Game of Thrones - part......

I have been on something of a painting roll since returning from holiday. As always the deadline of a wargame show helps. This time it is Claymore on 3 August in Edinburgh. The GDWS game will be the Battle of Riverrun and you are very welcome to take a command and play along for as long as you want. Lannisters v Stark/Bolton/Tully alliance.

First off the bench were the last of the Lannister guard units. I was getting more than a bit bored painting these.

Then the Bolton Cutthroats. These are some of the better figures in the range and look the part.

These constitute a Stark 'Bidower' unit. I use Lion Rampant rules for this 'period'. I used some leftover figures for this. Some nice irregular movement bases arrived this morning from the very efficient folk at Warbases. I also used the new GW contrast paints with these for the first time. I am not convinced they do much to speed up painting, but I have only used one so far.

And finally, a couple of figures to pad out my Stark horse. The CMON game has four cavalry figures per unit, so I need some extras for Lion Rampant.

Astonishingly, that is it nearly done. Just some odd figures to paint next week and we are there. I would have liked some Lannister crossbowmen, so will be on the lookout at Claymore.

Hope to see folk there - it is a bit cooler up here for those south of the border looking to escape! Come and say hello and roll a few dice with us.

Countdown to the Battle of Riverrun

I've been on a roll with Game of Thrones painting. The GDWS game for Claymore on 4 August in Edinburgh will be The Battle of Riverrun. The Lannisters will do battle against the Starks and their allies near the Tully castle.

Not for the first time, I thought that's plenty of time to finish painting all those units. Then I realised that being away for two weeks on holiday leaves only three weeks of painting time.

So, after giving the Khorne Red paint jar a good shake - here we have a unit of Lannister Halberdiers, with Tyrion Lannister for a bit of encouragement.

Thankfully, my usual display game partner, David Muir (Yogi Dave's Hobby Corner), has chipped in by painting several of the Stark units. He has just finished these riders,

and a unit of swordsmen. He has a grunge style of painting which suits the northerners and contrasts well with my smart Lannisters. All that gold to play with!

Still a few units and a number of personalities to go, but the task now looks manageable.

The History Behind Game of Thrones

There are a lot of settings that can make a good claim to being the history behind Game of Thrones. In this book, David Weinczok makes a good case for Scotland.

While Game of Thrones is of course fantasy, it has very few fantasy elements, other than the odd dragon of course! There are no orcs, elves and all the other Tolkienesque features. There is also very little magic. It is essentially a medieval setting, and there are plenty of historical examples to pick from, many of which have similar dramatic elements. 

George Martin himself has said that his main inspiration was the novels of the French writer Maurice Druon, based around the dynastic fight for the French throne in the 14^thCentury. I have read one of these and found them hard work, but I can see the connection. The American writer Jamie Adair has a blog which offers many possible historical links, not least the Wars of the Roses. In this context, David Weinczok is possibly making too greater a claim for Scotland. Nonetheless, it’s fantasy, so why not. 

He starts with the geography of Scotland, which certainly has a passing resemblance to Westeros. In particular the Isles, which match the Iron Islands better than any part of France or England. Scotland has plenty of castles, although interestingly George Martin only identifies a small number in his books. Even if it is reasonable to assume that he only mentioned those that had a role in the story. Of course, France, Wales and England have castles as well. The author, who in his Twitter alias as 'TheCastleHunter’ has visited a lot, highlights more than a few matches.

His section on the players makes some good connections. Somerled of the Isles, Douglas, Edward I and the Caledonians resisting the might of Rome. The connection with dragons is a bit tenuous - Mons Meg may have changed siege warfare, but it wasn’t the battlefield winning weapon a dragon can be in Game of Thrones.

He is on stronger ground with the connection to events like the Declaration of Arbroath, the Black Dinner and the Glencoe massacre. Both of which similarly broke the law of hospitality to the Red Wedding in Game of Thrones.

