Novels of Ancient Greece - Gaming Inspiration

I've recently taken advantage of Warlord's sensibly priced plastics and reasonable postage to indulge in a little ancients.  This was inspired by re-reading some of the historical novels in my collection, all of which I can heartily recommend.  In order of recommendation:

#3. The Macht Trilogy (Ten Thousand, Corvus, Kings of the Morning) - Paul Kearney
Whilst this is not up to the standard of his terrific conquistadors-turks-werewolves Monarchies of God series, this is loosesly based on Xenephon's Anabasis (the "Ten Thousand"title is a bit of a giveway).  This follows Rictus, the story's protagonist, as the Macht (Greeks) fight their way home through the lands of the Great King.  The follow-up novels occur years later, as Rictus fights alongside Corvus (Alexander the Great) a charismatic war leader who forges the fractured city-states into a single powerful nation.  It is labelled "fantasy" but there is 0% magic except for the fabled "Curse of God" armour, which they no longer have the knowledge to make.  Whilst most fantasy authors waffle on and on (where are the editors these days!) Kearney's novels are short, sharp and sweet, and he writes a good battle scene which gamers will appreciate.  Recommended - 4 stars.

Paul Kearney writes good action scenes and his stories are "tight" with little waffle. Although not his best work, this is still a very good series.

#2. The Long War series (Killer of Men, Marathon, Poseidon's Spear, The Great King) - Christian Cameron
Written by that most bizarre of species, a historical re-enactor, this series is actually good. Very good. Whilst the novel has a lot of interesting detail about Greek life, it is woven though the story rather than dumped on you - as I first feared - re-enactors (perilously close to LARPers) - scare me more than Napoleonic wargamers with their anal-retentive OCD....  Anyway, the hero is retelling his story as an old man, and his wry manner helps characterize the story. Arimnestos and his adventures covers many key battles of the time, from battles against Thebes and Spartans, to Marathon.  The battle scenes are excellent. I've just bought The Great King which takes the timeline to Thermopylae. An excellent series, in the top echelon of historical fantasy. Recommended - 4.5 stars.

I was surprised just how good this series was. Cameron's other "Tyrant" series is nowhere near as strong.

#1. Troy Series (Lord of the Silver Bow, Shield of Thunder, Fall of Kings) - David Gemmell
The last series written by the legendary David Gemmell before his untimely death, this is arguably his finest work.  It follows the Fall of Troy though the eyes of Heliakaon (Aeneas) and features an experienced author at the height of his powers. If you are a David Gemmell fan, you have read these already, and if you are part of the unlucky 10% of fantasy readers who haven't read a Gemmell book, rush out and get these books.  Like the Macht trilogy, this is listed as fantasy but is very light on magic bar the usual prophecies which feature in Greek texts of the time.  An excellent series, with interesting characters and twists, whilst retaining the familiar Illiad plot.  Excellent action, in a world that is harsh and gritty without being overly grimdark.  Recommended - 5 stars

Gemmell's finest work. His wife Stella finished the final book after his death, and did a great job of it.

Edit: I just found the "Gates of Fire"by Stephen Pressfield in my collection, so I'll update this list after I've re-read it. From memory it was solid and well-researched, about life in Sparta, and ended in a impressive account of the battle of Thermopylae.

Gaming Inspiration: Godless World Trilogy

I really liked the underrated "Monarchies of God" series by Stephen Kearney. Not only are they a good read, the world of conquistadors-crusades-and-werewolves is very inspiring for gaming (and in fact got me collecting 70YW/ECW minis).

Another series which flies under the radar is Brian Ruckley's Godless World series. 

The first book, Winterbirth starts with a heroic, outnumbered rearguard sacrificing themselves to allow their women and children to escape.  They are religious refugees - followers of the "Black Road" - but will return hundreds of years later to be the antagonists of the story.

The story is set in a rather grim, realistic dark age world.  The "Thanes" rule the "Bloods" or clans who have a Saxon-ish flavour.  The Krynnin are basically cut-and-paste American Indians/elves/forest folk.  I'm thinking Perry/Warlord American Indians to face off against my Gripping Beast Saxon plastics.

I initially found the names of the different clans of Haigs/Bloods annoyingly confusing as many sound similar, and there are quite a few of them.  The overarching plot is not too complex, however - basically, the "Black Road" refugees from the prologue return to get revenge, aided by a mentally-unstable half-elf/Indian mystic. The "good guys" hold the fortresses and technically outnumber them but spend a lot of time squabbling and plotting against each other, and thus mostly get their butts kicked by the numerically inferior but elite Black Road warriors and their "not-Indian" Kyrnnin allies. 

