Ww2 Building Boom part 7

Another completed 20mm building off the desk last week. Thirty odd more buildings to complete plus the tiles including a basilica and the three bridges, hopefully complete over the next three months.

This building was a birthday gift two years ago and is a 3D filament print. After a lot of clean up I think it looks pretty good. I copied a paint job of a building near the old railway line here in Mayenne, the red and yellow brick is regularly used here but mostly on rendered buildings, a late 19th century fashion. The building interior also had printed pieces which look pretty good too.

 

Dark Age Franks heavy infantry I

Carolingian Frank Heavy Infantry I

Another unit completed for my dark age Franks, ready to fight the troublesome Bretons. Figures are gripping beast armoured dark age plastics with Victrix Roman and Celt plumes, flags and transfers a mix of LBM and warflag, getting low on transfers so need to make a order this week, hopefully they will make it through the border!

The yellow flower I place on all of my French bases is a common weed here locally and where Geoffrey V of Anjou got the Plantagenet nickname from, as he fathered a lot of bastard children so many they were like a weeds. The original name for the plant was planta genista in Latin before being changed in the 1900s to Cytisus scoparius or common broom. The plant was also used as a heraldic badge by five other Plantagenet kings of England, Anjou, Maine, Normandy and Aquitaine as the royal emblem.The "broomscod", or seed-pod, was also the personal emblem of Charles VI of France.

Much on the desk at the moment with six units awaiting basing, just waiting on yellow tufts to arrive from Germany.

Cheers

Matt

Musee Jublains, Mayenne

I thought I would add some images of Gaulois Coins today from the Gallo-Roman Museum at Jublains, Mayenne.

The coins are difficult to photograph as they are set into a Perspex sheet so you can view both sides and lighting and back drop is not great. Next visit I will take some white card and update the photos. The collection has a few gold coins and a large amount of silver and copper pieces. Several coin hordes have been found in Mayenne district, most museums around the region have pieces of the Aulerci Diablintes coinage. Some moulds have also been found by archeologists also.

First up Silver coins

Breton Skirmishers III

Breton Javelin skirmishers

Another unit completed, Breton Javelin Skirmishers based for impetus, actually they would suit the Franks of Anjou Maine also,  figures are gripping beast plastic with a few Victrix heads.

"walk the battlefield in the morning, wargame in the afternoon"™

Cheers
Matt

Anjou Maine medieval infantry IIII

Anjou - Maine Infantry IIII

Another unit of medieval Anjou Maine Infantry to defend against the Norman and Breton invasions in the 11th century. William the Conqueror and Conan of Brittany bring the two main opponents in the period.

Figures are from the plastic gripping beast dark Age set with some Victrix heads, and additional metal or plastic hand painted shields.

"walk the battlefield in the morning, wargame in the afternoon"™

Cheers
Matt

Dark Age disorder markers

Last week while resting my eyes from plaid I prepared a bunch of 20mm round bases for markers (actually completely exhausted my stock of them), just builders sand glued onto the base, then painted and drybrushed as I do for Western European soil, rocks painted, then flocked. I felt I had enough Gallic and Roman, so I dug through my spares box of shields and decided to do some dark age disorder markers also. All freehand painted, quite happy with them, got a little carried away and completed another 10 so a Purchased of round bases required, plus now I will also do some Plantagenet period and 100 years war pavises as well.

Cheers

Matt

French 7YW light guns

Completed a pair of light guns for my 7YW French they have been sitting around waiting eyes and skin highlights for two weeks. This will be the last 7YW I will complete until next year,  as we have not developed our battlefield tour and Wargame for our local 7YW battle.

I have decided to start clearing the desk off of all of the half finished bits also, ready for the new focus starting at the end of the week. The completion of my 100YW project, 100 + figs to paint over the next month or so.

Front Rank Miniatures, Eureka guns.

Cheers

Matt

Aulerci Diablintes Tribesmen VIII

Completed another unit for my Aulerci Diablintes tribe, we visit the Gallic Oppidum and new capital at Jublains.

