Mounted Sergeants-At-Arms (FireForge Games) aka Mounted Crossbowmen for my Impetus Renaissance Army.

After all this work on micro (1/3000) scale stuff I had the urge to put together some 28mm plastics (aka the "big stuff" that I can see better - 15mm scare me these days) together and chose the FireForge Games Sergeant-At-Arms (mounted) as it was on top of the "stack" (a "last-in" but "first-out" of data structure). Nice kit and I have been waiting to do these for some time. The box is a direct copy of the Mounted Sergeants but it has a 'sprue' of six crossbowmen which was the deal breaker as it will be ideal to give me an extra Impetus stand (or two, if I hide a sword armed chappie in the midst of the block of four and get eight from six .. a cunning plan) for my Maximilian 'Italian Wars' Renaissance Army (see below, notice how there are only two sprues of bodie parts to make up eight men, strange at first I thought I was going mad as I thought I had counted twelve, I then thought it must have been a packing error. I then found out I was the victim of a childish prank by my eldest for pulling him out of PS4-land making him see natural sunlight - silly as he obviously forgot his birthday is coming up soon .. looks like the Physics or French text book it is then! So all is well I have twelve to play with):

So the horses went together sweetly, very reminiscent (in a good way) of Games Workshop standard troop types that will lend themselves well to good brush stroke painting, The mounted crossbowmen were cool to put together although I cannot vouch for the poses I chose given the horses were all going at the gallop. The boys might in reality "fall off" in real life (see below, there are eight here but now that I have been reunited with the missing 'body sprue' I have another four axe, sword, spear and mace ones to make):

They are a good but and together with the Mounted Sergeants (FireForge Games .. still to assemble), the Men-At-Arms (Perry's Miniatures .. still to assemble) and the Teutonic Knights (FireForge Games .. assembled but still to paint) I have more horse than I can shake a stick at (or should that be 'pike at'). I do still have the mad urge to get the Perry, Light Renaissance Horse too, but that is because I am getting a little "28mm mad" seeing everything that comes as plastic in a box circa £20 as a bargain!

Online Games .. I gotta hand it to my kids ...

.. they sure know how to play these things. They are fearless little souls who mike-up and play very collaboratively with their class mates from school. Respect. Me I am a silent, dumb "World of Tanks" Tanker who is usually burning five minutes into a battle, peppered by multi-barrelled ordnance from all directions to the disdain of my team-mates. It's all those buttons to press, but which one, I seem to press all mine at the same time and therefore do nothing but become a sitting duck! ..

Anyway I would like to share a wry smile I had as my eleven year old handed the joystick to his younger brother as he took a (long overdue) 'break' from "Plants versus Zombies Garden Warfare 2" game. He was getting "mullered" by his friends and he said to my youngest "Have a go, but don't cry as they will kill you, they are just too good, but go in and just have some fun". Respect as he was sharing and caring. With a broad wide smile and gleam in his eyes my youngest entered the fray with his favourite Zombie character, a bizarre looking Pirate. I expected him to last mere seconds but he remarkably turned the tables on my eldest's tormentors by activating a super-cannon and repeatedly "one-shotting" them. His tiny-little hands were doing something the older boys hands were finding impossible. Turns out they could activate the canon but not fire accurately whereas the tiny terror lined up his shot first then activated for a killer effect ... a useless character to the older kids was a deadly assassin in the younger's hands

:)

I will never forget the amazed "How did he do that?" a befuzzled cry came from the PS4 box. "That's my boy" I thought as the hunters became the hunted. Another inspirational thought, he was not afraid to fail but picked himself up and fearlessly tried new things, just laughing when things got tough! Inspirational.

Maybe I could also be in possession of my World of Tanks secret super weapon :)

Just to tempt you this September ... PS Connections UK 2016 was brilliant IMHO

A invitation to attend Connections UK 2017 (see below)

Check out the website to see if it rocks your boat ;)

http://professionalwargaming.co.uk/

-----

Hi All,

Many thanks to everyone who completed the Connections UK 2016 feedback survey. Some comments are extracted below to encourage those still to put Connections UK 2017 in your diary:

• “I have attended many conferences over the years. This is, perhaps, the only one I would describe as outstanding.”
• “An excellent, thought provoking, and network-enabling event. I look forward to next year.”
• “I came away having drunk from the most valuable fount of knowledge this side of the pond. The megagame was a great addition, which I enjoyed immensely. A fantastic quality of speakers and attendees made both presentations and networking thoroughly worthwhile. Roll on the 2017 edition!”
• “An excellent conference that just gets better.”