Magic is rare. Only half-breed na'kyrim can practice magic, and it tends towards the "realistic" such as sensing and communicating with other magic users and sensing lies or - in the more extreme cases - compelling others.  No fireballs or dragons here.

The main issue I had with the books was the main character/hero was rather bland and I was indifferent to his fate - I actually found myself more interested in the bad-guy "invaders" - there was quite a few "shades of grey" and they had more interesting characters and motivations.  

I've been impressed with Warlord Games - they may be attempting to become the GW-style Evil Empire of historicals, and their kiddy-style Bolt Action rules make me go "bleargh"- but their pricing and postage is good (free if over $100 worth which is great if you're an Aussie like me), and they source a wide range of plastics.  I've bought a lot off them lately.

Recommend:  Yes, with some caveats.  It's a well-written, solid series.  However, the names can be a bit confusing at first, and main character's storyline can drag a bit. You'll probably enjoy it if you like fantasy leaved with realism - in fact it has more in common with historical fiction than much traditional fantasy. Quite a hefty series - 3 x 500-page books (Winterbirth, Bloodheir, Fall of Thanes)- so not so much for casual readers.  The relatively small-scale nature of the battles and the Saxons vs Indians means it would make for interesting gaming, with very accessible miniatures. 

How my toddler learned to swear (Alternate title: Assembling Infinity minis

Seriously, Corvus Belli seem to be losing the plot.  I love their Infinity minis, but they are now currently my most hated miniature to assemble (edging even Heavy Gear).
*Each model comes in 5-6 pieces.
*Each piece comes with 3-4 pieces of "flash" and inevitably a chunk of sprue still attached.
*The inevitable (and dreaded) 3-part connections (shoulder+gun arm+other arm+shoulder) never line up

All three models needed greenstuff to fill cracks/cover gaps.  Annoying but acceptable in a plastics box where minis are $1ea.  Not so much so when paying $10+ for a metal sculpt. 

It's frustrating. I like the company. I like the models. The game itself is innovative, and currently ranks as the best skirmish game I've played.

But $10 a model puts Infinity firmly in the boutique range.  And I expect more from a "boutique"model.  Parts fitting together properly being the least of them.
And I'd appeciate not having to spend 3 hours assembling a dozen miniatures.

(The arms and legs are so frail that an attempt to bend them to fit can often end in disaster... ..hence my toddler repeating some less than savoury language heard emanating from my shed). Thanks, Corvus Belli. I have enough worries about wife rage when buying the models.  

Infinity has impressive "fluff"with posters and artbooks.  But the lavish production values spent on the art books could be used to do a bit of quality controls on the actual miniatures.  Or even designing miniatures that fit together.  Do the guys who design the game and minis actually assemble and paint their own miniatures any more? Not all of us can afford to have someone to do the work for them.

More "speedpainted" Infinity.  The assembly is so laborious that I seldom have the enthusiasm to even try to paint the models, which although gorgeous, have shallow, tiny details that make them much trickier than 40K, LoTR, or your average historical mini.

In addition to the built-in frustration of the assembly process, Infinity has much tiny and shallow detail that is difficult to paint, married to increasingly slender sculpts.  I wouldn't care about it either if I could pay Angel Giraldez to paint it for me. But for mere mortals (i.e. 90% of those painting and playing Infinity) the reality is frustrating.  

The older sculpts were more practical, but the new ones are (usually) nicer. 

Anyway, these complete my Shasvassti and Araidna armies... ...for the moment.  No wargaming project is ever "complete" of course.  That would be heresy of the highest order. 

Now, only need to do my Nomads, Pan O, Yu Jing and Tohaa...  But I can't face any more Infinity punishment.  I'll either do War of the Roses or Greeks (I bet I can assemble a 40-man box faster than the 12 Infinity I did today), or maybe some terrain. I have found some Hirst Arts moulds in my shed I'm going to take for a spin....

Pegasus 1:72 Log Cabins & Scottish Werewolves - Ariadna Army (Infinity the Game)

Ariadna are one of my favourite Infinity factions, with their Scottish-Soviet-French aesthetic, low tech weapons, and werewolf soldiers.

Here are some I speedpainted last night - I'm getting ready for the Infinity v3 rules.

