5th Column is Moving

Hi all,

After a long time considering what I want to do with my blog and what Blogger can offer I have decided to move over to Wordpress.

https://5thcolumnwargaming.wordpress.com/

The Service offers in my opinion a better integration with my Facebook page and in general allot more options for customizing and providing a range of options for different pages based on theme's etc.

So all those who faithfully have follwed my work here, please head over and check out and follow the 5th Columns new Home.

Cheers

Jon-Paul

Italian Wars, Greek Unarmoured Hoplites, basing Republican Romans and Star Wars

This Last Fortnight in Gaming at 5th Column 

 
Well its the Second of November and I am bit late with this update.

This last fortnight has been filled with some gaming down at the Club, and toe dip back into armada, some musings about republican Romans and reflecting on Star Wars Armada.

So where do we start?

Italian Wars

The Saturday before last the lads down at Berwick convened to continue our foray into the early Renaissance with a focus on the Italian Wars.   Peter, who's venue we use for these awesome days of gaming in his custom built games house (only way I can describe it), recently finished his collection of Landsknechts and other associated troops such as some glorious French Gendarmes.

We have been playing over the last few months a series of games and different scenario's using the Pike and Shotte Rules from Warlord Games.  The Games have been very interesting with massed blocks of Pike clashing into each other and heavy cavalry sweeping all before them.

I have to say the color's and the models fired the imagination and the temptation to charge off into yet another period and buy figures was strong for a while, probably a good thing I have two many other projects going otherwise you know..... the lead pile would grow.

Here are a few shots from last meets game:

This game I was on the losing side.  We aggressively attacked the enemy, however the luck of the dice gods was on the side of the bad side (the other guys), however it was allot of fun.

Next Unit of Hoplites:

This week I was able to finish off the latest unit of Hoplites and then subsequently decided that I want to go back and add a 3rd rank to all these units and future units.

I have also done some preliminary work a scenario to base all this work on and focusing on the 2nd Battle of Coronea in 394BC.  The battle took place between Sparta and her Allies and Thebes and her allies.  In Rex Warner's Translation of Xenophon he noted that Coronea was a double battle, a knock out championship for military excellence.

I am reading the Ancient text, specifically Xenophon and Plutarch and hope to write more on the battle in the next few posts as well as sketch of the army lists and scenario.  In the meantime here are shots of the latest unit.

A Group Shot of the Collection so Far.

On the Ancients Army front I have also begun work on research on my republican roman army, which I hope to start in the new year at the earliest.  The hardest thing is how to reflect the manipular structure of the roman legions of the time.  And that has put a focus on how they really fought.

Roman Legions in this period fought in a checker board style deployment with 3 lines of maniples, however to reflect that, at the next club meeting we are putting a few games on to test a few ideas.

Star Wars Armada. 

After about 2 months of not playing an FFG game Harley and I sat down this afternoon to play a game of Armada. Harley made a list while i took a random list from the Fab Fleet Builder  Link Here
We played a 500 point game as generally we find these games are a bit more interesting at the higher points values, and while Harley is perusing the competition scene in X-Wing I'm more interested in the fly casual games and personally prefer more traditional war-games if you hadn't guessed.

I fluffed the entire game and gave up after turn 4 as i successfully handed ship after ship to Harley's imperials.  However it has me wanting more as annoyed as I was I knew I can do better :P  With the imminent arrival of Wave 2 also I think the game is going to step a whole level. Here are some shots from today's game:

 

 Well thats the lot for this update. 

Catch you at the next update.
 

Greeks, Romans and Blood Rage !

So between my last post and this one Our darling daughter Eleanor was born!  It has been a very full on two weeks with hospital and then sleepless nights but she is just amazing and in allot of ways life will never be the same..... however she does have this in her collection of bibs:

So maybe some things will stay the same :) 


In between the excitement of newborn and nappies I have been able to sneak in some painting and also a few items have arrived in the post which are very cool as well! 

New Start, Updated URL and Hopefully a new direction.

Well Hello strangers !!!!!!

The distance between blog posts has almost spanned a year, I toyed with the idea of starting fresh with a new blog entirely.  I messed around with some ideas that would transfer the work over to word press and I may still do that down the track and I have named that page "Shock of Impact" after a set of rules I use to own. However I decided that a spring clean of the 5th Column was a better approach.

When left the blog back in December I had begun the journey of  building a Ancient Greek Hoplite Army in preparation of Cancon 2016.  I have tracked the projects progress on my thread on the  forum Lead Adventure and I have to say have received and continue to receive  a fantastic level of support and kind words from those folks.

You can find that thread here : Lead Adventure Thread

Since that last post back in December last year it has also come to pass that my wife and I are expecting our first child, due in roughly a few weeks and I have progressed through about half of my masters degree only to put it on hold for a while to focus on the expected bundle of joy:)

So the year has flown by and now with some time becoming available my mind turns back to blogging.  First I have decided to fix something that has been bugging me for a while, the URL for the site.  When I renamed my original blog to 5th Column I did not change the URL and as such "wolftemplars" has been the method of searching for this blog.  It has annoyed me for a long while and with some time and distance between posts I have taken the step to change that.    5th Column Wargaming is the new title of the blog and also has the matching URL.  I am also considering buying the domain but that will come later.  I hope this does reach all those who follow me, however Ill work on getting the blog back out there to those who have supported the blog can still view its updates.

