President for Life Hasira Kiboko is President of the little known country of Nokandoo that has appeared in many of these posts.
He appears here with his family watching a military parade.
President’s son Kidogo baba wa watu
Kidogo’s mother, Kahawan Bila Maziwa.
The figures are from Matakishi’s Tea House which is a great little website with some interesting rules and miniatures. Thoroughly recommended.
After the last few blogs I needed a change of pace and a return to hobby fun and frivolity!
After much interruptions the Mouse Village is now completed, although I have a huge amount of dead trees and “muchrooms” to put on bases some time down the track. This follows on from a number of previous posts:
“The magic Bower in the middle of the village square”
The Bramble Family Home
Sebastion’s Village Shop and Post Office
Wilbur mouse’s family home
Blackberry’s home and gardener “Turbo”
Dede’s abode
Boo’s country retreat
No warrior village would be complete without a “local”. In this case the “Angry Ladybird Inn“
The home of “Cosmo” mouse (All names in this post courtesy of the name generator)
Keeping the village green tidy
The Village water supply
“Tank” the village green keeper.
A “Walking Swallowort”
A close up of “Turbo”
A Kreeping Phaflower
A “Running Snow Brittlebush“
Nobody is certain what this is but legend has it that it had something to do with a girl in a”Red Hood”, who fled the enchanted wood being chased by a fearsome creature.
Ladybirds are not only good friends of the “millagers”, but they continually clean the village keeping it in its enchanted best.
The Village Garden
(I am currently building a large piece of cheese treasure out of a cork sanding block as further sustenance for the “millagers”).
Extra bases of enchanted forest.
The Mizzards Mausoleum (see link above)
If I need to represent the village as the Capital of the Meeces Kingdom then I can just add the Meece King’s Chateau and turn the village green into the grounds of Chateau de Mousesailles
Chateau de Mousesailles
Chateau de Mousesailles
Chateau de Mousesailles
Chateau de Mousesailles
Chateau de Mousesailles
Chateau de Mousesailles
Finally you cannot have a warrior kingdom without the “Mouseketeers of the Round Thingy”
“Mouseketeers of the Round Thingy”
I have had a lot of fun putting this project together as did the grandchildren sticking on all of the ladybirds!
Please see my comments on yesterday’s post for the background to this.
I game lots of periods from prehistoric cavemen to conflicts in the 40th millennium. I play these games because I enjoy them, I love the toys, and the social aspects. I see no link between “the game” and “the reality”.
My ethics are not challenged by this in fact in some cases gaming a period has made me more sensitive to the impact of these on modern society. Gaming the Queensland Frontier War is a case in point. Many of my recent posts have been book reviews and my comments on the experience Queensland First Peoples and the First Nations peoples of North America.
This is not a justification but a comment on my personal experience.
I am playing with toy soldiers not impacting on the lives of real people and sending them to their death. There are many that have a different view and I respect those views. I just cannot agree with them.
I understand that many gamers have family members that have been impacted severely by conflicts from the second World War to today and understand how this effects their willingness to play some periods and not others. That is their choice.
I just cannot understand the logic that one period of gaming is more ethical than another. War is horrible whether it be cavemen clubbing each other to death or trying to stop a “Death Star” from obliterating your planet.
Game what you enjoy.
I have decided to allow any comments to speak for themselves and will not comment.
The old Eldar metal figures are still my favourites, and with the exception of the vehicles and a few squads are all from this era.
There is something about a metal model in your hand that feels lkike you are playing with toy soldiers. I just love the smell of lead in the morning!
The Aeldari Aspect Warriors known as the Striking Scorpions epitomise the deadly attributes of their namesake, and they are the most skilled of all the close-assault Warrior Aspects on the Aeldari Path of the Warrior.
They are merciless killers without exception, reveling in the hunt and the kill, using stealth and shadow to cloak themselves from sight until the moment of attack.
The Striking Scorpions represent the wrath of the War God Kaela Mensha Khaine, which can fall without warning and with extraordinary savagery upon his foes. 40k Wiki
Instituted in the hope of avoiding war, appeasement was the name given to Britain’s policy in the 1930s of allowing Hitler to expand German territory unchecked. Most closely associated with British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain.
