Aventine Allied Principe
Posted by chicagoterrainfactory in miniatures, painting on May 29, 2026
Aventine Allied Principe. High quality Allied Roman figures that you expect to see from Aventine. Figures paint up quickly with a standardized red and white scheme.
Paint Plan:
Shields and feather tips are finished with Pro Acryl Dark Ivory.
White armour is based with Wolf Grey, then washed in Grey Liner.
Decals by Carthage Must be Destroyed. Intended for Greeks, but the animal motif works well for Romans.
Little Wars 2026: Battle of Fulford/Invasion of Black Pool
Posted by chicagoterrainfactory in Midgard, wargaming on May 2, 2026
Battle of Fulford
Historical Synopsis: King Harald Hardrada of Norway, a claimant to the English throne, and Tostig Godwinson, his English ally, fought on the Fulford vs the Northern Earls Morcar and Edwin. The right flank of the Saxon line was anchored by River Ouse, the left flank ended in the swampy Fordland. In-between lay the tidal Fulford. When the river withdrew, Earl Morcar charged across to engage the Viking army. Unknown to him, King Hardrada approached along the Ouse, catching Earl Edwin in the flank and collapsing the Saxon line.
Invasion of Black Pool
Synopsis: Ancient power has awoken on the planes of Black Pool. Armies have summoned allies not seen for generations. All is at stake as the Nordic army clashes with the Islanders army for control of untold powers.
Results: Game one, the Viking players rolled rather poorly with their single combats, loosing much of their Reputation which lead to an early defeat by turn four. Game two was a wild affair with the Saxons taking an early lead, but lost their left flank (complete destruction of the contingent) resulting in a late game charge by the Vikings. As both sides started running out of Reputation, the Vikings destroyed a Saxon Huscarl to clinch the win.
Reflections on Midgard: Fun rule set which is both adaptable to many situations, but limited in its army construction. Some situations call for a few too many dice rolls (post shooting could result in 3 command checks). Steadfast may need a house rule so that it protects the forward unit, rather than the unit which is retreated into. The roster builder web site is nice, but needs a way to print contingents on separate sheets of paper.
Pre Battle set up – Hardrada coming around the hill.
Mid battle – game 1
Mid Battle – game 2
Midgard Summary Midgard Viking 04162026 Battle of Fulford Midgard Saxon Pool 04162026 Midgard Viking Pool 04162026 Midgard Saxon 04162026
Little Wars 2026: Battle of Metaurus
Posted by chicagoterrainfactory in To The Strongest, wargaming on April 30, 2026
Battle of Metaurus sumary: The Carthaginians led by Hasdrubal Barca, brother of Hannibal, brought a fresh Carthaginian army, including elephants into Italy. The Roman armies intercepting the force led by the consuls Marcus Livius, and Gaius Claudius Nero.
The battle field featured the Metaurus River on the Roman left, and a series of ravines on the Roman right. The Roman right and the Gauls were unable to make contact during the battle due to the interposed terrain. Claudius Nero marched his infantry to the left flank, where it was able to overwhelm the Carthaginian line.
But what if the Gauls found a way through the ravines?
The key feature of of the game was the ravine on the left flank. If the Gaulish player could advance skirmish troops to the center box on the table, they had a chance to “find the way” and have the difficult terrain removed. Game 1 saw the Romans hold the center line. Game 2 had the Gauls rushing forward, but it took 4 attempts before they could score an 8+ on a card draw to clear out the terrain.
Both game results favored the Punic side, with a minor victory in game one and a major victory in game two.
Pre-Game: “Ravines” on the Roman right, Cavalry on the left.
Gallic battle lines
Roman Legions
Battle in the Ravine
Cavalry battle
Gallic Skirmishers
Posted by chicagoterrainfactory in miniatures, painting on April 16, 2026
Getting ready for Little Wars and decided I needed some Gallic Skirmish units. Four bases of mixed Warlord & Wargames Factory plus two bases of Old Glory.
Tidal River
Posted by chicagoterrainfactory in Terrain on April 4, 2026
Tidal River. Seven foot of muddy river base for Fulford.
Vinyl floor mat used as the base. Hardest part is getting it to lay flat. Holding the mat done with tongue depressors while the mud dried did help.
Backer Rod 3/8 inch – cut in half and glued with the Acrylic Caulk to a 6 inch width of the Vinyl matting
Mud: The Alcohol allows the mix to flow – a batch made without it dried with pock marks. Acrylic Medium helps keep the mix fluid.
- 1 part Acrylic Caulk
- 2 parts Brown paint
- 2 parts mixed sand
- 1 part Isopropyl Alcohol
- 1 part Artist Acrylic Medium
Wash the river stream with 1 part Black, 2 parts Brown with Acrylic Floor Wax.
Finish with 2 coats of Polyurethane Gloss – water based. River bed 1 was finished with a heavy coat which turned out cloudy. Bed 2-4 were finished with a thin coat with water on the brush as needed. These turned out very shiny and with great look through to the painted surface.
Banks flocked with dark green pasture mix. Pine rocks as needed. Ford was done with large rocks added to the top of mud coat one, and sealed into the base with the second coat of mud.
Inspiration taken from Black Magic Craft: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wcGD_G6xpg
Battle of Fulford – Full Armies
Posted by chicagoterrainfactory in Midgard, miniatures, painting on March 24, 2026
Here they are! Vikings vs Saxons. 24 units. 16 character bases. 18 months of work.
Look for them at Little Wars in Lisle IL, Friday – April 24th.
Harald Hardrada vs Morcar of Northumbria
Crossing the Fulford
Team Viking
Team Saxon
Monsters!
Posted by chicagoterrainfactory in miniatures, Models on March 6, 2026
Adding the fantasy to Midgard with Dragons, Giants and Monsters. All figures are Reaper Bones.
Fimbulwinter 2026
Posted by chicagoterrainfactory in wargaming on February 20, 2026
Fimbulwinter 2026, my first tournament in I don’t know how long. Somehow I finished 6th with a 3-2-1 record. The road trip with a friend made it all worthwhile. I could do without the tournament, a weekend of fighting over Saga rules is just not worth the effort.
Creating the army gave me a chance to work with “King Maker” miniatures. I’ve long thought them a very details and interesting figure line. Most of the figures will ultimately be an addition to my Crusader army.
1st Corps Crossbowmen
Posted by chicagoterrainfactory in miniatures, painting on February 6, 2026
Last of the Crossbows for Saga. They were backordered and came in late. Also needed for Saga are three plague markers: Reaper Bones to the rescue with two rat stands and a bat swarm.
Saxons of All Sorts
Posted by chicagoterrainfactory in miniatures, painting on February 1, 2026
Four more units: Victrix Huscarls, FootSore Late Saxon Fyrd + 2 Ragnarok, Gripping Beast Fyrd, and Ragnarok Bowmen. The FootSore figures were a real joy to paint, great sculpts from the original Musketeer Miniatures line. The Ragnarok blend in seamlessly. Both lines are full sized figures with a lot of heft. I kept the painting simple on the Fyrd, shields are a basic Carmel, Tan or Shield brown with a brown wash.
Chicago Terrain Factory
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