We have listened to the points you raised. We can’t promulgate details because anonymity is important, but Connections UK 2017 will be 100% based on your feedback. The principal suggestions were:

• Connections UK 2016 was generally what you wanted in terms of content, timings, frequency and location. Hence, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it – just make it better!

• You specifically asked for:
• An update on how the UK military and Foreign Office use wargaming.
• Time to network.
• Another megagame.
• A Games Fair and more hands-on sessions.
• Worked examples of wargame design.
• A short 101 for newcomers (only).
• More hobby gaming and gamer involvement.
• Presentations on wargaming in education.
• Sessions on how to run Seminar and Matrix Games.
• Ideas how to wargame Human Terrain.

Three comments from the Committee:

1. While this e-mail has gone to 442 people, and Connections UK appears to be the largest gathering of wargaming professionals in the UK, we do not have any formal remit to progress wargaming. We will strive, along with Connections US, NL and Australia, to ‘Advance and Preserve the Art, Science and Application of Wargaming’. This accords with the vision of an ongoing high-level UK initiative, which is that: ‘Across Defence, Wargaming is understood and appreciated, widely and correctly applied, done well, and delivers tangible operational and business results.’ Whether via Connections UK, or a formal Defence body, it seems we are tantalisingly close to institutionalising wargaming.
2. Several comments suggested that Seminar Wargames had been belittled at last year’s Conference. We were somewhat baffled by this as we all use, and promote, Seminar Games, so any derogatory inferences were entirely unintentional. There will be a plenary this year on Seminar and Matrix Games.
3. The question was asked why we don’t devote more time to computer-only simulations.  While we all use computers, and argue that they are entirely complementary with manual simulations, we feel that computer simulation receives sufficient coverage elsewhere. If you want computer-based games you might be better served at ITEC/IITSEC conferences.  For the moment, Connections UK concentrates on manual simulations, high-engagement role-playing games, computer-assisted games and complementary approaches within the professional environment.

From the above, the general details, themes and broad structure for Connections UK 2017 are:

• Connections UK Purpose. Advance and Preserve the Art, Science and Application of Wargaming.
• Dates. Tuesday 5 – Thursday 7 September 2017.
• Venue. Kings College London, The Strand, London, UK.
• Approx cost. £60 (megagame/101 day) plus £135 for the two main days. This TBC but shouldn’t go up much, if at all.
• Themes. These still to be refined, but broadly:

• UK Tri-Service and FCO wargaming.
• UK military wargaming doctrine.
• Seminar and Matrix Games.
• Hobby gaming.
• Wargaming in education.
• Modelling Human Terrain.
• Designing wargames.

• Broad structure. Something like:

Day 1. Tuesday 5 September

Wargaming 101

Megagame

Informal gaming session

Day 2. Wednesday 6 September

UK military Tri-Service and FCO wargaming examples

Update on UK military wargaming doctrine

Seminar and Matrix Games

Current design ideas in hobby gaming

Games Fair session 1

Keynote speaker

Games Fair session 2

Day 3. Thursday 7 September

Wargaming in education

Modelling Human Terrain

Wargame design

Breakout workshops

Please note that there will be an earlier date for registration. We’ll let you know more details presently.

Graham

----

If this floats your boat why not give it a whirl

Another Randomly Generated Simulating War FireMove Battlefield (Flipped)

Playing around with my new toy and generated the following default terrain. At first glance it looks poor for the German defender (see below):

However press the "flip" button and it suddenly becomes a defender' paradise (see below):

To my "game players" eyes this would be a "hard" task.

FireMove Terrain Generator

Here is my first attempt at a simple Terrain Generator for the Fire and Movement game from Phil Sabin's Simulating War book. I took a basic version of the software to Connections UK 2016 (see below, no more do you need to spend all that time rolling forty eight pairs of d6's to generate a random 2D battlefield):

Note: I have gone for a basic home-spun (retro) 'make-it-yourself" feel that does a basic job for the wargamer, hence the off-set squares instead of hexes. A cheap trick picked up from Naval Wargaming  without a plentiful supply of hex paper to hand (I should say before the era of desk-top publishing but that would accurately age me somewhat). It runs in a browser with a mixture of HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript. Something that a second year (or someone just having completing their first year with good web-grades) Computer Science graduate could do.