All I know about them is the fluff (art book) is separate from the rule book, with I totally approve of.  I hope the rules will be written better (the old ones were a tad confusing, awkwardly translated from Spanish) and having all the rules in one book (instead of three) will be nice.  It's too late for them to "unmake" the million weapons and special abilities that have increasingly cluttered the game since the Human Sphere and Paradiso expansions, but maybe now I won't need to run inside to check the online wiki every 5 minutes.

I know "speedpaint" and "Infinity"are not often uttered in the same breath, but damn, the fiddly models irritate me. Wonderful dynamism, and amazing but such faint, unpaintable detail. I figured slap some paint on them and get them on the table at least, then "pretty em up" if I use the faction regularly.

Also in the pictures are some 1:72 Pegasus log cabins.  Hastily sprayed with a can of mission brown, I'm leery of showing them prominently, but I hope you will see how well they fit 28mm miniatures. At $15 for a single large cabin or 2 smalls, they make a decent hamlet for $45, and will see duty in my upcoming French-Indian war project.

At tabletop distances the 1:72 cabins look fine with 28mm minis. 

The werewolf dog-warriors (seen here in human and wolf form) are lame compared to the awesome new resculpts, but I got them on a stock clearance special.

Scottish Mormaer heavy infantry.  Infinity troops traditionally never have metallic armour, but I'm leaning towards it for my next faction. 

Some Kaplan Tactical Services mercs channeling a stormtrooper vibe.  They are intended to help out my upcoming Qapi Khalqi sectorial.  Along with the Druze, they can be used to bulk out a range of factions.

Next up, a Nomad sectorial, then probably some less frustrating minis for a change - I''m eyeing off my Perry War of the Roses plastics (lovely miniatures) and Warlord Greeks (new and shiny arrived in the mail.)

Shasvaasti Army - Infinity the Game

I've had these for a year or two and I decided I'd better paint them before getting some Morats (which I quite like since they have been resculpted).

I admit the brown paint scheme is a tad  dull, but I chose it to look insectlike without copying the green-and-black studio paintscheme which I've seldom seen pulled off except by more talented painters. 

Now I think about it, the metallic armour and brown skins makes them look a bit like LOTR orcs. In hindsight I perhaps should have used a light brown armour to make it look more like a carapace.  

I've never been in a rush to use the Shasvassti due to their extra special rules - something which has increasingly bogged down Infinity.  I do like their Mass Effect/Halo vibe - a nice change from Alien-ripoff Tyrannids.

The Wargames Factory zombie packs are a very prolific, cheap source of body parts - which is handy if your faction includes vampiric hunters like Asawung.

The Shasvassti are known as a sneaky/dirty tricks faction.  However the Gwailos give you the ability to smack people around in a straight-up fight. 

The Speculo Killer (on right) needs a bit more detail and highlighting, but she's "good to go" for gaming purposes. She is almost a "must have" for any Shasvassti army due to her ability to completely mess with your opponents' tactics (and his head). A steal at 39 points.

I tend to make Infinity armies around sculpts I like, rather than min-maxing "for the win."  I'll add some Noctifiers and a Corax spec ops with my next order, and I already have a Skiarvros waiting in the wings.

Simple Paint Schemes or "The Least You Should Do"

I've always been of the opinion that there is no reason to ever field unpainted models.  It kinda says to your opponent "I really couldn't be bothered." This is not because I am a good painter - far from it.  I am not overly fond of painting and I have mountains of unpainted lead. 

I'm not preaching from a position of particular skill - I was doing some test colour schemes last night and thought they showed good examples of two lower levels of painting which anyone can achieve.

Level 1: The Basics
These are 3-4 colour schemes with little to no "special knowledge" required.  There are no washes or drybrushing or fancy techniques.  I speak from experience when I say the average 10 year old can execute this with ease. 

 This is not painted to a great standard but at least it is not bare metal or black undercoat. I'd use this for rush jobs so I can just get models on the table to play, or for bigger armies.

This model was painted in a few steps, with 3 colours:
1. Dark brown basecoat
2. Light brown "shell"and claw portions
3. Cream teeth and clawtips. I also edged the shell portions to make them "pop" more. 
4. Base is simply PVA glue with sand sprinkled on top. 


This Tyranid model is definitely table-ready. It is not a great paintjob but it is nothing to be ashamed of.  At least I've put in the effort.  If people are not interested in even trying to paint, then I suggest they are in the wrong hobby, and should consider boardgames or PC games instead. 

