In the Flesh

 My trusty bottle of Delta Ceramcoat "Medium Flesh" is nearing the bottom, and it seems like they (delta CC)  aren't making any fleshtone colors now (I have a limited amount of their Dark Flesh as well). While I was at The Portal gaming store/space for the October Snappy Nappy event, I picked up several bottles of (absurdly expensive!) Citadel pints in a variety of flesh tones, both to support the store and to try out on some test figures. The opportunity arose when I discovered I needed a few more commander/hero types for my Canaanite forces. I remembered there were some unpainted figures amongst the lot that Ken Baggaley had gifted me a number of years back. Prior to Historicon, they were primed and based, with the painting to take place during odd moments of the convention. 

The colors used on the individual figures were (by tunic color):

Green - Ungor Flesh, with a decidedly yellow tone to it

Lt Yellow, Blue  Cadian Fleshtone  a tanned flesh tone.

White - Kislev Flesh a pale flesh tone, suitable for Northern Europeans who don't spend much time in the sun. 

Red - Bestigor Flesh, with a decidedly orange cast to it. 

 

These older figures really benefit from black lining, which I did after I got back home. 

This shot gives a good comparison of the various hues. 

as does this one. 

I have a large group of ancient Indians to paint up. Assuming that skin tomes for them might be similar to today's inhabitants, none of these really seem right - perhaps adding some neutral tan/brown to the yellowish Ungor flesh might work? 

Regardless, these fellows were ready for the game!

Historicon 2021: Ramses II, Episode 1: Foes East and West

Bright and early, at 9 AM on Thursday, I ran the first of my three Ramses II Trilogy games. We had a full slate of 8 players, with about half having played To the Strongest previously, and about half not having done so. 

View from the West side of the Nile (running down the center of the table). Near are the Libyans, with a few Numidian allies, opposed by Egyptian Divisions Ptah (green) and Set (blue). On the East side of the Nile are Egyptian Divisions Amun (red) and Re (yellow), opposed by a mostly band of Canaanites, many of which were rated as "Raw". 

Veteran TTS! gamer and freind Jeff Grein (red shirt) helped the game on the East side running smoothly, while I mostly assisted the players on the West side. 

The Egyptians advanced boldly against the Canaanites.

Egyptian Chariots gaini9ng the upper hand to the South, but giving ground to the North. 

Another view of the Canaanite - Egyptian combat.

Ramses and his chariotry threatens to sweep around the Libyan right.

A tremor evidently caused one of the villages to collapse!

The Libyans to the North (top of picture) pressed ahead vigorously, seeking to sack the Egyptian camp. The came close twice, but never succeeded. 

Egyptian archers of Division re pepper the Canaanites with arrows. 

Canaanite guardsmen are flanked!

Egyptian light chariots poised to take a Canaanite camp!

Charging an open flank, Ramses is in turn hit from the flank. Double hit cards...and the Pharaoh is hit; it is a serious wound, and he is whisked off the field, but will return to fight another day.  

Canaanite chariots fail to take the camp from the defending Egyptian archers! 

The Egyptians lining the Nile are all casualties. 

In the end, the Canaanites prevailed to the East, whilst the Egyptians prevailed to the West of the Nile; we called it a draw, but with Ramses lucky to survive, barely!

Chariot era skirmishers: Javelinmen

 

The last of the Hittite and Canaanite forces are another large group of skirmish infantry.

The Javelin men just needed minor of alteration to add a bit of distinctive color to the headbands and skirts.

The same basing enhancements were applied to them as were utilized with the previously shown Archers and Slingers.

Once again, variations in the tuft colors, rocks etc on the bases were used to further differentiate each small 4 figure, 2 stand "units". 

Also as with the previous figures, I decided not to try to alter the skin tones Bill used. 

The manufacturer of these figures remains unknown. 

They area bit weak in the ankles and are best handled by the bases. 

Yet another group of 3 units/12 figures. 

Starting to run out of easily distinguished hues!

