Another “Dog Day Afternoon” in So Cal “Mansurah” 1250ad

Posted on July 24, 2016 by Bill

Well its been awhile since I’ve posted up anything, not that there wasn’t anything going on its just that some times there is so much going on that time for posting it up is in short supply!

I did make some time to get down to the “Dog of War” club house for some gaming over the last month and that included a great gaming session based on the Crusader era “Crescent and Cross” SAGA rules. Tim Daun has been working on a multi player scenario featuring the 7th Crusades battle in Egypt circa 1250 for the control of the city of “MANSURAH”

The pictures are can be opened (by right clicking and selecting open) for a much higher res picture! It may take awhile if your internet speed is slow or you are using a mobile device! Use your browser’s back button to return to the article. Please be sure to check out the high speed time lapse of the game linked at the end, a 4 hour game in about 2 minutes! There are also quite a few more pictures on the official “Dogs of War” site maintained by Tim D at Dogs of War

The French, English, and Milites (Military Orders) land and deploy from their camp

These beautiful SAGA warbands are from the collections of Tim Daun and Chris Snell, dam nice looking on the field!

These beautiful French and English SAGA warbands are from the collections of Tim Daun and Chris Snell, dam nice looking on the field!

This SAGA recreation was the second “play test” of the possible game to be put on at a convention in the future. Tim D, Chris S, and Rick A would command the Muslim forces and Dave D, Chris V. and Bill W (me) commanding the assaulting Crusaders. The main task of the Crusaders is to secure the City as a base of operations for continuation of the crusade. Failing to do this leaves them stranded and open to attack, so they must clear the city completely. I wont go into the game much as it is still having play balance adjusted and needs to be played quite a few times for players to get the “feel” for it, work out strategy, and of course adjustments to be made. I will say I think it already plays well and is a lot of fun. With a few more tweaks it will be another classic “Dog’s of War” production!

Rick not only looks quite confident as the cities Muslim commander he looks the part!

Rick “Abbu Bey” not only looks quite confident as the cities Muslim commander he looks the part! Buildings by Crescent Root Studios

We are ready to soak our sand with the infidels blood!

This battle (the 2^nd) was I’m told a much better showing by crusader forces with them making it into town, clearing several buildings, while taking few losses. Other battles raged on the outskirts of the city where again the crusaders fought well and kept most of the Muslim relief forces from any hope of helping the cities defenders. The game however ended with Muslim forces still in control of half of the city so was technically a victory for the forces under the Crescent Banner!

Ricks Muslim Hearth Guard was held fast against the tide of Crusaders taking but a few losses!

My “Teutonic Knights” are raring to go!

I played my Teutonic Knights and did well mostly by raising my “piety” level up to a “4” and at this level the bonuses become very powerful! My Crossbowmen move forward mowing down Muslim defenders as if they were all armed with 50 caliber machine guns! In hindsight I made a few mistakes being new to my Teutonic’s and the scenario. I should have moved faster and more aggressively in clearing the town (this was true across the crusade army) and my last heroic charges by the Teutonic Knight Hearth guard while glorious at first were too late and ultimately directed at the wrong target.

Joe Nacchio as always provided some great accent terrain pieces to the setup. Joe is a real team player and many wargamers do not real think about how important these little extra touches are to any game!

The terrain was top notch and sure to be much more spectacular should this game ever make it to a convention. Thanks to all the “Dogs” for a great Saturday of Gaming!

Bill W

Check the entire 4 hour battle in 2 minutes! Go full screen and have your sound on! and remember you can select higher video quality if your system supports it. (up to 4k for this video!

Below a brief synopsis of the conflict taken from Wikipedia

By the mid-13^th century, the Crusaders became convinced that Egypt, the heart of Islam’s forces and arsenal, was an obstacle to their ambition to capture Jerusalem, which they had lost for the second time in 1244. In 1245, during the First Council of Lyon, Pope Innocent IV gave his full support to the Seventh Crusade being prepared by Louis IX, King of France.

The goals of the Seventh Crusade were to destroy the Ayyubid dynasty in Egypt and Syria, and to recapture Jerusalem. The Crusaders asked the Mongols to become their allies against the Muslims, the Crusaders attacking the Islamic world from west, and the Mongols attacking from the east. Güyük, the Great Khan of the Mongols, told the Pope’s envoy that the Pope and the kings of Europe should submit to the Mongols.