Secondly I want to work on the focus and direction of the blog. I want to really focus in on my current projects and passions in gaming right now, Historical Gaming and FFG's titles X-Wing and Armada.  It is very clear to me that I have now shaken the 40k habit and in general the GW attraction.  They still make great models but I no longer believe that they support the models with great rules, where as FFG and Warlord Games do.

And finally with the posts themselves.  I think the trick with all this blogging is to batch blog posts and match the progress updates of painted figures with some form of opinion piece and or article that revolves around what I'm working on.  I think two posts a month will suffice, with roughly 24 posts a year and that should cycle well with my painting rotation for new units as well as how often i get to game as a gaming father.  In those posts I hope to deliver a few parts, that cover current painting project and other relevant bits about how I see gaming right now.   

So there it is, a new start and hopeful idea's, what is needed now is execution so I hope to have the first post of the new format up in the next two weeks and from there we shall see.

First Unit of Hoplites done now to do More!

 I was able to finish the second stand of Hoplites today and I am very happy with the result, they look great!  I really feel I have improved the application of the LBM transfer on the curved shields and I have to say I like how all the colors have worked together.

More on the way as well as more dark ages stuff! 

Bit of an overhead shot showing how they have lined up with the Ranks and also kept most of the spears length sitting over the base to try and prevent them being damaged.

Have a great week!

Cheers

JP

Its all Greek to me !

There has been some discussion of late about the plan for 2016 for Cancon...... yep we are already talking about 2016 and we haven't even got past 2015.... the sadness is strong in this group!

Secret Weapon- Tablescapes

Way back in the mists of the early part of 2013 I signed up for the Tablescapes Kickstarter by Secret Weapon Miniatures.

After a massive campaign on their behalf and then all the challenges of production a few weeks ago the box's arrived.  I was in the middle of uni so I only really opened a box, had a look inside and then put them away and got back to the business end of uni. 

Well as I mentioned in my last post Uni is over now, and the opportunity for some hobby is upon me!

While the bride was out with the family today I cleared the dining table and laid out a 6x4 table to get a sense of the production values as well as some of the opportunities and things I need to think on.

A return to the desk and slow progress ...........

It has been four months since my last post on the blog. To be honest I had thought that maybe I would not return to blog anymore.  There were conflicting challenges of the Family, Study and work. The Bride and I have begun the seemingly Everest size task of buying a property in the Melbourne property market. If this blog was political I would have allot of things to say about what I have found over the last few months, suffice to say I will not bore you the reader with such details. Suffice to say we are still looking.  My study has progressed well but this was in essence what has taken up my spare time.  Studying at masters level in a subject I love still means I needed to dedicate allot of time to reading and truly learning my subject matter.

Some stuff for sale- Making way for Romans ....... yeah Im doing romans now :)

I have the following Items for sale

For Sale

Perry British Line x 2 $70
Perry British Hussars x 2 $70
Perry British Foot Artillery Firing 9pdr x 3 (Metal) $50
Perry British Colonels (Mounted) x2 $35
Victrix British Peninsular Infantry Flank Companies $30

Whole lot for $220 plus P&P to Australia

Please send me pm on the page or via pm on the The 5th Column Wargaming Blog

Cheers

JP

Looking for Article Contributions

So I have been thinking about this for a while.  In the past there were two of us posting on the 5th Column.  Over time due to study it has come down to me and me alone.  No issue there, stuff happens and life has a way of creeping up on you.  I'm sure Harley when he can, will still post from time to time, but I want to continue to grow the blog and take it further and I feel this can be done only with other like minded people.

So I am putting it out there to see if there are people who would like to contribute to the 5th column with gaming articles.

 I am open to pretty much any form of article, but will reserve the right to review and assess articles as required. If there is enough interest I am also thinking about setting up a new Blog with a proper 5th column URL rather than Wolf Templars which was a throw back to an earlier blog.

If you are interested in providing articles for 5th column please send me a private message on the 5th Column Facebook Page 

If you could note down the following:

What type of articles you would like to provide,
What game systems you play,
What frequency you can do it at.

Cheers

Jon-Paul  

Absense makes the heart....something something something .... yeah I have been away for a bit!

Its been a while since last drinks and the reality is that with work study hobby and family..... and no those are not the order they operate in, I have had to cut back on blog posts.  Its been annoying as I was on a role there for a few months.  However life is what it is and I'm back for a bit to keep up the posting duties!

That being said, it does not mean that I have not been working away on models. This has mainly been to keep my sanity as I tackled study and work.  Lets just say that was a wake up call.  What I remembered to be the even and measured balance that was kept back in the day, well lets just say I remembered it differently. Either way I have come out the back end of first semester alive and my faculties  are intact.

