Sunday, November 23, 2014

Peter Laing Crusader Wargame

I was determined to get a war-game in today, using my new Peter Laing Norman figures. I decided to use the first scenario in ONE HOUR WARGAMES.   As explained in the book "Two armies are facing each other over a symmetrical battlefield." Both baselines have a hill in the center. Another feature that I like from the book is that both sides have the same number of units, but you roll to determine the composition of your force.  What's more, if identical armies are generated, players should re-roll until there are two different forces. I used my modified BATTLELORE rules on Heroscape terrain.  Unfortunately, the photos were taken using my cellphone and 4 cups of coffee did little to steady my hands!
The Crusader army. Three knight units, one archer unit and two skirmisher units.

The Saracen Army. Three knight units, two men-at-arms units, and a skirmisher unit.

The Saracen cavalry closes too fast for the archers to fire effectively.

The Saracens drive the Crusader knights back and overrun the archers and one of the skirmisher units.


The Crusader Princes' unit is eliminated and the Saracen cavalry divides what's left of the Crusaders.

The end of the battle. I got interrupted half way through the battle and didn't get back to it after dark.

        The Scenario made for a quick, fun game. I think I will work on using the way of choosing armies, but increasing the size of the armies to 8 units each. 6 units makes for a quick game, but using BATTLELORE rules makes for too quick a game. ONE HOUR WARGAMES has 30 scenarios, all that look perfect for my way of gaming.  I'm also thinking of trying a squared grid battlefield that might make using scenery easier than HEROSCAPE.  Now to try to work on my photography again.














10 comments:

  1. Great to see these figures in action. Its not often you see such a collection for sale in one go. I managed to pick up a couple of the saxon lots for my medievals. One of the reasons I like Peter Laing figures is their muted detail means you can be very flexible in their use. Glad I stumbled accross your blog :)

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    1. I'm glad you found my blog. It sounds like you are a fellow fan of Peter Laings. Do you have a large collection, or, like me, started collecting recently and are looking to build up a collection? Is there any particular periods you have interest in? There are a few of us who will swop, or even give extras to other fans.

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    2. Hi john. My first metal army was peter laing about 40 years ago nearly. These were romans, but I could not resist the angry mice elephants! I later had some ECW. I have just returned to the hobby after about a 10 year gap. My interests are medieval, but peter laing figures are easy to make fit in different periods. Its one of their beauties. Jon

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    3. If you are interested in the Dark Ages I have a few extra of the Normans. I also got some Vikings coming, which I would be willing to give a few. I use small units in my games.

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    4. Hi John
      Like you I am using small units based as elements and only about 12 elements in a game. Some of my recent purchases have given me more figures than I need. I would be very happy to give some of your spares a home and offer some swops.
      I have spare:
      F218 axe kite shield
      F213 unarmoured archer
      F209? Unarmoured sword oval shield
      F5020 renaissance english bowman (works for late medieval)
      F???? Unarmoured cavalry big round shield and spear (using as Arthurian cavalry).

      My email if you want it is: meechjon2@gmail.com

      I would be very happy to go on a swops list

      Jon

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  2. Jonyoak, just drop John or myself a line if you like PL figures, there are a small, but growing group of PL fans who swap figures and share details of sales on e-bay.
    My personal thing is 19th century to early WW1, but the group have all sorts of interests. If you haven't seen Bob Cordery's 'Wargaming Miscellany' blog, you ought to look as there are lots of pictures of PL figures on there
    Ian M Dury

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    1. Hi Ian

      I would be delighted to join the group. My interests are Dark Age/Medieval.

      Jon

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    2. Jon, The "group" itself as never clearly been defined. Ian Dury usually will contact several different people when there are Peter Laing figures on the market. But I'm sure Ian will add you to his list.
      Perhaps it's time to start a forum for Peter Laings to make it easier for the small group of PL fans.

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    3. I would be very happy to join a group for Peter Laing fans. Would there be enough of us to make it work I wonder?

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    4. I belong to several Yahoo groups. Even if it's a small group instead of Ian having to email the different members and answer their emails, there would be one site to go to. Plus members could mention swaps they might want to make.

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