Figures are 28mm Victrix miniatures with LBM transfers

Maine medieval Infantry

Maine medieval infantry, ready to repel The Norman invaders.

Cheers
Matt

Roman Disorder Markers

Decided to continue making markers this week also in between drying time of varnish. Some Roman markers from spare shields and transfers. I need about another 20 odd ancient markers to cover everything, then dark ages and medieval.

Cheers 

Matt

King Riothamus King of the Bretons

King Arthur....... perhaps!

Riothamus (also spelled Riutimus or Riotimus) was a Breton-Romano military leader, and King of Brittany and possibly lands in southern England. He was active circa AD 470 and lead a army against the Goths in alliance with the Romans. He is called “King of the Bretons” by the 6th-century historian Jordanes but the extent of his realm is unclear. Some Arthurian scholars identify Riothamus as one of the possible sources of the legendary King Arthur.

The miniature is from the Footsore Miniatures 28mm Dark Age range

"walk the battlefield in the morning, wargame in the afternoon"™

cheers

Matt

Gallic disorder markers

An addition I always like to add for my games as I build a army, disorder markers and dead casualty markers. I must have several hundred shields from different armies plus a lot of transfers for them. Getting sick of plaid and eyes again so I knocked these up yesterday as a little break from detail work, a nice  addition to the table. More coming from different periods, now I need more round bases!

Cheers
Matt

Gaullic Oppidum Moulay

Gallic Oppidum

Very close to our Maison is one of the ten largest Oppida, walled Gallic cities in France and the largest so far located.
In the 1970s, the first archaeological investigations revealed the Gallic origin of the Oppidum  and of the defensive works, it was long considered a Roman military fortification and was called "Caesar's camp". The inner defensive wall is over 500m long only 350m of the 10 meter high rampart survives,
 Along with traces of the Pincer gates. A secondary rampart in dry stone has also been recognized on the rest of the perimeter of the site at the top of the cliffs facing the Aaron and Mayenne Rivers. U

Map of Western Gaul

Artists impression of a Pincer gate

The surviving ramparts are 6-8m high and 350m of the walls are walkable, a remarkable piece of military engineering work.

The road cuts through the outer ramparts in two locations on the entrance to the village of Moulay 

From the top of lookout Rock on the junction and the ford of the Mayenne and L'Aaron rivers. 

Lookout Rock, on the junction of the Mayenne and the L'Aaron River

Looking back up from the river Mayenne to the Gallic city 

The archeology  corresponds to a Gallic domestic occupation from the 2nd  century BC until the 1st AD: pottery, grain millstones, wine amphorae imported from Italy, ornaments, and the practice of metallurgical activities: bronze mold and slag. 

In 2004, as part of the motorway bypass of the municipalities of Moulay and Mayenne, Inrap carried out an archaeological diagnosis over almost 9 kilometers.  The road project passes less than 300 meters east of the known Gallic fortification, following the rocky promontory.  Outside the enclosure, the diagnosis revealed numerous indications of the period of the final Tene (II  e  and I  st  century BC), a new rampart of about 1,200 meters long in 1000 meters upstream from the first.  It joins the Mayenne and Aron valleys in a straight line.  This new defensive line considerably changes the morphology of the site: the area defined by the two concentric enclosures then borders on 135 hectares. 

The inner fortification and the outer fortifications marked in red. 

Full expansion of the city, the gray section is the excavations by the archaeological team before the motorway construction. 

Territory of the Aulerci Diablintes 

It is the largest site known today on the Armorican Massif, the fortified agglomeration corresponds to the capital of the Gallic city of Diablintes. During the Roman period, the center of power moved a few kilometers from there to Jublains (Noviodunum), where the city remained until the early 5th century, before returning to Mayenne under the Carolingians, when the chateau was built. 

Aulerci Diablintes tribesmen VII

Another unit for my Gaulois project, after the next unit of naked Gauls I will of completed 72 of the Victrix plastic naked Fanatics, I think I will go back and add lime white hair to the others as it really makes them stand out! Then onto more clothed Gaulois, a total of 80 figures to go to complete the unpainted pile of Gaulois!

