Celtic Holocaust...

In a stated growl, with sentences and determinations paced dramatically for effect, Dan Carlin, of the Hardcore Histories podcast, bites off every word and phrase.

I am a fan of the Hardcore Histories podcast, the menagerie of topics covered has been a fascinating trawl through captivating stories from history. Dan Carlin does a wonderful job of executing, his points well stated, thoughtful and poised for effect.

The latest episode is an epic, over 6 hours in length it delves into the story of the Roman conquest of Gaul. The history is fascinating, the delivery striking, the discussion thought provoking.

I'd strongly recommend anyone who is a fan of history subscribe to this podcast, and this latest episode had me by the throat. Not simply because I am a fan of the period and story covered; Caesar's conquest of Gaul is one of the great tales of generalship from history. But also because it made me think of the conquest of Gaul in a different context. It drew comparisons to the conquests of other peoples. It asked if the phrase, "Give me liberty, or give me death!" had ended with death, but not just death: with dissolution. A death so complete and far reaching that whatever spirit had urged the words was broken by it.

Carlin asked, what would we sacrifice ourselves for? Then deepened the question by asking what would we sacrifice? What are the things we would die to protect? Our families? Our homes? Our goods? Our liberty? But deeper - what of those would we watch burn in the fires of conflict for another? Would we sacrifice our families for liberty? Our children? It is a question that made me think, not just about the Celts of Gaul facing an implacable and feared general, but about the refugee families and children in my classroom. These are people, here in my class, whose families have stood at the crossroads, be it Damascus or Mosul, and faced the question: what would we sacrifice? I cannot imagine.

The history itself, of the Roman capabilities, force projection and organisation, the Celtic story of defiance in the face of a foe unrelenting and well organised, is thrilling. Carlin does an excellent job of painting the scene and asking questions that have you examining the conflict from multiple sides. I thoroughly recommend it.

The Ludovisi Gaul

Enduring Pain with Patience...

I'm doubling down on first world problems this week at the Castle. With school reports to finish, chapters for the Infinity RPG to edit, and the usual morass of child-born debris to tidy, a game I have been looking forward to for a long time finally arrives.

Falling Sky: The Gallic Revolt Against Caesar, by designers Volko and Andrew Ruhnke is set in the turbulent period after Caesar's military campaigns, while Gaul was yet to be fully subdued. 1-4 players find themselves representing either the might of the Roman Empire, or as leader of one of the Gallic powers, seeking to satisfy the individual victory conditions of the Belgic, Arverni, or Aedui tribes.

Falling Sky is a COIN game, which stands for COunter INsurgency, a set of interlocking mechanisms designed and implemented first in Andean Abyss, a game about the complex battle for control of Columbia.

The game system strives to bring in a variety of thematic aspects, from the military through to propaganda, politics, economics and more. By all reports it is a cleverly designed game engine, and has seen implementation in a range of different games. Falling Sky is the first of the series to step into ancient history.

This is a game that is about much more than pushing soldiers around in a map, and is one of the things that really drew me to it. Managing the politics and economics of the period at the same time as marauding Germanic tribes, alliances and other bits and pieces breathes a whole and complex flavour into playing a game set in the period. I am very much looking forward to getting it to the table.

However, for now at least, all I can confine myself to is ogling the bits...

Nice heavy box, the usual high quality from GMT.

Rules of Play... there is also a Playbook

Lots of player aides, some for during a normal game, some are bots to use if you play the game solo...

It couldn't be a GMT game without at least one counter sheet!

Lots of nice colourful wooden bits...

Vi victa vis... or until I can get a few more things done perhaps Appetitus rationi pareat is more appropriate. 

Very nice map...

Suitable reading material on the side-table...

And this, of course...

Dark Age Gaming...

Dux Britanniarum is a miniature wargame set in the period of the Saxon invasion of England. Using the base book players will either represent the Romano-British defenders or the Saxon invaders. Really, the game is a wonderful campaign system with a miniatures game attached to it, but while that may sound critical of the miniatures game aspect, as a whole game it really is a wonderful experience and well worth exploring. I'll get around to writing a proper review of Dux Brit at some point, and the exploits of my Saxon chieftain Njal Ulfson (who at this point is swinging between the monikers of 'The Unlucky' and 'The Inept').

I made the decision early on to use 10mm figures to play Dux Brit, partly because of the cost (I have more than enough figures for more than two armies, and they cost me less collectively than a box of 28mm scale models).  And partly because they are easy to store and don't take up much room (I have two armies in a single tackle tray).

Using 10mm figures presented some interesting choices, I needed firstly to make sure I had enough good terrain to use with them. The trees and hills are no problem, but for the buildings and whatnot, I decided that 15mm scale stuff isn't too far off the beaten track, and have a couple of the 4Ground Dark Age buildings (which look magnificent). I also decided to convert the game directly into centimeters rather than inches, and have experimented with different sized boards to accommodate that.

A nice little Dark Age building... 4Ground make some wonderful stuff!

So, I had the figures, board, trees, hills and buildings, what I needed was some fences. After a little googling I ran across this blog post, which gives a rather excellent tutorial on making some wattle fences. Without further ado, I jumped into making some of my own.

Using icy-pole sticks for the bases, I drilled out holes every 1.5 cm along their varying lengths.

Toothpicks were then glued into the holes and left to dry.

Using a pair of snippers, I trimmed them all to a suitable length.

I painted the bases in PVA and gave them a dusting of sand.

Once the glue was dry I undercoated everything with a black primer.

A base coat of dark brown paint.

Followed by several layers of drybrushing, each with a lighter tone of brown through to a skin tone.

Using a nice braided string, I tied it off on one end, then weaved it around the upright poles, working it down so they were bunched nicely but not overlapping.

I then liberally painted the string and base with a watered down PVA.

Finally, I added some static grass to the bases in spots to give some relief.

So that was the fencing completed. They look rather nice in my humble opinion, and are relatively easy to make.

As for the boards... My key mistake when setting up my forces for Dux Brit was in basing the figures on 20mm round bases. In retrospect I should have used 10mm square bases, but I really can't be bothered rebasing everything, so 20mm rounds it is.

The base size has an interesting impact on the game, as movement is measured in centimeters, the base size of 20mm makes a reasonable difference. In the end I decided to experiment with two board sizes, one straight conversion, of 48cm x 72cm using corflute. The other board I made using thin MDF sheeting, and is 60cm x 90cm. So far I have played on the 60cm x 90cm board, and it may be a little large. Next time I'll try the 48cm x 72cm and see how that feels.

For the base paint I mixed a reasonable amount of sand in with some brown paint.

The sand gave a really nice texture to the boards.

Using a house brush, I liberally drybrushed the surface of the boards several times with ever lighter shades of brown, finishing with a skin tone.

I have yet to add static grass to the boards, I'll get around to it at some point.

Lastly I needed some animals for the odd occasion in which the scenario generator called for the Saxons to raid cattle.

Some N-Scale farm animals meant for model trains (oh, the fate that awaits you isn't what you were intended for my little beasties)

Based on 20mm round bases with some sand and static grass added.

Looking rather spiffy I think...

Some Saxons wondering if the heifer is light enough to carry off.

Romano-British soldiers come to let them know it is probably too heavy.

I should add that the 10mm figures are from Pendraken, and are top quality, with solid detail given the scale!

Yes, I still have many 10mm figures to paint, but I'll get there eventually!