Louis the IX

The ships of the Seventh Crusade, led by KingLouis’s brothers, Charles d’Anjou and Robert d’Artois, sailed from Aigues-Mortes and Marseille to Cyprus during the autumn of 1248, and then on to Egypt. The ships entered Egyptian waters and the troops of the Seventh Crusade disembarked at Damietta in June 1249. Louis IX sent a letter to as-Salih Ayyub. Emir Fakhr ad-Din Yusuf, the commander of the Ayyubid garrison in Damietta, retreated to the camp of the Sultan in Ashmum-Tanah, causing a great panic among the inhabitants of Damietta, who fled the town, leaving the bridge that connected the west bank of the Nile with Damietta intact. The Crusaders crossed over the bridge and occupied Damietta, which was deserted. The fall of Damietta caused a general emergency (called al-Nafir al-Am النفير العام) to be declared, and

One of French King Louis’s brothers Charles d’Anjou

locals from Cairo and from all over Egypt moved to the battle zone. For many weeks, the Muslims used guerrilla tactics against the Crusader camps; many of the Crusaders were captured and sent to Cairo. As the Crusader army was strengthened by the arrival of

Alphonse de Poitiers, the third brother of King Louis IX, at Damietta, the Crusaders were encouraged by the news of the death of the Ayyubid Sultan, as-Salih Ayyub. The Crusaders began their march towards Cairo. Shajar al-Durr, the widow of the dead Sultan, concealed the news for some time and sent Faris ad-Din Aktai to Hasankeyf to recall Turanshah, the son and heir, to ascend the throne and lead the Egyptian army.

The Battle

The Crusaders approached the battle by the canal of Ashmum (known today by the name Albahr Alsaghir), which separated them from the Muslim camp. An Egyptian showed the Crusaders the way to the canal shoals. The Crusaders, led by Robert of Artois, crossed the canal with the Knights Templar and an English contingent led by William of Salisbury, launching a surprise assault on the Egyptian camp in Gideila, two miles (3 km) from Al Mansurah, and advancing toward the royal palace in Al Mansurah. The leadership of the Egyptian forces passed to the Mamluks Faris Ad-Din Aktai and Baibars al-Buduqdari who contained the attack and reorganized the Muslim forces. This was the first appearance of the Mamluks as supreme commanders inside Egypt. Shajar al-Durr, who had full control of Egypt, agreed with Baibars’ plan to defend Al Mansurah. Baibars ordered the gate be opened to let the Crusaders enter the town. The crusaders rushed in, thinking the town deserted, only to find themselves trapped inside. The Crusaders were besieged from all directions by Egyptian forces and the local population, and they took heavy losses. Robert of Artois, who took refuge in a house, and William of Salisbury were both killed along with most of the Knights Templar. Only five Templar Knights escaped alive. The Crusaders retreated to their camp in disorder, and surrounded it with a ditch and wall. Early on the morning of February 11, the Muslim forces launched a devastating offensive against the Frankish camp. On February 27, the new sultan Turanshah arrived in Al Mansurah to lead the Egyptian army, and the death of as-Salih Ayyub was formally announced in Egypt. Ships were transported overland and dropped in the Nile behind the Crusader ships blocking the reinforcement line from Damietta. The Egyptians used Greek fire, destroying and seizing many Crusader supply vessels. The besieged Crusaders soon began suffering from famine and disease. Some Crusaders deserted to the Muslim side.

Despite being overwhelmed and ultimately defeated, King Louis IX tried to negotiate with the Egyptians, offering the surrender of the Egyptian port of Damietta in exchange for Jerusalem and a few towns on the Syrian coast. The Egyptians rejected the offer, and the Crusaders retreated to Damietta under cover of darkness on April 5, followed closely by the Muslim forces. At the subsequent Battle of Fariskur, the last major battle of the Seventh Crusade, the Crusader forces were annihilated and King Louis IX was captured on April 6. Meanwhile, the Crusaders were circulating false information in Europe, claiming that King Louis IX defeated the Sultan of Egypt in a great battle, and Cairo had been betrayed into Louis’s hands. Later, when the news of Louis IX’s capture and the French defeat reached France, the Shepherds’ Crusade movement occurred in France.

Louis IX was taken prisoner.

Aftermath

According to medieval Muslim historians, 15,000 to 30,000 French fell on the battlefield and thousands were taken prisoners.^[24] Louis IX of France was captured in the nearby village of Moniat Abdallah (now Meniat el Nasr), chained and confined in the house of Ibrahim Ibn Lokman, the royal chancellor, and under the guard of a eunuch named Sobih al-Moazami.^[25] The king’s brothers, Charles d’Anjou and Alphonse de Poitiers, were taken prisoner at the same time, and were carried to the same house with other French nobles. The sultan provided for their subsistence. A camp was set up outside the town to shelter the rest of the prisoners. Louis IX was ransomed for 400,000 dinars. After pledging not to return to Egypt, Louis surrendered Damietta and left for Acre with his brothers and 12,000 war prisoners whom the Egyptians agreed to release.

The battle of Al Mansurah was a source of inspiration for writers and poets of that time. One of the satiric poems ended with the following verses: “If they (the Franks) decide to return to take revenge or to commit a wicked deed, tell them :The house of Ibn Lokman is intact, the chains still there as well as the eunuch Sobih”. —from stanza by Jamal ad-Din ibn Matruh.