PS: I hope to distribute the code on a MIT Open Source Licence via Phil Sabin's web-site in the near future,

SimWar FireMove "Lost Battle of 2016" (Part III)

The first glimmer of hope/success for the British Commander as the "close assaults" go in and after fierce hand-to-hand fighting two German Platoons are removed (see below, the low hills [top left] and central plain [bottom right] are cleared, the Germans are down to 66%):

Just as the momentum started to seemingly shift towards the British, accurate defensive fire and further ammunition depletion strikes the British Battalion, taking it down to four infantry platoons (33%). Regardless of sustained losses so far the British Infantry push to their last to gain a final round of "close combat" (see below):  

A last gasp of (round twelve - German only activity) combat sees one more British Platoon fall. The German defensive line has been barely scratched in all honesty 75% British Casualties (admittedly not all KIA and wounded, it represents ammo depletion and disruption to unit cohesiveness) to German 33% looses (see below, German VP 9, British VP 2, a difference of 7 VP to the Germans a significant victory):

Darn! I thought I was getting the hang of this game. In hindsight the terrain was unforgiving and I was "fighting everywhere" instead of a specific localised area where I held local superiority. It was all part of a learning curve but from what I have learned since you had best apply the British Army philosophy of basing your attack on the "seven questions". In short my plan played into the strengths of the German player. In the amended rules Philip Sabin has introduced a bidding system (letting the Artillery Barrage be decremented down in power [starting at 4], with the lowest bidder becoming the attacker.

Afterthoughts:

Game over and some things to think about ... in particular the amount of time it takes to generate the terrain (at least 15 minutes of frantic dice rolling, 48 pairs of dice at that). Yes I have a computer programme for that now and it is time to share (which this Blog for a later post/link). Further it still seems 'hard to attack', but maybe that is because I am not doing it right or perhaps attacking is hard. Also is the terrain truly representational. A soldier said to me "where are the roads"  and all I could say was "Er, there kind of abstracted", to which I was met with a quizzical look of bewilderment. To which he said "Look, there are always paths, if not roads." He also brought me back to the "seven questions" and said "Why am I fighting here, I would like to fight where the enemy does not have such a continuous front?"

Four great sources for analysis of the British Army "seven questions" (note see slide 2 in the first presentation) come from the Connections UK wargaming event (see below):

• http://professionalwargaming.co.uk/20140722-Connections_UK_Presentation-COAWargaming-LSCC.pdf
• http://professionalwargaming.co.uk/Connections2014Gardiner.pdf
• http://professionalwargaming.co.uk/2016Farren.pdf
• http://professionalwargaming.co.uk/2016COMDTRMAS.pdf

Meanwhile, I uncovered two additional FireMove photographs of "generated terrain" as of yet not played over (see below):

I was obviously playing around with what sort of defence the Germans should put up. Here was my solution (see below):

The challenge here is the obscuring Line of Sight (LOS) feature delineating the board into two halves. Maybe the game board's time will come this year. I might try it out with Phil Sabin's paper AI defence as a solo game.

 ;)

SimWar FireMove "Lost Battle of 2016" (Part II)

As the British Commander (me) pushes his troops across the British right hand side of the table the attrition (via casualty points) rises and "ammunition expenditure" also threatens to deplete the attack soon. The British forces are pretty much committed now, the "Reserve" a measly single platoon. However a degree suppression in middle has been achieved. The British left hand side is "keeping them honest" attack is waiting its moment before committing as the German Platoon dug in on the low hills would be deadly in a close assault counterattack (see below, the British Commander still "feels in control" of events):

All British forces are committed, the British for got it on both the left and right flanks. Things look promising look promising on the right but could get hairy of the left as that German Platoon dug in on the rolling hills refuses to be suppressed (see below):

The British attack hits a grinding gear change that is painful to the ear.Although strong in stands the deadly effects of suppression mean that the British Infantry is suffering "under the guns" on the British right flank. On the British left at least they have managed to get numbers up now (see below):

Through German Fire and British Ammunition Expenditure two British Infantry platoon are removed. Their loss is sorely missed. The stalemate on the British left, while frustrating, is less serious than the failing infantry attack on the British right (see below, note the British are at 25% "ineffectives" while the Germans as yet are untouched):

The British Commander asks for one last push from his troops. They duly comply but suffer another two infantry platoons lost, but at least have reached "close quarters" with the enemy (see below, the British have lost five. One ray of sunshine is that the German mortar has now expended its ammunition and is no longer a factor [three combat and two ammunition depleted] infantry platoons with seven still active plus the HMG and mortar support);

Although a good round of close combat could see the British "get back in it" time is beginning to become a major factor. British casualties have been heavy (almost 50% removed and 25% KIA/injured). So far the German defense has bend but not been broken.