“However much we may sympathize with a small nation confronted by a big and powerful neighbours, we cannot in all circumstances undertake to involve the whole British Empire in a war simply on her account. We should seek by all means in our power to avoid war, by analysing possible causes, by trying to remove them, by discussion in a spirit of collaboration and good will.” Neville Chamberlain
“We are ready with diplomacy — to be engaged in diplomacy with Russia and our Allies and partners to improve stability and security in Europe as a whole. And we are ready to respond decisively to a Russian attack on Ukraine, which is still very much a possibility.” Joe Biden
A day later-
President Joe Biden reiterated Thursday that the United States will not send its military forces to the front lines of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“Our forces are not and will not be engaged in a conflict with Russia in Ukraine,” Biden said at a White House news conference.
“Our mission is clear – diplomatically, politically, economically – and eventually, militarily – this hideous and barbaric venture of Vladimir Putin must end in failure.” Boris Johnson
“We want to remind the great powers that there are no minor incursions and small nations,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote in a tweet Thursday morning. “Just as there are no minor casualties and little grief from the loss of loved ones. I say this as the President of a great power.”
“My friends, as I have discovered myself, there are no disasters, only opportunities. And, indeed, opportunities for fresh disasters.” Boris Johnson
“I will call it what it is: the Russian government launched a brutal invasion, unprovoked, on Ukraine and should be condemned for doing so,” Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
Meanwhile Russian tanks roll on:
Taken 24 hours ago
Putin’s rhetoric about Russian sovereignty of Ukraine is just plain wrong in fact.
Ukraine first became a kingdom, Kievan Rus, in medieval times, but it took several hundred years before a national flag was adopted. In 1848, a flag was introduced with a band of yellow above one of blue. The colours come from an old coat of arms, but they also have new symbolism. While under Soviet control, the blue-and-yellow flag was banned. Between 1949 and 1991, Ukraine used the Soviet flag, but with a stripe of blue at the bottom.
The history of the Striking Scorpions is shrouded in infamy from the Aspect’s very beginning. The founder of their Aspect Shrine, Arhra, was lured to darkness and betrayed Asurmen and the other Asurya, the first Phoenix Lords, by bringing daemons into the First Shrine to wage war upon his fellows.
Those loyal to Asurmen were defeated and scattered across the stars, but Arhra himself would eventually flee into the Webway, becoming “the Fallen Phoenix who burns with the dark light of Chaos.”
In his place rose Karandras, a Striking Scorpions Exarch and Arhra’s greatest pupil, who would give the Striking Scorpions their current form by tempering the murderous nature instilled by their former master with the patience necessary to become consummate hunters.
Karandras would be responsible for spreading this new teaching and installing new Striking Scorpions Aspect Shrines on the Aeldari Craftworlds.
Karandras, called “The Shadow Hunter,” is the Eldar Phoenix Lord of the Striking Scorpions Aspect Warriors. Legends of Karandras the Shadow Hunter tell of one of the most mysterious of all the Phoenix Lords.
No one knows where he originally came from or where his shrine originally lay, but perhaps it was on one of the small Craftworlds which survived the Fall but was destroyed soon after. 40K Wiki
This was the last model of the Praetorian Guard that I needed to collect. It ended up costing a fortune but at least I now has one of every model which was the goal!
“A Missile Launcher is a weapon that can fire several types of self-propelled, usually guided Missile, including both the common Frag and Krak Missiles.
Frag (Fragmentation) projectiles are designed to spray a designated area with shrapnel, making these munitions highly useful against groups of lightly armoured infantry.
Krak projectiles cover less area with their blast, but their warheads have improved armour-penetration capabilities, making them useful for taking down either heavily armoured infantry or moderately armoured vehicles.” 40k Wiki
Deep in the enchanted forest the “Mizzard” lives in his ancestral Mausoleum. The unusual home is not only protected by powerful spells but also by the “Mizzard’s” tame arachnids that protect the “Mizzard and do his bidding. A recluse he, well everyone assumes the “Mizzard” is a he, only leaves his home when there a dark forces threatening the enchanted forest and its inhabitants. A powerful ally the “Mizzard” is a more powerful enemy!
Thanks to John G for the plastic spiders.
Gaming at my place last Friday night was another 28mm Lasalle Game. This time the 4th scenario in the rule book.