The name of Al Mansurah (Arabic: “the Victorious”) that dates from an earlier period was consolidated after this battle. The city still holds the name of Al Mansurah today, as the capital of the Egyptian governorate, Daqahlia. The National Day of Daqahlia Governorate (capital Al Mansurah) on February 8, marks the anniversary of the defeat of Louis IX in 1250. The house of Ibn Lokman, which is now the only museum in Al Mansurah, is open to the public and houses articles that used to belong to the French monarch, including his personal thirteenth century toilet.

Age Of Eagles II, Napoleonics for Christmas!

Posted on January 4, 2016 by Bill

The French march on.

Merry Christmas to all! I had a few great games over the holidays, both Napoleonic since I had gotten a copy of Age Of Eagles II (AOE2) from Steve G for Christmas. We decided to try them out at my place and see what was new. It was going to be a “learning” game but we found that AOE2 was really unchanged! A lot of elaborations, explanations, and clarifications, but basically unchanged! Yea!!!

I really like AOE for its very simple yet elegant style of play that plays fast and give pretty consistent results based on the commanders play. I’m not going to give a big detailed report on AOE here since I’m dying to hit the painting table and work on my Russian “line in greatcoats”

I have found that over enough battles in the Napoleonic period you see how much initial deployment and the first opening moves counts for winning or losing a battle as troops are not that maneuverable. The first game, just Steve and I was over pretty much after turn two, we played out to about turn 10 but the writing was on the wall early.

Yellow shows Austrian deployment and movements. Red shows French moves and counter moves. The Blue lines show French artillery lanes of fire during the game.

Steve and his Austrians came on in the center of the table and I with the French on the right flank of my table side. I pushed forward in a sort of “bloom move” with the object of reaching a commanding hill near the center of the table. Troop movement was equal as I was Impulse and Steve was Columnar. I had the edge in shooting.

Deployment from the French side.

I decided to place most of my artillery on that hill with a covering force to the left (I tried to give the appearance of a flank attack by sending the Hussars all pushing out that way) On the right of the hill I pushed part of my force towards the town and the rest flanking Steve’s right. My Heavy Cavalry drove forward in the direction of another hill already occupied by Austrian Hussars (his infantry deploying to the rear along the road) My plan was simple, defeat in detail, Steve was already splitting his forces (he had more troops 60 infantry, 16 Cav, 5 guns, to my 48 infantry, 16 Cav, 5 guns) by swinging half his force wide to counter my force on the left. He fell into my trap! I was not attacking there but defending! This kept half of his force moving, trying to deploy for most of the game, and ineffective with me just having to toss a bit of artillery at it to further slow it’s attack while I concentrated on flanking and overwhelming his other flank.

The Austrian “right” moves off to stop the French left, an attack that never materialized. This kept them out of the battle!

My command of the central heights with my concentrated artillery able to switch fire to either flank was also very effective especially when he attempted to move troops out of the center town to reinforce his threatened right flank (hitting them in enfilade as well as in movement mode!)

French Artillery controls the center! These are ESSEX figures painted 20+ years ago and recently re-based for AOE.

Austrians push on, deploying into a small tight area….

Steve’s and his Austrians fought well but they were off balance from the beginning and the ponderously large Austrian formations were so closely packed that maneuvering became impossible! My cavalry gave the small hill to my infantry who were now also backed up by some of the infantry that had feinted attack up the center towards the town.

The Austrian light cavalry make a valiant but vain attempt to stop the French Heavy Currassier

The Austrian light cavalry make a valiant but vain attempt to stop the French Heavy Cuirrassier and Lancers!

As the French Heavy horse moved off to try and flank the Austrians the Austrian infantry made a bold move and launched an attack at my infantry as it crested the hill in an effort to regain the initiative or disrupt my attack but some good rolls on my part disordered him further pinning him while my Cavalry forced one brigade into square while it was under infantry fire!

The small hill was the point of the heaviest fighting of the game with both the cavalry and large infantry battles taking place there!

“En Avant!” “A La Bayonette!” The “Hill” receives yet more spilled blood!

The Cavalry continued into the Austrians rear and with out much fighting it was decided that there was no way the Austrians could recover and fight it out, it would just be a slaughter…the honorable Austrian commander vonGausche not wishing to toss the lives of his countrymen away in vain surrendered…his other forces not even really committed yet quit the field and the game went to the French.

The French press hard on the Austrians who taking fire from three sides, disordered, unable to move, and seeing Heavy Cav in their rear, surrender! The line of French troops in Red jackets and Buff pants are Swiss!

