The Battle of Fort Panion - Flats Battle Part I

Argive strategos Memnon watched the enemy phalanx finish deploying into line, sweat already trickling beneath his armor in the morning heat.  Things would get even hotter soon he thought, as he cursed that detestable knave Timaios yet again for bringing affairs to such as pass.  Inviting conflict with Aquilonia through gross dereliction of duty, unforgivable.  Memnon almost wished that he'd plunged his sword into the man's guts instead of sending him packing to Messantia in disgrace. 

Milo, tyrant of Argos, had always shown more interest in his merchant empire and fleet, content to leave control of the army and affairs on land to his advisors. After all, the strong walls of Messantia would still be the ultimate arbiter if things went badly wrong.  But still, in turbulent times for Hyboria, one had to at least keep up militarily and the coffers were full enough to maintain a respectable army.  And at the urging of his counselor Damianos, to build several frontier forts along the northern border where Aquilonia had made the rich pasture land formerly belonging to Ophir their own.  

Thus things stood with an uneasy peace between neighbors, and with the Aquilonian king Epeus busy fending off Cimmerian incursions to the north and campaigning against Nemedia to the east, Fort Panion represented no real threat to Aquilonia.  That is until Timaios was sent to command the garrison.  Brother to Milo's new wife Artemesia, she set about badgering the tyrant to give the wastrel something to do.  A small command far from the temptations of Messantia would be harmless enough, it seemed.  Certainly better than dealing with the aftermath of his debaucheries in the capital.

But upon taking up his new command, Timaios sulked at being consigned to such a backwater posting, spending his days and nights consuming many a kylix of unwatered wine. And rather than seeing to the mundane duties of a garrison commander, the dull routine of laying in supplies, digging a well, drilling the men - all these paled in comparison to the thrill of cross-border raids on wealthy Aquilonian land barons.  Indeed, more than allowing his troops license to steal cattle, Timaios soon took to leading these raids himself, extracting contributions, insulting their women, kidnapping slave girls, and when sated with this, looting and burning estates. 

From his campaign tent on the Nemedian border, King Epeus read the dispatches from court with dismay and rage.  Summoning his lieutenant Bardikkas to his tent, Epeus dispatched him forthwith to ride hard for Tarantia, collect the rest of the royal garrison and take the high road to Argos.  Tyrant Milo, informed by his spies in the Aquilonian capital of what was afoot, mobilized the hoplites and ordered his strategos Memnon to make haste for Fort Panion.   


If you survived the backstory long enough to read on, we're now closer to battle. There's a lot of pictures, so I'll break it down into three parts.  Part 1 will introduce all the troops. Parts 2 & 3 will cover the fighting.

Forces of Aquilonia

Here is the line of battle, from right to left.  Please excuse the somewhat jarring insertion of flash photography here and there.  I started the battle fairly early yesterday morning, on what began as gloomy and rainy day. The ambient light wasn't sufficient, although things brightened up as the morning progressed.  And a mixture of un-based and based figures.  Didn't have time to base them all, nor does the cardboard show to advantage. It did cut down on the falling dominoes effect though.  Eventually I'll re-base all these.

Young Companions (AQ):

Commanded by the king's youthful and hot tempered son Alkestis.  The figures are from Carl, very nice castings from the classic Battle of Issos set.

2nd Royal Horse Guards (AQ):

Commanded by Gallanos. Factory painted Romans, don't know the editor.  A recent eBay acquisition and quite appealing castings, don't know the editor.

Eruk Infantry (Merc):

Kieler's bizarre take on Carthaginians come to life as warriors of Shem.  The haughty noble Tiglath couldn't bear to part with his horse.  At 20 men, I teased out the formation a bit with my painted Assyrians.  I actually have enough unpainted castings in this grouping to finish the unit at some point.

Mercenary Phalanx (Merc):

A real hash of phalangites of all sorts, but mostly Wagner and Golberg. I've got enough unpainted castings to eventually tame the unruly pikes but they're over-sized relative to the Heinrichsens.

4th Foot Companions (AQ):

Anchoring the Aquilonian battle line.  Good old Heinrichsen.

Tanasul Archers (AQ):

Figures by Lampert.  Nice fellow, no English but willing to deal outside of Germany and really has a lot of newer model ancients. I have more castings and this will be a easy unit to complete.  Also have a proper officer figure for them but had to draft a Heinrichsen slinger for the battle.

Daramish Light Horse (Merc):

Numidians pulling duty here as soldiers from Koth.  Berliner Zinnfiguren sells these castings, I don't know the editor.

War Elephants (AQ):

Few citizens of Argos have seen an elephant. Soon more may wish they hadn't.  A mix of editors.

Forces of Argos

And the Argive battle formation, from the left flank to the right.

Samaran Horse (Merc):

Argos lacks cavalry. Turan has plenty, and posted to the right wing in force.  Kieler Persians.

Shahpur Light Horse (Merc):

More Turanians, also Kieler.

1st Peltasts (ARG):

Missile troops, defending the hilltop and backstopped by the fort.  Heinrichsen judging by the bases and very pleasing designs they are.  Factory paint and a prime candidate for repainting down the road.

2nd Messantian Infantry (AQ)

Milo's citizen hoplites help the peltasts defend Fort Panion Hill.  Kielers, not sure on the paint jobs, but probably done by a collector.

3rd Peltasts (ARG):

Posted out front as a forlorn hope. Vibrantly painted by someone, not me.  I like what he did with these, too bad I don't have more. Kieler castings.  Not a great shot but you'll see them again soon.

Argos Guards Infantry (ARG)

The best Argos can field.  Can they stop the Foot Companions ?  Kieler, factory painted but not half bad.

