Sunshine Ottonians and Saucy Second Empire novels

I slowly started with 10mm Franco-Prussia, Prussian Infantry, to get myself into the mood for painting again and then derailed straight into more Norman (Ottonians), of which I decided to show here a bit. The Perry miniatures are a bit "elven"-like against their Crusader brothers. Next time I‘d like to get some Gripping Beast beauties, even though their price tag is a bit too proud. But I need more horses!

I am reading (still) Tuchman‘s "The Guns of August" and bought Alaistair Horne‘s "The Terrible Year", The Paris Commune 1871 and "The Mistress of Paris" from Catherine Hewitt, about the Comtesse Valtesse de la Bigne (the inspiration for Zola‘s Nana) - to kindle my fire for the Franco-Prussia War again.

I will do some 6mm Baccus for my WW1 project Guns of August. For that I‘ll  take with me the BEF and half of the early French army (counters) on my holidays in France; we stay with friends in the French-Comte, where we will discuss further plans how to erode the British Empire with a bottle of wine or two at the pool. ;)

Au revoir, messieures.

Non-allegro at the Adige 1515

I should have known this, being the umpire and a participant at the same time wasn‘t a good idea. Not only for obvious reasons, but you getting screamed at for rule help while you can't concentrate on stuff that happens right in front of your nose. Like a flank attack from stradioti into my seemingly un-occupied men-at-arms which needed a "straight" single move to charge. Bart convinced me somehow that this includes a 90 degree turn also ... hmmm.

I intended a slowly starting game along the short edges of a 8x6 like two approaching armies, but forgot that anything more complicated than a linear stand up seems to be too complicated for my renaissance bitches. Including extra printed battle orders that leave no doubt about the minis coming in. The French had more arquebusiers than the rest of the 3 armies. Well it turned into something like, to quote Boris Vian, an orgy like tohuwabohu of dim witted throw-up, but it was fun in the end.

The good thing was the sheer amount of troops available, masses of pike blocks and lines of ordonnances after the other. As for the spectacle one of the best lately, truly renaissance-style.

The next game of the league of whisky, I‘ll sent out the order of battle strict in one line on two 6x4s  in a long panorama-like table, each of the slugs just 24" apart, each player opposing another player.

Other views on this:

Angus:
http://www.edinburghwargames.com/Journal%20120.htm

SESWC:
https://www.facebook.com/South-East-Scotland-Wargames-Club-SESWC-158670127504302/?fref=ts

The vanguard on the table, the rear up to the 1st pike block of table, the rest was main...

The race to the bridge

The Florentines are coming

lots of re-grouping ... 

A spanish amount of arquebusiers in the French army ... 

The French centre attacks ... or comes nearer ...

rows of Landsknecht pike blocks

the Maximillian ordonnance deployed

the cowardly Venetians hiding behind trees

the valiant Florentines fighting for the kaiser! (the other kaiser) 

Wll the gendarmes clash?

the two armies converge on a bridge

the German gendarmes try to do a last attack ...

... at the end too much troops alive!!!