It was a Great game and really well played on both sides, fun! Got me interested in painting and playing more Age of Eagles Napoleonic battles soon! Check out the AOE website in the links section. If you are in the Los Angeles area and want to play give me a shout via the contact form on the site!

I now use 10mm TOTAL BATTLE miniature buildings from their Black Powder range! There’s a link to them in the link section. They really make towns look like towns!

Hold the Press!!! News Flash!!!

Posted on June 8, 2015 by Bill

Well many thought it would never happen but… yes it has happened, Steve’s dice have gone HOT!!! Long known for having the coldest dice this side of the Antarctic Steve Gausche rolled more “10’s” in one game than most of us have seen him roll over the course of years!

The battle lines are drawn, Rebs deploy to the left and right, a Rebel attack quickly develops on the Union right.

Last Saturday saw us running a tune-up game of Fire and Fury, (American Civil War battles using our 15mm figures) in preparation for next weeks Mega game were about 10 of us re-fight the entire 2nd day of Gettysburg!

The game was a simple exercise, Steve took 5 Brigades and 2 guns of Union troops to defend against my 7 brigades and 2 guns. I know it does not seem like a lot to attack with but the attacker given enough maneuver room can concentrate his forces much easier then the defender. There was also the fact that while Steve is know for rolling shall we say “poorly” I was dubbed “Major Roller” by our local club (the Bengal Club) so I figured it was well balanced…….

Steady men! Hold yer fire till I give the word…fix bayonets and prepare for a counter charge!

The opening of the battle saw me get what I thought was great position on him and I prepared to “pick” him slowly apart by defeating one side then rolling the line….. . I was so confident in the outcome already that I was not going to even take pictures of what I thought would be a fairly boring game, just and exercise in game mechanics! he was rolling a few bad rolls to start as usual and I boldly pushed two reb brigades through the woods on the left flank and launched a charge It was here my luck went south and never returned but for one brief moment later in the game. I rolled for the first brigade, they moved out but I had judged the distance wrong and they came up shot of the Union Brigade, and worse the second Reb Brigade rolled badly and failed to advance (confused orders?) This left the first CSA Brigade a sitting duck to the defensive fire of the Union infantry and just arrived battery of guns….Steve’s rolling was incredible and his really spectacular rolls mirrored my really bad rolls to further the damage inflected on me!

Steve rolled and blasted my poor brigade to pieces, it retreated back into the woods, disordered, and less several stands of infantry

The 50th Virginia holds the center by the old Church. Rebel artillery prepares to deploy.

.A second pair of Rebel brigades charged the 2nd Union Brigade holding the Union right, again I rolled poorly and Steve rolled like a demon! Booth of those brigades fell back from the wall disordered, shot to pieces, and in no condition to launch another attack.

Near the end…Rebel force are forced slowly out of the town and desperate back to back fighting rages all along the lines!

Steve continued to roll 8s, 9s, and 10s, in all the shooting phases, forcing me into a defensive posture… he was soon on the attack! It was downhill all the way, I had to use all my skill to try and fend him off, trying to rally my broken units and retreat off the board. It was not to be Steve skillfully closed both my flanks in on themselves until my Rebs were fighting back to back. I manage to save only ONE and a HALF brigades out of seven! I lost 27 infantry stands, 2 gun batteries, and 2 Colonels. About half of those were “captured” including the officers. Steve remarkably lost only 1 brigade! 4 stands destroyed, one captured along with a officer….the captured stand and officer returned when I had to beat a hasty retreat at the end…lol!

It was really great game and played to the bitter end in about 5 hours, 12 turns or so.

The Union left flank pushes out of town and around the Rebel right flank! This spells doom for the Rebel cause this day….

The Rebels bravely hold their position at “the Wall” only indecision by the Union commanders saves them from a charge and destruction! This was the only Rebel brigade to skedaddle off to fight another day….

SAGA Tournament, Success!

Posted on February 2, 2015 by Bill

SAGA games almost as far as the eye can see.

Wow! What a great turn out and day of gaming! The last weekend in January saw the culmination of 3 months of game days leading up to Saturdays SAGA Tournament! Twenty players fought 3 rounds each over the course of 6 hours to determine the chosen few left standing at the end to receive some of the great “loot” from the prize table!

Last summer the Los Angeles based “Dog’s of War” miniatures war gaming group was kibitzing at their clubhouse or as we call it “the Dog Pound” and putting forth ideas for a get together outside the club to both promote miniature war gaming and hold an event with others outside the group. We decided to limit the scope of the project to our current favorite period and rules “SAGA” Dark Ages Battles. We hoped to meet new players, bring other SAGA players out of their garages, and even possibly create new devotees to the game. Several plans were put forth. We finally decided to run a series of game days where we would be able to both bring current players together as well as introduce new players to the game in a casual setting. Several different venues were considered for these events before finally deciding to start where we knew there to be gamers who were interested in SAGA.