Level 2: Moderate
This level usually includes painting on several coats, sometimes in different shades, and extra techniques like drybrushing and washes, which are still relatively straightforward.  Anything above the "basics"is optional. However, speaking from experience, this is within the reach of the average painter and requires no real skills - it just has more steps in it.

 

This Infinity Aswaung is part of a 10-figure army so I figure I can put in a tad more effort. I'd have liked to give it yellow glowing eyes, but I know my limitations.

This model has a few more extra steps, and used about 8-9 colours.
1. Dark Brown Basecoat
2. Green-Brown "drybrush" on muscles and parts of head
3. Dark metallic paint on armour
4. A pre-made black "wash" to fill in the cracks of the armour
5. Light metallic paint on parts of the armour (spikes, shoulder pads) to make the armour "shine"
6. Details - red tongue, blood and guts, white teeth, and green wrist sensors
4. Base is PVA glue and sand. Now the sand is painted. Small stones, and bits of flock or static grass might be added to the base to make it more interesting.





Whilst not particularly praiseworthy, the Aswaung has a reasonable paintjob and you can see a little extra effort has gone in.  It took a little more time, but there was nothing complicated involved.

Level 3: Enthusiast/Advanced
I have friends who paint at that level, who can pull off amazing techniques.  These include glowing lenses, amazing detail, amazingly detailed faces, at least half a dozen layers of paint to get the perfect depth or hue, hand-drawn unit symbols. They can paint the glow from a torch reflecting on a model's base, or paint a metallic colour using non-metallic paint.  Bases are often complex handmade masterpieces rich in detail with tricky stuff like realistic water features. I'd like to aspire to this someday, but it is both beyond my skill level and the scope of this article.

Sadly I lack the skill to give an "advanced" example. However here's the two models again, together, to show the two "levels" of technique. 

A quick recap (TL:DR)
The purpose of this article was to highlight just how simple a simple paint scheme is.  There really is no excuse for not attempting to paint your models, when you are playing a miniatures game. It shows you actually cared about the game and your opponent.  It's kinda like a minimum dress standard. 

The other purpose was to show some simple additions such as washes, edging and drybrushing. These require no particular skill or knowledge, but simply make the painting take longer.

Disclaimer: This was written by a non-enthusiastic painter, of limited skills, for others in the same boat. 

Weird War II - Pulp Nazis, British and Mantic Ghouls (Secrets of the Third Reich)

I've had both SoTR rules and minis for ages. I got them and AE:WWII simultaneously, and I was originally drawn to the latter rules due to lower miniature count and more "cinematic" action, but like AE: Bounty the rules quickly fell by the wayside.  

British with gasmasks to resist the zombie-creating V-Gas.  The squad has a Boyes anti tank rifle to put down even the most pernacious Nazi werewolf.

Anyway, I dug out the West Wind official SoTR models and painted them a few weeks back, also grabbing out the rules and giving them a quick spin.  I was quite impressed - even with my limited playthrough they were surprisingly solid WW2 rules - though simple, they are arguably more realistic and "deeper" than Bolt Action (which admittedly isn't very hard.)  I also like their "create a vehicle" points system which would allow you to repurpose MaK and DUST vehicles and mechs to fit within the SoTR universe.  (I can more thoroughly review the SoTR rules if anyone is interested)

The Nazis have glowing red gasmask lenses...  ...well, just because it feels right!

The West Wind official SoTR models are quite chunky and many of the poses/proportions are a bit off, but they are charmingly characterful and I found them pleasant to assemble and paint. I'm planning of doing another squad or two of each and adding some Soviets to the mix.

The SoTR rules "scale down" OK and I'm thinking of digging out my Terraclips sewer set and having a Mordhiem-type game through the sewers of 1947 Paris, hunting some occult relics perhaps. 

This inspired me to create some sewer inhabitants.  I dusted off a sprue of Mantic Ghouls (good but limited range of poses, good price, easy to assemble/paint) and gave them a quick dab of paint.  They fit in well with the Weird War vibe and will be handy for fantasy/medieval games. I'm definitely grabbing the Mantic zombie pack too and I have a few ideas for conversions using Perry plastics and Mantic undead body parts. Personally I think the War of the Roses or English Civil War skirmishes could be made even more fun by adding undead.

The photography came out rather badly - the ghouls actually look much better "in the flesh."

These models were to be a "warm up" to get back in the groove after a 6-month painting hiatus.  Next, I am targeting some of the wonderful but rather soul-destroyingly difficult Infinity models.