Re-basing Complete.

Finished off basing the Hellenistic collection this morning before tidying the hobby stuff back into its respective drawers. The last unit to get the treatment were some venerable, but very nice Foundry World of the Greeks archers:

That will be it for anything games related for a few days, leisure time for now will be occupied with eating, drinking & generally making merry, starting as of now with Clash of the Titans on Channel 5.

This year has been a non starter for actual wargaming, but I mean to finish the year with a flourish by taking on my usual opponent Mr. Ireland across the field of Korupedion ( Corupedium).
One of the more obscure Successor battles, Korupedion was fought in 281BC, north of Sardis in Western Asia Minor between the last of Alexander's Diadochi; Seleucus Nicator & Lysimachus. Both of these gentlemen were Septegenarians by this point but obviously still up for a good scrap.
Seleucus supposedly instigated the war because of some dynastic insult, but the real reason is more likely to have been the death of Ptolemy I Soter the year before. Ptolemy was an important ally of Lysimachus, helping sustain his somewhat un-popular rule & his demise would have given Seleucus an opportunity to invade  the Lysimachid territories in Macedonia & Greece finally re-uniting Alexander's empire.

Some Miniatures for Corupedion.

As promised earlier here is some eye candy:

Greek Hoplites. Victrix Miniatures.

Persian Archers & Light Troops, mainly Crusader with a couple of Vendel Miniatures command.

A&A Miniatures Slingers.

Maiotian Infantry, Vendel Miniatures.

Thracians, Wargames Foundry.

Foundry African Elephant, mahout as supplied, crew Crusader I think.

Scratchbuilt chariot, chassis started life as a GW elf chariot, other bits from spares box.

Looking through the above I regret not buying more of the various Persians from Vendel Miniatures when they were still available this side of the pond, the variety of weird & wonderful troop types from the Achaemenid lands really was very remarkable.

And the Festive Wargame ths year will be... ta-da.. Corupedion.

For those of us unfamiliar with this particular battle it took place in Asia Minor in 281BC and was a contest between the last of the Diadochi: Seleucus & Lysimachus. Other than the causes of the disagreement & the outcome, very little information has come down to us concerning the make up of the armies and how Seleucus came to prevail. Fertile ground then for a gamer with time on his hands on a wet Sunday.
Here then are the first tentative stabs at army lists for the two sides.

Seleucus.

2x10no Companions in wedge.
12no Horse Archers.
10 or 12no Kappadokian Noble Cavalry ( massed or wedge?)
9no Tarentines

4x28no Phalangites

16no Archers
2x16no Peltasts ( mixed tribesmen from various eastern provinces)

2no Elephants (no howdah)
1no scythed chariot ( maybe?)

Lysimachus

10no Companions in wedge.
9no Thracian Noble Cavalry in wedge.
9no Horse Archers.
9no Tarentines

3x28no Phalangites
2x30no Hoplites

2x16no Peltasts
8no Slingers
8no Archers

20no Thracian Infantry (Warband)


Hopefully this gives sufficient character to each army without falling into caricature. I could perhaps include an Elephant in the Lysimachid army as they were available to him, but in very low numbers when compared to the Seleucid army. Anyway as they are un-armoured & un-towered these will only be useful as a cavalry screen, which is as it should be, so shouldn't unbalance things too much.
The use of the scythed chariot in the Seleucid army is also 50/50, most of the time they just sit on the table dying under a storm of missile fire, but just occasionally they do what they are supposed to & devastate a crucial unit. Highly amusing but liable to have a horrible effect on what is supposed to be a long & enjoyable game.

As ever we will be using WAB 1.5 rules, there may be better sets available, but I'm too lazy to learn them.
To be played on 8x4' table because thats the biggest we can fit on our kitchen table.

More thoughts & some pictures of the newly re-based figures to follow.

Early Successor Elephants.

The re-basing project commenced earlier this week has ground to a halt as the commissariat division of the Handgrenadealien empire has failed to keep up with demand for the tufts required to complete this project.
In mitigation my basing usually only has to keep up with my painting, which at the best of times can generously be called steady; hence a week of finishing bases has placed un-expected demands on my supply of scenic materials.
As a consequence I have had to find another project to occupy Saturday evening, this being a pair of Ebob pachyderms & riders that I started some time ago & failed to finish:

 
This pair are a fairly major scratchbuild consisting of Ebob Indian elephants with green stuff saddlecloths crewed by riders constructed from A&A miniatures Prodromoi legs, A&A and Crusader torso's & heads from either of the afore-mentioned ranges or sculpted using green stuff.
These were originally built for use in a re-fight of Gabiene which never materialised & so have lurked unseen in the back of the Hellenistic esoterica drawer for a few years, but now they are complete it would be churlish not to put them to good use and they could fit in with a lingering itch to bring the battle of Corupedium to the tabletop.
Need a bit of time to reflect on this plan over a few gin based cocktails but it feels like a go-er.

Macedonian Base Modernization.

This project has come as a bit of a surprise; I was trying to find a painting project to get stuck into last night & not having anything readily to hand decided to give my completed miniatures an overhaul, sticking spears back on, repairing any chipped paint- you get the picture.
Anyway, long story short looking through the Hellenistic collection it became apparent that some of my older units were in serious need of some detail work on their bases. A fair proportion of them were completed in the pre-tuft days of the last century and don't match up well to the more recent additions.

The before & after pictures below illustrate the discrepancy:

Foundry Miniatures Greek Mercenary & Eastern Phalangites, old basing style.

Different Foundry Eastern Phalangites, Mk. II basing.

 This could keep me out of mischief for a bit, at least until I get round to ordering more fresh lead next week.