We approached Chuck Robbins of the Game Empire in Pasadena, California, with the idea and got a positive response to our ideas. Soon we were holding regular SAGA game days every 2 weekends and the response from both current and new players was great. It

Mike and Chuck share a laff!

seemed that there had been a small group doing SAGA there months before but interest had waned as a few of the main players had moved. With the support and drive of the Dogs of War this was about to change. Any type of gaming, especially miniature wargaming interest level is critical and when gaming is sporadic or monotonous (same opponent every week) interest levels plummet. This leads to disappointment and a reluctance of gamers to invest money and time in a set of rules and figures that they feel will be rarely used, or the “enjoyment factor” will be low verse the investment.

A couple of “Dogs” share a moment……

Well the “Dogs of War” are persistent, dependable, and dedicated, if they are anything and it showed in the final turnout where after a reliable series of game days the player count for the tournament exceeded anyone’s expectations and that even after half a dozen players we thought would surly be there had to cancel! The tournament was as big as several others I have seen at big conventions!, with better prizes, and more fun!

Rick Abbo makes and sells some cool Fatigue markers

Before I get into the tournament I want to thank all the “Dogs” for their hard work in putting this together, making the drive week after week, lugging terrain, mats, rules, and troops to teach, lend and develop new players. Chris Snell for all the above and always being there, Joe Naccio for his always on top efforts, building, painting, and contributing much more than we all really know (Joe painted his extra figure into the Viking Warband prize, the Viking Command stand prize, and provided all the “tweezers” door prizes!, David Dandridge for his level headed consul, devotion, and volunteering to not play and take the reins of umpiring and tabulating the tourney (woot I got to play!). Rick, Tim and the Sarge, Galen, Steve G, and all the “Dogs” well done! Rick and I both contributed prizes as well, Hills, Fatigue counter stands, trees, sacred ground markers…..

Ricks newest creation a turn record piece.

We all also need to remember that this would not have been possible with out the Game Empire and Chuck Robbins. The Game Empire is one of the last “Brick and Mortar” game shops left around LA and we all need to support them so events like this can go on! Chuck contributed to both the prize pool and the use of his store space resources over the last three months. Travis his store manager was always there to help and is a wealth of experience in running events, thanks Chuck and Travis.

my first opponent James and his Skraelings….

The first rounds began shortly after 11am Saturday and the last finishing up about 6:30 that evening. The 20 players who registered and fought were as follows;

Frank VillaOrlad / Teutonic Knights, Jose Farinas / Crusaders, Christian Sorensen / Anglo-Danes, Dennis Bolin / Welsh, Rick Abbo / Moors, James Stilwell / Skraelings, Sara Stilwell / Vikings, Roger Stilwell / Anglo-Saxons, Bill Stilwell / Normans, Tim Daun / Anglo-Danes, Chuck Robbins / Normans, Igor Torgeson / Normans, Mike Gunson / Anglo-Danes, Bill Witthans / Vikings, Chris Armstrong / Anglo-Saxon, Chirs Snell / Normans, Steve Gausche / Vikings, Galen Yee / Anglo-Danes, Joe Naccio / Skraelings, and Jeff McArthur / ?

This great Viking army was built, painted and donated by Joe Naccio! Hats off to Joe!

The current “goto” warband Anglo-Danes were the most popular and did well, but failed to make it to the top. Vikings and Normans were also well represented with Roger Stilwell’s Viking warband taking top spot and the grand prize of…what else, a painted Viking Warband! Hot on his heels for top honors was Chuck Robbins with his Normans going like Roger’s Vikings win/win/win and only getting edged down to 2nd place by 3 points. Chuck picked up a very nice Viking command stand painted and donated by Joe Naccio. 3rd place went to Bill Stilwell another of the Stilwell family gamers playing yet again another Norman

Rick Abbo makes and sells some cool Fatigue markers

warband. Bill took home some of Rick Abbo’s custom “Fatigue” marker stands. Rick makes and sell these, email him for info. Dennis Bolin came in 4th place with the only Welsh warband to see action that day and took a set of “Sacred Ground” markers made for the tourney (made / donated by me). Jose Farinas came in at 5th and was rewarded with a set of trees (also from me) and last place, winner of the “Wooden Spoon” award was Chris Armstrong who’s dice utterly failed him! He gets a new set of dice from the Game Empire! Everyone else was rewarded with a cool set of “tweezers” a door prize from Joe N. and a great day of wargaming!