While the connections may be a bit stretched at times, this is a novel way to tell Scottish history. Personally, I think the Balkans could make a reasonable basis for Game of Thrones but would have to accept it probably wasn't at the forefront of George Martins mind.

I really enjoyed this book. It may irritate some, but if you like Game of Thrones and Scottish history, you will find it hard to put down.

It did at least motivate me to get back to painting my Game of Thrones armies. We are doing a game, the Battle of Riverrun, at the Edinburgh Claymore show in August. If you are going, come along and throw some dice for the Lannisters or the Starks as your preference dictates.

GoT - House Clegane painted

I have not had a lot of time for painting in recent weeks and the primed House Clegane Mountain Men have been staring at me across the painting bench. You don't argue with The Mountain!

This unit comes with the base 'Song of Ice and Fire' game and consists of ten mountain men (hint, they are big!) in three poses, plus a standard bearer and an Assault Captain. Nicely sculpted figures, with no assembly required.

House Clegane support the Lannisters of Casterly Rock and their lands are southeast of the rock itself.

I have also dabbled for the first time in 3D printed models. My 20mm modern British forces lacked some essential vehicles. Butler's Models do a Scorpion and a Viking all-terrain vehicle. The Scorpion is a very nice model. The Viking came with a lot of flash, but it is easily clipped off. Both painted up pretty well and required no assembly - always a big plus with me.

Game of Thrones - The Bolton bad boys and girls!

Lost my painting mojo recently, despite having more time on my hands with semi-retirement. Work was obviously just an excuse! The trick is to pick up a brush and get stuck in, after which I did a few nights on the trot.

The subject was some of the extra boxes I bought for the Game of Thrones - Song of Ice and Fire game, in 'heroic' 28mm.

The Boltons are the bad boys of the North, as their 'flayed man' sigil suggests!

First up are the knights, heavily armoured with flails. I have not tried them on the tabletop yet, but they look pretty unstoppable.

Then an unusual unit, Bolton Bastard's Girls. Famous in the TV series for their part in Ramsay Bolton's 'entertainment'. The battle role is to pin an opponent while the handlers shoot them up. Interesting to see how that works out.

Next up, the large number of Lannister figures. Unless I end up with something more enticing at the Fiasco show on Sunday.

Some painting done!

My painting schedule has gone hopelessly awry in recent months. Plenty of excuses, but little output.

A show is always an incentive and Claymore provided the push to get at least a few of the newly arrived Song of Ice and Fire figures on the table to supplement my conversions.

Here is Clegane 'The Mountain'. Yes he really is big, even allowing for the heroic 28mm proportions of these figures.

Then some knights of Casterly Rock.

Led by the Mountain to show how big he is.

Before these figures arrived I was getting some long standing bits and bobs out of the lead pile. So I finished these WW2 28mm personality figures this week. Kenneth More, playing the Beachmaster in The Longest Day was a Salute giveaway in 2014. Winston and the Bren gunner were freebies with long forgotten purchases.

And finally some Blue Moon German spies etc that I bought for my Very British Civil War games. Another system that deserves some dusting down.

Having got the painting bug, I have made a start on my 'moderns' project. Watch this space.

A Song of Ice & Fire

Well it has arrived! Late, but not as bad as some Kickstarters I can think of. I refer of course to the Game of Thrones tabletop miniatures game - 'A Song of Ice and Fire'.

The starter set comes with the slim rulebook, cards, tokens and measurement sticks for the game. I bought this primarily for the figures, but the rules look pretty straightforward and interesting, so I will give them a go.

The starter set gives you enough figures for a small battle game between House Lannister and House Stark. The main characters plus four units on each side.

House Lannister

House Stark

I also bought some extra character figures for both houses and some neutral figures. These are based on the books, not the TV series, for obvious licensing price reasons.

Not forgetting the Lannister knights.

And the Stark bowmen.

I thought some other factions might come in handy and the House Bolton figures looked great. Here are the Flayed men and the Bastard Girls.