Next: The last push!

SimWar FireMove "Lost Battle of 2016" (Part I)

I dug this old FireMove battle out from the innards of my iPhone recently (dating back to July 2016). I was in "cleaning the camera roll out" mode and I even didn't realise I even had recorded it. The generated [human  by rolling forty eight pairs of dice, taking up a good fifteen minutes of pre-game preparation] terrain is very sparse. One wood (middle right), two low ridges (top middle) and a BUA Farmstead (top left denoted by a 'bottle top'). Not very promising territory for a swift British Infantry attack (see below, open ground aka "The Somme"?):

The German defender chose the "slightly" more terrain rich right hand side of the battlefield to deny the British player any chance of "dead ground" behind the wood. The German commander spaced his infantry out evenly across the board (see below, that is a lot of deadly "open ground" for the British infantry to cross, did I mention "The Somme"):

The classic British infantry response, four platoons spaced out with a gap between so they do not present multiple "grouped" targets. The HMG platoon is placed in the Farm BUA to gain benefit of the cover and avoid taking casualties (see below):

The oblique view of the battlefield (see below):

The initial artillery bombardment had a poor effect and a further turn spent trying to suppress seemed to avail nothing in the "net column".  The British Commander (me)  resolved to start pushing platoons forward which inevitably meant giving the German Commander a "target rich environment" for his accursed mortars (see below, the British player has successfully suppressed two "centrally placed" German platoons [denoted by two small silver 5p pieces]):

The British Commander decided to "push his luck" and try to exploit his "suppression" by flooding his right hand attack with of his infantry three companies. The mortar has been brought to bear on the central German Platoon (denoted by the 'blue marker') along with the interest of the British  HMG platoon to the sniping German Platoon located on the low hills. The favourable terrain on the left flank has allowed the fourth British Infantry Company to attempt a single file, stealth, flank attack on the British left. This means the British Commander has committed eleven out of twelve of his infantry platoons relatively early on in the game (see below):

A perfect plan, but what will the Germans make of it. There comes back an old proverb that says "no matter how strong the lion he is best to conserve all his energy and chase only one hare at a time". Note: Even early on the British have been steadily accumulating casualties.

Next: Withering fire shall stop them! But whose?

US WWII Carriers WIP ... now "Mounted on Bases"

The early war US CV's mounted on bases. Two things to note, one from a historical context regarding their dimensions and configurations namely (see below):

• The USS Wasp is small, as per reflected in all historical commentaries but so much more noted on model (forth up from the bottom)
• The USS Lexington and USS Saratoga are large, even though converted battle-cruisers and so not ideally configured for CV operations their flight deck space is impressive (second and third up from the bottom)
• The USS Ranger looks very ungainly and I can only imagine those smokestacks being operationally awkward (bottom of stack)
• The USS Yorktown, USS Hornet and USS Enterprise (top three on stack) seem a very good step in the correct direction but seem to be fighting to be bigger, something the Essex class clarified successfully  

Second thing to note: This is the best way of assembling them. First "unflashed" lead is (UHU) glued onto card stock already annotated underneath with the ship's characteristics ready for the second  DIY "sea-scaping" to quickly follow, followed by undercoats (and then official ship and sea painting).

A paper book I am reading courtesy of Connections 2016 ... Reality is Broken .. Gaming

The name says it all ... the good guys and gals are the ones playing games or designing them ... have to say along with my other diatribe on ... books I have too many and they take too long to read ... I am slowly working my way through this one (see below):

I have already "listened to" Jane McGonigal's SuperBetter book (or rather audio version of the printed book) and can highly recommend it (see below, if you squint your eyes that is, PS I would click on it to see a bigger version):

A mix between a self-help book and an interesting take on how to enjoy life more if you see yourself as playing "an EPIC game". Don't knock it until you have tried it ;)

January/February "Big Battle" in Seventeenth Century ... somewhere inthe 'LowCountries' (Part 8) The End

A dispatch has made if in front the battle recounting its last hours ...