Some cool hills buit and donated by “yours Truly”

So as I played in and ran the tourney I was pretty busy so I’m not able to speak about all the other battles, just the ones I was in. First I fought James Stilwell and his Skraelings, James was a tough competitor and the Skraelings can give any opponent fits, I pressed my Vikings hard and they broke through killing his Warlord on turn 4. Next was Chris Snell, Chris and I have fought many battles before and he’s tough…normally I have Normans against his Vikings but this time he had Normans and I the Vikings! Chris has learned to finesse his Normans and gave me a hard time, we fought tooth and nail however I was getting the worst of it and my die rolls weren’t helping. I made one last effort to push into his Warlord. I killed all but one of his hearth guard, he ALL my figures save the warlord so that found our Warlords slugging it out for the next two two rounds with my warlord surviving TWO rounds of shooting from both a full 12 man levy bow unit and his near full strength crossbow unit! EPIC!!!! 4-5 people were watching and sheering this one!

My Vikings charge over the hill, into Chris Snell’s Normans, and Valhalla!

My warlord killed 2 or three of his hearth guard and fought his Warlord as well while standing alone but then my warlord dieing at the end. The third round pitted me against Christian S and his Anglo-Danes in the Sacred Ground scenario. By this stage of the day I was tired, loosing steam, and poor die rolls did not help (my excuse “wink”) so smart play on Christians part had me and my Vikings return to the boats, conceding the game at the beginning of turn 5!

At this point most of the third round was complete and winners and losers then gathered to lick their wounds and cheer the winners. The Winners got to choose from a prize table in order of their placing in the tourney. Prizes went down to 6th place.

Chuck and Bill (me) present Roger Stilwell his 4 point Viking Warband for his placing first in the tourney.

Our rewards!

Everyone had loads of fun, all were praising the “Dogs” and Game Empire for putting the Tournament on, and many asking when the next one would be. As the last players drove away the remaining “Dogs” packed away the gear and retired across the way to Lucky Baldwin’s Pub for some well deserved drinks and a bit of food!
Since some have asked the next SAGA event will be announced shortly, it will take us to the land of the Crusades! The next expansion of the SAGA rule set the “Crescent and the Cross” We will be doing game days leading to a tourney……details to come…..

Bill Witthans

Please enjoy the gallery of the days fun! There are more pictures coming so check back soon.

: Joe Naccio checks rules for clarification, Joe was a large contributor to the prize pool.

: Producer of the “Combat Command” videos on youtube Jeff McArthur fights in the desert.

: my first opponent James and his Skraelings….

: “Dogs of War” members Galen Yee and Joe N. battle.

: Dan and Christian during round 1.

: Yes, girls play SAGA too! Sara won this round!

: Chris hides his killer instinct behind a kind face, sorry I’m not falling for that!

: Normans

: A couple of “Dogs” share a moment……

: The “Agony of Defeat”? or is he trying the Vulcan mind meld on his dice?

: Ricks newest creation a turn record piece.

: Tim awaits a ruling…..

: SAGA filled most of the large gaming area.

: Rick Abbo makes and sells some cool Fatigue markers

: Mike and Chuck share a laff!

: Some cool hills buit and donated by “yours Truly”

: This great Viking army was built, painted and donated by Joe Naccio! Hats off to Joe!

: Bill Stilwell took home some custom Fatigue marker stands.

: I built the custom “Tote” board for the tourney so players could track the progress and see who they would fight next would. Numbered Magnetic shields were made for all players.

: Christian had a very nicely painted Anglo Dane Warband and they can fight!

: “I said hit me but not all at once”

: Several Cross and Crescent warbands were fielded.

: Chuck gets 2nd place and a custom Viking command stand from Joe Naccio

: Game Empire store owner Chuck Robbins (left) and Bill Witthans (left) present 1st place finisher Rodger Stilwell a fully painted SAGA Viking Warband.

: Even my lucky shirt and “Viking” jewelry didn’t help today!

Our Napoleonic battles expand (or shrink?)

Posted on December 21, 2014 by Bill

Always start a Napoleonic post with the French marching!

Been doing so much SAGA (battles in the Dark Age Skirmish) around here and painting 3 Warbands for it from scratch that there has been little time for any other projects or gaming in any other periods. So after finishing my last Warband, Anglo-Danes, I decided to take a break from SAGA painting and dive into the prepped and primed set of Napoleonic buildings that I had gotten over the summer from “Total Battle Miniatures”. I had looked at re doing my Napoleonic buildings for some time now as Steve and I have a collection of random 15mm buildings but we were just not real happy with their effect on the battlefield.

One of our “15mm” buildings by I think “hovels” its not really true to scale either. This building is about medium size for a 15mm building.

Our 15mm buildings looked fine paint wise and good on the field but the size of the building meant that in the scale we play (Age of Eagles rules) towns were represent by one or two buildings and even then the large size of the buildings did not give either a good look or anywhere near the correct ground scale. Now ground scale was not that important to me as I was going to modify the AOE town combat any way into something slightly simpler and I really just wanted towns to look like towns, or closer than what we had now.