The British were the Red Team trying to defend their position against the French Blue Team. The two armies consisted of:
British (183 pts):
French (250 pts):
Objective 1:
Objective 2:
Picton ready to “dance very well with the French” by meeting “them in the same old style”!
The table set up ready for opponents to arrive (complete with grappa grails – a fine Pinot Griggio actually!).
French Conscript Brigade
French Veteran Brigade
The French Dragoons on the “rooster” reserve tray.
British First Infantry Brigade defending the second objective, with Picton and his ADC
The British Second Infantry brigade defending the village.
The attached British Army Assets – KGL Light infantry, Brunswick Hussars and the Rocket Battery.
The French have the initiative so they move their conscripts forward to engage the British right flank.
The British ready for the assault. The Brunswick Hussars are behind the crest of the hill so cannot be seen by the French.
The First and Second Battalions of the 2nd French Regiment advance on the Brunswick troops in the forest in Irregular formation.
The two battalions of the French First Infantry Regiment advance on the British centre.
The British move forward on their right flank with the Brunswick Hussars forcing the Wurttemburg light infantry into square. The Nassau regiment moves forward to engage the square. The Brunswick Line Infantry fire from the village.
The French move forward and one battalion moves into line to volley fire more effectively.
The French Second Regiment moves forward within charge range of the Brunswick regiment and their artillery bombard the British regiment.
At the end of turn 2 the French Dragoons and their supporting horse artillery arrive in March column.
The Nassau Regiment was repulsed by the square and routed by French volley fire.
The British are under pressure all along their line as the French Dragoons move forward in the centre to threaten all three sectors. The cavalry regiments artillery move up to fire on the KGL rifles, while the Berg infantry are thrown back as they attack the village.
The British 73rd Scots disperse the a French battalion as the Brunswick infantry prepare to charge.
Napoleon once said “give me a lucky general over a good one” and luck was certainly on the side of this French infantry battalion. Charged by a weakened Brunswick unit and a full strength Scottish Regiment the 6 to 1 dice swing repulsed both British units.
The French Cavalry advance while the Danish infantry fire on the village.
Meanwhile on the British left the French have cleared the forest and caused the Brunswick infantry to flee.
With the French allied square shaken the Brunswick Hussars have no problems in riding them down and now threaten the whole French attack on the village. The British Cambridgeshire Regiment moves up to support the village, while the French allied line fires on the village.
Surprisingly the British win the initiative and the Hussars ride down the second Danish regiment and their attached sapeurs.
Not to be outdone the French clear the village of the weakened Brunswick Battalion threatening to seize the objective.
Worse was to follow as the French dragoons charge the foot artillery of the second British Brigade who failed to evade and bravely died defending their guns. The KGL rifles are also forced into square in front of the Horse artillery by the second dragoon regiment.
Picton deploys on the table to make sure the KGL form square. This severely limits his ability to command the rest of the army.
The end is nigh for the British as the 73rd are blown away by French canister enfilading their flank. This leaves only a shaken Brunswick battalion (1 strength point left) and the foot artillery to protect the left flank and the second objective. Two full strength French battalions have now cleared the woods and are marching to attack the artillery and seize the objective.
The Cambridgeshire Regiment about to charge.
The French “marching to the sound of the enemy guns”!
The situation at the end of turn four.
At this stage it was getting late and we decided to declare a French victory. In the four turns that were left to play the French would have taken both objectives (3VP) and seized the British camp behind the village (1VP for a total of 4). There was nothing stopping the Brunswick Hussars from raiding the French camp (1VP). They were clearly the most effective “British” unit along with the KGL rifles! Where would Picton have been without his German allies!
A very decisive French victory, and another great Lasalle 2 game!
The last of the French Allied Infantry.
The 58th Wurttemburg Light Infantry
Wurzburg Infantry Regiment
Third Suisse Infantry Regiment
Danish Schlesing Infantry Regiment
I have become really stale with touching up, repairing and re-basing lots of old figures and want to start working on some bright shiny new things so this will be the last of these for a while.
The plans for the next few weeks are:
I also want to try and get motivated on the Songs of Ice and Fire Free Folk.
I also have these two that have been lying around the painting desk since Crystal Palace last won an FA Cup*.
Hopefully they may get done as well.
*Yeah I know they have played in 2 finals and lost both but that was the point of the comparison wasn’t it!