The final position: While the French consolidated their gains the arrival of the Dutch guard and the spirited defence of the Prussians (pounded by musket and shot and harassed by the guard cavalry) meant that the allies were able to hold on.

The stalwart allied defence of their right (see below): 

The Dutch guard come up to support the wavering English defenders (see below): 

The Prussians (an 'all musket formation' the shape of things to come) hold off all attacks despite suffering 50% casualties (see below, one base missing and a lot of casualty rings on one of ones remaining): 

The French hold the two towns on their right (see below, a fortified tavern the scene of murderous hand-to-hand fighting): 

The left most strong point has fallen but the French are in no position to contest the bridge without a deadly firefight they are unlikely to win (see below): 

The battle progressed a few more moves but the French decided that they were running out of infantry to press the attack home. Therefore we stopped it last night. The idea is to have a look at the campaign board game next week so we can learn it ready for the campaign.

So in the end the Allies have successfully defended and gained the "battle honours" of the day (an unhistorical result) for simply "still being there" at close of play. As indicated it is the best of wargame results as it allows both sides to return to the map to plot a "what-if" and possible follow up battle/mini-campaign.

Great fun was had by all. I just wish work and family commitments could have let me play some more, maybe the next one!

:)

The thing about books ... is I love them but ... they are killing me!

The thing about books is that I don't get round to reading them ... and they end up taking up too much space in a busy household. Despite the quality, despite the interest ... the shame of it is that I don't enough time to read them and they become a millstone around my neck. I have cracked the Audio "listen to while you travel" conundrum but I have to rationalise what I already have and place emphasis on quality. Aka I have more books than I can possibly still read in the remaining years of my life, so make sure you read the good ones.

Note: That was probably true twenty years ago, but I felt that time was on my side!

So project by project a 'culling' process has begun. It started with the Russo-Japanese war .. beautiful books I have had for in excess of fifteen years and they had to go. They were purchased before I had a family and were never read in the (double digit) time since I have gained one. As per the earlier post I exchanged then for US modern 1/3000 lead, a project I intend to do this year (asap) so I am happy they did not live in vain - they have also gone to a "good house".

My current rational is that I get intense enjoyment out of the painting and modelling aspect so that is where I an going to concentrate my efforts alongside actual game playing (board and tabletop). As in the case of the Russo-Japanese period I am keeping my 1/3000 Navwar kit and the Avalanche Press Russo-Japanese 1904-05 board game to generate historical scenarios. My hope is that the fellow wargamer of the exchange will be inspired to game a few naval actions with me.

The books I "will keep" fall into one of two categories. Those that I have read and mean something to me such as Green's "The Greco Persian-Wars" will be kept "as they are precious to me" (and there are quite a few of those .. so books won't disappear from my house) and those books that are effectively a painting reference or simple order of battle guide. The various Osprey's fall into that genre however .. not all Osprey's will probably be kept just the mainstream wargaming eras. Historical novels may/will have to go en-masse to the various worthy charity shops of this fair land!

Your thoughts are appreciated on the above. I know many other "a gamer" must have faced this dilemma. Is the above "a whim of madness" .. I am prising the "toys" above the "books" as I think all I really need is a good overview but not an exhaustive PhD depth of understanding of each period I play.

Review of Blogger Settings .. No More Ads

Taking a step back .. why promote miscellaneous Ads .. not really adding to the site .. don't think they are the route to being an "internet millionaire" lays in 'pay per click'. Nearest advert that was of any interest was a reference to WWI soldier records, the few mobile phone games adverts shown were just time-wasters and would try to get you buying in-app purchases.

So they should now be gone ;)

Please tell me if they are still hanging around!

Blogging Stat: 500,000+ Page Views

Ninth year of both blogging and reading blogs about my hobby of wargaming/modelling (see below, I expect half of those will be my own viewing the blog as a diary):

Started not quite knowing what to expect, but it has been one cool journey. I really would like to thank the online community for cultivating my hobbyist interest in wargaming and modelling in so many unexpected ways. I have learned so much from others. There are so, so many talented people out there, respect!