I have been playing Game of Thrones using Lion Rampant for some time, as you can see from earlier posts with this tag. I converted the figures from a number of ranges as well as using a couple of Dark Sword character figures. This photo shows a size comparison with my converted Lord of the Rings figures and some Front Rank English archers. The figures in the game are taller, but not as chunky as most 28mm figures. They are hard plastic and come as one piece holds, not assembly required. And very good they are too.

Finally, if you are going to the Claymore show in Edinburgh next Saturday, you can try your hand with House Lannister. The GDWS participation game will be using my figures. Even an outside chance that I might paint a few of the new ones.

Game of Thrones on the tabletop

The latest series of Game of Thrones has inevitably revived my interest in gaming the hit TV series.

I am using Lion Rampant rules, which allow decent size forces and a quick and simple game.

For this game I went for a busy table in terms of terrain, which provides quite a challenge for armies that have limited light units.

The Lannisters are on the left. They were slow off the mark, allowing the Stark and Tully force to establish a good defensive position by the farm in the centre and to skirmish on the left.

The Lannister bows took some time to get through the woods and establish a good fire base by the stream. But when they did, their firepower (4+) to hit began to tell. However, too late for the heavy Lannister foot that was driven off by the Tully horse and foot combination.

With the Stark knights and Tully horse working around the flanks, it was game over for the Lannisters. Tywin's last stand!

I have adapted my figures mainly from the LOTR range, with some generic medievals as mercenaries. Plus the Dark Sword range as character figures. However, specifically designed figures are on the way. 

CMON have a Kickstarter project with figures based on the Song of Ice and Fire books. Presumably cheaper than licensing the TV series. The starter set includes 103 miniatures, together with rules, cards and tokens, for what looks like an interesting game as well as some superb looking sculpts.

It has been massively oversubscribed and a number of stretch goals have been reached, releasing even more figures. It ends on Wednesday, so you just have time to get in at the outset of what should be a long term project. Delivery is scheduled for April 2018 - I can't wait!

Game of Thrones - The Riverlands

Time to return to other painting projects after doing little other than Pancho Villa.

For Game of Thrones, I have switched from Saga to Lion Rampant rules. That means six figure cavalry units. I had some spare Lord of the Rings figures to bulk out the Lannister's and the Stark's.

Next stop is some allies. The Riverlands went both ways and looking at the last episodes of the TV series, I was struck by how so many of the cavalry looked like Border Reivers. So I picked up some Foundry Reivers at a recent show. The pistols had to be shaved off, but otherwise fine. A (sort of) Tully flag from Battle Flags finishes them off. Next stop some infantry.

GoT - Lannister Pikemen

I have started to use my Game of Thrones armies for Lion Rampant as well as SAGA. This requires some additional troops for the standard 24pt army.

A box of Perry Miniatures, European Infantry 1450-1500 provides some 40 figures in a huge variety of combinations at outstanding value for money. The big downside of this variety is assembly, but Perry's are not bad and it didn't take that long.

The first unit up assembled and painted is a unit of pikemen. I settled for a simple one stage painting followed by army painter dip. This is quick and easy and produces a decent result.

You can pad out a Game of Thrones army with almost any medieval figure, either as feudal troops or sell swords. I did that at the club today. Tywin Lannister and his unit of knights performed miserably in both games, but the new pikemen held their own. Some crossbowmen next I think.

 

Game of Thrones - House Stark

My painting schedule has drifted off in the last month. Busy at work and I have spent my spare evenings rebuilding the Glasgow and District Wargaming Society website. I am very pleased with the result. Please give it a visit and if you do Facebook and Twitter give us a follow there as well. I have used Weebly for this site and I am very impressed with the software.

What painting I have done is to complete my Saga Game of Thrones army for House Stark.

Ed Stark commands this force, with a figure from the Dark Sword range. A bit big for 28mm, but you can get away with this for a command figure.

The Stark and Lannister armies got their first run out on Sunday at the club. The Starks won and so Ed still has his head!