Cheers
Matt

Noble mounted Breton Kingdom of Domonée III

Breton Noble Cavalry III

Off the desk finally this week my noble Breton cavalry unit, lovely figures from Footsore 28mm Picts range. Quite happy with my plaid, possibly should of had the same coloured cloaks for each noble so I kept to the northern part of Domonée Amorican kingdom plaids. The final cavalry unit for my 5th to 7th century Bretons.

"walk the battlefield in the morning, wargame in the afternoon"™

cheers

matt

Republican Roman vs Carthaginian battle report

Stategos Phillipe travelled up from Laval for a visit this week, for a game and a visit to see my progress on the renovation of the Salon de Guerre. We had decided on a historical match up of my Scipio Africanus based army vs his Hasdrabul. Phillipe has only played Advanced Impetus five times and had downloaded it in French now so had a better understanding of the terms and finer details of the game.

Philiipe organised his WAB based miniatures for Impetus, we elected to have a simple meeting engagement rolling for terrain we ended up with four woods, Phillipe placed his newly finished Elephant was having its first outing. I also had six units of my newly completed Gauls on the table. I placed two legions on the table plus extra two velites and two light cavalry and two FL Gauls to deal with the elephant and slow down his cavalry. Attaching my general to a unit of Triarii.

Phillip elected two veteran and two regular pike, plus two light cavalry, two heavy cavalry, elephants, two FL Gauls and lots of skirmishers and some fate dice. Leaving his general seperate from the units.

Turn 1
I won the command phase and elected to advance the whole centre and held back my cavalry on my left, just coming within javelin range everything released, but only one hit, first blood to me! Phillipe reposte, he advanced with his skirmisher line loosing  javelins at close range and caused a loss skirmishers a full base, plus casualties on another. His Numidian cavalry double moved flanking my lights and in a hail of short range javelin, the  "taxi de la mort" (cab rank of death) removed a whole base of my light cavalry. 1st round to Phillipe!

Turn 2 again I won the command phase and advanced again, this time my right flank skirmishers finally done some damage, two bases hitting the elephants, and one base taking out two skirmisher bases, I advanced my infantry but double moved my large unit of Gauls so they could threaten the left flank of the Carthaginian army amazingly they passed the discipline test. I also advanced my left flank light cavalry, to threaten his numidian cavalry and his heavies, I managed to get a strike on his heavy cavalry, but only a disorder. Phillipe reposte, he launched his infantry line forward, his Numidian cavalry decided to hurl javelins at point blank range the large Gallic horde, causing 2 casualties, he then charged his heavy cavalry into them, causing another loss, however my return caused one in reply also, we both passed morale so a stick. His skirmishers whittled away all of my left flank skirmishers and caused disorders on my heavy infantry, his Numidian cavalry on my left, caused casualties on my light cavalry leaving it with one remaining point.

Turn 3 again I win the command phase, I elect to engage my whole line, and effectively use pilum and my manipular formation, breaking and destroying two units, and the follow up catch another one, my Gauls win their round of combat against the cavalry who run, catching them and the poor skirmishers who happened to be behind them, my remaining skirmishers manage to kill the elephant. Phillipes' army centre collapses, and he elects to consider defeat........his army breaks and the remains of his men withdrawing to fight another day.

The lonely pike unit on his right

Just before the destruction of the left flank 

Good points were taken away, if used effectively light cavalry can be good "taxi de la mort" javelin armed, always get stuck in with elephants, otherwise skirmish armed javelins will whittle them down at point blank range. Skirmishers shoot 360, can move diagonally without penalties so can engage targets from the side at point blank. Large units of Celts are tough, but can be whittled down with light infantry or cavalry. Stay outside zone of control for point blank firing on other shooters, unless they are disordered. Republicans can be tough, if they roll well for the manipulation formation can be devastating.

Things to do, make more disorder markers!