The way we had been showing “Hamlets” or “Villages” not very satisfying in my opinion. I later went to placing brown felt under the building to show the towns outline for troop disposition.

I had looked over the “net” for over a year at different building manufactures, comparing look, variety, size, and price. I finally settled on “Total Battle Miniatures” because their “Big Battalion-Black Powder Europe” line was not only beautiful it was extensive, giving me a selection of 20 different buildings and 3 different bases to use. The line is well thought out, well cast, and priced very fairly. I liked the novel hamlet, village, town, base system they have where all the buildings in the line have “foot prints” that fit into the village, town, or hamlet, so that you can vary the look of several villages infinitely! Some footprints allow either 1 big building or 1-3 smaller footprint buildings to be placed in them. The bases are made of a soft synthetic material and allow a bit of conforming to uneven terrain. The buildings could certainly be used with out the bases but I like to over all effect as well as it would give me a definite “boundary” to define units being in or out of the urban area.

Now that is not the end of the story or even the reason for this post….. the real reason is to talk about the decision I made to go with their “10mm line” instead of the 15mm buildings, YES they not only make this line in 15mm, they also do the line in 10mm!!! and they also have some of the buildings in 20mm and 28mm!!! So after a bit of discussion with the chaps (Pete & Mark) at Total Battle about the size difference in 15 verse 10mm they mentioned that a few of their customers had used the 10mm for 15mm games and had good feedback on this. They were also kind enough to send me some comparison pictures showing a 15mm figure next to the 10mm buildings. Looking at the pictures I was sold on 10mm and decided to order the complete line, well actually more… I ordered 2 Hamlets, 2 Villages, and 2 Towns, that gave me 6 bases and 29 buildings! This is plenty for even large Napoleonic battlefields up to 4’x12’. (we play mostly 4’x6’)

This shows the difference in the building scale between 15mm (left) and 10mm (right) with a similar foot print. The 15mm occupy an area of aprocimatly 9" by 10" while the 10mm are 8" x 8" to the base edge. Figures are "Old Glory 15mm.

This shows the difference in the building scale between 15mm (left) and 10mm (right) with a similar foot print. The 15mm occupy an area of approximately 9″ by 10″ while the 10mm are 8″ x 8″ to the base edge. Figures are “Old Glory 15mm.

We just did our first battle using the first of the painted 10mm buildings and both Steve and I were quite pleased with the look and playability the 10mm scale gives us. We used two “Hamlet” sized bases with 6 buildings, 3 finished painted, and 3 almost finished. They look awesome and give a great look. You now have several buildings representing a small hamlet instead of one and you have some room around them on the “base” to deploy troops, clearly defining who is “in” town and what bases are “out”. The scale of the 15mm figures is in my opinion fine compared to the 10mm buildings and the look on the field more than out weighs the slight loss of real scale figure wise after all the figures are already much larger than the ground scale so this puts the buildings closer to ground scale.

The whole picture, now that looks like 2 “Hamlets” instead of two buildings! Sorry forgot to place the “trees” in the green cutouts.

The battle we fought was fairly small 2 “division’s” per side with a small Cavalry Division…30 infantry stands and 8 of cav apiece. It was a meeting engagement with the Hamlets and control of the road net the objective. Steve’s Austrians reached one town first and deployed, other Prussian brigades turned both north and south to counter expected French thrusts. The French commander (me) however used the legendary French marching speed to fall instead on the center where the Prussians had occupied the town.

Austrians move around and into the Hamlet of Hoffbrau, drinking a bit to much on the way through…..

The French assembled 2 battery’s, a 6 pound horse battery, a 12 pound infantry battery, and 3 Brigades for the assault on the Prussian held Hamlet. Preliminary fire by the French got lucky and rolled very well disordering the Prussian defenders while only suffering “disorder” to one of their own brigades. The French assault threw the smaller Prussian force back out of town with a “breakthrough” charge catching and “shattering” the Prussians fleeing the town as well as over running a Prussian Heavy battery. This pretty much ended Prussian hopes and the game.

While he Austrians set up to fight a proper battle the French cheated as usual and out marched them arriving in mass at the Hamlet before the other Austrians were were close enough to lend support.

: Austrians deploy in town….the “Total Battle” 10mm buildings behind them.

: The “Swiss” in French service swing into and over the Austrian Battery!

: French pour into “Hoffbrau” I like the look.

: Austrians attempting to regroup….

People who know me “know” that I am the first to speak out when shits not right and conversely I like to sing out when companies get it right and in the “miniatures” hobby it is sometimes rare to find one getting right, well “Total Battle Miniatures” got it right start to finish! from their great packaging (from England), to the casting, the range of beautiful terrain pieces, and even prompt answering of all my email questions!!!

: Care was taken with each piece and no damage despite all the buildings and a 5000 mile journey.