 

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Game of Thrones - House Stark

Back to the Saga, Game of Thrones project this week.

I decided to use GW Lord of the Rings figures again, this time Riders of Rohan seemed the closest fit for House Stark. I know some war gamers regard GW as the evil empire, and it has to be said their figures don't come cheap. However, they are well sculpted and unlike a lot of historical plastics they fit together well with properly designed lugs etc.

I decided to go with the grunge look for the Stark's as in the TV series. The Direwolf shield transfers are again from Vini Vidi Vici. I have some banners from Flags of War, which i'll use with the command figures that are the next paint job

These are the hearthguard.

and these are a unit of mounted warriors.

I am thinking of starting a new blog on the perils of wargamers with cats. I left these outside while I got my iPad for the photos and came back to find the cat on top of them. Much glue required for repairs. More Grrrr from me rather than Meow!

Game of Thrones - Lannister Army

In between my other holiday painting, rain keeping me off the golf course, I have completed my first Game of Thrones army for SAGA.

This is the Lannister army, led by the arch villain Tywin Lannister, one of my favourite characters in the TV series, played brilliantly by Charles Dance. The bold Tywin is a Dark Sword model, beautifully sculpted, although not in a traditional wargame figure way, that provided me with some painting challenges that I am not sure I have overcome.

The three warrior and one hearthguard units (in SAGA speak) are warriors of Minas Tirith from GW Lord of the Rings range. The only conversion being the filing down of the embossed shields and replacing with Veni Vidi Vici transfers. The flags are from the new Flags of War range.

I bought some Perry mercenary foot figures at Claymore yesterday, for another faction. However, my next effort will be the Stark's as I have a Eddard Stark Dark Sword model. My medieval Scots will supply most of the feudal levy for this faction.

I also picked up the very long awaited Crescent and the Cross SAGA book yesterday. Given that I bought the dice at Salute! Settling down to read this after lunch and then perhaps a short game.....

More Game of Thrones

Next off the painting bench in my SAGA Game of Thrones project are the Lannister Knights. These are 'hearthguard' in SAGA terms and represent the household troops of the House of Lannister.

I also managed some games during the first week of my holiday. This included a return to Andy Johnson's book Seelowe Nord, as inspiration for a Flames of War game situated in Yorkshire.

A Gebirgsjager Company with tank support attacks a village held by a British rifle company and a Home Guard unit. A sneaky Fallschirmjager landing in the rear of the village finished off the Brits on this occasion.

Game of Thrones and SAGA

Dusted down my SAGA folder for a couple of games at the club on Sunday. My playing opponent Iain had sort of assumed this was about Vikings and the like, but of course it was Balkan SAGA - Byzantines v Pagan Russ!

A couple of games later just confirmed my view that these are a very clever set of rules that provide a good quick game. Ideal for that army you have always wanted to do, but couldn't quite justify the time and effort to paint up 100+ figures.

Which takes us to Game of Thrones. I love this programme and the fantasy world the author has created. That means I want to game it, but can't really justify Hail Caesar size armies. I was also inspired by the efforts of others, particularly the battle boards created by The Hobbyist's Blog and this great figure painting.

I am starting with the Lannisters and have just finished the first foot figures. The initial plan is a 4 point SAGA army with three 8 man warrior units, bow, spear and sword; plus one hearthguard of knights. All led by Tywin Lannister.

The only purpose made figures I can find are Dark Sword Miniatures. These are a bit large and very expensive, so I intend using them for command figures - Tywin Lannister is 34mm high, foot to eyes. For the rank and file the nearest I can find are GW Lord of the Rings, Warriors of Minas Tirith. I just sanded down the embossed shields. Two boxes of warriors and one of knights is enough.

I have just block painted them quickly using Citadel Khorne Red for the main tunic colour and Balthasar Gold for the bronze armour. Both are a bit bright, but I think look fine once a coat of Army Painter is applied. The transfers are from Veni Vidi Vici (Sheet MM13).