Naval Gazing.......

       Furious that his plans have been thwarted by the rascally mercenaries (i.e. the Pirates, hired by the Small Platers) Louis the Ravenous has mobilized his fleet to drive them away from the coast. His admirals have advised against such a move as the weather at this time of year is uniformly horrid, but Louis will not hear of it, "If my Army can march, the Navy can sail!" he has proclaimed. Only time will tell if the Pirates' light vessels are up to confronting the massed fury of the Freedonian Navy. Nature may be the Great Leveler in this matter as the coast is very rough and a dangerous place to be sailing in bad weather.

The Arms Race continues at breakneck speed UPDATED

       I had an hour or two waiting for stuff to dry on another project, to avoid boredom and keep myself busy I grabbed my artillery that had been tacked to temporary bases and based them properly. I also rummaged around in the remaining 15mm figures and found the rest of my cannon models. These were cleaned up, assembled and spray primed white. When I get those completed I will have more artillery than any rational game of Tercio could employ!

 

fifteen completed and a dozen more to go (along with about 48 gunners)

Generally Speaking

I finally got around to re-basing the generals
CinCs get a 40mm square, everyone else has to get by with 20mmx40mm

 

truth be told, most of them are just parted-out cavalry figures, 

I plan on getting some of Khurasan's figures once I get all the other re-basing completed

Betrayed from Within! Nantua Falls to the Proper Mealers

 

the keys to the citadel being surrendered to the P.M. commander

       November 9th, 1619
       In a surprise move the Proper Meal faction has stolen a march on the Small-Platers and seized Nantua. Guided by an agent inside the city the P.M. forces showed up before dawn (after having had a full breakfast) and caught the S.P. garrison as they dithered about their choice of snacks. The S.P. forces rallied back to the citadel that guards the bay but had little hope of holding out for very long. Negotiations were opened between the two sides and the Small-Platers were allowed to requisition sufficient shipping to leave the city with the Honors of War.
       It is currently not known where they were headed, sailing westward at this time of year is a difficult proposition but would the brave soldiers wish to end up interned in Ferndalia?

Ye Auld and Grande Great Barrel of Glenfiddich

            In the year 978, faced with what appeared to be insurmountable odds, the high King of Boozonia Malcom MacMorris (the Unlucky) promised his men a barrel of Scotch large enough to swim in if they would deliver a victory unto him. The following battle against the combined armies of Nordland and Frozonia was long and bitter but at its end the Boozonians stood victorious and the enemy armies were shattered to the four winds. True to his word the King produced a barrel of Scotch that stood three Ells tall and two wide. Since that time the Grand Great Barrel has been a talisman of Boozonian victory, a sort of Ark of the Covenant to the Boozonian people.
           In the following six centuries each new King has refilled the Great Barrel with the finest Scotch to be found in all the land. Over the centuries the Barrel has served as the meeting place for the summer Wapinshaw, a battlefield icon, a place of famous last stands, new recruits are sworn in with one hand on a Bible and the other on the bung. It has fallen into enemy hands but three times, and each time was recovered before the enemy could draw even a drop of the precious fluid contained therein. It has become the heart of the Boozonian martial tradition.
          Mounted on a hand-crafted wagon charged with golden trim and drawn by the finest, strongest horse in all of Boozonia and teamstered by the most ferocious warrior in the land (currently Angus Hardface of the Clan MacLoughlin) the Boozonian army knows that they must perform the utmost acts of valor to be worthy of drawing a dram from the sacred barrel. To have the Great Barrel accompany an army is both an honor and a weighty charge. No one wants to be known as a soldier in the army that would let the Great Barrel be captured and everyone is proud to boast later on in life that they were there when the Great Barrel inspired them to victory.

Go Tell the Small-Platers that, obedient to their command, we are here!

     As was discussed earlier the Small Plate faction was decidedly short of troops in the western half of Gluttonia, what they weren't short of was money. Having decided that they could spare the money easier than they could surrender their freedoms the Small-Platers hired  the pirates to hold the pass along the south coast against the advance of the Freedonian army. This is what the position looked like on the map;

 

       In reality it looked like this;

This message has not been approved by Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban COMPLETED!