The varied basing elements help there. 

With 46 figures in 11 units, this is probably all the Chariot era Light Infantry Javelin I will ever need for my Canaanite, Hittite, and related Biblical armies. 

Not worry, though. We STILL are not done with the refurb of Bill McHugh's Biblical era collection. To come in January are some units of Sea Peoples troops - Peleset (Phlistine) and Sardana (Sherdan), and a few Assyrians as well!

Chariot era skirmishers: Archers

Dressed similarly to the Slingers shown earlier this month, there were a lesser number of skirmishing Archers in Bill's collection.

Some color added to the quivers and their straps differentiates the various 4 figure units. 

Likewise the different tufts and rocks added to the basing varies by unit. 

Bill used a yellowish pale tan for the flesh color, suggesting Middle Eastern skin tones. 

I debated changing that somewhat, but ultimately decided against it. 

Once again, these could act as auxiliary troops to most chariot era armies. 

These 4 units of Archers, added to the 7 units of Slingers make 11 units and 44 figures.

Yet to come - the Javelinmen!

Chariot era skirmishers: Slingers

 

As part of the figures I acquired from the estate of Bill McHugh, there were a large number of light infantry skirmishers.

These are pretty generic types that would probably be at home in any army of the Ancient Middle East of  the Chariot era.

To give them a modicum of differentiation, I gave each "unit" of 2 stands a different colored belt". 

These figures were based on thin ? steel sheets, 30 x 60 mm in size (old WRG standard) which was perfect as that is the basing and base sizes that I already use for my Ancients. 

The original basing had a thin uniform layer of medium brown "sand" coating the bases - quite unlike Bill's other troops. Not bad, but pretty boring. 

Therefore, I just used my own mix of a lighter colored sand and fine railroad talus on top of that, at times allowing some of the darker brown to show through. 

Each unit then also had its own color or style of tufts and/or larger rock added for interest and further differentiation.

Much better!

The slings are somewhat fragile; it is best NOT to pick the figures up by them!

All told, there are 28 figures in 7 units; more than enough for any foreseeable need. They could serve as Canaanite/Syrian allies to the Egyptians, Hittites, Sea peoples, or other early Chariot era armies. For that reason, I decided to list them as Canaanites. 

Battle of Napata - Confronting "The Alliance of Baal"

    Things were just not going well for Pharaoh Meh-hotep II. Having barely secured his succession to the throne, the life giving Spring flooding of the Nile had failed to materialize threatening famine by the end of the year. The priests of Amun were being faint in their praise of his divinity, looking for a bigger cut of the annual collection of taxes and tithes. The Kingdom of Judea was being a pest as always; it seems they actually believed in their so called one true God and objected to his attempts to pressure them into allowing the erection of  temples to some of the chief deities of Egypt - Amun, Ra, Set, and Ptah, on their lands. They would have to be dealt with later, as more immediate threats had developed. A rebellion by many of the always restive client sates of Egypt had sprung up. It was a motley collection including several tribes of the so-called Sea Peoples (the Peleset and Sardana), Nubians, Hittites and even Libyans, calling itself the "Alliance of Baal".


    Enemies to the East, West and South, unrest in Memphis and defiance from Karnak...what's a Pharaoh to do? Well, at least a nice war offered the prospect of uniting the various factions of the Kingdom! After authorizing  his scribes to release some of the royal grain reserves to the populace, and participating in the usual rituals at the temples, Mehotep mustered his armies and resolved to  met the Alliance head on, threatening their staging area at the walled city of Napata.

The battle of Napata - Egyptians foreground, the Alliance of Baal in the distance.

Another view of the battlefield just before the armies clashed; Pharaoh Mehotep II can be seen to the right near ground, leading the best of his chariotry. His scouts had determined that the enemy outnumbered his army, but that he had the advantage of more chariots than his opponents, and on this flank at least, better trained men and horses. Nearby was DIvision Amun (red), followed by Divisions Seti (blue), Ra (yellow), and Ptah (green), and then finally the other chariot wing of the Egyptian host. Mehotep was ready for battle, kopesh in hand.  