1st Messantian Infantry (ARG):

More citizen hoplites.  Again, Kielers.  Same painter as the 2nd, colorful.

1st Horse Guards (ARG):

Optimistically titled, there is no 2nd, 3rd or 4th.  Kieler Etruscans.  Nice vigorous designs.

And within the fort itself, a small detachment of slingers man the ramparts.

And let the games begin !

Back to work tomorrow. I'll start work on Part 2, will post later this week but it may take a few days.

Flats Battle Preview

The armies square off.  Left: Aquilonia. Right: Argos

Casus Belli: Fort Panion

Sound the advance !

I'll be using the Tony Bath rules from Featherstone's War Games.  These are the first photos taken on my new iPad Mini.   More to follow....

Heinrichsen Macedonian Cavalry - 30mm Flats

I recently test-painted a couple of these Heinrichsen cavalry, from set # 3509 - Makedonier Schwere Reiter im Angriff.  As can be seen from the castings, it comprises two command figures and two different styles of rider, with shields and without.

And as painted.  As always, used acrylics.

I think they work best in two units, divided between the guys with shields and the lighter riders without.  I'll paint in uniform style for eventual gaming purposes.

Speaking of which, my wife had plans to host a few of her relatives from Australia recently.  The son was going to stay in the spare bedroom where the paints and figures are housed, and in the interest of straightening up a bit, I hastily based most of the unboxed ancients.  Once I did that, they didn't look half bad mounted and I was tempted to have a go at playing a sols wargame with them. Upon checking the old Kielers I had in storage, yes I have just enough. More about this soon !

Infantry Battalion Completed - Toy Town Soldiers 5

All of September slipped by without a post here, time for something new. I started a new job which entails working more hours with a longer commute. Thus the painting time has been squeezed a bit.  And there were other distractions as well. Suffice it to say, I'm glad to be back to more painting and able to put something up today. Here is the first completed battalion of the Eureka Toy Town infantry.

The command group.  The CO sits my home sculpted horse which replaces Eureka's nursery room styled mount. 

And the battalion, ready for battle. The French influence is certainly in play, haven't quite decided the country yet.  Perhaps Bravance, lifted from the old GDW board game Soldier King.

They did turn out well, I think. The toy soldier look is appealing and they are easy to paint. Soon to be completed, a Garde horse artillery gun and crew.

Gebrüder Rieche - 33mm Flats

Here is my modest collection of Rieche flats.  The Franco-Prussian War isn't my main period of interest, probably because it was such a one-sided walkover for Prussia.  But in the world of toy soldiers, who can say that the French can't turn the tables ?  As most surviving Rieche figure sets seem to belong to that period, 1870 it will be then.

The photo on top shows the French Chasseurs-à-Pied de la Garde. I really like the figure in gaiters and baggy trousers but I only have one of him. The rest look a bit older in uniform style, perhaps representing the Crimean War.  The paint jobs are battered, so I've repainted a few in my own style:

My literal painting style doesn't compare with the old figures for pure toy soldier charm, but I think it does highlight the appearance of the castings better compared to the old factory paint jobs.  This particular figure may be easier to try making a mold of as the rifle isn't so spindly as the others.  Piracy yes, but as the Rieche factory at Hannover was bombed out of existence in 1943, the odds of finding more of a particular pose are not good.

Next we have some factory painted French line infantry for 1870 in the classic style in kepis and overcoats. I do like the gliding pose, rather toylike and appealing.

I've been able to locate another set uniformed in this manner, so will be able to assemble a full battalion.  The next group I bought as unpainted castings.  The uniforms are somewhat different, perhaps they are intended to portray Franc Tireurs or some slightly later uniform.  And as you can see from the command group below, it's definitely a hybrid set.  The officer and bugler look decidedly French in a bit earlier style, the rider matches the bulk of the infantry and the standard bearer looks like he's probably Swiss judging by the flag.

And the ones I've painted so far.

Now for another set of castings. I got a good full group of the French cuirassiers. The command castings below.

And as I've painted the first two examples. Very nice figures these, typical of the slightly impressionistic Rieche style and well animated.

And now for the enemy. Here my collection is very scanty, just the one set of factory painted Hannoverians. 

Once again, dynamic action poses, although unfortunately about half the men are in the "clubbing with musket" pose. 

And that's it for now !

Artillerie à cheval de la Garde impériale - Old 28mm flats

Pictured above is a set of French horse artillery of the Imperial Guard, 2nd Empire.  Purchased on German eBay, they were sold as Heinrichsen and there's no particular reason to question that. They are the small figures prevalent ca.1860.

Bidding was light and I got them cheaply. Perhaps because the figures had been modified at least to some extent and clearly the bore brushes had been redone due to breakage.  Good idea but I think the previous collector erred in his choice of very light gauge wire. As seen below, I reworked this and of course repainted. I wonder about the figure at left, a bit larger and more dynamically posed, perhaps he's from another set.

 

And the "original" paint jobs below in comparison to my own rework.  I found also when I stripped the paint that the figure reaching into the pouch had been quite crudely modified with the pouch and hands cut away. Rather than tossing the figure, I repainted with his arms at his sides (see last photo). The figures as sold certainly have the period look of simple facture paint, but enough was changed that there's absolutely no guilt on my part about "colorizing Citizen Kane", a criticism once leveled against me at TMP for committing sacrilege by repainting antique figures.

As can be seen in contrast with the 33mm Rieche figure, the old 28mm's are quite diminutive.

And a couple of parting shots.

Rather statically posed soldiers but I do like the uniforms, a definite throwback to Napoleonic times. Too bad there's no mounted figures in this grouping, but likely some will surface sooner or later.

I had intended to post the 28mm Austrians next but as they're pretty mediocre, I'll put up some Rieche Franco-Prussian war sets soon.