    Too lazy to run a game tonight I had spent the evening sipping bourbon and talking politics with the Trunkmonkey and was in a fine, softly buzzed, mood when he left. Not ready for bed, but not really fit for serious work, I began thinking that I needed an earthwork to go with my 15mm TYW figures. I flipped through a couple of books on the period and it occurred to me that they were prone to building some pretty fancy earthworks. Of course this caused me to get out Proxxie and some Styrofoam.........

 

Proxxie in all his low-tech glory!

An Epicurean Thermopylae

          Frantic in their search for allies the Small-Platers of Bordelaise and Poivrade have enlisted the Pirate Captains in their efforts to stop the forces of Louis the Ravenous from gobbling up the Soubise valley and, following that, their cities. The coast road from Pomerol to Soubise creeps along the narrow space betwixt mountain and ocean and the Small-Platers have paid handsomely for the Pirate Captains to block that route. With plenty of time to prepare the pirates have dug in and fortified the narrowest passage and mounted cannon to further deny the roadway. The Freedonian army has been slow to mobilize and move and it looks as if they may be using an inland route for most of their force, the pirates are confident that they can halt anything moving along the coast.

         The forces of Freedonia do not move blindly and have scouted the pirates position. The map below was provided by the Freedonian light troops, two redoubts armed with cannon and a line of earthworks closing the pass. Is it possible to force the position given the strength of the pirates and their fortifications? Would it be wise to defy the will of Louis the Ravenous and choose a different route? Will there be crepes with lunch?  Who knows, but we will soon find out (I hope there are crepes with lunch, I love crepes!)

Rex Mortuus Est, Vivat Rex

HORRIBLE NEWS FROM THE WILD BOOZONIAN COAST!

       The fifth of November 1619A.D. Terrible news has come to our attention; far away on the Boozonian coast in a tiny fishing village near Bowmore and brawl between bands of ruffians has caused the death of an entirely innocent man; Clauz IV de Flamboise. Local citizens having suffered at the hands of the ruffians throughout the night heard a series of armed clashes just after dawn. After the smoke had cleared and the rabble had dispersed the villagers crept out into the sunlight to find dozens of corpses scattered across the fertile countryside. Among those lifeless bodies was the distinguished person of Claus IV, struck dead from a musket shot to the face. Locals gathered his effects including a gold signet ring, fine clothing and a war-horse branded to the royal House of de Flamboise. The local sheriff has verified these facts.

       The identity of the ruffians remains unknown, some claim that it was rival bands of Nordlandzer and Frozonian pirates settling a score or searching for hidden loot, more truthfully others just shrug and say that they don't know.

       A second tragedy has struck the House of de Flamboise in the space of two months, what further sorrows will befall the tearful land of Gluttonia?

 

the once-quiet village of Brineyville, north is to the right

as a small action this game was played out using 28mm figures and Pikemans Lament rules

News on the Freedonian Front The situation as of November 4th, 1619

         After long delays it seems that things are beginning to happen in the West. Rumors are rife that His Most Caloric Majesty has ordered his troops mobilized to "assist" Franz de Flamboise in his journey to Vienee to claim his rightful inheritance.

          Reports that the garrison of Pomeral has begun moving along the coast toward Soubise and that of Malbec is moving toward Marinara. There have been claims that Franz has been seen in the company of the Commander of the Malbec garrison which confirms that the Freedonians are shifting from verbal support to direct military aid.

          Gluttonian Small Plate forces are thin on the ground facing Freedonia and they are frantically seeking a way to counter this threat.  Shocking stories abound that they are even in contact with the Pirate Captains in a bid to secure their help.

 

 Freedonia moves east!

Game this Tuesday 5NOV19

A small affair using Pikemans Lament rules.
Covert operations in the current campaign 7pm, my place

Playing with Proxie.....a 1/100 Starfort UPDATED

      Readers from my main blog will instantly realize that I have gone and done something foolish with blueboard........

 

....they are right, of course