ranked Egyptian infantry are another matter, hence a factory production system approach is required methinks, painting the figures required for a base then basing them (see below, yet another use for coffee "stirring sticks"):

The plan is simple, a dab of PVA glue on the base to stick it to the stick, let it dry then paint it was Airfix Grey Primer (01) and then "wash it" in Vallejo Brown Wash. The Chariots however will be done the Hittite way (see below, cheap "Pound Store" [yes, contrary to an early alarmist post they are still trading] superglue all over my hands - the Egyptian two man Chariots are much easier than teh three man Hittite Chariots I had to put together!):

Despite their small 6mm size the New Kingdom Egyptians still have a considerable number of infantry to paint - especially when I insanely multiplied the number of figures on a base (see below, the New Kingdom Egyptian infantry mass - their Chariots can be seen in the background):

As these two DBA armies (Hittite and New Kingdom Egyptian) are progressing well I am already paying consideration to "what next". I have my eye on the "Sea Peoples" I/28 as they fought both.

Interesting DBA Version 3.0 battle: New Kingdom Egyptians v Sea Peoples

Video of Battle:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSPb8Jl6JJw

Notes: Not sure if the "battle around the Sea Peoples Camp was done with correct 'tactical movement'. Although it is more probable that these guys did it right and I am still getting to grips with DBA again - particularly version 3.0. Did that Sea People's Chariot go through a ZoC (aka Threat Area)?

Still a really good one to watch!

Tony Aguilar: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbRAe5rGG3lYIHXFgkrC3wQ?view_as=subscriber

DBA Terrain: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVlCp4pTEY8

DBA Fanaticus (Version 3) Forum:
http://fanaticus.boards.net/thread/1580/combat-unit-bad

New Project 6mm DBA (Version 3) Biblical Armies for Kadesh

First yea seek inspiration (see below, Osprey Kadesh [Qadesh] Campaign book and The Penguin Atlas of Ancient History - Hittite v Egyptian):

Find yea a source of synergy, the 'new' DBA Version 3.0 rule-set (see below, something I have already played with - following the lineage of Version 1 [a great new idea in wargaming], Version 2 [expansion and the increasing sad rules lawyer interpretation of cheesy whims and wins (competition wargamers)] to Version 3 [which seems to be a strong shot of antibiotics killing most of the "cheese culture" that formed around DBA] IMHO - and I can be as wrong as much as the next man):

Use the unintentionally(?) acquired 'new' [for me at least] 6mm Ancient Biblical [again a new buzz] armies. These were sensibly bought as a 'pair' of antagonists from Rapier Miniatures. These small 'army pack' were densely packed into a (re-utilised) Business Card container fot for a small Warmaster OoB which is more than adequate for the required DBA armies (see below, historical "pairs" come highly recommended in the preface and notes in the body of the rules):

In addition, seeing as this was my second "comprehensive read" through of the rules I tried a first stab at XCON'ing (aka .. expert content - Att/Def v Foot/Mounted, Move Good=Rough/Bad and 'Specials' such as any 'quick kill' situations) for each troop's characteristics on its base. This is the basis for a specific Hittite QRS [Quick Reference Sheet] (see below, note I used the larger 60mm base width usually associated with 25/28mm figures so I could put more representative quantity on each base, Psiloi will look thin while 'solid' bodies of troops had more depth to them):

The secret key to success is to keep doing a little bit at a time and before you know it your first 6mm DBA Army has been painted (see below, in haste I chose to glue the small figures to a base and paint around them. The up side of this it made the terrain basing easier [PVA-Glue, Sand, base wash in Anita's Acrylic Artist paint watered down then highlighted using Games Workshop's special gel dry-brushing (white) paint]):

I seemed to get away with this as the Hittite army (apart from one base of Hoard [7Hd] is a "fast" army in that the Pike [3Pk] and Auxilia [3Ax] are 'gappy'. In short I got away with it, the New Kingdom Egyptian on the other hand are more "dense" (in the formation sense of the word - aka in DBA 3 language are "solid"). Basing wise I decided to (roughly) use the following formula: 15mm or 28mm number of figures [as per the rulebook] "times by four" (barring the Chariots where "what would fit on the base" dictated the number). For the Imperial Hittites this gave me:

• 2Ps: Psiloi = 8 Figures
• 3Ax: Fast Auxilia = 12 Figures
• 3Pk: Fast Pike = 12 Figures
• 7Hd: Solid Hoard = 28 Figures
• LCh: Light Chariot = 2 Chariots [2 Men in Each]
• HCh: Heavy Chariot = 3 Chariots [3 Men in Each] 
• Cmp: Camp = 8 Figures
• Gar: Garrison = 8 Figures

The hope was to be much more suggestive of what the troops were capable of. It therefore comes as no surprise that Psiloi "look weak" and would be likely to run away from the likes of 'Spear' and 'Pike' - who in turn would could not catch them, being slower moving all their "mass". The plan is to keep this consistent with the New Kingdom Egyptians barring a few officers marshalling their serried ranks if "bows".

Notes: Interesting Links -
http://www.camrea.org/tag/kadesh/