The King is Dead long live the King !!!! War of the Roses Campaign Game 1

 

So the next series of games Berwick war-games club began this past Saturday. As mentioned earlier  War and the Roses was the theme of this next campaign, so we gathered to decided the fate of the Crown of England.  

The starting point of the campaign was first to decide which sides people would be on.  Ian, Peter and I declared for Lancaster, while Niel, Steve and Darren declared for York.

War of the Roses Pracitce Battle

 Some shots from the practice game we had before the War of the Roses Campaign starts - no commentary this time - Enjoy the pictures !

The final stand ! Final battle of our 1088 Campaign

 And so It came down to the final confrontation.  The North had risen up and was now marching south to expel the Normans from the land -  The Vikings had been given a deal - side with us and be paid gold for securing the Saxon crown so they had tuned mercenary and now march with the Anglo Saxons, and finally a Norman lord and his men had seen an opportunity to gain more land.

Confronting this was the strongest contingent of Normans yet and surprisingly also two southern  Saxon lords who had benefited from Norman rule (basically really bad blokes who where in on the gang of crooks running the country!)

5 commands a side this was the largest battle of the campaign and would settle who was victors!.... well till the War of the Roses where all the dodgy stuff would be bound to come up again :P

Slight Absence and the final battle report is on the way !

Ive been a little quiet on the blog of late - two things where looming, a  due date for an assignment and my Birthday that just past. Yep another year older ! not any wiser though :P

A Saga Worth Telling ! The final stand of the Danes

So it came down to this - The Danes had fallen back to their ships and on a cold morning on the coast of England either way a great tale would be told and great deeds would be achieved.

The Vikings having lost men on the retreat formed up on the hill - depleted but not at this stage undefeated - Greg the Mad, Peter Ironside and Jon The Devil stood together watching as the Saxons and Normans moved onto the field.

This battle would be hard to win but there was still honor to be had and legends to be made.

Across from the assembled Danes , Wal the Silent, Jon the Avenger ( Son of Ian the Bold) and Niel Righteous, had formed up and where deep in council as Jon the Avenger laid out the plan of attack.

Spears and Shield would be shattered this day and blood spilled and the ravens will have allot to feast on this day!

The Viking Camp - Having wintered it has been set up as an established point.

The Armies deploy the Vikings taking the hill and preparing for a hard fight.

The Battle for the Gates - Rebellion in 1088

So this past Saturday saw the third battle in our series of linked games, the Danes seeing the mess the kingdom had fallen into and with the Anglo-Saxon's rising up and the Normans in all sorts of trouble, decided to prosecute their claims to the crown.

The Vikings then brought their full force to the fore in attempt to prosecute their claims and where confronted with the Anglo-Norman army before the gates of a local Burgh seeking to achieve a quick victory the Danes launched into attack - but it was not to be and the Saxon shield-wall and Norman cavalry reversed the drama of the previous battles- with some very smug Saxon Lords grinning as the Vikings fell short...... (only battle they have won so far so I think they are a bit too optimistic:P )

I have decided to add a little bit more character to this unfolding saga as well :)

Dramatis Personae: 
 I used the random system in Dux Britanniarum to come up with the reputations and simple backgrounds.

Some times you are the Insect and then other times you are the Magnifying Glass...... A Hail Ceaser AAR

This Saturday past was the rematch on last weekends dark ages game and what now looks like expanding out to a few more linked games depending on the groups views.

In the time between the last game and this one I had also begun the work to improve the movement trays my lads are on and I will look to have a post about that up in the coming days.  I've slowed down the work a bit as I start to really dive into the study and keep the balance between that and work and a happy wife and hobby.

That being said I continue to move closer to completion to the viking project with two commands of 6 units each done, and planning for the final command in place (ie sourcing of figures and styles etc)

So Saturdays game saw me again face Wal with his Norman cavalry but this time I was on the left of our line and Peter was C-in-C again holding the right and Niel was in the center.  As it would have it we faced off against our usual suspects, Wal vs me, Greg vs Niel, and Ian vs Peter.

And lets just say Wal had another bad day of it with the cavalry facing the vikings with thier heat seeking axe's.

Anyway here are the pictures and comments from this last battle.

The Raid - A Dux Brittaniarum AAR

On Saturday Darren invited me over to his new home for a game of Dux and as we are about to embark on a campaign down at Berwick over the coming Wednesdays we thought we should get another practice game in before the kick off.

We played a raid on a settlement and used played saxon's v saxons as a test for some of the potential battles that may come up - in this case one side was activiating on the british cards (of course) and then bonuses where only applied when Boar Sutied cards where played etc.

I have designs to build a Late Roman -Romano British Army for Dux and Beyond but for now ill use my vikings as stand in raiders - because I can.

I really really like the Musketeer Miniatures range so watch this space when it comes to late romans! 

The quiet Village that has recently been taken over by a Saxon lord and his men.