For their part, the Alliance of Baal, their leader's name having  been lost to history, deployed with their outnumbered chariots evenly divided between the flanks, and with one Division each of Nubians and Sardana, Libyans and Hitties, Tehenu and Peleset, and Canaanites.  

Ra himself looks down upon the field as his golden chariot traverses the sky. ( I opened the hatch to basement to help it dry out from some minor wetness.) Also seen is John, a new player to us from the next town immediately to our South. He commanded the left half of the Baalites, while Barry had the right half. I played Mehotep II with the left half of the Egyptians, while Jared drove his chariot from Tarrytown, NY to command the right half of the Egyptians. Neither John nor Jared had played To the Strongest! before. Barry had played once or twice before and watched a number of games at Historicon. As seen above, the Egyptians "won the toss" and advanced, Jared's troops in particular making a swift advance using Group Moves the first 2 turns. 

Mehotep takes advantage of the superior number and quality of his chariots to threaten the Baalite right flank. Both sides loose 2 chariots, but that makes the imbalance worse, the Egytians then outnumbering the enemy chariots four to two. 

Over on the Egyptian right, with less maneuvering room, the Baalite flanks stayed secure. 

Division Amun, under strength and feeling threatened! Both armies had were 225 points strong.

The other opposing infantry commands advanced upon one another as well. 

Baa-rry deploys some light infantry slingers to guard his flanks... just in case!

John plays it close to the vest with his outnumbered chariots, but seizes control of the Oasis. 

A while later, Mehotep has picked off a third Baalite chariot - four to one are odd much to the liking of the mediocre leader, and the fairly open space on this flank also increases the odds of his divine personage surviving the battle!

Slingers still protecting the right flank and rear of the Alliance's army. 

Jared's Divisions Ptah and Rah engage John's Hittites, Tehenu, and Peleset infantry.

My Division Amun (red) is melting away under the hot African sun... down to a single unit. and that disordered (scarab marker). Incredibly, this lone unit of the Division, with its Heroic General, would survive the battle. My Division Seti (blue) unleashes a hail of arrows at the enemy for several turns in a row, doing no discernible damage bat all!  Two units of Hittites, fearsome in melee but less stalwart under missile fire (no shields due to wielding 2 handed axes) threaten some weak archer units. If they can destroy the bowmen, the entire sector of the battle this side of the waddi will be devoid of Egyptian infantry, leaving Mehotep very isolated!

Ra's eye view of the battle. 

Fighting in the center. 

Mehotep maneuvers his chariot to threaten the rear of the sole remaining enemy on this flank, and its general. "We'll enjoy this!"

A tough slug fest in the center!

Flanks, flanks.. that's a lot of exposed flanks!

Having ridden down the last Baalite chariot on his flank, capturing their General in the process, Mehotep's chariots make themselves a thorough going nuisance, forcing almost an entire enemy Division to face to the right to protect themselves. 

Confused and desperate fighting continues in the center.

Baa-rry's slingers manage to pick off one of Mehotep's chariots after many shots. The furious Pharaoh   responds by charging them and crushing them beneath the wheels of his chariot... at least that's what the hieroglyphics on the stele will read! Continuing on, he reaches the gates of Napata itself. 

Their resolve shattered, the enemy breaks of and retreats (they were out of Victory Medals after losing 2 for the Chariot general and three for the camp). Mehotep II commissions an new bas relief at Thebes commemorating his victory, suitably exaggerating his personal prowess at every opportunity. Nothing less is expected of a God, after all!

We had fun with this game, which allowed my new Tehenu and Peleset troops to take the field. Jared and I hope to run  couple of games with To the Strongest with his middle school game club later this fall, and John is thinking of dusting off some Arthurian Roman-British and Pictish figures he has for use with the rules as well;  what more can one ask as follow up from a game, but inspiring more games?