2nd Punic War Map Correction

 Made a correction to the 2nd Punic War Map Draft.

Punic War Reinforcements

 Managed to get some new figures based this week for the "A Boy's Oath" campaign project.  Still need to flock them but needed to get started.

OG 15s that I got off Ebay - Mix of Republican Roman Hastati and Princeps Throwing and Advancing packs. 

OG 15s that I bought off Ebay - Republican Roman Triari.  I need 10 more stands of the Hastati and Princeps to have this many Triari.

Corvus Belli Spanish Large Shield Cavalry that I bought off Ebay.  These work as Spanish Large Shield Cavalry, Spanish Cavalry in Carthaginian employ or Republican Roman Heavy Cavalry.  I have another battle group of these that are OG15s that I have not photographed and another batch waiting to be painted.

Not sure of the manufacturer (might be Donnington) but I got these off Ebay too.  Spanish Small Shield Cavalry that will work as Spanish Small Shield Cavalry, Spanish Light Cavalry in Carthaginian employ or Republican Roman Light Cavalry.

2nd Punic War Draft Map

 The first draft of the map for "A Boy's Oath" 2nd Punic Wars campaign scenario is finished.  It will be added to the campaign page shortly.  See the current draft below:

A New Campaign Page

 I know it has been a while but a new campaign scenario page has been added to the Blog.  A Boy's Oath will cover the 2nd Punic War.  The map and campaign rules are almost complete and the first part of selected readings have been added.  The link on the Campaign Page is now live so you can go directly there to find this scenario if you lose the link.

More Ancient Germans

 Working on an idea for a 1st century AD campaign scenario pitting Early Germans vs Principate Romans.  Campaign rules will be very similar to all of the others I use, especially From the Forest Deep.  I will post them to the Campaign page once I get them somewhat close to finished and a map that I like.  In the meantime, I managed to flow some heavy German foot that have been hanging around along with a camp for FOG 300 (and ADLG if I have to play) plus two temperate templates that I can use as forest, fields or whatever I need.  See the comments in the captions for details about the figures.

Here is a picture of the whole group.

Closer pic of the circular template.  I need to paint the edges.  The 7 stands of heavy foot are in the background along with the camp.

A close up of the sacred grove camp with standing stone.  The trees are from Hobby Lobby.  The stone i picked up off eBay.  The grass tuffs where added just for fun.

Some of the heavy foot next to the sacred grove.

Multiple pictures of the 14 stands.  Some with different angles.  The figures are a mix of Forged in Battle Early Germans, Old Glory Early Germans and a few Essex Ancient Germans.  Mark Kernan of The One Tree Miniatures painting service out of Northern Ireland painted about 1/2 of the figures and I painted the rest.  I need to work on the lighting for these as they came out rather dull.

Cold Iron VIII - February 24-25, 2024

 Cold Iron VIII - The Roaring 1000’s FOG Tournament - Fultondale, Alabama - 15mm

Tournament Rules and Format

• Three rounds on February 24 and 1 on February 25.

• Table size will be 4x6.

• Each round will be 3 hours plus 1d6 minutes of random time. When time is called, players will finish the current phase.

• Round 1 will start at 9 AM on Feb 24 or shortly thereafter

• V3.1 rules and current FAQ will be used.

• We will use the 100 point ADLG scoring method for round by round results.

• 1 list, 825 points. 

• Any list from the lists below with options available from 1000 AD to 1099 AD.  i.e. From 1000 is allowed and before 1100 is allowed.  Before 1000 and from 1100 are not allowed.  All allies must also meet these conditions.

Book 2 Lists 

• Classical and Post-Classical Mayan 

• Post-Roman British

• Later Hindu Indian

• Early Eastern Steppe Horse Cultures

• Christian Nubian

• Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Danish

• Tibetan

• Nanzhao

• Early Spanish

• Andalusian

• Muslim North African and Sicily

• Viking

• Early Heian Japanese

• Khmer or Champa

• Khurasanian Dynasties

• Pagan Burmese

• Early Scots

• Rus

• Norse Irish

• Early Medieval European

• Bedouin Dynasties

• Dailami Dynasties

• Laio

• Tuareg

• Song Chinese

• Nikeforian Byzantine

• Fatimid Egyptian

• Georgian

• Seljuk Turk

Book 3 Lists 

• Koryo Korean

• Early Hungarian

• Taifa Andalusian

• Medieval Spanish & Portuguese

• Later Heian to Muromachi Japanese

• Norman

• Italo-Norman & Sicilian

• Medieval French

• Medieval German

• Communal Italian

• Scots Isles & Highlanders

• Medieval Scots

• Komnenan Byzantine

• Anglo-Norman & Early Plantagenet English

• Crusader

• Medieval Welsh

Christopher Anders will referee. Lists are due to ishades@yahoo.com no later than midnight, February 19. Late lists give your opponent choice of terrain before initiative is rolled.

Venue will be the Casa de Anders Basement in Fultondale, AL.  Note - venue may change if numbers require more tables.

Tournament fee is $5 paid to the referee.

Prizes will be offered for top 3 finishers.

There are multiple hotels at the Fultondale-Walker's Chapel Road exit to choose from and if flying in a shuttle from the airport can be arranged with notice.

The Emirate of Aleppo by Suheil Zakkar

 Way back in 2017 when I started developing the campaign "A War Like No Other,"  one of the sources I looked for high and low was the one by Suheil Zakkar.  At one point, there was a hardcopy on Amazon for approximately $150.

One random day in June 2023, I stumbled on a copy of the draft of the manuscript submitted in 1969 for Dr. Zakkar's PHD.  The pdf is available through the SOAS eprint website.  The link for the full 298 page thesis is available here. There are an additional 16 pages that appear to be short biographies of other Islamic writers from antiquity.  These pages are obviously not part of the original thesis judging by the print quality and font.