Mid day not at the oasis or thanks Brian C

 Set up a very simple game using some of the figures Brian C had kindly given to me.

                                    Cavalry about to charge the enemy hiding in the rocky terrain.

                                                    A view through the palm trees of both sides.

                            Infantry advancing on the left, engaging the enemy with sustained fire.

                           Using whatever cover was available they fire upon the advancing troops.

                                   Using Featherstone “ Close Wars” rules mainly for this game.

Fluff.

 Some pictures of my Palmyranesque city state army-

The commanders of the army- the Queen on her camel remains an enigma. She is seen by few yet leads her army into battle from a palanquin mounted on the back of a camel . She is guarded by cataphracts. The second in command is accompanied by the Pierced Sun Orb sacred standard. This standard is the folk memory behind an everyday item such as a button.

The army’s heavy cavalry cataphracts, recognisable by their sky blue lances form the backbone of the cavalry arm.

The reason for the wealth of the city - caravans loaded with silks and spices .

The professional caravan guards are also part of the army of the city. In times of war they leave their caravan escort duties and fight as a unit.

Even the local gladiator school turns out to defend the city in difficult times…

Professional archers defend the city either as massed archers or as scouts.

Fast light cavalry, with bow and spear are always ready to face the city’s enemies.

Light camelry scouts watch out for the appearance of enemy troops in the vicinity of the city.

Coming along

 My Palmyranesque project is coming along nicely. Here is a snapshot of progress yesterday lunchtime-

Things have moved on since and I am pleased with the results.

A couple of interesting links-

https://archeologie.culture.gouv.fr/palmyre/en/mural-painting

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUW1OM8XwLM

Enjoying having the above back on tv and the wireless. 

Who are you?

 Got this figure as part of a lot recently-

Can anyone recognise him and the manufacturer?

Finally can anyone guess the first name of the girl mentioned in the previous post?

Music

 I recall a very brief  ( student days) but complicated relationship with the girlfriend of a friend . I also recall her Christmas present to me , an LP. I remember unwrapping it , it was by Nick Drake, someone I didn’t know at all. I played it , was transported and delighted by it. The album was “ Bryter Layter” and it led me to an appreciation and enjoyment of Nick Drake’s music , one that has continued to this day.

Last night after a long and stressful day l tried to relax with the bbc sounds app , found this completely by chance and listened to -

A prom  ( to mark the 50th anniversary of his death) devoted to Nick Drake and his music ! I’m not really a prom listener but this was beautiful to listen to. Orchestral arrangements of his songs, the Unthanks and chat at halftime with his sister, it was super. Do listen.

Palmyranesque- recruiting

 I was out yesterday at friend’s playing a Romans v Celts game. I was a Celtic general with two commands , one of which was entirely consisting of fanatics, Warband Superior. Dbm allows  the warband class to be very powerful and the Romans were defeated partially due to the rules, to flukey dice throwing and a little bit of tactical skill by the generals or perhaps chieftains is more appropriate . A few pictures-

All in all an enjoyable game and day out. On my return a couple of parcels were waiting-

I

One parcel contained an Etsy buy consisting of camels ( resin) for my baggage train. They are nice, crisp casts ( prints l suppose is more correct) which should paint up well. Also in the picture you can see two carts / chariots that came as part of the other package. Anyone recognise them? The main interest in buying the second package was for the gladiators. Back in the day, my teens l had lots of Minifigs gladiators, Paragon Rules and the obligatory biscuit tin arena, all long since gone.

These lovely old school figures will serve as an element of blades for the Palmyranesque army. I imagine that they represent the local gladiator school being pressed into service in the defence of the city in times of extremis. It was good to see these  old school fellows and recruit them into my current project.

Palmyranesque 2

 My last post on this subject got no comments, something l found interesting, but l thought l would post anyway.

I decided to recruit some of the Eric Knowles figures into my current ancients project. This involved rebasing some and using some of his bases. I will mark the provenance of the figures on the new bases and also retain the old bases.

The work proceeds well and I configured the army for use in Dbm ( for games against my regular opponent) as well as for solo games.

I await some camel guards got off eBay and some resin printed camels to represent a camel train loaded with spices, silk and other exotic merchandise. These l will add to my foot baggage train figures featured in the first photos.

Cupar

 Yesterday saw me getting the bus to Cupar for the model railway show there-

There was a market in Cupar and l sampled some great produce from the stall.

Popular model with visitors as it showed Harry Potter and other film sets.

A layout set in Japan, not something I had seen before.

More of the Japanese set layout, some lovely shops.

Small layout , big train , probably O gauge 

I did like the bridge and the water in this one.

009 society stand, small but charming.

Dundee boat modellers ( they were set up on the stage in the hall)  had some beauties on display, large water going vessels.

Charming yacht. The owner took the cover off and showed me ‘1951’ written on it, when it was built. He had restored it.

They are the second oldest club in the world, second only to a London based one.

A close up of the garden on the 009 Society layout.

Interesting sign on pub door. I will investigate the 1559 connection.

Another market stall. Old favourites of ours , Jan and I used to get a bottle every now and then.

So I went for a new friend , the cider , and an old friend the elderberry wine.

All in all a grand day out!

My Cremona , with apologies to The Knack

 Much earlier in the week fought a game based upon the battle of Cremona AD 69 which was part of the Year of the Four Emperors civil war. My opponents Roman army was mainly Foundry whilst mine was a heady mix of Irregular, Minifigs, Hinchcliffe etc. It was a fun game marked by some ridiculously good dice throws from me. My Cavalry on the left wing beat their opponents, swung round and attacked the flank of opposing troops. It was over quicker than expected. A few pictures-

Scene from my camp looking across the table…

The enemy advancing…

Likewise…

The large cavalry melee from my perspective.

The enemy has been destroyed !

The legions and auxiliary cohorts advancing to contact.

A hard fought melee!

The Romans have set up camp in my friend’s house in their boxes awaiting next week’s game against Celts.