The US "Early War " Ladies (mostly in the Pacific) of WW2

The striking power of the WWII US (Pacific) Fleet was built around the US carrier force. In the early war (before the mass produced Essex and light Independence class dominated the Pacific arena) these unique almost experimental ships faced by the equally bespoke IJN flat-tops (see below):

The battle wastage in these craft was high (only USS Ranger, USS Saratoga and USS Enterprise survived the war), Going from left to right:

• USS Ranger
• USS Saratoga
• USS Lexington
• USS Wasp
• USS Yorktown
• USS Hornet
• USS Enterprise

Notably the USS Ranger is noted spent her active life in the Atlantic versus the Pacific, her capabilities (she was the first US "as designed" carrier and was part of a (steep) learning curve) deemed better suited

Next stop: Basing the Flat-Tops

"We The People" (or AWI revisited)

I find myself taking "up arms against the King" in defence of his subjects against the misguided  
rule of administrators and beauracrats intent in lining their own pockets with the hard earned monies of loyal subjects. [Editor's note: It is early AWI.]

Until this injustice is resolved and his Majesty comes to his senses I am tasked with the destruction of a small fort, called George, and the capitulation of its garrison. The "operational committee game" will provide scenarios for "others" to tactically follow through with the "Higher Cmmand's" (three undiscovered great minds of the enlightenment) lofty instructions.

Naturally this means time to go straight up into the loft to the tin marked "AWI" which reveals the Perry AWI British Infantry project .. see previous AWI work.. only one of which is painted though (see below):

These being the "Badies" temptation rests on my shoulders to go get a box of "Goodies" but only if I complete the British Project first .. talk about carrot and stick.

Another "new" Period in 2017 but at least I collect in 1/3000 scale already ;)

I did a playground style "book" for "lead" trade with a fellow wargamer whereby I gained a 1/3000 posse of Navwar US Moderns (and other US Moderns as of last century). In the first instance I have a powerful US CVN battle group. I  may add another SSN 688 attack sub and DG Burke at some point in the future to make it an "Uber Group but for now it suffices (see below, the Nimitz is "huge" more Sci-Fi than real world. Even the "Fleet Oiler" is a beast):

"As strange to the eye" is the modified Iowa (Sea Harrier capable) projected conversion in the second batch. The other stuff has transitioned from WWII "guns" to modern "missiles" (see below, the carrier [CV] is the USS Coral Sea of the famed Midway class that was too late for WWII but served well into the late twentieth century through various upgrades (see below):

Last but not least is the "aircraft carrier loo-a-likes" that are US Marine Corp amphibian support ships (see below):

All ready for "a brave new twenty first" century world and teh changing world order. Watch this space!

January/February "Big Battle" in Seventeenth Century ... somewhere inthe 'LowCountries' (Part 7)

Sadly I missed the last instalment of the "Big Batle". However I was fortunate to receive this update from one of my fellow commanders ...

"The French are pressing the attack on their left (the allied right). One battalion has left the town in column. The allied cavalry allowed them time to form up before charging!" (See below): 

My comment: The French march remorselessly onward (see below):

"Fortunately after a little persuasion one allied cavalry squadron ploughed in. The infantry were shaken by the charge and fired high missing most their targets. In the ensuing melee they were routed from the field hotly pursued by the allied horse." (see below): 

"Also both towns on the left of the allied lines fell with the allied forces eventually fighting to the very last man. The French forces on their far right were sent orders to turn the allied left since the towns had fallen. Their forces came out of the town in column and then lined up at the river. They exchanged volleys with the defending allies who reformed to face them. The French volley was largely ineffective but the allies withering return volley caused the French to run." (see below): 

"Despite this local success the allies are only slowly forming a viable defensive line against the ensuing onslaught of infantry ploughing through the towns and fields on the allied right." (see below): 

"Still the situation on the allies right looks difficult. As the French bring more of their troops to bear, the allies are awaiting the appearance of the Dutch guard, who they understand are marching down the road in support. Can the allies hold their nerve?"

The battle continues ... and I hope to rejoin it :)

Feeling hard-core with my 28mm Metal Romans from Warlord Games

I knew the time would come when the lure of 28mm metal Ancients woudl get me and that time has come. To supplement the eBay (infantry) plastics I purchased the necessary "all arms" (Cavalry - Medium/Light and some Slingers) to complete the Impetus Order of Battle (see below):  

That should see me busy for the rest of the year!