They paint up very easily, typical resin buildings, wash, dry, prime…paint. The bases however are a SOFT synthetic material so you must use paint that has the ability to flex over time as well. I was told no primer was needed…things are so far OK with only minor chips in just a few spots…I would have like these bases to be resin or at least had the choice…that’s just me. I will do a separate post soon on the painting of these guys, I’m currently on three out of the six you see here!

Here’s the whole set as ordered.

Here are some more pictures to give you all a chance to decide for yourself, and if you buy from Total Battle Miniatures please tell them you saw it here!

: The good people at Total Battle give you paper window treatments for the churches but I went with my own painting of the “Stained glass” as always.

Third outing for SAGA at Game Empire

Posted on November 30, 2014 by Bill

Our third outing at Game Empire was held last Saturday November, 29th, 2014 and was again well attended maxing out all 3 reserved tables for most of the day and into evening. We continue to introduce, teach, and polish our own skills in this highly addictive game that has very simple mechanics yet a very deep level of play and variety in the battles.

My Viking Bowmen turn the farmhouse into a “Blockhouse”

We had Bill, Chris, Dave, Joe, Derek, Dennis, Tim, Jen, Galen, Rick, Jeff, Frank, and a few others trading blows on the gaming table and had 3 tables going most of the time. I had a brand new Anglo-Dane Warband to try out and Dave Dandridge was happy to bring out “his” Welsh to give them a fight. It was a hard fight too, both sides playing very cagily, my Anglo-Danes doing a bit better up until the last turn when “Dave’s”? Welsh saw an opportunity and evened up the score! When the Victory points were counted up it was 11 to 11 and a DRAW, great game. New player to our group Derrick brought his Anglo-Saxons for the first time and took on my Vikings.

Tim Daun (Anglo Danes) takes on Dave Dandridge (Welsh), while Chris plays both sides…lol!

Derrick put on a good show for not having much experience with SAGA and his first time with Anglo-Saxons (a tough to master warband) lasting until turn 4 when my “Bezerker’s” got a hold of his “Warlord” out in the open, landing 11 blows, with only I retainer near enough to soak off causalities! 5 saves, 1 soaked off, and 1 resilience, left 4 hits….very dead Anglo-Saxon Warlord.
Check the calendar section for info on the next gameday to be held.

First official “SAGA” day at Game Empire!

Posted on November 9, 2014 by Bill

Dave Dandridge and Jeff MacArthur of the you tube “Combat Commander” video’s fame, fight a Crusader battle

Well the “SAGA” game day at Game Empire in Pasadena California was a great success this weekend even though this was only the second time the “Dogs of War” gaming club has gone down there and really the first “Official” time. This time we had Five club members show up with all their gear ready to demo SAGA and we had plenty of interest. Near a dozen folks came by with interest in playing then or in the future with 3-4 actually playing a few SAGA games with us!

Sid checks the “SAGA” phone app for the proper move for his Viking Warband

Sid Sidhu was positively on fire with both his desire to play and his “hot” dice rolling! He is admittedly very new to the game having the rules but playing few real games (he’s got a half painted Irish Warband and a few others on deck!) when he took on Steve Gausche in a Viking verse Viking Bloodbath using the Warlord scenario out of the book. It went all 6 turns with neither warlord dieing. Victory went to Steve 30 to 29 points! Bloody…and Bloody close…really a draw!

Chris Snell and Dave Dandridge, did a quick Crescent and Cross game while Joe Nacchio umpired a game between new players Tim Divar and George? Sorry busy umpiring the other game…. We had to breakout a third table where Joe Nacchio umpired a beggineers match between George and Tim (if I have names wrong let me know!)

Most of the Club members had on their Hawaiian Shirts to make us visible! Joe’s had Mustangs on it!

Sid was still up for more before heading all the way back to Bakersfield! So I trotted out my “Normans” to once again fight Sid using Steve G’s Viking army. Sid is a quick leaner and and I had to work to pull a “Norman” victory out of him.

The Norman battle line!

The Game Empire is a great store and is growing on us as a place to socialize outside our normal “digs” Its nice to meet others and spread the fun. Loading in and out is easy (parking can be tuff but never impossible). The Store was FULL all day into the night with lots of gaming, flames of War, a 40K tourney (30+), and us, but it never felt hot or too crowded. Tim Robbins came by a few times (GE’s owner) and made sure we were taken care of.

A 4 way Crusader battle topped off a great day!

The evening was rounded out with a 4 way battle of “Crescent and Cross” between Jeff, Joe, “Crusaders” and Dave and Chris as the “Saracens” I think the Saracens squeaked it out…If you are interested in joining us for future gatherings email me at vonkluge@ca.rr.com, check the calendar section here, or check with Games Empire. I will the rest of the day speak through the pictures below.

See you all soon!

Bill Witthans